Hamster Small Animal Tunnel Gate - For Penn-Plex cage

thingiverse

A friend had an incredibly old Penn-Plex tunnel cage system for their hamster that was in desperate need of some TLC. Three of the openings for the tunnels in the cage were equipped with "gates" that allowed them to let their furry friend in or out of the tunnel at will. However, it's likely that you won't need these gates at all, and the small gap between them might just tempt the animal to start chomping on the cage. So I decided to take matters into my own hands and print a replacement gate. I'm not sure how long it'll last, but it seemed to fit perfectly on my first try - no issues whatsoever! However, I did notice that there was a tiny gap that the original filled better, so I made sure to update the included files accordingly. The SketchUp file wasn't manifold, which meant it needed some repair work. Fortunately, 3D Builder came to the rescue and fixed the exported STL with ease. A word of caution: don't even think about using this panel as a closure! The design doesn't seem to be geared towards closing the hole entirely on its own, and I wouldn't trust your hamster to not chew through the weak spot.