# What material to use best for new cage?



## MissIvy (Sep 10, 2011)

Hey everyone! MissIvy here, and Joey too!  

So, I'm considering to be a hedgiebreeder, since I'm totally addicted to them and I can't stop wasting my time reading about Hedgies, hedgies and more hedgies. xD

I've been breeding pet mice, so I have some experience in breeding animals (not that mice and hedgehogs are comparable, but any experience is experience). The only problem is the cage. I have a spacious (6 sqf) terrarium for Joey, for almost a year now and he does wonderful in it. I had a friend make some extra ventilation holes in it, so the airflow would be almost optimal. 

The thing is, the opening is on the top, I have to lift the lid to get to Joey. If I want another cage (I want to build a terrarium, well, let my daddy build it xD), I have to place it on top, since I don't have that much floor space and my bed and closet and desk have to be in my room too. 

Once I have the proper tower built, this terrarium I have now will get out of the house, since I won't use it anymore once I have this gorgeous tower. xD

I'm going to build this tower of terrariums, partially made out of wood, or something other than glass, since glass doesn't really isolate that well and with wood it's easier to saw the sides open for ventilation-panels. 

The thing is, I don't know what material to use best. I'll upload a sketch from the plan I had in mind in a bit, too. Is there anyone that has experience with building hedgiecages like this and can recommend some material? 

~ Miss Ivy


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## MissIvy (Sep 10, 2011)

Here's the image, I posted the sizes in cm, since that's what we have here. I have calculated that with a cage length of 85 cm and depth of 50 cm, both cages will individually have a size of a bit over 4,5 square feet.


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

Wood can harbor mites so it would need to be sealed with something that is safe for hogs.


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## MissIvy (Sep 10, 2011)

Yeah I know about the mites, that's why I previously chose to buy this full glass terrarium. 

But what kind of wood would be strong enough, but least prone to mites ( I know some kinds of wood are more prone to contain mites then others, but not sure what I could use for building) and what material/paint/fineer to use that's not toxic for hedgies?


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

I've never used wood for a cage so i'm not sure what is best to seal the wood with. We do have members that have built cages with wood, maybe some of them will be trough to help soon.


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## Christemo (Oct 5, 2011)

I would think that having glass for both cages would be really hard to clean.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

For moms and babies, the best thing IMO, is plastic bins. Probably they are what the majority of breeders use. Because I was small and only ever had 2 girls and babies at a time, I kept the bins on a table. My girls used the bins only when pregnant and with babies and went back to their own cages the rest of the time. Many breeders have the bins on shelf units. 

Most of my regular cages are plywood built like shelves with front drop down ventilated doors. The plywood is painted with Varathane oil based paint but if I were to do it again, I would use latex paint as it took forever for the smell to go off the paint so I could use them. The bottom of the cages have coroplast over the wood. I've been using these type of cages for 9 years with no problems.


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

When I was looking to build cages, it was recommended to me that an AA Marine plywood and 3 coats of clear acrylic lacquer to waterproof it was a good way to achieve a cage that could withstand moisture. Neither item are cheap.

Nancy, do you remember what type of plywood you used? I still would like to build a stack of condos some day.


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

I'm currently building some stacks of vivariums, and also am using plywood (not sure exactly what kind, nothing fancy). I'll be painting them with white latex paint and sealing them with acrylic lacquer like Kalandra mentioned. Here's one cage I was working on yesterday, minus the door:










However, I really agree with Nancy, you're going to want another maternity cage if you do decide to breed. Vivs are great for normal adults, but when it comes to leaving a cage for weeks to avoid disturbing a mom, having to use loose bedding instead of a liner, etc. a tub works MUCH better.


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## MissIvy (Sep 10, 2011)

I was thinking about shelves like that too, with either rodent plastic tanks (big enough for hedgies ofcourse) or the plastic bins. But the plastic rodent tanks are way too expensive, in the right size they are far more expensive than glass terrariums even, so that's no option. The plastic sterilite bins seem very hard to find here in Holland. I've been looking for one a decent size, for a long time, but I can't find them big enough... >.< 

Another problem I have in my room is that, although my room is very spacious, is an attic, so I don't have straight high walls. My walls are cut off at 1 meter from the ground by the roof.. 

The plywood sounds very good though, but how do you do that with heating? I keep my room at constant temp. at 20 degrees (if warmer, I get headaches, if colder, I can't sleep xD) Can you just do it with CHE? Isn't that dangerous in combination with the plywood?

EDIT: About the tubs as maternity cage, If I can find one big enough, I'm surely gonna use that, since it's more hygienic and easier to clean. That's why I kept and empty space (about 50 cm high) below the two shelves. I could put a third shelf there, so I could put the bin right there. I would be about 10 cm of the ground, would that be ok? I know mice better not be kept on the floor, but better on higher level, especially when breeding. I haven't been able to find information like that about breeding hedgehogs though.


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

I personally heat with a space heater, so the whole room is warm. You could probably get away with using a CHE but you'd need one for each cage and find a way to attach the CHE safely and direct the heat into the cage.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

I too use a space heater and heat the whole room. CHE's could work in stacking wooden cages, but they would have to be designed differently than mine or LizardGirl's. 

When I was first breeding I too had difficulty finding clear bins large enough for cages. All the large clear ones didn't have flat bottoms. Now they are easy to find. :lol: Are you able to get coroplast there? If so, you can make bins out of coroplast. That's what I did for the moms for the first couple years. 

My upstairs rooms also have slanted ceilings with low knee walls so I had to build to suit those walls. The table the moms bins sat on was under the knee walls built about 2 feet off the floor. The bins sat on top, storage underneath. 

Here's my newest cage condo as I was building it. It's 4' wide and 2' deep. Each shelf has a divider so it can either be two 2'x2' cages or one 2' x 4' cages. The condo unit is in two sections for ease of moving. As it was, the bottom section was a challenge getting it up to their room. :lol:

I used normal plywood. We happened to be in Rona one day and they had finished both sides plywood on for about 1/3 of what it would normally cost. I had them cut it for me so all we had to do was glue it and screw it together. I used enough glue so there is no way moisture can get between the pieces of wood. I also considered caulking around the edge of the floor but found it wasn't necessary once it was painted. I used coroplast for the back and the coroplast on the floors is easily removed to clean. If I were building again, I would do each cage separately simply for easy of moving.


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## MissIvy (Sep 10, 2011)

Oh thanks Nancy, for posting that picture! It does help a lot.  Unfortunately, we don't have coroplast in Holland, only if you're a professional designer wiht a special registration. >.< Would it be okay to use hardboard for the backside? 

I think I will put the upper main cage on that third, the lowest, shelf (the one not on the sketch xD) and put the nursery on the highest shelf. I'm still not very fond of how close they will be from the (colder) floor otherwise. 

The only thing I still have to solve is the heat. Space heater is no option, since it's still my the room I also use for studying and sleeping and I'm not very fond of putting my own heater on higher than 21 C. Well, my father isn't (the energy bill will be too high...)... 

I still have plenty of time, though, since I'm still even looking for the right girl. We don't have many hedgiebreeders here and even less that work with a pedigree (to prevent the inbreeding xD).


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