well i did it again i've made another DIY enclosure
i figured since i was making this enclosure again i would film my process of how i built it
first things first the wood i use for these enclosures is a sheet of 4 feet by 8 foot
PureBond aspen plywood from Home Depot
Home Depot will also cut the wood to any sizes you'd like which is very convenient for anyone who doesn't own large saws
now what's different about this plywood is that it is made with a soy-based purebond adhesive
that is formaldehyde-free so we don't have to worry about any yucky off-gassing
something else that is really important is that you have to buy the 1/2 inch thick sheet
and NOT the 1/4 inch thick sheet because i definitely did not do that
this enclosure is going to be 2 feet by 4 feet giving us a total of around 1152 square inches of floor space
to start i'm going to attach caster wheels to the base so it makes moving the enclosure around much easier
once that's done i'm going to mark out where i'm going to drill my pilot holes
to attach the back to the base and then i'm going to drill them out
this next step is a fun one to do alone and that's
figuring out how to attach two pieces without anyone's help it's hard but it's doable
this is also where i start to run into some issues that didn't happen the last time
i made this enclosure
basically the screws were causing the plywood to split which you can actually see right here
once i manage to get those screws in i turn the enclosure
over onto its side so that i can attach the side pieces by myself
i just repeat the process of drilling pilot holes and then drilling some screws in
by this point i had to stop using the long screws and switch to something shorter to prevent any
more splitting
which is why you're going to see chip clips along the enclosure
those are splits that i had to glue back down
to protect the base of the wood from any water or urine i'm trying out the natural earth paint natural varnish
this is a non-toxic and plant-based varnish which is great for using on wooden accessories that you want to protect
this varnish does happen to smell like mouthwash so it is pretty pleasant i also started applying it along the
perimeter of the enclosure first because it does absorb into the wood a lot
and i wanted to make sure that i wasn't going to run out but thankfully one bottle was just enough to cover the base
next i plan to paint the back and sides with a non-toxic white children's paint but once
realizing how many coats it would take to become opaque
i went and found some of the leftover white contact paper i had from my last enclosure
and i actually just had enough to do the sides and back
which you can see here is definitely a lot whiter than that children's paint
the next step was to add our glass sheet to do this i am using the GE 100% silicone make sure when
you're using silicone that it's pure silicone as many may contain other additives and even fungicides
here i am just cutting the tip off of the silicone
and i in fact hurt my hand while doing this
for the front of my enclosure i am using a beautiful piece of 2 feet by 4 feet, 3 millimeter thick glass
this was purchased from Speedy Glass
using glass for an enclosure in my opinion is so much better and cheaper than plexiglass
Speedy Glass charged $48 for the glass and $10 for them to cut it to the size i wanted so in total with taxes it came to $64.96
glass is a lot stronger and to get plexiglass in a thickness that won't wobble can be very expensive
i'm also not a fan of the reflection plexiglass gives off when filming
and the static electricity it creates makes any bedding dust stick to all of it
once i silicone it i use a paper towel to just wipe it smooth and remove any of the excess silicone
now to build our lid the method i'm trying today is a little different
than how i've built lids in the past
first i'm using 1ft by 2ft by 8ft
framing lumber to build this and i'll be building one large lid instead of two like i usually do
i'm going to be using screws to hold them together but i've also used glue and a staple gun in the past
so what i'm doing first is just drilling those pilot holes so that i can put the screws through
and then i'm going to be screwing it all together
someone's gonna be like that's not how you do it
well that's how i did it
and then you got yourself a nice little frame
but don't ask me if it's square
then i've got a piece of 1/4 inch hardware cloth
cut to size that i'm attaching using screws as well
something i did not manage to attach yet was a handle
and i did not paint the lid white but those things can be done honestly anytime
and then you got yourself a pretty decent lid that should keep your hamster safely in their enclosure
the next step for me is to remove my rabbit's baby gate to be able to fit the enclosure in the room
you stay there
in order to do this i place a blanket on the floor and i very carefully tip the enclosure onto its side and slowly
slide it into my room
this definitely is the most nerve-wracking part because i don't want anything to just fall apart
thankfully the enclosure is quite sturdy
something i wanted to do to make using the lid easier was to add some simple
door hinges and that is just what i'm doing here
and lastly i added these gate hooks and eyes to lock the lid
i use these on my other enclosures and they work great at preventing a hamster from lifting the lid
and then the enclosure is complete
it's definitely not perfect but things don't have to be perfect to be usable
and anytime i'm able to do something on my own regardless if there's a flaw
i'm still pretty proud of myself
i hope this video maybe helped someone out there build their own enclosure
or gave someone some inspiration to building their own
so i'll see you guys in my next video bye