Great Idea for cage, idea on pricing?

[wall86]

Howdy all, im the proud new father of 3 toddler female degu's, right now the current cage i am using is a bit on the cheaper side of a hamster cage (60$ CAD) but is a 3 story (top 2 are wire mesh) and about 1.5'x1' levels, but i would like too build them a very large enclosure to round around in and do there crazy acrobatics

my idea: get a local glass company too make me a 4'x4' acrylic/lexan bottom level that will sit inside of a wooden frame, then create a wooden frame/cabinet that stands about 6' high (i am 6'6" tall) then wrap the wooden frame in a small sized wire meshing/fencing (under 1"x1" gapping) so that there is no wood on the inside of the cafe, then get larger sized washers and butterfly nuts and some larger'ish bolts too then make feet for ledges (wooden, must be replaceable) the front of the cage will be a large full sized door (the base of the cage will be the lexan/acrylic aquarium thing so they can not just run out)

any suggestions? maybe a roughish price quote? i have a budget of probably 200-300$ CAD,

-Wall

[ra]

Good plans. I built a glass base but now wish I'd have made it much, much deeper. Mine's only 5 inches high. I was replacing the plastic base of the Chinchilla cage. If I had, had more knowledge I would have made it at least 12 inches high to keep all the bedding in the cage. I didn't want to go too high for fear it would not allow enough air circulation. Apparantly that's not a problem.

Not sure the exchange rate but I'd think 2-300 dollars Canadian should do it. I think my two Chinchilla cages (stacked vertically), the base and all the accoutrements were about that in American dollars. Building do it yourself cages should be less expensive that buying the Chinchilla cages at PetCo. Look forward to seeing your photographs of your finished Degu Condo!

[wall86]

im gonna stop by speedyglass tommorow before work, get a rough price quote, then find out how much all of the wood will be, hopefully i can get some precut, doubt the landlord would like me cutting wood in my apartment, lol,

i will definately get some pics up, maybe a rough walkthrough with pics, im sure the girls will like having more room, they tend too squabble over food (even with 3 dishes, they still wanna eat together)

[ra]

I responded to your post over on the Behaviour Forum. They do tend to want to eat together or from one another's food dish.

My glass base was 1/4" plate glass with radius edges. 19" X 31" X 5.5" high. The cost for the glass, cutting and radiusing the edges was $65.00 US$ I constructed the base myself using non-toxic aquarium grade silicone adhesive.

[wall86]

ok sweet, i will definately look into this then, if i can do the base for under 100$ (4'x4'x2-2.5') i should be able to get this cage built in the next 2-3 weeks,

[Sunshinemeg]

I am currently in the process of making a new cage set up for both the degus and my chins, each to have a half with a solid divide. Its big and VERY heavy! will post pics when its done!

[momof5furryboys1fuzzygirl]

We originally wanted to go with a glass base too, but changed our minds when thinking of the weight of it, as my daughter and I are the primary cage cleaners. So we bought a metal pan, that we can pull out like a drawer, for our cage bottom (and it only cost $15). We just finished our cage for our 4 boys and they are having a great time playing (total cost about $125 US). Just thought you might want to take a peak, pictures are posted in the Degu Pics section. I know I looked at every picture I could find to get ideas before we started building. Good luck and post pictures when you are done, sounds like you have great plans!