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Post by shomoca on Mar 4, 2019 8:39:53 GMT
Hi all, I am planning to do a cage upgrade because the one that I have not is not enough for my Ina and Lala (nearly 5000 cm2). I started this thread because I want to share my ideas and I also have some questions.. So far I have the framework ( pic here). I am using modular metal depositing shelves (each is 100 cm x 50 cm) and a mesh to wrap around around . The shelves have their own border but I don't think is enough so I want to add extra 10 cm. I looked at the wood safe lists on this forum. Kiln dried pin wood is not so easy for me to get so I was thinking bamboo. I know is degu safe but do you guys think it will get chewed very fast ? from what I've read here some of you say that the goos don't quite like it's taste so it may last. I was thinking of putting sticks of bamboo (100 cm long) one above the other and attach them to the legs. Also I need 50 cm long sticks so I will need to cut some in half. Do you know if bamboo is easy to cut (I know it's not a hard wood but does it break like a pottery bowl when you begin cutting it?) Another idea I've had for the border, or better said a little 10 cm fence, is making it from cedar or bamboo archery shafts ( pic here) but I don't know if cedar is safe for goos and I think it is easy to chew..
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Post by misscatafer on Mar 4, 2019 10:39:54 GMT
Any wood you put in the cage which the goos have access to will get destroyed, so just bare that in mind. To protect the wood, people put strips of aluminium on the edges or cover the wood with other materials - personally I have used correx (plastic floor protection). I have had bamboo in my cage and the degus still destroy it. here are our custom shelves made of plywood & correx Here are the strips of aluminium to prevent chewing - completed cage:
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Post by bouncy on Mar 4, 2019 10:46:33 GMT
Bamboo is a good choice for wood, and it doesn't get chewed. It's also very strong. It won't split, providing you saw it, rather than cut it with scissors etc
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Post by deguconvert on Mar 4, 2019 13:26:10 GMT
Cedar is a no. Cedar resin is a natural insect repellent and often makes it is desirable for furniture that will be used for clothing/cloth storage. The resins in it are toxic to degus, but cedar is not kiln dried. That's why we recommend the kiln dried pine . . . being dried in the kiln evaporates the resins within the pine/soft woods and that makes it safe for degus. The only exception to that is if the wood is full of knots, which can still harbor resin.
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Post by moletteuk on Mar 4, 2019 14:00:16 GMT
I like that you found a metal shelving unit with metal shelves, it looks really good.
How thick would the bamboo be? I'm a little concerned how easy if might be to chew and if it might break into shards. I haven't worked with bamboo except as canes in the garden so I'm afraid I can't help with what it is like to cut. Could you find construction 'softwood', sometimes called 'whitewood' that has few knots in and doesn't smell strongly? I wouldn't use the archery shafts as they would get chewed and destroyed very quickly, and as deguconvert says, cedar is not a safe wood.
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Post by deguconvert on Mar 4, 2019 14:08:37 GMT
I was also thinking that the shafts looked like easy targets for speedy demolishing. They wouldn't be worth the money and time you would spend getting them in place for a barrier. Your degus will completely obliterate them in no time.
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Post by shomoca on Mar 5, 2019 7:47:17 GMT
Thank you all for your replies. So shafts are not worth it, fair enough.. misscatafer that is a very nice cage! moletteuk bamboo sticks are anywhere between ∅1,0 - 1,2cm; 120cm length and ∅4,5 - 4.69cm; 295 cm length.. I might opt for something like 2,0-2,2 cm x 250 cm length..4 or 5 of those will give enough height for a border.. But I also find a guy that sells cherry wood shelves 10cm x 100cm x2cm so I think I will start with those since the price difference is almost 2x and I am on a tight budget.
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Post by moletteuk on Mar 5, 2019 11:53:08 GMT
OK. I don't think we can give you a definitive answer on the bamboo, so I think it would be best to try a little bit before you put significant effort and money into it. Do you mean the cherry wood for shelving or for the edging instead of the bamboo? It would work well for edging at 2cm thick, chewable but should take them quite a long time to do proper damage.
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Post by bouncy on Mar 5, 2019 12:30:37 GMT
You've got to go with what's right for you. My lot have pieces of bamboo root which don't even show any teeth marks, despite being chewers. When they get fresh bamboo, they demolish the leaves in five seconds, but have never touched even the twigs. If you are using bamboo cane, you should be fine. The only splinters I've had from breaks is on planed surfaces like chopsticks and knitting needles.
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Post by shomoca on Mar 5, 2019 13:24:51 GMT
OK. I don't think we can give you a definitive answer on the bamboo, so I think it would be best to try a little bit before you put significant effort and money into it. Do you mean the cherry wood for shelving or for the edging instead of the bamboo? It would work well for edging at 2cm thick, chewable but should take them quite a long time to do proper damage. Edging and if I have some left also make some shelves. I was yesterday in a shop and found this wainscot ( google translate did this for me , it's like a... uhmm.. like a panel.. ) . It is from red pine . Please check this picture. By the looks of it, do you think this is ok ?
