Covers How do you make a lid for a C&c cage?

[Rocky01]

I am planning on building a 2x5 c&c cage in the next month or so, but I have a cat who is simply too curious for my liking. I have found plenty of tutorials on building an open cage, but how do you build a lid for it?

 

[bpatters]

Closet shelving, available at any home improvement store, makes a fantastic cage lid.

 

[Rocky01]

Closet shelving, available at any home improvement store, makes a fantastic cage lid.

What kind of closet shelving? I don’t think I have seen anything that would work as a lid, unless I am looking at the wrong things?

 

[bpatters]

Closetmaid. It comes in various depths and lengths. You can choose two depths that will cover the width of your cage, and get it cut at the store to fit the length. Just let it overhang a little on both ends.

 

[Soecara]

The closet shelving you are looking for will look something like this image I got from google:

 

[Rocky01]

Closetmaid. It comes in various depths and lengths. You can choose two depths that will cover the width of your cage, and get it cut at the store to fit the length. Just let it overhang a little on both ends.

By two depths, do you mean I would need two pieces of shelving to go across? And do I zip tie it to the grid, or just let it sit on top?

 

[Rocky01]

Thank you so much!

 

[bpatters]

I just let mine sit on top. But if you've got a large dog, you could clip it down. It will support quite a bit of weight.

And yes, you'll need two pieces across the top. I think the deepest shelf they make is 16 inches, but it comes in several depths smaller than that. For instance, if your cage is two feet across, you could use a 16 inch deep and an 8 inch deep, or two 12 inch deep pieces.

 

[Soecara]

Yes two to go across, they don't need to be the same depth per say they just in total need to add up to the full depth of the cage.

If you do want to secure them you can either fully zip tie down the panel that will be at the back and then just zip tie the other panel to the secured one length wise so you can flip it up (see image, example 1).

Alternatively you may be able to just zip tie the back panel length wise to the side of the cage and then secure the second panel to the first length wise so it can flip the whole lid up, for this to work both "lips" of the closet shelving needs to face the same way and you will need to cut small sections of the lips wire to get it to sit flush on the cage (see image, example 2). You can also get the fold to go the other way but you will need to pretty much cut off the whole back panels lip.

Another option if you don't want to have a "back" side is to put a support beam down where the two panels meet and secure both panels to the support beam (see image, example 3).

 

[Rocky01]

Thank you so much! Those visuals are the best I have seen and actually make sense to me. :crackup:

 

[spy9doc]

What excellent visuals, Soecara! You always seem to take the time to answer questions thoughtfully and in depth. Thank you for your contributions to the Forum!

 

[kiyoko]

Here is my C&C with Closet Maid shelving as a lid. There are two and they slightly overlap in the middle. For my needs, I didn't reinforce them at all, I just laid them on top.

 

[lunarminx]

You can also make a lid from grids. Zip them in a pattern like in the photo. Make two sides and zip them together. Use 2 wonder bars for support. https://www.cagetopia.com/rods-bars. the done lid should look like this. and can open one side at a time. The easiest is the shelving, I think it's the 16" you want to use.