Mac Makes A Shit-hot Hamster Home
Written by The Shit
A TechyShit reader recently got in touch, to send us photos of something too awesome not to share. N-Bomb (who wishes to remain anonymous) managed to combine two of our favourite pastimes - giving homes to funny looking defenseless animals, and ripping the insides out of funny looking defenseless computers.
Here is the result, narrated in his own words:
This is the finished article. Basically I just took everything on the inside out, and was left with the shell. Sounds easy doesn’t it? CRT’s can apparently kill you, holding a high charge days after being unplugged. Naturally I just cut through wires like string and ripped out components willy-nilly.
Here’s a good view of our South-Pacific tribal hut in which one of the hamsters lives. Naturally, they are from Russia and so love the South Pacific thing. The wheel was a bastard to fit as well. Had to cut the cage-bar fixing off and just stick it to the side with No-More-Nails tape.
This gives a good view of the hamster pouch/sleeping bag/condom like structure that I’ve installed. The monitor had some pain in the ass USB sockets built in which resulted in a hole in the case, perfectly sized to allow hamster escape. Bad news. We bought a hamster sleeping pouch thingy with a sort of plastic ring at the front, threaded it through the hole from the inside, and the ring keeps it in place. They ADORE it and it kind of makes a burrow for them to live in. The South Pacific tribal hut has become more and more unpopular.
Fixing the water bottle to the inside of a smooth plastic surface was a challenge. Luckily I managed to hang it from a screw-hole and it seems to work fine. The log is obviously too close to the water bottle, hence the straining and struggling to get to the nozzle! This has since been rectified.
Epilogue
The cutesy little hamsters have since separated. Hamster number 2 (they don’t have names for some reason) has a new home, constructed out of similar materials, and N-bomb reports she is very happy there. With any luck, we’ll get a full update with pictures soon.
20 Rockin' Comments
February 21st, 2009 at 12:16 pm
I’m only leaving this comment because it screamed at me to say something
lol
Good work guys, pretty creative. I’m glad there still is use for those old I-Mac monitors… I remember having them back in my grade 6 and 7 classes, brand new, fully installed computer lab with about 20 of those… We were so happy! lmao
Nanosaur… yea, that was the game that kept us all occupied on them. Amaaaazing graphics.. so I thought.
~ Shawn
February 23rd, 2009 at 3:23 am
Nanosaur, yeah - that was a *sweet* game.
With this set up, I reckon I could convince my gran that it’s a realistic animal simulator game; take the keyboard and type things like ‘eat’ and ‘run on wheel’ to watch them do it.
Very nice.
February 24th, 2009 at 8:01 am
This is just too cute and very creative. I just wanted to say cudos!!! What did you do with the insides. I have heard there are places you take old computers but have no idea where. We have so many. Way to recycle.
Blessings,
Crystal
March 1st, 2009 at 10:29 am
Neat idea, but not necessarily original. Check around and you’ll find people who turned old Macs into aquariums. Not only are you just ripping out the guts, but you’re also making the insides watertight and all that. I’ve also seen websites where people have cleaned out the insides of a Nintendo system (the original 8-bit) and built a PC inside. Neat stuff!
@Crystal - If you live in the US, just check with the town, city or county you live in. Whatever agency is in charge of trash and recycling can tell you how to properly dispose of your computer. If you’re not sure who to call, maybe check with one of the big-box chains like Best Buy or Staples. Some stores do take electronics for recycling. If they don’t, they may be able to point you to someone/someplace who does.
March 5th, 2009 at 5:33 pm
That is AWESOME!!! Now the hamster is really running inside of the computer!
March 6th, 2009 at 7:23 am
Very cool kudos!
March 10th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
Too funny! He looks like Jar Jar Binks
March 14th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
It’s a thing of beauty.
March 27th, 2009 at 12:51 am
can i have a computer like that?
March 27th, 2009 at 7:11 am
I had a TRS-80. I think I paid $800.00 and it had a wopping 3k memory. It was fun to program, I believe it was Gates early basic.
Totally useless for anything else.
March 29th, 2009 at 4:11 am
I once had a commadore 64 and would sit there for hours writing a program on it then it would’nt run, oh how I wish i had ripped the arse out of that thing and binned it.
April 4th, 2009 at 10:21 pm
This is a *great* use for that old Apple Cinema Display - which is what it is, not an iMac.
I never liked those displays for some reason. Bleh. Much more useful now!!
April 6th, 2009 at 10:04 pm
wow i really like that idea
well good luck
April 10th, 2009 at 11:53 pm
Give the rodent a name…it lives in an apple. Yes, I remember the days of the clunkers that were so cool and, God only knew why we needed them. Same with cell phones: Now have they really improved your quality of life?
But it is a great idea, and I really like the little sleeping bag outside of the hut…
April 17th, 2009 at 11:28 am
Nice project-next time you have an iMac you want to demolish, I’ll gladly take it off your hands. I have one older than that still running.
SB
September 21st, 2009 at 8:53 am
dude that is awsome, could you tell me were i could get one of those screns cuase i ve been wanting to do the same thing for ages now for my hamster that i adore so please tell me
October 18th, 2009 at 8:27 am
I would love to make a cage like that for my hamster. Is it a apple studio display 17″? Please email me the instruction and model number? michanelle@gmail.com Thanks!
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