# Connecting mesh to plastic



## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

What kind of connectors do you use to connect metal mesh to plastic? Are they pop rivets or something else?


----------



## m137b (Sep 22, 2010)

I usually use wire, but sometime I use cable ties. Wire is cheaper and easier for me though.


----------



## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

Thanks for your input! I really appreciate it.

Wire sounds like a great idea. Cable ties made out of plastic, it seems to me, would get chewed through, unless there are metal cable ties...I actually need the info for cobbling up my plastic composters. what with the extreme amount of snow over the winter, animals had to find food where they could, and it didn't help that Someone didn't put the lids on right when dumping the used litter from the mousery.


----------



## Matt Haslam (Mar 13, 2010)

I would use wire for that job moustress


----------



## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

Thanks.


----------



## Wight Isle Stud (May 19, 2010)

if i was going to cut side ventilation into a rub,or top ventilation,i would most certainly experiment with a bead of sealant around the opening with the wire pressed into it and left to set overnight, anyone tried this ?- got to be very quick as opposed to making loads of little holes and stitching the wire on with ties or wire ? . The modern sealans i use at work will easily withstand a mouse chewing through the sealant.


----------



## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

In this case the wire will be going on the outside to keep squirrels from chewing through into the composting contents. I plan on using Gorilla Glue or Mechanics Friend, both excellent glues that will glue almost anything to anything else as long as it's clamped to maintain connect between the two. That will work fine on the plastic to plastic parts, but I'm adding wire mesh to keep the squirrels from chewing into the rough edges left around the area patched by replacement plastic.


----------



## geordiesmice (Oct 26, 2010)

Little nuts and bolts are good too  there are some good glues on the market but I would always use it on the outside so the mouse cant chewand ingest it.


----------



## FeralWolf (Dec 28, 2010)

I used bolts... is that weird?  How would you use wire?


----------



## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

It's not for mousies; it's a composter that got savaged by tree rats (squirrels) over the winter. The snow was so deep that the wild critters had real trouble finding food. The plastic will be glued into a corner at the top, ehn wire will be applied all around the upper edge of the composter. It's really big; holds almost 2/3 sq1. yard of material. I compost and recycle my used aspen litter along with the kitchen and yard waste. My flowers absolutely love the finished product!

I don't use plastic bins because I like to watch all my mousies play!


----------



## geordiesmice (Oct 26, 2010)

My compost bin was made of bricks I used to have two where one heap was turned into the empty compost holder and the one I made leaf mould in was wire mesh.


----------



## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

Mine are black plastic (made of recycled plastic); the dark color absorbs heat from the sun, so that in the warmer parts of the year the stuff really 'cooks'. I imagine it's a lot warmer in the winter too, especially in the bottom parts and in the middle. I have upset colonies of wild meeces when emptying it. It's amazing how many shades of agouti there are in the wild. the wildies were much shinier and fat than I have ever seen before. Must have been the 'leftovers' in the used bedding.


----------



## FeralWolf (Dec 28, 2010)

I love watching my mousies play too, that's why I buy transparent containers. :lol:


----------



## geordiesmice (Oct 26, 2010)

Same here I like too view the mice I prefer tanks or the largest Faunariums they have plenty of ventilation in the lids.


----------



## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

Sometimes I pull a chair into the mousery and just sit with one or two (or three or four) crawling around on my shoulders and just watch the rest of them. Last night I made it all the way downstairs with Ferguson still on my shoulders! Oopsie! Had to do a quick U turn and put him to bed where he belonged.


----------

