Ikea study desk -> Hamster cage!

baby and crumble

Hey everyone, I mentioned in the "post your pet" thread that I had made an Ikea study desk into a custom hamster cage for Isabella, and someone asked me to put up pics. SO here you go, in some kind of order... I have to say, the whole project was really good. Got a little much having lots of tools and wood in my tiny flat for nearly a week while we built, but it's worth it in the end. We originally bought a Rotastak Genus 200 for her, which we soon realised is way too small for a decent sized Syrian hamster- her back was arching badly on the wheel, and she'd only run in very short bursts. But the cage was so small we couldn't actually fir a bigger wheel in.

So anyway, we started with the Laiva study desk from Ikea, which I wasn't using. They are €13.20, and look like this-



We figured out the wheel we wanted was the Karlie Wonderland 29cm wooden wheel, so we needed about 35cm clearance for it. With the measurements of the desk we could get 2 levels, one slightly higher for the wheel.

So here we are starting off-



The next step was measuring the internal area, and placing the supports for the shelf in the right spot, and level. We then cut lengths of timber (which we got for free from a friends shed) to make the shelf, with space for a ramp to the bottom level:



Once that was in place we did the same on the bottom level to create the floor. We got some 1cm square mesh and secured it to the sides with some more lengths of timber- we found the material of the desk quite hard to hammer the mesh staples into- we didn't have a staple gun, unfortunately. But it works anyway. We then made sure that the wire was flush to the shelf, so there were no little spaces a flexible hamster could get through!



There is a built in gap in the desk, which acts as a shelf for a desk tidy, etc. The provided shelf doesn't reach the full way across the back of the desk, so we meshed that up too. It actually worked out nicely, because it lets more light into the back of the cage.

Of course at this point we had to make sure it was hamster friendly, so Isabella got some playtime out in the new cage, and on the new wheel!!!



So at this point, the floor and shelf is in, the sides and back of the lid are meshed- we needed doors. So we built them. Now, neither I nor my girlfriend are carpenters- I did woodwork for my Junior Cert many moons ago, but that's about it. So we struggled with this bit, but we got there in the end. We did need filler for some of the joints ( ) but we we covering them in wood effect contact anyway, as the were untreated spruce, so not safe for a hamster to nibble on by accident!



Ok, I need to break this up because of the max 5 pics thing...

ashlingm

Fabulous idea! Just wondering though are you going to treat the wood to stop the urine from soaking into it or what have you got planned?

I have wooden shelves covered in newspaper and fleece in my cage but its slowly beginning to be destroyed so wanted to see if you had any ideas!

baby and crumble

Once the doors were ready to hang, we covered all the black wood with the contact paper, really just for appearances, but it did clean it up quite well...

(In this pic you can actually see the 'gap' I mentioned at the back- I guess we meshed it up after this pic was taken!!)



We put mesh on the doors, and hung them (which frankly was a NIGHTMARE but we managed it somehow...), and put some lino down onto the floors to keep the wood clean- luckily Isabella isn't a crazy nibbler.

So here is the finished product (almost- we need to get facings for the doors, because at the moment you can see the staples for the mesh, and there are rough edges. Sadly dole day was long gone, and well, that's really just appearances for me, so I'm less bothered...)





The ramp and the tunnels are made with lollipop sticks from Easons and PVA glue (non toxic!) and tbh she loves them. The sticks are the perfect size for hamster paws to grip and climb all over! Plus they add a bit of colour...

Just to get an idea of the price of everything-

Ikea table- €13.20
Random wood- Free
Screws, hinges, locks, etc- about €20
Mesh- 2m @ €6.50 a metre, so €13 (DON'T buy this in B&Q, they wanted 30-something per metre for the exact same thing!!!)
Contact paper- 1m @ €5.50 per metre
Lino- we got for free

So all in the whole cage cost about €50, and she has a dual level cage, custom made for her, which fits very nicely into my flat. You honestly wouldn't get the same amount of space in a commercial cage for less than €100, so I was very happy. I can't get over how much happier and settled she seems now- I always thought she was grand before, but no. She's nearly a different hamster, with the energy and curiosity and mischief ratcheted up!!

Plus TBH it was something to do while on the dole and needing a distraction! It's not perfect, and in comparison to some of the Ikea hacked cages you see online, it's rubbish. But we had a tight budget, and this works well.

And just because, here's a bonus pic of Isabella coming out of her house...



:pac::pac::pac::pac:

baby and crumble

ashlingm wrote: »

Fabulous idea! Just wondering though are you going to treat the wood to stop the urine from soaking into it or what have you got planned?

I have wooden shelves covered in newspaper and fleece in my cage but its slowly beginning to be destroyed so wanted to see if you had any ideas!

Well right now we have lino down and it's cut very tight. Isabella is nearly potty trained, so it's easy enough to make sure it doesn't leak at the moment. But I am thinking of using Plasti-Kote to varnish it. It's safe for rodents and animals, and you can get it in places like decwells. I just couldn't afford it when we were putting her in, and I wanted to get her moved in!

