DIY: Cage building?

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Anonymouse

Member
Joined
Sep 27, 2010
Messages
6
Location
Canada
Hi, I'm looking to talk to anyone who has done this before. Is it cheaper than buying a petstore cage big enough to hold them? What types of materials are safe? Is there a better substitute to chicken wire for bars? I'm not very handy, but I'll be working with someone who is. I'm looking to adopt 2-3 rats. That, or I will build this cage for my piggies. Thanks!
 
I built a cage once from an old TV stand. It cost me upwards of $200 dollars but I also had to buy a Dremel tool and that was like $80 of it. If you have tools and supplies already, you should save on your costs.

I got something called "rabbit wire", it was made in a 1/4" grid, to enclose mine, it came from Home Depot, but I imagine any major home improvement type store would have it.

Avoid oily woods, Pine, Cedar, etc. Any type of wood they say not to use as wood chip bedding don't use as structure.

Problems you will run into:

Chewing - I was fortunate and the piece of furniture I used was a heavy oak, a very hard wood, and I guess they just got tired of chewing on it. Use something too soft, they'll chew through it in a night.

Cleaning - Mine had several 'areas'. A bottom & middle that were wood on top/bottom & 2 sides, the front and back closed with the wire. The top had the wood bottom and a birdcage affixed to it, and there was a side shelf with a plastic tub. aesthetically, it was awesome. I loved that it was so cool and I made it myself. There were two pass holes to the bottom, one to the top, and one into the plastic tub, that was generally filled with dirt for a permanent digging box. I would periodically take it off, change the dirt, throw in a couple handfuls of birdseed and leave in the sun till they sprouted. My rats LOVED the greenhouse. The bottom level had a big plastic pan taking up the whole space, and a trap door in the wire to get the pan out for cleaning. It worked great till the rats got 'middle aged' and lazy, then they just started peeing and pooping everywhere and cleaning the cage got very difficult, and the rabbit wire got corroded and nasty from pee.

Long story short, I tossed the stank pit out and bought a cage from Petsmart. It's from a company called Critter Ware, it's pretty nice, but now I can't find it on their site or the Petsmart site. The Petsmart site has a cage from them, that's pretty much the same, but shorter with one level instead of two. I have the two, and I also transferred the birdcage from my custom cage to this one. Currently trying to figure out a way to get a greenhouse box on this one.

Seeking the best of both worlds (and not being able to afford a CN cage) I am now of the Frankencage persuasion.
 
I started with home made cages....and some where very nice. Then I got a Martins...I liked it but certainly did not love it...then a Ferret Nation.....LOVED it but no good for babies or small girls.....Now I have a Critter Nation and I love it!!!!! I think everyone getting into rats or other small critters should just save themselves all the time and money trying other cages and buy a Critter Nation.....
 
Dahlas said:
I started with home made cages....and some where very nice. Then I got a Martins...I liked it but certainly did not love it...then a Ferret Nation.....LOVED it but no good for babies or small girls.....Now I have a Critter Nation and I love it!!!!! I think everyone getting into rats or other small critters should just save themselves all the time and money trying other cages and by a Critter Nation.....

Ditto! For the price of materials and time spent, you are better off buying a prebuilt cage from a store or second hand. I built every type of DYI cage known to the rat world and I regret it terribly. They stink of urine in weeks, which can cause resperatory issues. I have Martins cages now and am upgrading to a Critter Nation Asap. There are many more affordable cages that would suit two or three rats as well, but if you can, get ahead in the game and buy yourself a single Critter Nation from Chinchilla.ca :)
 
My boyfriend keeps saying he wants to make me a really big cage for my girls, but now this making me reconsider...

If he does do it, what wood would be appropriate? What kind of plastic pans would be needed for the bottom?
 
testing image upload with my old custom cage, just before i got rid of it. There were usually two hammocks in there. You can see the remnants of the top one. The other was in that middle section.

IMG_0799.jpg
 
If you're serious about building a cage yourself make sure you have the extra space to store the materials. I spent a lot of time and money on a lot of things i ended up throwing out because it wasn't working out for me. You might be able to if you're more of a handyman!
 
For wood, you need to have something that is not softwood, which makes it very expensive as pine is the cheapest wood. Wood is not preferable at all though, as it will soak the urine and never get clean. Some people put sealants over them, but the rats can still chew it, and scratch it, and once it is chewed or scratched, urine will soak in. I'm not convinced that sealer fully keeps the pee out anyway, as if you've ever had a deck, you'll know that sealer needs to be applied semi frequently in order to make it so the water beads up and doesn't soak in. Plus if they chew enough they can escape. If you must make a homemade cage, I'd strongly suggest using a different material for the frame. I'm not overly fond of them, but some people have made frames from the PVC piping for chinchillas. If you do use wood though, make it a frame and not a bookcase. My problem with the bookcase cages is the lack of ventilation, with only one side open it is pretty much the same as a giant aquarium. Plus most book cases aren't deep enough for rats.

Then there is the issue of moving it. Homemade cages tend to be very very heavy.

There also is the issue of safety. A lot of thought needs to go into these cages. You need to make sure the levels are spaced so that they can't fall far. You need to make sure there is no gaps, such as where the doors are, that a rat could get stuck in, which if you've ever tried to build these, you'll realize it is practically impossible to have it line up perfectly so there is no gap when the door is closed.

