Ever MADE a cage?

Well, thats just it. As a student I'm always looking for economical ways to accomodate my pets, and since mine have decided they can escape from their big cage I'm at a loss. I need another cage, but won't have the cash for a decent sized one until the summer, so I thought I might try to make one, and I found this site:
http://www.evergreenrattery.com/caregui ... build.html
Seems like it might work. What do you think?

A few problems are as follows:
a) I don't know that I'd trust it to be very sturdy. But that's just me.
b) coated hardware mesh doesn't exist in Canada. You can get galvanized, but that defeats the whole purpose. It can get really stinky.

A roll of hardware cloth can get pricey in itself. I'd say just keep watching websites like kijiji and craigslist and maybe join your local freewebs yahoo group.

No I figured it wouldn't be that sturdy but as long as I'm careful around it -- stinky = not good. womp womp. There goes my idea. Oh well Off to kijiji I go

Trust me, a lot of us would love to have the coated hardware cloth. As soon as someone finds it in Canada, I'll buy a case worth and sell to anyone who wants it. Would make FN ownership easier on many.

looks a lot like a martin's really, but canada, like moon said, doesn't have the right mesh.

what are you looking at for cages? remember that cat cages, dog crates, large bird cages and other animal cages can be suitable for rats with a bit of frigging. don't limit yourself to only cages listed for rodents. before my CN i used a modified cat cage for near 2 years. it had its issues of course, but it was a very large cage and i only paid $90 for it. it could hold about 14 rats. i did have to mesh that though... but it served its purpose.

alternatively, you could save and wrangle in some friends and family on a group gift for a b-day or other special holiday. this is how i got my CN. i saved up over half and then between a bunch of family members and friends i got the double CN. other then getting another CN i don't see me ever getting another cage. its perfect.

Thanks for the suggestions Twitch, I just passed my birthday and christmas and won't be celebrating much of anything until next year, so thats out. I've been looking at used bird cages because the bars are closer together but I can't seem to find anything big enough. I'm thinking I might hit Value Village over the weekend.

Another thing you can do is buy two bird cages of the same size and put them together side by side if you remove one side of each.

Hmm that might be a good idea, I guess my big worry right now is that they can escape my big cage, so maybe I will go ans see what I can get at the hardware store....

I have made a cage ...
It really is too small for even one rat but ok for babies or as a temporary cage.
Here it is:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2756&hilit=bin+cage

What about finding an old piece of furniture and making a cage out of that for your rats? Someone did it not so long ago on here

Well i saw some online made out of cuboards and such, seems like they would be good but my concern is that the wood would absorb the peepee...would it?

:nod: It sure would!

You could also just cover the outside of your cage with wire, like many have done with their FNs. This would work until you could get another cage and it wouldn't be too expensive.

Making a bin cage (as previously suggested) for a temporary cage wouldn't be that expensive either.

yeah I'm going to get some wire as back up, I'm getting a new cage tonight that is much bigger, its a rabbit cage so although not very tall it has a lot of ground space. I'm excited to get it all set up and I will be taking some pictures,
I am also going to attempt to make some hammock-y type stuff in the near future!

Looking forward to pics of your rattie girls in their cage

Here are a few pics of a rabbit cage I had Peter, Jacob, Artie, and Eli in a year ago. Adding a couple of shelves really increased the space for them.