The Detolf Cage

The "Detolf" is a glass display cabinet made by the famous Swedish company IKEA. It is part of their ongoing range and still available to buy now on their website. It costs £60 brand new but there very often second-hand ones to be had (on eBay, FB Marketplace, Gumtree, Shpock etc) in the £15-30 region - with the added bonus of not having to assemble it yourself!

This is also considerably cheaper than most of the horrible hamster cages that are available to buy in popular pet shops which don't even come anywhere near the size recommendations of rodent welfare advocates - and are generally completely unsuitable.

Whilst many people buy and use these for their intended purpose as a display cabinet, it has become an increasingly popular "hack" to use the Detolf as a hamster/rodent enclosure, and it's easy to see why! With its incredible 163cm width when placed on its back, it gives your pet a phenomenal amount of space un-matched by all other enclosures for sale commercially.

It is also very aesthetically pleasing with its slick, Swedish design and will flow with your own living spaces way better than a wired hamster cage does!

Once you've obtained your Detolf - either from IKEA or second hand and have assembled it accordingly, you will find it comes with a glass door on the front and some internal glass shelves - which you do not need.

All you need for your enclosure is the main body of the cabinet, placed down horizontally on its back with the internal metal framework in place. Now's your time to get creative! Fill up your beautiful enclosure with lots of substrate for your little friend to burrow away to its hearts content! Add a suitably large wheel, bridges, platforms, hideaways, tubes, the possibilities are endless! And if you feel like going one step further, we have lots of inspirational customers who have created gorgeous backdrops, added fairy lights, stickers, signage, their pet names on the glass and lots lots more! We have really seen some sensational set ups! And this is where Freddie & Friends comes in!

Freddie & Friends are one of the very few people out there who are providing bespoke and unique items to use with your Detolf, including our most popular item... the lids! No need for any hassle yourself when you can just order one of our handmade sets of perfectly sized lids, which are made in two halves so you can easily access both ends of your Detolf. We also provide water bottle holders that attach to the inner framework - and shelf brackets so you can add platforms. All items are designed and handmade by us, with your little friend's welfare as our top priority!

Check out our catalogue page to view and purchase the Freddie and Friends items!