# Cage "siding"



## jadeangel (Jan 7, 2009)

So I love my CN, it's completely awesome and my girls definitely love it, but they're not litter training very easily >.> so I was wanting to make a deeper pan for the bottom, so not as much poo would go flying out of the cage.

I still have one more sign place to call when they open on Monday, but non of the hardware stores around here carry it. I found a piece of gutter siding, that's made of plastic that I'm hoping to cut and set around the bottom and hope it helps, but I was wondering what others did for that bottom pan?

Pictures will follow as soon as I get back home, make sure this works and find my camera xD


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

i would definitely recommend coroplast... which is the sign material. hopefully they have some you can buy. what i did for a while was use duct tape to secure the the edge guards to the bottom flat piece on the outside, and used bathroom caulking to seal the inside seams so pee didn't leak through. it worked for a while, but they got chewed pretty badly. thick plexiglass could work, but you would need a means to cut it, and it might be expensive.

if you've got a bit of money and would rather go with something that will last a long time, look better, and not be flimsy and potentially messy like homemade pans, you can order bass pans from here. they are sized to fit fn cages, though they are not powder coated, so either you can paint them with some kind of spray paint, or take it to a detailing shop or something and have it powder coated.


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## LoneOakRats (Mar 23, 2011)

If you get the Bass pan it needs to be painted with Rustoleum and then let cure for 2 weeks. If you can find a place to powdercoat it then you can use it right away but it can be expensive. 

I have a coroplast pan in the bottom half of my DCN where the girls are not litterbox trained and it has lasted for a long time. I just used duct tape around the outside and inside seams and haven't had any problems with anything falling or leaking out. I got my coroplast at home depot. When I went in and asked about it they swore they had no idea what it was and that they didn't have it but when I looked around long enough I found it on a very bottom shelf.


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## jadeangel (Jan 7, 2009)

I walked up and down every row a couple of times in our Home Depot and couldn't find it, Lowe's didn't have it either and of course, no one had a clue as to what it was when I asked for it. I couldn't get a hold of the sign guys (they were on a run putting up one somewhere :) so I made it to a local mom and pop hardware store and bought some gutter siding for right now.

As soon as I get back home, the search for coroplast will continue xD But I'm currently in Texas about to see my new niece, who should be born in a few hours.


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## Terpsichore (May 28, 2011)

Does Home Depot and/or cut materials for you there? The last time I was in a Home Depot was maybe 15 years ago, so I am not sure about this, and now I live in Germany. There is a Home Depot like store here, it even has an orange theme, that will cut materials for you in store. If that is the case, you could easily use any kind of plastic they have there, like PVC or plexiglass. You could even use laminated wood and tape off the cut sides, or iron on more laminate.

If you are looking for a plastic that you can cut yourself, perhaps you could buy one of those plastic mats that are meant to go under desk chairs to protect hardwood floors and cut it up. I have one from IKEA, and I am pretty sure that I could take a good pair of scissors to it with little to no problems.

Also, I do not know about bathroom caulking material, but I know for a fact that bathroom silicon has fungicides in it. So, I would recommend using something meant for the kitchen instead.


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## jadeangel (Jan 7, 2009)

what silicone? I didn't use silicone on the siding, it's literally a piece of gutter siding that I was able to cut and form a slight wall around the bottom pan until I got back from going to see my brother, sister-in-law, niece and their new baby daughter who was born this afternoon.

Yes, they'll cut stuff, but I'm still confused about you and the asking about the caulking material >.<

It's been an extremely long day so I'm sorry if I'm not making much sense after all this. My dad and I were rushing back to Louisiana from my brother's because there was a severe wreck and my dad being a paramedic needed to get home to help his workers and deal with the aftermath.

Also none of the stuff they had at the local Home Depot would have suited and laminated wood is too thick for my CN.


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

eh, it probably was the kitchen stuff, my mom did it. it was a while ago, i don't really remember


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## Terpsichore (May 28, 2011)

If you look at your shower and/or bathtub, you will see a line around the edge of a gummy like substance that is there to make it water tight. That is silicone. It looks like this when you buy it: 
http://www.homedepot.com/GE-Silicon...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053
You basically use it by putting it in a silicone gun and then putting a line of it on the place where sides meet. You then smooth it out and then let it dry. It should preferably dry for day. Although, it is pretty much dry after several hours, but it still retains its super strong vinegar smell. You can also use it as an adhesive.

You could use something like this as a material:
http://www.homedepot.com/Building-M...Id=10051&catalogId=10053&superSkuId=202939033
Just make sure to ask if it can be cut on your way in, and then if it can, get it cut into the pieces you need on your way out.

As I have no experience with this cage myself, I am a bit confused if you are planning on using the material to create higher edges on the pan or on the outside of the cage. If you specified that, I might be able to suggest something more specific.

Ah, I just found this on the Home Depot website:
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053
Coroplast is a brand name for corrugated plastic. Is this what you were looking for?


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## jadeangel (Jan 7, 2009)

last night's post definitely proves that one shouldn't post when one can't read **points to self**

I was so tired and mentally/physically/emotionally drained I didn't read everything and got a bit defensive about your post Terp >.< didn't realize you were posting to Jaguar. Yes that is the coroplast that I'm talking about but I need at least a 40 x 40 sheet and can't seem to find that without paying for 10 sheets and I only need one. Plus I didn't get to call the sign place since I slept most of the day away recovering from helping at the accident and then coming home to find my babies missing >.<


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## Terpsichore (May 28, 2011)

This is a place online that sells the sheets individually:
http://www.customsignstore.com/blan...coroplast_signs/corrugated_plastic_blank.html

I read the dimensions of the Critter Nation online, and it said that it is 36" wide. If you are putting it inside, then the size needed will be less than 36" and if you are putting it outside, it should still suffice. You could buy two of the 36"x24" and I think it would work out.

Good luck finding your girls!


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## jadeangel (Jan 7, 2009)

the dimensions for the pan inside are actually about 22" x 34" but I was going to make it have sides since the girls are being stubborn about litter training.

And we found her a couple of hours ago  She was a little skinnier but she's happy to be back with her sisters as her sisters are happy to have her back


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## LoneOakRats (Mar 23, 2011)

BayouBird said:


> I walked up and down every row a couple of times in our Home Depot and couldn't find it, Lowe's didn't have it either and of course, no one had a clue as to what it was when I asked for it. I couldn't get a hold of the sign guys (they were on a run putting up one somewhere :) so I made it to a local mom and pop hardware store and bought some gutter siding for right now.
> 
> As soon as I get back home, the search for coroplast will continue xD But I'm currently in Texas about to see my new niece, who should be born in a few hours.


I'm in Texas! What area are you visiting? If you're in the Dallas area I'd be more than willing to show you where I found my coroplast.


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## jadeangel (Jan 7, 2009)

LoneOakRats said:


> I'm in Texas! What area are you visiting? If you're in the Dallas area I'd be more than willing to show you where I found my coroplast.


I was in Wylie and at the hospital in Allen since my brother and his wife just had a new baby, not very far from Dallas  I go out there every couple of months to see my brother and his family. But I'm not too far from Dallas back home, since I'm in North Louisiana


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