Ledges with lips and houses

[cremellomare]

Ok, so we've made shelves for our cage and plan on making some more ledges for the cage, and some new hidey houses. First with shelves and ledges, how do you attach the lip in the back to keep poop in? Glue or screws on the outside part where they can't get to them? I'd also like to make a house attached to the underside of a ledge, and am wondering how to do that too. Thanks in advance.

 

[Stackie]

You can use Elmer's wood glue. It is safe because it is non-toxic. Screws or anything else that is metal is not recommended since the chins can chew down to them.

 

[Ash]

Elmer's wood glue and clamps at the ends and middle of the lip for about 20 minutes.

 

[chinsmom]

Where do you find "chinchilla safe" wood to make your shelves from? Would you be able to find it at Lowe's, and what would you ask for? I've not tried to buy yet, as I'm just a little afraid of getting something that may make my little boy sick. I really want to make a support block for his saucer. Thanks!

 

[Ash]

Yup, just go to Lowes or Home Depot. As long as it's untreated wood and kiln Dried (It is usually stamped "KD") that falls into the "Safe" category, you're fine.

I know at Lowes we found 1"x8" whitewood board (NOT Melamine, whitewood is a generic name for pine) along with aspen, yellow pine, etc in different lengths in the shelving section, not the lumber.

 

[chinsmom]

Thanks so much!!

 

[Ash]

No problem. Making shelves is fun! Just make sure you've got some beer(if old enough ) on hand and good music or a movie!

 

[inzeos]

Easiest way to attach the "guard rails" to a ledge or perch is to use the same hanger bolts or lag bolt that is used to mount the perch to the cage.

Instead of attaching the guard rails bottom edge to the top horizontal surface of the perch, attach the guard rails side edge to the side edge of the perch with non-toxic elmers wood glue. Let it set up and then drill your pilot holes through both pieces at the same time.

I've attached a few pictures of the perch I put together this evening. This was to augment Cheecher's old 5"x5" perch, which she used to try and sleep on, half falling off on either end. This new one is made from an 8.5" piece of 1"x6" KD pine from HomeDepot. The guard rails are 1"x2" KD FSC pine from HomeDepot as well. I would probably go with 1"x3" next time and center the horizontal perch on the guard rails.

 

[mrbojangles13]

you can use kiln dried pine as well. HD and lowes have this as well. look for KD pine on the lable. there are three grades; 1,2, and 3. its ranked by how many knots are in the wood. id recomend getting the kind with the most knots (3 i believe) knots are harder and the shelves should in theory last longer. plus its cheaper. you will most likely fine two tho

 

[inzeos]

Look for the straightest planks you can find if you're planning on doing more than a single piece of wood for a perch. You'll quickly frustrate yourself with lots of warping and potential splitting.

 

[Parkerspetchins]

Looks nice!

 

[sweetcheeks]

those look real nice and im tempted to give this a try also. I'd like to see how to build a hidey house on top too..

Whats the price range like on the wood? Just to get an idea...

Ive never used a drill tho...I wanna try but am a little scared...lol

 

[Ash]

In different areas, the wood is going to be different prices. When I was making my shelves I spent (all total on wood, hanging supplies, glue) about $60 and I got 6 shelves out of it. 2 that were about 40", two that were about 28", and two that were about 18" with some wood left over. Also, for your lips, you want to buy the small "sticks" of wood. They're about 2"x1" in various lengths of feet.

 

[sweetcheeks]

Anyone that's built houses what did you use to cut the holes? Thinking of getting some tools and I was curious what has worked well for other people...

 

[Twilight Chinchillas]

There is a tool that you can find around the same area as the drill parts. It's circular,and cuts holes in the wood. Not cheap, but it can be used on a drill press, or a cordless screw driver. If you had a jig saw, you could drill pilot holes and cut a different type of opening opposed to say a circle.