I need a chew-proof cuboid storage solution!

November 30, 2018 6:36 PM

I have two "cube shelves" you can find easily at Target (not my exact model anymore but they're similar enough). I need a closed/sealable container that will ideally fit as close to snugly as possible in the cubes. The cubes are about 15" deep and just under 13.5" wide.

My primary motivation is that I have pet rats, and they like to chew on books! And everything they can get their teeth on! But I can't leave the bottom two cubes empty, because the books I do have are pretty heavy and I desperately do not want the shelves to collapse on them or any unsuspecting people in the room. The rats are only let out under close supervision so they're not constantly free-roaming but everything needs to be tooth-proof at all times. They're smart and fast!

Here's a picture of one shelf as it stands today. I put heavy things into these cloth cube inserts, but the inserts don't fit tight in the cubes and they're open at the top, which means the rats can jump on in there and continue to gleefully chomp what's inside.

The perfect solution would be something like a Rubbermaid tub that fits pretty snug in the space and has a tight-fitting lid or a sliding drawer, which are thankfully inoperable by tiny rodent hands. I'm having trouble finding things that aren't either too big or too small. It would be amazing if I could fit some of these books inside the tubs to help distribute the total weight. I'd be open to stacking a few tubs in each cube if they're not tall enough but fitting the general width/depth would be awesome.

I'm also open to just any kind of neat ideas to otherwise seal off the contents of these bottom cubes!

posted by caitcadieux to Home & Garden (4 answers total)

Hang doors (like these, maybe), with latches if necessary. (The linked Ikea glass-front doors would need to be attached vertically.) I'm for securely covering the entire lower-cube opening with something chew-proof, like hardware cloth, as opposed to finding a container insert.
posted by Iris Gambol at 7:27 PM on November 30, 2018

Best answer: These IKEA inserts are 13" x 13'.
posted by baseballpajamas at 8:26 PM on November 30, 2018

FWIW your first link takes me to Target's homepage.
posted by M. at 1:27 AM on December 1, 2018

Response by poster: That’s weird M., it works for me on my computer and my phone. You can get the same results by searching something like ‘cube shelf’ at Target though.

Those IKEA inserts look just about perfect. Sounds like they’re intended to be screwed into the corresponding IKEA shelves but if I can just slide them in that would be amazing.
posted by caitcadieux at 7:13 AM on December 1, 2018