Bookcase Cage

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A friend who's a vet used a bookcase to house her piggies indoors over winter - worked a treat. Lined with Lino and sealed with aquarium sealant. Great idea - good to see it being considered on the forum. Look forward to seeing photos.
 
Thanks for all of the advice it's greatly appreciated. I think it's common in Sweden to use the Billy bookcase as a GP cage. Hope It'll go in the car now.
 
I need to hijack this brilliant thread slightly! I have recently adopted a very lively Syrian hamster and whilst my large ferplast is ok I feel something bigger and more adventurous would be great for her. Some of your ideas on here are fantastic... Any thoughts on something similar but for an overactive hamster?!
 
Thanks cavy crazy. That looks ideal! I was looking at the wooden veneer ones but knowing how much she chews, I was worried but this would work really well!
 
@Guinea Slave Glad I could help. I'm on a bit of a budget so this will be ideal for me. My sisters hamster would chew her way out of a wooden cage in days haha the good thing about the detolf is no waterproofing needed only DIY is a lid.
 
I am just scheming right now as to how we could do this and how I break it to my husband ;-)
 
I know some people have split it in the middle. I'm happy with one though lol I only have this one because my sister got bored of her and didn't take care of her so now she's mine. I'll probably keep the shelves,they might be useful for something.
 
Cavy Crazy said:
@HansPiggies that is amazing! How did you waterproof it? What did you have to do to make it more useable or is it ok as is? My diy skills are dreadful lol. @Vandamf That's class Only problem is the expedit's are quite expensive and I'm on a budget lol I'm hoping to get the Detolf for my sister's hamster(technically hers but she doesn't take care of it so now in my room) it would be handy to put the detolf on top.
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Only just seen this! I just used aquarium sealent around the edges but I also lined the base with correx because it is very slippy so with just wood shavings they had no grip...you could use puppy pads instead though X
 
Where did you get the aquarium sealant? Does it involve any heatguns or anything like that? I was planning on putting Lino on the base for an easy cleaning surface and I'm still not sure what bedding,I don't really like fleece so am considering going back to woodshavings.
 
Cavy Crazy said:
I'd love to see pics when you're finished. I'm worried I won't get the bookcase in the car as I have a small car. I'll get something in Argos if I can't.
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Did you see that Ikea includes the measurements of the flat packed box on their website? So you should be able to measure your car and know for sure if it will fit or not before you set off for Ikea.
These are the measurements for the bookcase you're after...

Width: 29 cm
Height: 13 cm
Length: 204 cm
 
Cavy Crazy said:
Where did you get the aquarium sealant? Does it involve any heatguns or anything like that? I was planning on putting Lino on the base for an easy cleaning surface and I'm still not sure what bedding,I don't really like fleece so am considering going back to woodshavings.
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I got it from eBay...just type in aquarium sealent or pet safe sealant, you need one of those cartlidge gun things that pushes it out...they are a few quid in Hombase.
image.webp Or you can get aquarium sealant in a tube you can just squeeze but usually comes in tiny sizes so would be more expensive.
Lino would work well but def need to seal the edges too :)
 
Thanks for the replies,I'm on my way home from Ikea now. It was my first time there and wow it is huge! I ended up getting the Finnby bookcase,which is smaller(60 x 180cm) I ended up spending more than planned today almost £100 I won't be able to get Lino until atleast Saturday So it will be a while until Piggies can go in. I have to save up for a while,too so temporarily I might use a shower curtain. I'll send pics when assembled.
 
This is what it is like so far. It's on top of three lack tables.the base board is cheap wood but the lack tables make it strong. My rabbits litter tray will be going under the Lack tables.

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