Question:
Ok, in October-November I am expecting some $$$ and I want to spend some of it on new cages for the chinnies. I made some drawings of possible designs and want some feedback on them.
I plan on making three "sets" of melamine cages. All will hopefully be on wheels so I can move them around the room by myself to clean under/around them. It will also give the shy chinnies another place to hide during playtime (under the cages). I only have about 7.5 ft by 7.5 ft of wall space for the chin cages, otherwise the cages would be bigger.
Okay, here's the first drawing. I will make TWO of these and all cages will house a single chin only (my non-breeders). IF any of my retired girls ever decide to get along (no luck in the past six months) OR I have an empty cage, I will take out one of the dividers to make a tall cage for two chins. Eventually I hope to get wheels in all of them, but for the time being the chins just get a long playtime.
*The drawings look better in person, but when they scanned they were too light to see so I had to darken them up on the computer.


Answer:
This one has bigger cages and will be for pairs/trios. Each of the three cages can be divided down the center to seperate a male or just temporarily house two chinnies that haven't been introduced yet. I will only make one of these as I don't have many breeders and would like to keep it that way so I have more time to spend with the babies.


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Oh, forgot...all the doors have a 1"x4" (pine) on the bottom to help hold in bedding. I'm sure some will still be thrown out especially in the breeder cages, but it will be less than what is thrown out of the wire cages I have now so I won't mind.
All cages will have at least two 6"x24" shelves....more in the larger cages except when babies are present.


Answer:
Alison, do you want to hop across the border and make me some cages? Those drawings look terrific!
Are you going to have mesh in the front only & hard sides? What about ledges - are they going to be built in, or will you have a way to attach leap-n-ledges, etc. ?
You only have a 7.5 x 7.5 wall for the cages... I would LOVE to have that much space for mine!


Answer:
All the doors will have 1/2"x1/2" wire mesh on them and all sides will be solid.
I thought about putting vents in the sides, but I have no tools that will do that and I don't think dad really wants to try. Since the cages will be right next to each other, I'd also be worried about them grabbing each others toes through the wire. I've had them do that before.
LOL....you know I wouldn't mind coming across the border, but I don't know about building cages. I'll have to see how these turn out first.
If I cut the melamine like I have planned there will be enough left overs peices to make a 24"x18"x24" inch rat cage for my Annabelle and an 18"x18"x48" cage for whomever wants to occupy it or to sell....have to see how thing go first though.


Answer:
I put wheels on my melamine cage. Let me just say that it is the best investment I made. Just make sure you get industrail quality wheels, melamine cages weigh a lot.
I also put in a 'door' as a roof. It is edged with pine and covered with wire mesh (just like the doors). It is on hinges so I can open it up to access some of the dishes without opening doors and having my little escape artist get out. It also makes the cage a lot lighter surprisingly enough.
I have designed my cage so it can be split in two horizontally. I have brackets set up holding shelves. The shelves can easily be removed (for replacement if they ever get to soiled) and I have a fitted piece of pine that can be installed intsead. I decided to do this so I could split the cage into two separate cages if the need ever arose and so I could keep any babies I might have in the future off the top shelves.
By the way, those drawing look amazing, good job


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those look like amazing cages! If you cross the border to makew a cage for CInnamon you'll have to drop by my place too!


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Thanks all!
Rincewind - You wouldn't happen to have any pictures of your cage would you? I'm still not sure exactly how to put wheels on them.
I was just doing some figuring to see how much all of these will cost...looks like I'll need 8 sheets of melamine....$25 each....$200 for the melamine alone. Glad I budgeted $500 for cages At least I'll finally have cages I like. Hopefully the chinnies will ike them too.


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Will they have pull out pans? That is the only thing I would recommend...they are so nice to have, especially if you have lots of cages to clean. I can't wait to see the finished product in a couple months!


Answer:
Alison, there are two pictures of my cage in this thread:
http://www.pets-on-the-net.com/forum...asc&star t=30
I just screwed the wheels into the bottom using 1/2 inch screws (the melamine was 3/4 inch) I'm not sure if you have worked with melamine before but you must ALWAYS pre-drill holes before screwing. Melamine splits easy when screwing it together and you definately don't want to have to buy new sheets... its pricy stuff
Also try to go into the home improvement stores with the measurements and get them to cut the sheets for you. Melamine is a pain in the but to cut especially if you don't have the right tools.
Have fun!