Grid Alternative

[roosterboy]

If you have trouble finding grids, there is an alternative. An easier cheaper one.

At a Hardware Store or Feed and Supply Store, you can find wire screening or fencing. They call it wire fabric. A 100 foot roll of 3 foot material costs 90 dollars, or you can buy it by the foot for about 1.15 per foot of 3 foot wide material. Keep in mind that each foot of material, once divided becomes twice the amount, so a 100 foot roll, once cut, is actually 200 feet of sixteen and seventeen inch high material. 15 feet is actually thirty feet, or enough to make a 5 by 10 foot enclosure, or two 2.5 by 10 foot enclosures, or four 2.5 by 5 foot enclosures!

This is the same wire mesh they make all the metal cages out of. You can get it any strength. I chose 1 by 2 inch wire fabric. The nice thing about it is you only need one piece to make a C and C type cage, and maybe only two zip ties or some other fasteners to hold it together. You are not limited to rectangles, either. You can make any shape you want!

Just putting it out there if you are interested or tired of looking for grids. Personally, I think in some ways it is better, as it is cheaper, you can make it any shape or width, and you can always paint it the color you want.

It doesn't seem as easy as fitting it together, like the cubes, But you may have only to fit the two ends together. And unlike the cubes, you can find it.

 

[cobalt]

Sounds like a good alternative. Do you have any pictures of a cage made from this material or of the material itself?

 

[mncavylover]

Thanks! Are the edges sharp at all though? Pics would be helpful.

 

[roosterboy]

On this site's main menu, if go down near to the bottom to Rabbits, and then in Rabbits go down to the bottom to Rabbit Cage Link. Follow Cavy Spirit's link to rabbit cages. You will see there are three cages and a corral near the bottom of the linked page that are made of the material, 1 by 2 inch wire screen. Gardeners use it for compost heaps or to grow vines on. I bought my roll from a construction supply place, because they were alot cheaper than the feed store.

You can see how it can be used informally or quite neatly, working with edging or wood framing. The one on the right is described as "furniture," and it looks fantastic.

With wire cutters, the wire can be cut very closely, and is almost as smooth as the grids. You can always sand the edges if you want, or put trim also.

 

[mncavylover]

I gotcha. Thanks for the picturea dn idea!