Making A Double Cage Part 2

Welcome back...

Having been driven inside by the fading light I spent the evening in front of the TV removing the 'C Clips' from the off cut bottom of the cage. Again this is a job to be done carefully as not wearing my gloves I picked up more nasty scratches from this then cutting it apart.
Having removed as many as I could without damage I set them aside to be used the next day to strengthen the top cage and attach the two together.



The next day we got to work on the project was glorious so it was straight outside and to the matter of fixing the pine to the second shelf.



In order to preserve the MDF from urine erosion, wear and tear or being eaten the base was lined with vinyl self adhesive flooring tiles.



Once the shelf was ready the body of the cage was strengthened with some of the extra 'C Clips' and the shelf was fed at an angle into the cage and then literally beaten down into position ensuring a tight fit thanks to the raised pine edges.
It would say it fit like a charm but we ended up reshaping the corners slightly!



Now that the top cage was structurally complete again the extra look out shelves could be added in.



Having spent time admiring the DIY cages on Degu World it had occurred to me our girls had never actually had real, non treated wood or ever been in a natural environment and this made me sad.
Of course they will never experience the wild, but my parents have an apple tree and a birch in their garden which required trimming and so we returned from a visit there armed with enough 'real' wood to let our girls experience more than sterile pine.
But first we had to make them fit!



There was this lovely branch I wanted to run across the cage but it wouldn't fit in as a whole piece so it was cut in half, chiselled and a bracket added.



The bracket could then be used from inside the cage to reassemble the branch and provide stability.



Once all the wood than was going in the cage was ready it needed to be sterilised.
Having spent a fair bit of time in my parents wood store I didn't want they girls to pick up any bugs from it so it was soaked in boiling water and vigourously cleaned with Pet safe disinfectant.



This is probably the best point to leave this part as the final instalment will detail the construction.