DIY Cage Build question

[vchan000]

Ok, so I did some digging and I couldn't find what I was looking for, so a few questions about doing a DIY cage build, specifically about metal bits.

Question 1: What gauge steel should I be looking for?

Question 2: Looking at the options available in 1/2" (1.25cm) mesh I can find three possibilities;

Galvanized
Stainless Steel
Powder coat


Galvanized is far and away the most common and available, in a variety of gauges and sizes, including as rolls of 25, 50 or 100 feet.  Are there health concerns using galvanized wire to mesh a cage?  Specifically the zinc content in the galvanization if the little goobers ping/chew the bars.  

Stainless steel is the next choice.  Absolutely safe on a toxicity level, it's less malleable than galvanized and comes in rigid panels of predetermined size.   Lots of time spent with power tools working this into appropriate sizes/shapes

Powder coat would be the gold standard.  What most storebought cages are made out of, I'm not sure where I'd be able to buy custom sized panels of this, but I'd consider making the panels/cages out of mesh then having a chat with a car customization place about getting them powdercoated myself.  

I don't know if I'm actually going to build a corner enclosure for the living room, but I figured it'd be a fun project to design and price out.

[deguconvert]

In all of my cages I used galvanized mesh. However, something that you can look at/think about, if you want some specialized metal for specific uses . . . closet shelving panels at say Home Depot, Rona, Home Hardware, Lowes, Ikea to name a few, can be cut with heavy duty wire snips or with a Dremel. If you are OK with being creative in your joining/connecting of these to each other or to whatever, these can work quite well. They come with powder coat already. As well, cooling wracks for baking come in a variety of sizes, and tend to be rigid (which works well for doors and such) but are often not as expensive as pieces of the same size but for other designated purposes that you would buy in a hardware store.

When I was cage building, I looked at lots of things and was very game to try some creative and "innovative" solutions . . . but my husband was not. We ended up with wood and galvanized metal. LOL However, there was never any trouble or illness that resulted, even with pinging. There WAS pinging!

[deguconvert]

OH!! Just protect yourself really well!! The rolls don't like to flatten easily, and the ends of each metal strand are VERY sharp! Good leather gloves are a must, and if you have coveralls to wear, they will help to protect the rest of you. DON'T wear any clothing you prize while working with it. Not even for something that will "just take a few minutes."

[vchan000]

Jun 27, 2019 16:51:37 GMT deguconvert said:

OH!! Just protect yourself really well!! The rolls don't like to flatten easily, and the ends of each metal strand are VERY sharp! Good leather gloves are a must, and if you have coveralls to wear, they will help to protect the rest of you. DON'T wear any clothing you prize while working with it. Not even for something that will "just take a few minutes."

lol that sounds like the voice of experience.

I've used the mesh previously, mostly to do windows in 'bin cages' for the rescue, where we're converting a plastic storage tub into a temporary cage for hamsters or whatnot.  We'd cut windows out of the plastic, both the lid and some of the sides then use cable ties to attach the wire mesh to the bin cage.  There was a lot of time spent with a set of needlenose pliers making the pointy bits less pointy.

I'm glad to hear there hasn't been any health issues with the galvanized steel.  it's far and away the easiest one to find and use.  

[moletteuk]

I think it depends on the degus and the cage design. All of your options do seem to be in regular use for pet cages so I'm assuming all are valid choices. I would just be a bit concerned if you got a chewing obsessed degu chewing at the galvanising because I think they would be able to remove it and swallow some and it wouldn't be good for them. I haven't come across this on the forum but most of our cage builders use mainly wood, and thinking about it I'm not sure what zinc poisoning would look like. Powder coating seems to be non toxic so would be safer but I would say gets chewed and fails in certain places after a time, stainless steel safer again but awful to work with.

I would always recommend wood for the back and sides, and then if I used mesh for the front/ doors, these seem most likely to be chewing targets so if it were doable in terms of cost and availability I think I would go for stainless as this is safer and would also last the longest while looking clean tidy through its lifespan. I did use small areas of galvanised mesh in my build in out of reach places and would probably have been happy to use it in small areas for other vents.

I don't know about the gauge of wire, the stuff I have doesn't quote a wire gauge and I can't measure it as I don't know how thick the galvanising is, let me know if you want me to measure anyway. I would consider a bigger spacing if it is for full adult degus and you want to be able to interact through the mesh, I wouldn't hesitate at 15mm, 18mm is worth considering although the bigger the spacing the easier it is for them to chew.