Two's Company, Three's a Crowd, Four's a HERD :)

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Sun May 12, 2019 12:22 pm


Great looking group! And I LOVE the names Mulder and Scully (big X-Files fan, here). :)

TheCageCleaner

Post   » Wed May 29, 2019 11:26 pm


Oh happy day, our cage is done and our herd is together at last!

Intro went very well. Dana made sure to let Opal know she is in charge but was very gentle and forgiving despite Opal still getting used to a lot of the social cues.

Image

Linking to a quick video of the full setup here: https://imgur.com/a/k90rlgg

Melamine board with Lexan panels, just under 11 feet long and 30” wide. I’m so happy I went for this layout as opposed to an upper/lower level as Dana is aging so I don’t know if she could handle it. Plus, there have already been some *very* long Opal zoomies. :)

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Wed May 29, 2019 11:31 pm


Great looking group, there. I'm sure they'll all love the spacious new digs!

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu May 30, 2019 7:58 am


Spacious indeed! It is so nice to have a smooth, waterproof floor of some sort. I had been determined to have a smooth wall above the tub for shower users so it could be squeegeed off without having to mess with tiles and grout. My daughter and I applied some Formica panels to the walls - Formica comes in many sizes and a seemingly infinite number of colors and patterns.

TheCageCleaner

Post   » Thu May 30, 2019 8:36 am


Yes, for sure. I was so sick of C&C--it's really great for most people but for us we want high visibility and something that really contains all of the messes. Unless you edge the coroplast with something hay and poops can get inside the flutes. I think I replaced the coro in our old cage 2 or 3 times over 3 years!

I'm going to keep working on this bad boy for a while--the original cage is the left side, and has older caulk which was not silicone and is already deteriorated. The new cage was a breeze to assemble now that I know what I'm doing. Used a special drill bit to make pilot holes in the melamine to prevent cracking, and then GE Silicone II with a caulking tool over all the joints gave it a perfect finish. And then in the next month or so I will be picking up a bunch of 2x4s to make the riser so this whole setup will be 2' off the floor.

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ItsaZoo
Supporter in 2023

Post   » Thu May 30, 2019 1:30 pm


What a nice new cage! Is the melamine the panels that are used in shower enclosures? I have a grid cage but used half a sheet of wainscoting to make the floor. I added made a 2 x 2s around the edge to make a frame and lined it with waterproof tyvek from a mattress cover. So the cage sits inside the frame which is cleaner than having the Coroplast inside. Melamine would be a nice improvement, though.

TheCageCleaner

Post   » Thu May 30, 2019 1:52 pm


I think shower enclosures are usually fiberglass, which I'm not sure would work too well for an enclosure. Melamine is what a lot of basic cabinets and Ikea furniture are made out of. Just an MDF/particleboard that has a melamine, or plastic, coating. Ours is 3/4" thick so it's super solid and hefty. I can easily sit/stand/walk inside without the board cracking (I weigh 225lbs, so the pigs certainly wouldn't be able to break it lol). I know there is controversy about proper ventilation with 'solid' vs. grid cages, but if kept clean with an open top I've found no difference between this and C&C. If anything, it's easier to keep clean which improves air quality.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu May 30, 2019 4:15 pm


I mentioned Formica because it is the thin, hard, smooth part. It can be adhered to plywood too.

TheCageCleaner

Post   » Fri May 31, 2019 10:51 am


Oh for sure. I've seen some adorable cages with stuff like that or even vinyl flooring to make it look like a real wood floor. I considered it but I figured the melamine would do just fine. Eventually if we ever buy a house I'd prefer to give them an entire *room* but that's a pipe dream...:P

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ItsaZoo
Supporter in 2023

Post   » Fri May 31, 2019 11:01 am


Melamine has a lot of weight to it so I couldn’t use that. I have the guinea pig cage on top of our dog cage so I wanted to make it light weight.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bv7R2kfhLfu ... x262lngboi

TheCageCleaner

Post   » Fri May 31, 2019 12:31 pm


Luckily the 3/4" isn't too bad. I'm used to a lot of DIY and heavy lifting and I wanted something that would be super solid and last a long time.

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