Rescued female syrian, underweight

They are very clever! And sneaky. It would certainly be a huge cage. You could just get a large piece of mesh cut by the diy store, slightly bigger than the entire cage, bend it over at the edges so the edges go down the side of the panels and fold the edges under again so there are no sharp edges. She would still be able to lift that up! (Seen that before - I'll see if I can find the video where someone did this on a tank). So it would need to be secured somehow or weighted down at the edges. You could make two lids with mesh in the middle of a wood frame but again it's how to secure them so there aren't any gaps at the edges and can't be pushed up. Although with wood frames you'd have a solid surface area to put some books on top round the edges. If it's just mesh you need to be very careful with edges or they can cut themselves - so two separate pieces overlapping wouldn't work - she could push through the gap and catch herself on any edges.

Personally I would possibly think about getting a larger used cage as it sounds a very tricky thing to turn into a secure cage. Although it's lovely to have a huge cage like that it might be easier to have it as a playpen that folds away. Having said that, as a maverick female she might well need something bigger than 100cm cage!

At night they literally have a personality change! Their brain acts differently once it's dark. It's also their most active time when they're hard wired to run 10 miles a night and forage! You could try adding a 12" flying saucer to the pen. My playpen is smaller than yours and our Syrian used to regularly try and hurl himself out! Until I got the 12" flying saucer (he also has an 11" wheel in it) and he loved that saucer and doesn't try and jump out any more. He's been in the playpen for a couple of hours late at night before and doesn't try to escape (mind you he might do if I went to bed and turned the lights out!).
 
Last edited:
To be honest, it might be easier to get a detolf! There are a lot of tutorials for lids for those.
 
This is a tutorial for making a lid for an aquarium, so it would be the same principle. Getting the measurements right could be tricky. You can just use pine wood and corner brackets (like the ones below) instead of screws but it wouldn't be as sturdy. It looks complicated to me but ensures there are no sharp mesh edges. It's why I think a detolf might be easier! A detolf lid is quite easy to make and all the measurements are already on various youtube videos!


 
Aha! I noticed on that link you added for the pen, that further down the page it shows a photo of it built double height and also using some of the panels for a partial lid. That "might" make things easier as if you could use panels for a partial lid you could have a smaller mesh lid. It will need to be mesh though, for ventilation.

If making a wood floor it would ideally need painting with petsafe waterproofing paint so it doesn't get pee soaked.

Playpen Princess.jpg
 
If it was double height like that, she could still climb to the top! She'd use the corner pieces and edges to get a footing (or build a pile of substrate somewhere to climb up). So it would still need a mesh top. To escape is a hamster's raison d'etre! Even if they have a whole room they still try and escape from that!
 
PCL have you seen this one?! It looks the same as the one you have, but has an actual cage lid - no diy needed! I know you've already bought it - but .............. Could be an easy solution. Rainbow Bright linked it on the playpen thread originally.

www.wayfair.co.uk

Wayfair.co.uk - Shop Furniture, Lighting, Homeware & More Online | Wayfair.co.uk

Shop Wayfair.co.uk for A Zillion Things Home across all styles and budgets. 5,000 brands of furniture, lighting, cookware, and more.
www.wayfair.co.uk www.wayfair.co.uk
 
Princess Crazy-Locks said:
Hi! Sorry for the quiet...I ended up improvising a lid (large sheet of thin plywood with all her gubbins placed around the edges)...I had checked, checked and checked again, the first night she was OK but last night I woke up to her rustling around (as I'm becoming accustomed too) and the cheeky minx accurately launched herself over a foot, to make an escape on to the top of the blanket box! Caught her up had some cuddles and a very gentle "No, Ms Rainy Ramboham; just because you can do it doesn't mean you should - furthermore- according to the general t'internet....YOU CAN'T EVEN SEE THAT FAR, LET ALONE JUMP IT!" Put her back and...I'm sure no one here will be surprised to read - she immediately did it again! God love her!