I agree with others that after the money, time, and cleaning issues, it makes far more sense to buy a cage. I have to disagree with Dahlas about the Critter Nation being the best cage though. Not everyone likes the Critter Nations better than the Martins (I'm surprised canadians ever have martins though, shipping must be outrageously expensive!! lol). The critter nations are too big to fit in the shower for a scrub down, and if you don't have a level entrance/exit to your house, it can't be wheeled outside. Because of the no tool construction, when trying to lift it to get it outside you have to struggle to not lift it in a way that causes the pieces to come apart. Where the pieces join together, pee will build up, so deep cleans are a necessity. I find it to be a huge PITA to disassemble, carry to the tub or outside, wash, carry back to the rats room, and reassemble. They also come with shallow, chewable plastic pans, so you have to pay an additional $65 (in the US anyway) on top of an already expensive cage, if you want to use bedding, which I greatly prefer because I find it better for smells, it allows the rats to burrow which they love, and it prevents food and such from being kicked out of the cage. These are not issues with the Martins, I had a much much easier time cleaning my RUDD, the new Martins have huge doors so there is easy access (I'd of hated the martins older than 2YO though), they come with deep pans that can't be chewed, and are much easier to move and deep clean. The CN is not all bad, I'm actually using it now because I wanted to give my girls more room, but I do not think the CN is the holy grail of cages, IMO, there is not yet a perfect cage.
 
I have a Martins and although I love my Ferret Condo, I could toss my rat cages out the window lol Ive had them since 2005 and although I loved them when I got them, there are much better cages out there now. And shipping was ok, the $80 custom fee per cage was killer lol I cant wait to get rid of mine and get my cn.
Compared to a DIY cage, Martins are amazing though!
 
Ick those old martins have awfully tiny doors, I'd hate that too. But my point was it is a matter of preference, some will prefer martins some CN's.
 
The doors are not my issue, its the boys pooping in the furthest back corner under shelfs making it hard for spot cleans lol I find the door just fine. I would much rather a cage that is sturdy too, Martins bend especially in storage or moving.
 
Dazzle87 said:
The critter nations are too big to fit in the shower for a scrub down, and if you don't have a level entrance/exit to your house, it can't be wheeled outside. Because of the no tool construction, when trying to lift it to get it outside you have to struggle to not lift it in a way that causes the pieces to come apart. Where the pieces join together, pee will build up, so deep cleans are a necessity. I find it to be a huge PITA to disassemble, carry to the tub or outside, wash, carry back to the rats room, and reassemble.

Why wheel it outside when it comes apart? LOL.. I LOVE that I can take mine apart and completely clean each piece separately. And then it all pops back together. Perfecto, in my opinion.

I used to love the look of the Martins cages but then I fostered a few rats in them and, nuh uh, never again. I'll use Super Pet before a Martins again, I think.

You're right that no cage is perfect yet. I have been completely pro-fleece and litter pans until very recently, I think I'll be ordering some pans for my CN soon.
 
Moon said:
Dazzle87 said:
The critter nations are too big to fit in the shower for a scrub down, and if you don't have a level entrance/exit to your house, it can't be wheeled outside. Because of the no tool construction, when trying to lift it to get it outside you have to struggle to not lift it in a way that causes the pieces to come apart. Where the pieces join together, pee will build up, so deep cleans are a necessity. I find it to be a huge PITA to disassemble, carry to the tub or outside, wash, carry back to the rats room, and reassemble.

Why wheel it outside when it comes apart? LOL.. I LOVE that I can take mine apart and completely clean each piece separately. And then it all pops back together. Perfecto, in my opinion.

I used to love the look of the Martins cages but then I fostered a few rats in them and, nuh uh, never again. I'll use Super Pet before a Martins again, I think.

You're right that no cage is perfect yet. I have been completely pro-fleece and litter pans until very recently, I think I'll be ordering some pans for my CN soon.
LOL it takes forever to take apart, gather the pieces, carry them outside/to the tub, wash them, bring them back, and reassmble the cage. I do it, my CN is in use right now, but I find it to be a huge PITA. I like having a cage I don't have to disassemble to wash, its a huge time and effort saver. If the CN just had the assembly like the FN I could lift it over the parts I couldn't wheel it over and wash it very easily. I like to deep clean frequently, which makes it even worse.

I think you'll enjoy the pans. I liked fleece in the beginning but I got sick of it quickly...I ordered bass pans which were pricy but I do not regret it at all! And you can still do a litter box.
 
Dazzle87 said:
LOL it takes forever to take apart, gather the pieces, carry them outside/to the tub, wash them, bring them back, and reassmble the cage. I do it, my CN is in use right now, but I find it to be a huge PITA. I like having a cage I don't have to disassemble to wash, its a huge time and effort saver. If the CN just had the assembly like the FN I could lift it over the parts I couldn't wheel it over and wash it very easily. I like to deep clean frequently, which makes it even worse.

I think you'll enjoy the pans. I liked fleece in the beginning but I got sick of it quickly...I ordered bass pans which were pricy but I do not regret it at all! And you can still do a litter box.

Maybe it's just easier for me since my cage is right outside my upstairs bathroom, so I just shower all the pieces down and don't have to travel too far with them.

smilez_n_hugs said:
I don't find the CN hard to re-assemble especially if you can get some help. I think Chelle and I are down to like 10 minutes to put one together.

Yeah, after doing it a couple times, just boomboomboom and you've got a cage. Takes me longer to decorate than put together LOL
 
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