Home-made hamster cages are relatively easy to make and can often provide a larger living space for a hamster at less cost than buying a commercially available cage.
Plastic And Wire Cage
A hamster cage can be made using a large plastic storage box and adding a wire mesh top or cutting away inner area of the plastic top and making a wire mesh "window" for ventilation.
This type of cage is cheap and easy to make, easy to clean, draught proof and prevents the hamster from kicking shavings out of the cage.
The disadvantage of this type of cage is that it is often difficult to find storage boxes that are fully transparent although there storage boxes that are semi-transparent.
Wood, Wire And Perspex Cage
A hamster cage can be made from a combination of wood, wire mesh and a piece of perspex. The base, back and two sides being made from wood, a wooden frame with perspex window forms the front of the cage, whilst a wire mesh top built within a wooden frame forms for the top of the cage. The wire mesh top is hinged onto the back of the cage and a securing hook fastens the cage at the front.
This type of cage is relatively easily to clean, draught proof and prevents the hamster kicking shavings out of the cage. However, the disadvantage with this type of home-made cage is that the wood soaks the urine and so frequent cleaning is needed to keep the cage free from smell and hamsters do tend to gnaw the wood and so these types of cages may need repairing from time to time and should be regularly checked to ensure no splinters appear.
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