Have one piggy, possibly getting another in the future, what size C&C cage?

[hilary]

I currently have just one piggy, Cubie, and while she seems happy I know she'd be much much happier with a friend to run and play with. I pay for all of her expenses, and being 17 and only babysitting here and there, I'm not sure if having another guinea pig will be too much. Not the care itself, but the expenses. I'm pretty sure I could afford a friend for her, but in the mean time I first want to get Cubie a C&C cage because right now she is in a petstore cage :[ I adopted her from a friend about three weeks ago and started researching everything there is to know about guinea pigs right away, and soon enough I found out about the C&C cages and the requirements for guinea pigs and realized I need to get her a bigger cage. I see her running around inside, but really she has nowhere to run it's way too small. I have the money for a cage, and I want to get one that is plenty big for her and also big enough so that if I eventually add another piggy to my family it's big enough for both of them as well.

I was thinking a 2x3.5, or should I just go ahead and get the 2x4 if I have the space? (I need to measure the desk I have her cage currently on, which is very big and I think would fit even up to a 2x5)
I could build an upper deck I suppose, to add more space? So, please tell me what size cages do your piggies live in and how many do you have?

Also, I am going to switch from a combo of aspen/carefresh bedding to fleece once I buy the C&C cage as this seems to be much cheaper, more sanitary and just easier overall.

[tehdoc809]

Well, first off, adding a second story doesnt really add space, in fact it takes away from it. Because you have to have a ramp up to it, plus support underneath so it doesn't cave in. Second, fleece is definetly the way to go. Third, I would go with a 2x4 if you wan't to have two in the future. Just make sure you read up on quarantine and introductions.

Lastly, I have three cavies currently, two sows in a 2x4 and a boar in a 2x3. Once we get the boar fixed I want to extend them to have a 3x5, i think. perhaps maybe even a little bigger if we can manage.

[Myspoiltpiggies]

I would make it as big as possible!

I just built a 2x4 for my 2 boars and a 2x4 for my 3 girls. I wanted to make 2x5s. But I have the smallest bedroom in the house and after I measured out my room and rearranged furniture, I still could only manage 2x4s. It is the absolute minimum for the amount of guineas I have. They have bigger cages (two 2x6s) where they can go in the summer, in the daytime, in our shed, and also a nice big run which goes on the grass, and have floortime in the kitchen and the conservatory.

For two piggies, a 2x3 is the absolute minimum, a 2x3.5 is better, but a 2x4 is ideal, anything bigger is great! I would also base your decision on how much floortime they get. The less floortime they can have, the bigger the cage should be in my opinion!

Carefresh is a good choice, which is commonly used. I'm not so familiar with Aspen, but I think that is also. Have you considered fleece at all? Laura did this fantastic thread on the subject. It is my first time trying fleece, the boys have been on it since yesterday. View the thread via this link http://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/...ect-study.html. What most members do is create a 'kitchen' area where they put bedding such as Carefresh, and this small area gets cleaned daily. This is separated from the fleece part of the cage, which is cleaned at least once a week. It just makes it easier as the piggies tend to do their toilets in the kitchen area and it also keeps food/hay off the fleece.

Good luck.

[Amsley246]

There's a chart on the main page of the site that gives a pretty good idea what size you need. Hopefully it gives you a bit of an idea of what you'll need!

[hilary]

Originally Posted by Myspoiltpiggies

Carefresh is a good choice, which is commonly used. I'm not so familiar with Aspen, but I think that is also. Have you considered fleece at all? Laura did this fantastic thread on the subject. It is my first time trying fleece, the boys have been on it since yesterday. View the thread via this link http://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/...ect-study.html. What most members do is create a 'kitchen' area where they put bedding such as Carefresh, and this small area gets cleaned daily. This is separated from the fleece part of the cage, which is cleaned at least once a week. It just makes it easier as the piggies tend to do their toilets in the kitchen area and it also keeps food/hay off the fleece.

Good luck.

Yes, I'm going to get fleece as soon as I get the C&C cage, as it's cheaper and cleaner and I'm looking to save money, especially if I adopt another girl in the future. I've read the thread on it and it seems pretty simple, and much better than the old way of bedding. And also, I think I'm going to go with the 2x4 :]

[MapleOwl18]

Good choice. I love my fleece So much cleaner, not as smelly, prettier, cheaper.

Just wash it in the washer 3 times with a non-scented, no softener, detergant and then its ready to go. I'm cheap and use it on top of old towels, that I washed with the fleece.

Here's the fleece link
http://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/...ect-study.html

[hilary]

Sounds easy enough, I'm going to pick out some fleece at my local fabric store this week, for a 2x4 cage how much should I buy? I want to get two sets.

[claire]

Depending on the fabric store, you may be cheaper buying fleece blankets in a discount type store. I priced fleece yesterday and was shocked. It would have cost me £7.50 for each cage-sized fleece. I can get blankets the same size in Ikea for £1.96. So guess who's off to Ikea this weekend? Not such a big choice of colours but I'm sure the piglets will forgive me.

[MapleOwl18]

1.5 yards. How do I know that? I have a 2X4 piggy cage on the bottom of my cage setup.

Its funny the width they sell fleece fabric at Jo-Ann fabrics, is about as perfect for 2 grid wide piggy cage. I usually buy a little extra so I can use it for other things to. I usually buy what they have left on the roll.

[hilary]

Great thank you! (The 1.5 yards covers the coroplast? Or just goes to the edges?) So, I'll get 3 yards then and have two sets of fleece, I figure it'll be much easier to have a clean fleece to put in while the other is washing. Makes sense to me :]
Mapleowl18- Very cool, I'll probably end up getting extra too just in case. I might try making my piggy a cuddle cup, but I am not the best sewer.

[hilary]

Update: Just ordered my 2x4 C&C cage! And bought two sets of fleece today. One zebra print and one bright flower print (think 70s). I'm excited! Thinking about getting a litter box and trying out potty training as well.

[akstrohm]

I would definitely recommend a litter box. I got mine at Walmart for about $2, so it doesn't have to expensive, and it makes cleaning much easier.

[hilary]

I think I'll stop by Walmart this week, I hear they carry Yesterday's News, which I think I'd use to fill it. The little corner ones are actually for rabbits and ferrets right? $2 is a deal.