
Some parts need elaboration. The base will not be purely plywood, just the top/bottom. In my friends' experience with small mammals, they have a huge tendency to tip over and scatter food bowls, etc. My answer for this was to actually build the food bowl into the shelf, as well as put in sides that would contain a removable water bowl. There will be 2 hinged doors, one covering the upper half, one the lower.
My first concern is the fact most of it will be made out of wood. All rodents have a tendency to chew, chew, chew, and wood and has a terrible tendency to smell like urine FOREVER. My thoughts on this are to lay down a non-porous rubber padding over the wooden base and the shelving? Could be anything, from a yoga mat or something I find at Home Depot. Does that sound feasible? If not, what do you use? If I need the treat the wood, which product is best?
Another chief concern of mine is the wire cloth. Would just any chickenwire I can find at the home depot do? Preferably steel? I know plating is absolutely off limits. Is there a specific material I'm looking for? I saw a thread up top advocates www.wireclothman.com however I can't make heads or tails of anything on that side products-wise, even after brushing up on the terminology. Which product is best for the cage?
Finally, I'm just curious about what should be put in the cage from the great outdoors. Many articles and websites advocate putting in branches and other bits of nature in the cage. However, I've stumbled across a few threads/articles about folks who had trepidations concerning this or some vague problems. Is there anything I shouldn't put in the cage from outside? What should I be aware of?
Sorry for the bombardment of questions, thanks in advance!
