hand made cages?

i have been racking my brain, and trying to come up with plans for a decent cage. i'm thinking 5'x3'x2'. with a stand so i can store things underneath, and raise the height of the cage simultaneously.

what would be a good approach?
poplar 2x4s for a frame, with 1/2"x1/2" chicken wire?
poplar shelves?
i thought of using a 4x4 post and spiraling little ledges up the post to get to the top of the cage, maybe a hammock up there..

should i use any material to cover the ledges with for comfort reasons or grip, etc?

pictures of home made cages would be great, too.


thanks

You are reading my mind. We are looking to build a cage of that exact size. That you for posting this thread.

we handmade one of our cages. go to this thread and scroll down and you can see some pix............as i can't post them again.

http://chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6887

it is made from kiln dried pine, sheet metal and chicken wire. it is split down the center vertically, one chin lives on each side.

I love your cage!!! Im also super thrilled to see a cage that is stained. We were talking about staining ours too.

Hi Michelle what is the size of your cage??

I have a homemade cage as well. I don't know the dimensions of it though. It's big enough for my trio to live happy and comfortable.
My dad is building another homemade cage for my boy MaveRick soon. Then maybe Macy, not sure yet, because I'm thinking about getting a ferret nation cage for her. It's still on the fence.
Personally, I think homemade cage look better, but that's just me.

this is a pretty good website that tells how to build one. http://chinchillacymru.co.uk/buildcage.htm so i think basically you take a piece of wood, make a pan you can buy one like they said from paul spooner but you can probably figure something out i don't know and put the pan on top of it, leave how ever thick you want the walls to be on the side of the pan and then a piece of wood in the back that the pan would run into and then construct a frame and put chicken wire on the outside, i would go with a solid top, which might make it more sturdy, (i forgot to mention that the frame is a total of four pieces a front that would be one tall peice to the top a sideways piece and then another tall piece. all the wood scrwed together would be wobbly) i basically just summarized the website and my knowledge and also i don't think you'd need anything to stop slip.

my cage is only stained on the outside doors, where they cant get to it, however; i had the one side open and stitch did nibble on one section. so that makes me nervous.

the cage is about 6 feet tall. the bottom shelf accounts for part of that but it is inoperable because we had no place to attach the bottom lock and the top and sides were not secure enough. i think it is four feet wide and 3 feet deep.

It is a little too deep for me to reach the back comfortably.

If you look close, he built bridges on each level and steps on the bottom. he also built a little spot to put hay. however they pee in that. the sheet metal helps keep down the odor but my one chin does pee on the shelves so eventually they will need to be sanded a little.

they havent chewed as much as i thought they would which is great. it took him a while to build it and i love the way it looks in our living room. however; it is HUGE and heavy and not so easy to clean. but the two spolied ones who live in there love it!

mishellyshel said:

we handmade one of our cages. go to this thread and scroll down and you can see some pix............

Click to expand...

this is what i was trying to find on google image search! i knew i saw a nice stained cage before that flowed in a living room perfectly.... thank you!!!

any details about the build.. tips, materials used, etc. would be greatly appreciated

shubbles said:

this is a pretty good website that tells how to build one. http://chinchillacymru.co.uk/buildcage.htm

Click to expand...

i read through this earlier.. made sense. might use this as a guide. thanks

We made these cages many moons ago for our chins. They have been great caged. Now that Taz is gone, we are going to convert the two smaller cages into one large cage for Speedy. I love the small drawer hubby made. It keeps their treats and such organized for me.

I am almost finished making a cage for my chins, it is 6 feet tall, 3 feet wide, and 2 feet deep. I just finished putting wire on the wooden frame tonight, and hopefully it will be partly assembled tomorrow. I have made using no power tools, except my mom cut some plywood for me since I can't fit it in my miter box. So far I have put probably around 20 hours and $100 into it which isn't too bad. Once I get some pans and shelves for it the price will probably even out at around $200. Well worth it in my opinion.

Thank you all so much for your help. We are going to take a trip to Lowes tonight. Shelly needs a larger home. I'm so happy I found this forum. If not for all of you Shelly would still be getting yogurt treats that I got from Petsmart and living in a 3' x 3' filled with plastic.

thanks guys. i cant wait to see pictures, Ruby. please post them when the cage is complete. any tips or help for me and other members would be great. i am looking forward to making a cage, but i don't want to jerry rig it. i usually get real impatient halfway through and try to rush it, so i will try and take my time and put effort into it, because it will be my lovely girl's home!

Here are my homemade cages


Hubby building one

they light up

One more

I just want to say Kristy's cages are awesome! I've seen them in person! Marshall is handy guy to have around!

starleomach said:

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i want to make one like the two cages on the far right.. but as ONE tall cage for her. material list?

Materials would be pan, wire and lots of wood LOL
I am not sure on specifics Marshall builds and I fill LOL

Marshall said 1x2 and 2x2 (lots) also 2x4. get the pan and make the cage around the pan

Those cages are awesome!