Gorm rat cage

The Gorm is turning out to be ideal as pet cages. Here's another one for rats from Robin.

"My husband and I made this 4-floor cage for our pet rat (who can be seen sleeping on the balcony in the pictures). It cost around $30 for the Gorm shelf unit (5 of the 20x20 size shelves and 4 uprights) and another $40 at the hardware store for the wire mesh, hinges, wood trim that makes the door, and hook latches.

The mesh is attached to the frame with 1/2" wood staples. The hardest part of the whole project was making the door since we have no carpentry experience but we made good use of a Speed Square to mark out the angles and keep the corners square while we stapled the pieces together.

The ramps are made by sawing out one of the slats that make the shelves and reattaching them with little brass hinges. This means each of the ramps can swing up and be secured flat to separate the floors. We then glued down a few pieces of the hook-side of velcro and used them to secure felt strips to the ramps to give some grip. When they are dirty or torn up we can just pull them off and wash or replace.

We covered the floor with old t-shirts and towels which are easy to wash and keep little feet from slipping between the slats. I'd like to replace them with carpet scraps someday for a more finished look but they won't be as easy to keep clean."

See more photos of Robin's rat cage.

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