ALL STORE BOUGHT CAGES STINK!!

I've been to countless different pet stores in my life. Some were good and some I had to hold my nose they smelled so bad. But I have yet to see ONE (1) decent Guinea cage at a reasonable price. They are all either two small, have wire bottoms, have cedar hutches, or are ugly bare metal with aluminum bottoms. And then they have the gall to charge 50 or 60 dollars for what amounts to a poorly made cheap piece of crap. It still amazes me that with all we know about Cavy care and behavior, these "experts" at these stores still push this stuff on us. I truly feel sorry for the pigs that have to live their lives in these small cages. How many pigs out there live in aquariums? Truly sad.

I can't control the pet stores but I can control my buying habits, and I can tell anyone who will listen about what to buy and what to stay away from. I would encourage all of you to do the same. If you're looking at this site you are smart enough to make a good choice for your pigs. Remember, just because a pet store sells something it doesn't mean you should use it or buy it. True dat.
-Jeff

instead of pissing and moaning why don't you get your lazy butt up and make your pigs one? or cut out the wire bottom. you know everything isn't handed to everyone on a silver platter. i bought a $50 cage and put a second level on it and did some modifiying. know how much i spent, including the cage? $60.

[SuperCavyLover]

Cavey Guy,
You need to watch your language.
Teresa needs to put the profanity filter
on this board.

Anyway, I agree Pigfarmer, most pet store cages aren't
adequate for cavies. Cubes and coroplast seem to be
the best way in making a cage for your cavies. No doubt
about that. Even with a huge cage for just 1 or 2 cavies,
your piggies still need floortime 1 hour a day MINIMUM.

Some pet store cages are fine for hamsters and other rodents,
but I yet to see a large enough cage for cavies or rabbits.

Hey Cavey Guy, Chill.

For your information Sir, I DID get off my butt and I DID make a cloroplast cage with wire "cube" panels for my pigs. It cost me 20 bucks for the panels and about 10 bucks for the board. I did the research and I built a cage that is 10 times better than your store bought creation and for a lot less.

Before you go running your mouth off about something or someone you know nothing about, at least make an attempt to see someone else's point of view. I stand by my original statement, obviously you have bought stock in Petsmart and it's not doing well for you. Don't take it out on me dude.
-Pigfarmer

well good, your pigs have a good cage. i do not but my pigs at petsmart there is not one here for over 100 miles, i buy mine from a personal breeder.and my cage is fine for my pigs, if i had a huge room i would love to make a chloroplast one. i made a wire cage that is 5 feet across and 3 feet tall. with a 2nd level the same size. i did not buy mine from a store, i won't,they are too small. but alot of people simply want to buy their pigs the cheapest, smallest thing possible. now i undertand not wanting to spend $120 for a small cage. and i really wish i could make a C&C cage. But i do not feel it is the best, it is too bulky and takes up too much room. and nto meaning to be rude, but if your not a pig, how do you know the cage has to be HUGE?

[SuperCavyLover]

You shouldn't be using a wire cage unless you have something down on the floors of it such as coroplast or linoleum. Not to mention 1 to 1.5 inches of bedding, minimum.

What do you mean by if you're not a cavy, then how do you know they need a huge space??????

SIMPLE. Cavies need lots of excercise. If the cage isn't big enough, the cavy will NOT be happy and sometimes even get sick and die. How would you feel to be put in a small space for the REST of your life???? Even if you give your cavies 13 hours of floortime EVERYDAY, their home STILL needs to be large enough. You keep saying your room is too small for a bigger cage, but this is no excuse whatsoever. I too had limited room in my house, and many cavies were living in small homes, so now I house half of my cavies outdoors(in a screened in porch) and half of them inside, and they all have big enough cages. You have to work your way through an obstacle to ensure your cavies happiness and long life.

You've come on to the board with a very bad attitude and I suggest you start being more polite and considerate of others posts. I'm sure Teresa wouldn't like for someone rude to be posting. And she CAN ban you if it boils down to this. I know this because I own my own ezboard, and I'm an Administrator at 2 ezboards.

Straighten up, will ya?

[/i] i would love to make a [/b] chloroplast[i] one[u]

Heh! Organic cages! :P Sorry, no offense meant there - I know you meant coroplast, but chloroplast is a plant thing, and I just had the sudden idea of organic cages, and guineapigs eating their way to freedom. :P

Anyway. Store bought cages. My sister found a very decent sized one about 18 months ago, with a plastic base (much the same size as the coroplast base) and a cage made out of the same coated wire as the grids. All for the price of.....£80. Which is about $125. My coroplast cage - which is a little bit bigger (I have a 2x3 because of space constraints) - cost me less than £30. You look at a price difference like that, and it really is disgusting what stores charge. Especially when (in my opinion) coroplast cages look nicer, are easier to put together and take apart, are customisable (like lego for piggies!), are easier to clean, and have easily replacable parts. What store bought piggy cages offer all that? Plus, there was a real sense of achievement at having made my own cage. :P