Zapperzy

It's amazing, well done! I'd love to have made something like that for mine. Zooplus had similar wooden and perspex type cages and they were up to €200 varying on size I think. :eek: The lollypop stick toys is a brilliant idea. You might want to put something across the bottom of the door though to keep all the bedding in, I know mine would have purposely left a pile outside the cage every morning if she could!

ashlingm

baby and crumble wrote: »

Well right now we have lino down and it's cut very tight. Isabella is nearly potty trained, so it's easy enough to make sure it doesn't leak at the moment. But I am thinking of using Plasti-Kote to varnish it. It's safe for rodents and animals, and you can get it in places like decwells. I just couldn't afford it when we were putting her in, and I wanted to get her moved in!

I just googled plasti-kote, definately what I'm going to try! In the meantime lino will do...I just want something I can wipe down every few days to keep the pee smell down. Any idea how much plasti-kote costs?

franksm

Such a fab idea !

Alun

Many, many, many years ago my sister and I had a hamster and my dad, being a woodwork teacher, decided it'd be a good idea to build her a wooden cage. It took all of a week before she made her escape by gnawing through it ... just warning you

TooManyDogs

Well done. That looks like hamster heaven!

**Vai**

Brilliant idea, fair play. No use for degu's though unfortunately, they would chew through that in an afternoon.

baby and crumble

Yeah, I'm keeping an eye out for chewing alright, a lot of it is meshed so that's something. But hey you never know! I'm
Keeping her old cage nearby should I need it!

artyeva

i don't have a hamster, but i do love ikea and i do love hacking and this is just brilliant. absolutely brilliant! she must be so pleased with the increase in space and she certainly fell on her feet when she landed in your gaff

ShaShaBear

I absolutely ADORE this! I've had my two rats 2 months now, and Ive always felt their store-bought cage is somewhat lacking. Would love to have something like this for them!

baby and crumble

ashlingm wrote: »

I just googled plasti-kote, definately what I'm going to try! In the meantime lino will do...I just want something I can wipe down every few days to keep the pee smell down. Any idea how much plasti-kote costs?

I think I saw a can of the clear in Decwells in Dublin city centre for €15.

artyeva wrote: »

i don't have a hamster, but i do love ikea and i do love hacking and this is just brilliant. absolutely brilliant! she must be so pleased with the increase in space and she certainly fell on her feet when she landed in your gaff

Considering she was a leftover hammy that no-one wanted I'd say you're right! But she's gorgeous and completely spoiled!!! At some stage I want to try hacking a Deltof or a Billy unit, some of the caes I've seen built off them are AMAZING.

Bubblefett

Wow it looks fantastic!! Looks as good as any of the big ones in the petshop
Well done

baby and crumble

Ok, I know I'm possibly dragging up an old thread and will get the naughty step from the mods, but I made an extension Isabella this evening!

She's been living in her old smaller cage for the last few weeks as I have temporarily moved back to the city and couldn't fit her big cage in the car when I was moving. I've not been happy with her in her old cage, so I decided tonight to give her some more room.

Anyway, we went to Ikea and bought a big Samla bin (€5 + €3 lid), and a set of wooden magazine racks for €6. I found small hamster tubes in a petshop for €1.25 and I have a wood burning pen.

We used the wood burning pen to cut a circle in the new bin and her old cage bottom the size of the tube, and linked them together side by side. We burned ventilation holes in the lid and voila! A doubling in space for a very spoiled hamster. We're going to make the magazine racks into shelves, but for now I'm just happy she has more space.

The new set up (lid off)



With the lid on



The linking tube



And I just like this one because she's caught ROTTEN up to no good!!!

Knine

Excellent. My daughters Syrian has ate her way out of 5 different cages. However last week my daughter got her hamster a new cage as the old one was rather shabby and half eaten.

The next morning I had a mini heart attack when I realised the new cage was empty and the door open. There was a frantic search for the hamster.

Low and behold there she was in her old cage! She had even closed the cage door after herself.

mymo

My daughter has pet rats and a huge cage, they love a run around, but thankfully come when called(mostly) or will make their way home, well to the top of the cage, once they get bored!
I have had a few occasions when I was feeding or cleaning them and realised someone was missing!

We use one of those big storage boxes to contain them while taking cage apart to clean, they're very useful, I drilled holes in ours, which they are making bigger every time they're in it!

I was originally planning something like you made as a large cage, but found a great used one online. Was going to use an ikea shelving unit and same wire mesh, used Lino for shelves like yours, priced the lot at €45, but don't think it would look as impressive as yours!

ShaShaBear

My two rattie girls are currently shacked up in this.

It's about 5ft9in tall and cost a total of €65 to make (green-house and wire mesh from Woodies) and took a total of about 3 hours of our time. Probably should have been less, only we forgot to get wire cutters!

They adore it, such a big step from the glorified hamster cage they were in before. Plus, there's room for plenty more ratties if I decide to get more

baby and crumble

ShaShaBear wrote: »

My two rattie girls are currently shacked up in this.

It's about 5ft9in tall and cost a total of €65 to make (green-house and wire mesh from Woodies) and took a total of about 3 hours of our time. Probably should have been less, only we forgot to get wire cutters!

They adore it, such a big step from the glorified hamster cage they were in before. Plus, there's room for plenty more ratties if I decide to get more

Oh wow! I am very impressed! Homemade cages ftw! You can get so much more space for so much cheaper than with store bought cages.

ShaShaBear

baby and crumble wrote: »

Oh wow! I am very impressed! Homemade cages ftw! You can get so much more space for so much cheaper than with store bought cages.

Thanks We were so proud, and I love doing home-made toys for them every week to chop and change the cage for them! And to think the same size online was about 250!