use bolt cutters or a hacksaw, and cap the rough edges with plastic end caps. Join the two pieces of shelving together lengthwise with zip ties, and set this homemade lid on top of the cage. If you want to secure the lid to the cage, hook on a few bungee cords.
A C&C cage makes the best guinea pig habitat.
When you’re building a do-it-yourself cage, the easiest type to make is a rectangular one. But if you’re really handy, why not browse the Internet or go on YouTube to get ideas and instructions for more elaborate L-shaped or multi-level designs? Let your imagination run wild! For serious do-it-yourselfers, a custom-made guinea pig cage can be a really fun project.
Prepackaged kits
Are you too time-strapped to be getting into cage construction? Or is D-l-Y not your thing? Not a problem! Your cavies can still have the large C&C cage they deserve, but with someone else doing most of the work.
Yes, some enterprising individuals have come up with designs, worked out the measurements, assembled the materials, scored and cut the coroplast, and packaged everything you need into a convenient kit form. All that’s left for you is a simple assembly job; just follow the directions enclosed in the kit. How cool is that?
Where can you find one of these kits? Do a Google search for “buy a C&C guinea pig cage,” or an eBay search for “guinea pig cages.” You’ll find everything from the most basic to the most upscale guinea pig housing. If you go the eBay route, be sure to check the “see other items” link on each site that you access. This way, you’ll find all the different cage shapes and sizes that a seller offers. Don’t forget to check the shipping charges, too!
Multi-level cages and extensions
Which is better for your cavies: a single-level cage or a multi-story cage? What you don’t want is the traditional multi-story pet condo, which has several levels, each of them having very limited floor space. The ideal guinea pig cage should have as much floor space as possible. Guinea pigs like to run “piggy laps” around the cage, so the more room they have to run around on the main floor, the better. It is, however, perfectly fine to add a second story as long as you provide an adequate lower floor. But if you go this route, there are some safety issues to keep in mind.
In some C&C cage kits, the second story of the cage is the same size as the first story; in other words, it’s a complete floor. But most owners design the second story as a loft that overlooks the first floor. If this is the design you go with, you’ll have to make sure the loft is enclosed or has a barrier along the open side so your cavies can’t fall over the edge onto the floor below.
How do you design a safe second story? There are lots of ways to do this. Your best plan is to search the Internet or browse YouTube. You’ll be amazed at how many innovative designs other enterprising guinea pig owners have come up with. Think you’ve found a blueprint for the perfect second story? Great! Just make sure it will be sturdy enough and safe enough for your cavies.
Your next concern will be how your cavies are going to get up to the second floor. Gently sloping ramps are the way to go here; guinea pigs won’t walk on anything too steep. You can buy ready-made ramps, or you can make them yourself. The most popular ones are constructed from coroplast or from wire grids. If you’re using coroplast, you’ll need to reinforce it. For example, you could duct-tape a piece of wire grid to the back to make the coroplast ramp sturdier. You should also cover it with a piece of fleece or carpet for better traction.
If you’re making a ramp out of a wire grid, use your knee or your foot to bend it into a U-shape; this will provide protective sides for the ramp. You can also bend it into an L-shape. Then, if you place it against an outside cage wall, you will have made a ramp with even higher protective sides. Whatever wire-grid design you choose, be sure to cover the ramp with a piece of low-pile rug or mat. Never let your guinea pigs walk directly on wire because it’s very bad for their feet.
Toys and chewies can be hung on the gird wires of C&C cages.
You could also be creative and use sisal-covered cat-scratching boards as ramps. These can be attached to the upper floor by drilling holes at the top of the scratching board and using zip ties to secure the ramp to the second story.
Some guinea pigs run up and down ramps just fine; others are more timid and might need encouragement. To train a timid cavy, try placing a line of small treats up the ramp and onto the second level. Most guinea pigs will be so focused on the food that they’ll be up the ramp in no time.
If you have plenty of space, why not give your cavies extra romp room by adding a playroom extension to the cage? For an addition like this, all you need is a cheap kiddie pool made of hard plastic, wire grids connected with zip ties to form a fence around the pool, a section of 4-inch (10 cm) diameter PVC piping to join the pool to the cage, and a few paving bricks for steps at either end of the PVC pipe. Instead of a pool, you could always substitute the smaller cage you were using before you switched to a C&C cage.
Prime location
Any suitably sized guinea pig cage is going to take up quite a bit of floor space in your home, so there will probably be a limited number of places where one will fit. And, for a healthy environment, the cage needs to be out of drafts, away from direct sunlight, and away from heating and cooling vents. Family rooms, living rooms, and dining rooms are usually the best spots. It’s not advisable to put the cage in a bathroom or a laundry room because the humidity levels can be too high there.
What about a bedroom? If your teenager is bugging you to let her have Ms. Wheeky as her roommate, should you give her the go-ahead? Probably not. Guinea pigs don’t sleep through the night; they tend to take short naps around the clock. They’re also very vocal pets, so a light sleeper could have problems adjusting to a guinea pig roommate. There’s another point to consider, too. Remember the old saying “out of sight, out of mind”? A guinea pig housed in a bedroom could be unintentionally neglected.
Bedding basics
Before popping your cavies into their new home, you need to cover the bottom of the cage with some sort of flooring or bedding, because the plastic floor of a cage is not guinea pig friendly. It’s not soft enough for your pets to walk on or sleep on, and it won’t absorb your guinea pigs’ urine. So, before going any further, you have some bedding decisions to make.
Unfortunately, where guinea pigs are concerned, bedding basics are not so basic! There are lots of choices out there, and it might take some trial and error on your part to find out what works best for you and your piggies.
You shouldn’t even consider some of the bedding products that are available. For example, stay away from cedar, pine, sawdust, cat litter, corn cob, straw, and newspaper. Cedar and pine contain phenols that can cause liver and respiratory problems in small animals. Sawdust and cat litter are too dusty. Corncob bedding and straw get moldy quickly; neither absorbs urine or controls odor well, and some guinea pigs eat corncob bedding. Newspaper used by itself is a very poor choice—it gets wet from urine and stays wet.
So what should you use? Wood pulp fiber is one of the most popular choices because it’s soft and fluffy—comfy for your cavy to walk on and cozy for it to sleep on. It’s also good for absorbency and odor control. However, it’s fairly expensive. Paper pellets are a