Cavey Guy -- I confess I'm not sure I understand what you mean about the sizes. Coroplast cages can certainly be smaller than the one you have at the minute, and it sounds like mine is smaller than yours (much as I'd love a bigger one). Trust me, you don't need a huge room. My pigs are in my bedroom, which is about 12'x12' - in that room I also have to fit my bed, desk, bookshelves and TV. I'm comfortable enough. :P

well you can say what you need to, your not living where i live, you don't have the financial problems that we do. i hope your pigs are happy, mine are. i just took out the floor and put in plexiglass and they get out every night for over 2 hours for playtime, fresh vegetables, etc. do what you need to do.
goodbye

ok, well you are problay living on yor own right? no mom or dad living with ya? do u have a good sized yard to put guinea pigs? yea i am only 15 years old, i don't got a job, you gotta be 16 out here to even think about getting a job. we don't got a porch and i'm not gonna build one! my guinea pigs got a good sized cage, (i just put plexiglass on the bottom for the floor no more wire) i let them out every night. for about 2 hours, they get fresh vegetables daily, so don't tell me about my guinea pigs. you tell me to be more poilite? i was going to be. you tell me to be more open minded? well when you walk into my house and see it then you can tell me what i need to do, until then stick with your ideas and quit wasting my time, i don't need this board.

good bye

[SuperCavyLover]

You came onto the board with a nasty attitude and now you are trying to pretend nothing ever happened. I too live with my parents and we make room for our piggies. It's all part of having a pet in the first place. If your piggies are in small cages, then they're not happy.

We are not opinionated, we are just right!
Bye bye, Cavey Guy

so i'm interested in getting, or making, a bigger cage for my pigs... but here is my issue with the C&C cages...

my pigs have free range of the apartment most of the time. the cage is always open while they are running amuck, so they can hop back in and get food, water, or just some cage chillen' time. the door on the cage opens from the top so it acts like a ramp for them to easily get in and out of.

these C&C cages don't seem to have that ability.

also i just want something a bit bigger, right now i have the two pigs in the cage for one. they are content in there for the most part... but they usually just sleep in there. if i don't let them out right away, they remind me that they feel cramped and need to run around... so i do.

also cleaning... it looks like it could be tedious to clean a cage that size. i clean this cage every 5 days or so... i can't imagine cleaning a cage the size that i've seen or heard people talking about... how tedious is it to clean those cages???

thank you very much!

david.

You can make ramps out of the cage. See cavycages.com/options.htm#cleaningflaps Even though they're made for cleaning, they also can be a way out.

As for cleaning, it's not as hard as it looks. You just sccop the bedding into the garbage can.

~*Laura, Pumpkin, and Nikki*~

I enjoy the coroplast cages and have one myself. It wasn't as cheap as everyone believes--The cheapest piece of coroplast I could find was $25, and the cubes were $23, and I had to drive 2 1/2 hrs. to find a place that carried the cubes--not to mention the cost of the table to put it on. (Cost is not really a factor, because I would give my right arm for my kids, but since it was brought up...)
I believe that you do the best you can in your own personal situation. People should not be harrassed over the size of the cage they keep their kids in.
Personally I feel that the small Hagen cages are not good for two guinea pigs to live in, however the large one or the Marchioro cages are ok. When you really look at the figures, the cubes and coroplast cage is not that much bigger than the large marchioro and hagen cage, and these "pet store cages" already come cat proofed. If your kids get significant floor time, play time, love, nutrition, and spend the night in their cage there should be no problem.

8o

Wow, that seems like a lot!

Mine was $25.00 for the whole thing! $15.00 for the Cubes and $10.00 for the coroplast.

It has to be because we are in different locations. There aren't any cosco's or targets near me to get the cubes, and we don't have a large selection of sign stores to choose from. You do the best you can do. I had gone through cavy spirit before I got the coroplast and noticed that it should be around $10, but it definately isn't in my area! : )

[CavySpirit]

I've been using the "large" Marchioro cages when I ran out of space with 80 guinea pigs in my house. I really disagree about the space. 2 square feet may not seem like a big deal to you, but it most certainly is to a guinea pig when it increases their living space significantly. Everything is relative. Marchioro cages are usually expensive and hard to find and not as easy to clean. Average Coroplast price is $25-$35. Average grid price is $20.

Average price of a C&C cage is $50. Average price of a Marchioro cage is $100--for less space and fewer options. Yes, there are exceptions, and different areas have different resources and supplies, but that is average.

I agree, you do the best you can do.

Cavey Guy, may I ask you something? I understand people get frustrated or whatever, but if you come in here wanting answers, then why don't you listen to suggestions? People are just trying to help