Skip to main content

The Big Degu Cage Build - Part Five

Wednesdays are usually a day where I never seem to get a lot done for some reason but not today. The degu cage build is moving along at a steady pace.

This morning my brother, and myself, nailed and glued the back and sides of the top section together and then began work on the kiln-dried pine frame which will eventually become a wire mesh top.

Top section half complete

The pine we used is 32mm x 32mm. The frame isn't all that great a fit because we thought a hand saw would do the job, but no. I think we spent about 2 hours just trying to get the ends straight. With a little bit of filling and sanding it should be okay.

The screws we used were overkill too. It was cheaper to buy a bag of 100 x 75mm screws for the doors than it was to buy 2 packets of 10 so we just used them. Ideally they should have been about 50mm but if it works don't fix it.

The finished frame was then attached flush with the upper edge of the top section using some shorter screws which we had to raid the 'man' drawer for. Just have the 13mm x 13mm wire mesh (which you can just see in the top photo) to attach with a staple gun and the internal shelves left.

When together enclosure stands at 190cm tall

After the pine frame had been attached we placed the top section on the base and suddenly realised just how big this thing actually is! The photo shows the cage without the first and third levels (still have those to cut) and the, now attached, shallow mess guard on level two.

I also managed to prime one of the outer sides ready to be painted a nice shade of 'ahoy' to match the decor of the room. I want some extra pee protection on the interior walls so I'm reading up on whether it's a 'yay' or 'nay' to seal the inside against unwanted moisture. MDF hates the wet so I, at the very least, want to seal it with a few layers of a water & PVA glue mix. I might paint it white first to reflect the light and give the illusion of it being brighter in there. Should be safe enough… don't think the 'goos' will be licking the walls!

Construction wise I only have the doors and internal shelves left to do. I've also solved my problem of preventing falls from the 2nd floor opening which is at the front of the cage.

Only 9 days left until my new furbabies move in!

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Big Degu Cage Build - Part Ten

It's almost 7PM and I'm not finished. At 5:30PM, while hanging the doors, I realized that there were no more screws of the correct size left and the shop would be shut before I got there. So I have only the top doors hung. Before bed I'm going to finish the inside by adding branches, bridges, ramps, ladders and other accessories. Then I'll fill it with wood shavings and hay ready for my new family members. Tomorrow I'll be outside waiting for Wilkinsons to open so I can get some more screws before I go to the pet store and my dad will kindly hang the remaining doors while I'm out. Hopefully they won't have sold out of degus before I get to the pet store.
4 comments
Read more

Degu Versus the Wooden Wheels

When I bought wooden exercise wheels for my 3 girls I knew I was taking a gamble. Degus love to chew wood but in the back of my mind I was hoping that they'd realize that wheel destruction meant no running. After all, they are rather intelligent little rodents. Close up of damage After 6 months of little to no interest in chewing the wheels I thought I was on to a winner and had the only non-destructive degus in the world. This afternoon, after a morning out walking I came home to wheel destruction. Degu damage to Wooden Exercise Wheels 4 hours earlier they weren't particularly bad. Just some light gnawing around the edges and on the stands. Now they resemble something that's been, quite literally, blown apart by a grenade. It's like they woke up this morning and thought, "Right, degus. We're going to start chewing these wheels and we're not going to stop until they're gone!" It's a good job I didn't pay full price for the ...
1 comment
Read more

Degu Home Decor

The girls have settled down a little since I got them on Friday so while they were snoozing earlier this morning I took the opportunity to take some photos of their degu home decor. Bottom Section - Grass Hammock If you've read some of my Cage Build Posts you'll know that the cage is built in 2 parts, a bottom & top section, for easier moveability. The bottom floor of the bottom section is the digging pit. My aim is to make this as natural looking as possible. It is filled with around 15cm of wood shavings and some hay. I've used horse wood shavings as the shavings are large and allows the degus to burrow when mixed with the hay. Underground Hideout They have an underground area which is a hay tunnel sunk down in to the wood shavings. If you can't find one of the girls the first place to look is here because they love playing in it. You can also see a few willow branches. I got a bundle of 20 of these from B&Q for £6.99. They're about 50cm long a...
2 comments
Read more