Ever seen a cavy showcase-cage?

[5rawgems]

Brand new to the forum here....Getting a couple cavies for the daughters' #1 Christmas wish and have become very interested in the custom and alternative cages I've seen.

So the thought occurs to me--What if I could utilize a glass showcase with the sliding door on the back? Wouldn't that make a cool cage? Seems it'd have a few advantages in that it'd be easy to clean with the sliding doors across the back. It's also built up on a base to keep it away from the coolest air and draughts, and the glass top and sides would make it easy for them to see out and visually interact with whoever's in the room. we could even install a small light inside for extra warmth. The shelves would make for some nice multi-level possibilities. There'd be adequate ventilation for fresh air.

Any problems with a cage that's mostly closed in like that? Haven't seen any posts addressing or discussing this type of a cage. What do you experienced guinea pig owners know about the wisdom of this idea?

5rawgems

[VoodooJoint]

My computer is actually sitting on a large glass front display case right now but there is no way I would put my GPs in it.

The biggest problem will be ventilation. There will be very little air flow, even with the glass top removed, and would be no better then an aquarium.

One of the benefits of a C&C cage is that there is plenty of fresh air flow so the GPs don't have to breath in the fumes of their own waste.

The only way to make a display case work would be to remove the front glass and replace it with hardware cloth or something similar and remove the top glass altogether. That creates so much change though that you might as well scrap the idea altogether.

[this_lil_piggy]

It could work, but I would refrain from completely enclosing it like you mention. Pigs need good ventilation, and they do better socially with you if they are exposed to the normal hussle and bussle noise of the house. There have been people here who have made cages using plexiglass, but the plexiglass only goes up about 8" and there is no enclosed glass top.
Here are some better idea's for you
http://www.guineapigcages.com/photos...php?photo=1826

http://www.guineapigcages.com/photos...o/1823/cat/512

http://www.guineapigcages.com/photos...00/ppuser/1079

[homeschoolmama]

I saw something similar to what this_lil_piggy suggested in a mom 'n pop petstore once. The walls were made of plexiglass - roughly 30" wide by about 8' long, and the sides were about 12" high. And someone had drilled 1" holes roughly every 6" along the sides, at about 4" up. It was set on a bunch of long deep shelves facing both directions, and all of the piggie-care products were on the shelves underneath.

Now I don't want to be promoting the petstore here, I saw several piggie products that aren't safe there on the shelves. But I thought that the cage was ingenious. It was huge, and looked more like a piece of furniture than any cage I've seen. I begged to be able to take a picture of it to share, but the store owner wouldn't let me.
love,
mom

[5rawgems]

thanks so much for the input so far, folks. i've been checking out the scores of pictures on alternative cages on this site to get further ideas. i'll certainly have to reconsider what would be best in terms of the venitlation issue.

5rawgems