building and chin super mansion

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MeganS

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So my hubby decided that, for my birthday next month, he would have our brother n law help him build a new home for our babies. I've been bugging him about getting them a new cage since we got them, but we can't find anything that I like online. So I designed an giant two sided cage with a latch door in the middle so when it comes time to clean I can just open the door and let them go to the other side while I clean the shelves and floor and whatnot. Its so hard to get them into a carrier and then when we let them out they're mad at us. If we block off the room and let them out, we can't get them back in for a long time. So my ? Is what kind of wood should I get to build this thing and what kind of wire. I want wood that won't hurt them if they chew on it and I'm going to have a slide out metal tray so I can keep them above their bedding. Any suggestions? Its going to be on wheels for easy moving and its going to be about 4 feet tall, 5 feet long and 5 feet wide.
 
Hi Megan! From what I have read here, melamine coated wood is great to clean...untreated pine is safe for chins. Good luck! Happy Birthday!
 
Melamine is fine to use as long as a chin can't get to it to chew on it. Pine works well for all the other areas that a chin can chew.
 
Next one I make will be all kiln dried pine, 2 x 4 frame with 1 x 2 doors, and 1/4 x 1/4 hardware screen all around with maybe a sheet metal back!
Just make sure you put it all on paper, as changing as you're building can throw the whole thing off!!
 
I spent the last 4 hrs drawing a diagram of the front, side, inside and top view. I'll post pics of my drawings. I'm proud of myself. By no means am I able to draw even a stick figure legibly. These you can understand exactly how I want it to look and measurements and everything! Yay! I was creative! I'm excited, my boys are gunna love it!
 
When we made our cage i did lots of research online and looked at lot's of pictures of home made cages to get some ideas. Our cage itself is 4 ft tall x 4feet wide x 2 feet deep. We also built a cabinet underneath to hold supplies (which is so nice and convenient). The back we used melamine, and the sides and front we built like a square out of pine and stapled 1x1in 16 guage wire. The bottom we built a drawer out of the melamine so it was easy to change the bedding. They cant get to the sides of the drawer because we put metal corner round all the way around. I would attach pics but i am at work. I have pics posted under "Introductions" "Alittle about me and my chins". Melamine is very easy to wipe down, but it is rather expensive. Good luck!!
 
I have a cage of similar size that was custom made but not by me. We did all the shelving though with untreated pine. I used 1x1/2 inch wire and i wish i had gone with the bigger wire cause its very hard to fit a finger in for inpromtu scratches.
 
wow. your cage is amazing! it made me rethink a few things. i'll post pics of my design when my phone sends them to my email. i have it so there are 3 levels and the shelves for the second and third levels are solid with a small square of wire floor for hanging toys, but now i think i'll take out the middle of those two levels and just have shelves on either side of the cage with a few ramps. and i didnt even think of putting a cabinet on it. its going to be two sided so it will be 3 ft. wide. 5 ft. tall from floor to ceiling, and 4 ft long. the length will be split in two so it will be 1.5ft on one side and 2.5 on the other. i'm going to put wire doors in the back so when it comes time to clean i can just open it up and let them hop through without them freaking out. the cage will look exactly the same from the front and the back, just the back will be a ft shorter.
 
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