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Post by moletteuk on Mar 5, 2019 13:40:50 GMT
That is perfectly safe, it might be a bit thin and easily chewable, but it's fine if you don't mind replacing it now and then. Red pine or red wood generally means pine, white wood or softwood (or sometimes 'pine' used colloquially) usually means spruce of fir, but if they look like the wainscot panels, don't have lots of knots and don't smell strongly then that is safe too.
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Post by shomoca on Mar 5, 2019 13:46:31 GMT
Thank you I think I will go with this one then..
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Post by shomoca on Mar 11, 2019 8:14:04 GMT
Hi all, I did a bit of work this weekend. I finished the sides panels. Here is a pic.I made a hole into the top metal shelf. Actually a colleague did it for me... it's not the most elegant cut but anyway, from my experience I will need to put some borders around it so the substrate won't fall down into the 1st level. Next on my list: - building shelves with borders so the poo will stay in.
- figure out how to connect the old cage with the new one
Hope you guys like it; I am open for ideas / suggestions.
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Post by moletteuk on Mar 11, 2019 11:15:11 GMT
Looks great As you say, the border should cover the rough bits on the hole so that won't matter so much, it might be worth trying to bend back down the lifted edge and file any sharp bits if there are any.
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Post by shomoca on Mar 11, 2019 12:59:37 GMT
The metal sheet is very hard, it is difficult for me to bend. I will try to punch some holes and put a wooden border.
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Post by bouncy on Mar 11, 2019 13:19:30 GMT
That looks brilliant! Very professional! If you get to the point where you need to bend metal, use clamps to fasten something with a strong, square edge. You can then use this to start creating a corner, using a hammer to finish.
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Post by deguconvert on Mar 11, 2019 17:08:32 GMT
Sanding paper or sanding blocks would work to smooth the edges of the cut metal as well. I think it is looking great. Well done, Shomoca!
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Post by shomoca on Mar 23, 2019 8:28:14 GMT
Good day to you all!
I was talking with and friend of mine about this cage upgrade and showed him some pictures. He gave me an idea regarding the wood borders that I will use for shelves, he said that the wood might get impregnate with urine and in time it may get smelly.. so I might wanna treat the wood with an oil.,.. Flax oil ? Do you guys think it's a good idea to grease the wood with it? I don't think it will be harmful for my goos, but I thought I should ask here as well..
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Post by deguconvert on Mar 23, 2019 17:28:49 GMT
Flax is a seed that is safe to feed them . . . but I'll be honest, I'm not sure what I think. On the one hand, it is oil from a seed they can eat, obviously they will get that same oil from the seed and ingest it . . . should be fine. On the other hand . . . I used to paint with oil paints, and linseed oil is what I used with them (LOVE the smell of oil paints and linseed oil!!) . . . and my first and strongest association is with those oil paints and thinking . . . I don't think I would use that. Having looked at some websites just now about linseed oil, there are many uses for it in mechanical situations as well as for the preservation of wood, but it is not an eatable product. There are many additives in most brands that are not safe for consumption. Here is a website that talks about oils for treating cutting boards . . . www.cuttingboard.com/blog/what-type-of-oils-are-safe-to-use-on-your-cutting-board/ . . . but just because these oils are safe for human/food contact doesn't necessarily ensure that they are safe for your degus. I would use extreme caution and err on the "no" side. It has been the predominant feeling among several members here that the splash guards perform two important functions . . . helping to control the amount of substrate and "other" things from spilling so freely out of the cage, AND providing a safe wood inside the cage that can be chewed and easily replaced. For the most part, urine will not seep into the splash guards like it will on the flat horizontal surfaces. There will likely be some . . . but it is usually much less than you find in other areas of the cage. In my cages, two very large DIY cages that were constructed mostly of wood, the main damage to the splash guards came from chewing, and while there were definitely areas of wood within the cage what would begin to pong from urine, I never had that particular issue on/with any of the wood boards I used to function as splash guards. My cages were in use for nearly 7 years, and were heavily used.
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Post by moletteuk on Mar 23, 2019 18:46:07 GMT
If you can guarantee it is pure flax/ linseed oil then I think it would be safe, but as DC says, it might not be that easy to determine what else might be in it. I'm not sure how much it might help, I don't know anyone else who has done this. Most of us make the edging to be replaced, but maybe for us we have more choice of edging so can buy an optimum size to allow chewing but not too much chewing and it's cheap and easy to replace. Also for me, I have a solid wood cage, so I only have edging at the front and my goos always peed around the back or sides, and I actually painted the back and sides with an exterior wood paint product so that the pee doesn't soak in so much. It's much safer to do this to flat surfaces because normally they can't chew those. Something you can do is place saucers where they like to pee a lot and this can save your surfaces getting too soaked, plus a good absorbant substrate locks in a lot of liquid. I think the only place I have had an issue with vertical surfaces getting stinky is in the digging box where there is no substrate.
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