Page:The Golden Hamster Manual.djvu/36

 or 3 is preferable, but 4 or 6 is satisfactory) of a width to reach from about $1/4$ inch above this drawn line up to the top, as shown in Illus. 28. Tack the hdw. cl. lightly in place. Ventilation opening $3/4$ to 1 inch wide is adequate, and up to 2 inches is satisfactory. Now, nail the middle-tie and top-tie in place. Pen unit may be turned so that front end points into the air to tack hdw. cl. V. wire to inner side of these two strips of wood (M.T. and T.T.). Use No. 5 double pointed tacks.

Note in pens 2, 3 and 4, illus. 27, cp(ccs) lx1 inch corner posts, nailed in the corners to serve as door stops for the hingeless rear doors and as crack cover strips to prevent light passing too freely about the



doors. An open crack may invite gnawing. So, the small strips serve well, and may be of any size from about $3/4$ to 1$1/2$ inches square. These corner posts should reach from floor to top of pen, but not extend above so as to prevent top fitting closely. Illus. 27 shows pen 1 without the cp installed. Illus. 25 gives a top view of back and side (end) joint with ccs(cp) in place.

While the building has not reached the stage where rear doors are to be installed, they may now be made. Rear doors will be about 9 inches wide, each wide enough to cover half of the partition and barely clear the side of the door to the adjoining pen. Rear door to pen 4 completely covers right end, and covers half of the partition between pens 3 and 4 as it should. Door tongue (Tg.): Cut a $1/2$ to 1 inch board, of 2 to 3 inch width, to the length that will fit snugly the pen width between both cp. To the wood door, as shown in Illus. 28 Tg., nail this tongue (Tg.) so that about one-half its width extends below the door. Hold the door flat, with tongue (Tg.) on top side, then slide tongue into door opening and lift top end of door upward to position shown in pen. 4, Illus. 27. The tongue (Tg.) fits inside the back-tie (B.T.) as shown by Tg. dotted line. Illus. 34 shows a retaining channel for bottom of back door, instead of using door tongue as in Illus. 35, 27, 28. in either case, the strip serves as a crack cover (c.c.) for the joint (J) or door crack. A 2-inch mending plate held by a screw into the M.T. strip serves as door fastener, same as in Illus. 20. The door pull (D.P.), with which to open door, may be either staple or nail extending about $1/2$ inch.