This is the "pen" kit

SONGMICS Pet Playpen, Guinea Pig Run and Cage with Floor, Indoor DIY Transparent Plastic Enclosure for Hamsters, Rabbits, Hedgehogs, Small Animal Exercise Habitat, White LPC02W https://amzn.eu/d/5skPf1f
Click to expand...
Do you guys have any advice on removing the cage (barred section) pls?! She can barely turn around in the tube but she uses it for her food hoard and where we covered it with the blackout fabric (for when us mere hoomans require electric lighting), she's taken to using the (now covered) ledge as a nest...I'm trying to keep the disruption to minimum for her, but I dread that she'll end up stuck in the tube and I might not hear her?!?!
 
Maz said:
PCL have you seen this one?! It looks the same as the one you have, but has an actual cage lid - no diy needed! I know you've already bought it - but .............. Could be an easy solution. Rainbow Bright linked it on the playpen thread originally.

www.wayfair.co.uk

Wayfair.co.uk - Shop Furniture, Lighting, Homeware & More Online | Wayfair.co.uk

Shop Wayfair.co.uk for A Zillion Things Home across all styles and budgets. 5,000 brands of furniture, lighting, cookware, and more.
www.wayfair.co.uk www.wayfair.co.uk
Click to expand...
Ooh that looks like a fancier version?!?
 
Our "pen kit" is entirely made up of metal framed, plastic panels (no wire sections). We're very limited by budget, hence the "waste not want not" / "Dr. Frankenstein" approach - I gave in on the pen kit with the notion that I could get enough sleep to figure out a proper build design, out of available parts that we already have knocking around. Clearly Ms. Ramboham knows better than I!

We'll have plenty of suitable parts and materials left to take on "something animal" / "Erin's animals" diy 12" wheel build - which I kinda hoped to focus on first, whilst she was "temporarily contained", the wheel that came with her is 5.5"...she's bigger than it and hasn't used it most of the time she's been with us vur obviously that needs to be a priority, bless her! X!
 
She definitely needs a wheel! She will go stir crazy with pent up energy. No she won't use the tiny wheel as it's probably uncomfortable. The cheapest wheel you can get (and it's absolutely fine) that is suitable is the 28cm trixie wheel. You might find it cheaper than on Amazon. It used to be £9.99 but like so many other things, it has doubled in price.


I hear you - it's tricky to make things affordable. My only experience with diy though is that it can often end up costing more than buying a second hand cage - which could save a lot of headaches! You can get a used hamster heaven for about £25 usually. And then possibly think about upgrading her to something larger later. Although a used Savic Plaza would be better - she might bar chew in a Hamster Heaven.

Yes that one above just has a barred top - I think that's the main difference :). It would make it a secure cage.

Not sure which location you're in but I would also think about contacting one of the hamster rescues because they often have spare wheels and all sorts they could help you out with in the short term.
 
Princess Crazy-Locks said:
Do you guys have any advice on removing the cage (barred section) pls?! She can barely turn around in the tube but she uses it for her food hoard and where we covered it with the blackout fabric (for when us mere hoomans require electric lighting), she's taken to using the (now covered) ledge as a nest...I'm trying to keep the disruption to minimum for her, but I dread that she'll end up stuck in the tube and I might not hear her?!?!
Click to expand...
Can you just remove the tube? Yes they can get stuck in tubes and they do tend to hoard, nest and pee in them, so cages without tubes are better. Usually you can just remove the tube (but depends if the cage came with any tube blockers to block the holes?). I wouldn't disturb her nest right now though, if it's on the shelf. She will get very disorientated if she can't settle in and build a nest from the start.
 
Ah ok. So you mean take the whole barred cage top off? I think that might upset her if she's nesting on the shelf. I guess you could take the tube out and stick cardboard or plywood over the hole in the cage (on the inside).
 
Maz said:
I actually have a spare trixie wheel. I could send you it if you like.
Click to expand...
We're south west uk?! - not going to lie, that would be an absolute godsend! X

I was very blessed to be taught the importance of improvising and "make do and mend / build" by my Dad and grandparents, other than food and the pen, everything else has been cobbled together and researchex for suitability.

My own (teen) kiddos are lazy about pretty much everything - periodically they do something that makes me go "huh, so you do kindof pay attention then?!" But I genuinely worry that I haven't done enough to teach them to do the same?! Lol! X
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top