Pass through update

Instead of using a brake, I was able to have Quality Cages make the gravity doors.

Here is the prototype! The door is closed. There are 3 holes on top and bottom to use c-rings to attach to the cage. I purchased some 4" diameter ceiling flashing at Home Depot. Quality Cages is converting them to gravity doors for me. These will be sent out for powder coating. This is so I can connect 2 cages together for the rats. You can use a 4" PVC pipe and 2 reducers as the connecting pipe (and that is what I'm using now), but I will be having special tubes made. I will either go to Home Depot to see if they have tubes that QC can alter for me, or I will see if a duct work place will help me. QC would make the tubes, but they are not tooled for that.


Gravity door with the door open. Note the lip on the top of the actual sliding door, that is what makes it stop from passing all the way through.

I've contacted a duct work maker to see if they can make the tubes.

Pass throughs Update

A co-worker pointed me in the direction of using a bending brake to make my own grooves to slide the door for the pass through.  I now just need to find a good method of cutting the metal to make tabs in it so that I can attach it to the cage without having to use c-rings.  I'll keep you posted.

No to the pass throughs

I heard back from Morton Jones, they were unable to help.  I also contacted another company and they weren't able to help either. :(  I'm not giving up my search!  I also think I can do something with regards to making it so the ceiling collars work better.  I'll have to experiment.

Cage Set-up Changes

As you may notice, I'm a big fan of Quality Cages, www.qualitycage.com.  They have made every cage and carrier in use at Vermin Village except the mice bin style cages and that is because the wire is a real pain to work with.  I have several designs of cages that I use but at this moment I'm in the process of converting to temporarily retiring my multi-level cages and going with single level cages.  The reason I didn't do it before was because of the size limitation, how do you make side-by-side cages bigger but still fairly easy to clean.  I finally found a way to do that.  This set up makes introductions easier and are definitely easier to clean.

• Honey-Can-Do 5-Shelf 42 in. W x 72 in. H x 18 in. D Black Shelving Unit Model # SHF-01440 Internet # 202493261 from Home Depot as the shelving units.  You could opt to have them make stands for you and then stack the cages but I like the extra storage these provide.  I actually purchased wheels for these shelves from Ace Hardware Outlet [www.acehardwareoutlet.com].  Ace Trading SHF-01939 Casters 4-Set, ACE# 5603923 MFR# SHF-01939.  Please note, 36" wide shelves will NOT work for these cages as the cage itself is 36" wide.

• 2 BC-7 or FC-7 cages from Quality Cages (I prefer the BC-7 cages but the FC-7 cages will work too).  Also, get powder coated, it is well worth the money.  The center divider in the BC-7 slides out.  Each cage comes with a solid and wire divider so introductions work well too!

 Have the cages customized in the following manner:

• Make the doors as large as possible to fit items like wheels, igloos, et cetera through the door. (Measurements to follow.)
• Make sure the cut a hole in one side of the cage (measurements and placement to follow) on each cage.  Make sure that each pair of cages has the hole cut in the center facing of each cage (so one cut is on the right side of one cage and the left side of the second cage).  Pictures of cuts to follow.
• Put the door over the hole.  The door should be 10" x 12"  with the latch on the 10" side.
• 2 ceiling collars (sold in the vent section at Home Depot)

• Machine screws and nuts, and washers. (sizes to follow)

Currently, for the tube I use a 12" long 4" PVC pipe and two 3" to 4" reducers.

I'm going to be working on a metal tube solution with Quality Cages because the PVC ones are kind of a pain to clean and if I have them make it, the tube will be 4" through the entire tube.

Anyway, when the tube is in use, the doors are open (they should be set to open down.  When the tubes aren't needed, the doors can be closed.  Perfect for cleaning.  To clean the tube, I recommend purchasing a toilet bowl brush just for cleaning the tubes.

I use 4 pairs of BC-7 cages for the rats.