>I also used a wire screen aquarium lid as a split cage >diagonal divider and wedged and then masking taped the >sides against the tank. It worked great, except for >the very persistant female "going over the top". I'm >going to try the paper towel tubes method along the >top of the divider. > >I had a separator across the width and then used a >masking tape "roof" along each side. She was able to >scramble onto his roof and chew through. Fortunately >it took her a week to figure it out and by then they >were bonded. > >Donna I get 'hardware cloth' which is a stiff metal screening with about 1/4" (.6 cm) holes. I also get some aluminum window screen, and some 'piano wire' which is a thin stiff wire sold in lengths (usually around three feet long or one meter). I also use a needlenosed pliers and a 'full round' pliers (both jaws come to a rounded point, you can wrap wire around one jaw to make rings) I cut the cloth with a wire nippers (side cutter) to a little larger than across the tank diagonally, and from top to bottom, with a little more. I leave the 'fringes' long so I have bits of wire to twist around the piano wire. Laying the piano wire along an edge, I use the two pairs of pliers to twist or wrap the fringe edge bits onto the piano wire, which gives me a smoother edge and reinforcement for the edges. I do one long and one short adjoining side, doublecheck the potential fit to the other short side, do that one then, doublecheck the fit across, and do the last long edge to fit snugly to the tank cover. I then take the window screen, and attach a layer of that to once side of my hardware cloth, taking a bit of the wire from the edge of the screen off like pulling a thread and use that to fasten the edges of the window screen to the reinforcement edges of the hardware cloth. Finish off if you need with a little duct tape to take care of anything sharp yet. The hardware cloth can't be chewed through, and the screening is so toes can't be stuck through and chewed off by the gerbil on the other side. I have about six of these that fit fifteen gallon tanks (the ones I use most often) and two that fit ten gallon tanks (the other ones I use). One can seemingly never have enough dividers! I find it takes me about 2-3 hours to make one, and it's never wasted. Deb Rebel's Rodent Ranch
