questions about C&C cages

After several months of housing our 2 unneutered males together in the (too small) 2 x 3 ft hutch which came with them, we are finally going to build them a C&C cage!

A few questions:

1) On the CavyCages site, the recommended cage size for 2 gp's is 2 x 4 grids. However, if we want to divide the cage, how large should it be? If it should be larger than 2 x 4, will a 2 x 5 or 2 x 6 cage fit on a table?

2) If a larger cage will not fit on a table, would a grid base be sturdy enough? In addition to gp's our household consists of a dog, 4 cats, and 3 children.

3) What type of divider should we use? Would it be better to use a coroplast divider rather than a grid divider if our boys are not getting along? Recently we separated them because there was some serious teeth baring going on and we feared that one of them might be injured (the situtation leading up to that is a story in itself!)

4) Since we have cats we know that we will need a covered cage but would like one with a solid top rather than a cube or shelving type top. The gp cage is downstairs in our family room where the a/c and heat vents are on the ceiling. Even though the vents are closed we are concerned with drafts and don't want air blowing on our boys through a non-solid top.

I have read the CavyCages site, looked at the photos, jotted down info, and plan to begin acquiring the neccessary materials. Any advice would be appreciated!

Our boys seem to be getting along better during floor time so we may be able to put them in together once we get the larger cage built. However, if we do have to divide the cage would it be possible to divide it lengthwise instead of side by side to give them room to run laps?

[CavySpirit]

I don't recommend it on a 2-grid width cage. It's just too narrow. You might go with more of an angled divider or try doing an jagged divider:
<font color="white">__</font> ___
__|

Thanks for your reply. We won't split the cage in half lengthwise but will opt for the angled or jagged divider which you mentioned [/i] if[u] we have to divide the cage. My two boys are getting along better during floor time and hopefully once we build their bigger cage we won't have to separate them.

BTW, I called local sign companies today to check on coroplast prices. Most were between $18-21 for a 4 x 8 sheet of white. But one place had it for $12!!!

This afternoon I'm going to Target to get the cubes.

Over the past days I've been acquiring the materials needed to build the C&C cage for my boys and am excited that we now have everything!!! We plan on building the cage over the long weekend (Memorial Day holiday here in the US).

The other day I opened one of the boxes of grids and laid several out on the floor of our family room to get an idea of how large a cage I could make with the space available in the family room (we want to keep our boys in there since we are in there alot). While I would have liked to have made a 2x6 cage, a portion of it would have been in front of the cabinet holding our children's videos, limiting their access to them --which [/i] might[u] have been a good thing! LOL We have plenty room to spare if we build a 2x4 cage so we going to go ahead and make a 2x5 cage. That way if we do have to divide it using the jagged divider CavySpirit suggested, the boys will have a bit more room.

As of yet we don't have a table to put the cage on so may try to build the base with grids. In order to make the whole setup more stable in a household with a dog, 4 cats, and 3 children I may also put grids on the bottom portion of the cage and then the coroplast atop that. I also got some extra connectors and cables ties to reinforce where we will attach the grids together. I saw a C&C cage like that in the photo section of the cavycages site and it indicated that the cage was stable.

I'm rearranging some furniture in the family room in order to make a bigger cage for my piggies. We're moving the children's video cabinet to the other side of the room so that we can put the cage along that particular wall. After measuring the space we have along that wall, we found that we will be able to make a 2x6 cage!

I started building the cage today and have completed the perimeter of the cage. As I mentioned, we are going to put a base on our cage for added stability and I am having hard time getting the connectors on. So I'm going to enlist the aid of my husband this afternoon to fit the connectors on to form the base.

I'm still unsure of what we are going to use for the lid to enclose the cage. I'm not sure if we're going to use grids or utility shelving and am going to re-read the portion of the cavycages site dealing with enclosed cages, specifically supporting the top to enclosed cages.

Once I got the perimeter of the cage built while it was still in the middle of my family room floor I put my boys inside to explore a bit. They seemed to love it!

For now I have put in a divider in the middle of the cage. Squeaky and Tiny seem to be getting along better during floor time but I don't know how they will do once they share a cage again.

Would it be better to start out with a divider and get them accustomed to sharing a cage again or would it be better to omit the divider and put it in if they don't get along?

[CavySpirit]

See this thread: www.guinealynx.info/forums/thread.php?threadid=1827&boardid=8&styleid=5
For an explanation of these photos:

Thanks for the link to that awesome cage setup!!!! Right now our cage is still on the floor but we'll probably make a base using grids as shown in the photos.

Instead of dividing the lower cage. Give each piggie a 'home' on top. build the cage two grids high. on one or both ends put one grid side by side (along the 2 grid width of the cage) Either put this on both ends, or put only on one end, with a cube dividing it. put food and water and a 'shelter' in each home so they don't feel the need to fight over it. Make sure the grid is low enough so the piggie can jump onto it, that way you don't need ramps to take up the space on the bottom. If you only put a second level on one side, it will be easier to clean the bottom. If you put a second level on each end, they will have more sepeartion and more of their 'own room' you can aslo give them each their own toys and tubes, so the bottom of the cage is more empty to run around. you actually can do this without having two grids high now that i think about it. Now i'm off to go clean my piggy cage and see if i have enough ties to add that second level i've been telling myself to do, i just don't think i have the ties. i need to go back to work anyways(on my day off) and they have some there i can buy, byebye