Need To Make new FN Trays TONIGHT!! NEED ADVICE!!!!!

[bruxxy]

My girl Kira (who is the chewer in my group) has finally discovered that she can now chew through the FN trays!

Shes trying extremely hard to get at the ratties who live in the bottom half because she doesn't like them, so its been non stop since last night. I try a bunch of things to stop her but she just kept doing it. It looks pretty bad right now and there is a huge hole. I put hot sauce on it so the smell would deter her for a bit. It worked but I have to keep adding it and it doesn't smell nice and makes a mess.

So I need to go out tonight and buy something that can be used as a tray.

Does anyone know how I could do this? I remember seeing a post a while back where someone made some great looking FN trays...but I can't find the original post.

 

[lilspaz68]

Dang that sucks!!

Hmmm...those trays were made out of coroplast so that would be not very good for those determined Kira teeth.

I could give you some mesh panels so she couldn't get through for now to give you some time?
You could zip tie them together and put them under the pain for safety's sake.

 

[SQ]

Plexiglass cut to fit the shelves would work well but no sides to contain stuff. But you could make "sides" out of strips of coroplast.

 

[bruxxy]

the plexiglass is a good idea. thanks

 

[Cityratt]

Ive often thought of doing that...but where does one get plexiglass to cut to size.... *ponders*

 

[Shelley]

I'm starting to think about what else I can use as trays.. My girls have destroyed the FN trays, and 2 sets of coroplast.. Need to make something idestructable next... :roll:

 

[Rodentist]

When Octavian did that, I used a glass cutting board....one of those big ones with the nice pictures on them? They are just *terrible* for your knives in the kitchen....but he couldn't chew through it to get to his nemesis!

 

[Dahlas]

I had plexiglass cut to the right size at the hardware store.

 

[Godmother]

Another quick fix to separate the two parts of the cage might be a cookie sheet or a cookie-cooling tray. As for the sides? you might have to check out a hardware store to see if they sell something suitable. What a pain for you!

 

[Tarrbot]

Another, more permanent option, would be to go to a sheet metal shop with the dimensions you require and have a piece of sheet metal cut to fit.

You shouldn't need anything thicker than 24 gauge. 26 gauge would probably be fine.

If you have the money and the time, get "paint grip" metal. It's not oily and could potentially be used to put an acrylic coat of paint on.

I'm not sure you want to paint something that can be chewed on, though as it might make the little ones sick.

If you get one cut to fit, make sure they add ¼"-½" on each side (an extra ½"-1" wider) so they can be bent over to keep any edges from being accessible. This will keep toes and noses from being cut by the metal.

And make sure they bend those edges in their brake (it's a big bender that does the job nicely and presses the metal flat).

 

[mamarat]

I had really bad chewers and I got a metal tray made at a sheet metal shop. But it's for my Martin's. Works beautifully. The only drawback it's galvanized.

 

[Tarrbot]

I should also note about sheet metal thickness. The lower the number, the thicker the metal. For example, 24 gauge sheet metal is thicker than 26 gauge sheet metal is thicker than 28 gauge sheet metal. Sheet metal thicknesses typically are even numbered, although if I recall, there are some extremely esoteric metals that have odd numbered thicknesses.

I worked in a sheet metal shop in my youth, if anyone has any questions.

mamarat, if you want to, you could take that galvanized sheet metal and paint it or cover it with something to keep it from rusting as bad. This was why I recommended the "paint grip" metal. Essentially, paint grip is etched to remove the manufacturing oil so that paint can be applied to it without any issues.

In a pinch, you could take it to a car wash and hose it completely off and dry it down. Obviously do not let it air dry as that would increase its rust factor. Alternatively, you could get some muriatic acid and take a disposable brush to it. Apply the acid to it and wash it off (with water is fine). Then you could put a paint or other chemical to it without fear that it would fall off.

A word of warning on the muriatic acid option: While muriatic acid is intended to etch metal and clean it, it is imperative that you do so in an area where airflow can disperse the odors. It's very very pungent and can gag you real quick.

 

[jorats]

Wow, great info Tarrbot!!!