Wall safety

**tattooyu** · #1 01-05-06, 05:33 pm

1) We misjudged our Coroplast dimensions for the bottom of the 2x4 cage. We have 4" walls, but on one side (a short side), it doesn't have a Coroplast wall. Is that dangerous? Is the grid enough to keep them safe on that side?

2) The cage also has a 1x2 loft. Is the coroplast is 4" high there too. However, there is no grid in front of the wall that opens to the bottom level. Generally, is 4" enough to keep them from jumping down?

I have a feeling we might need to buy another sheet of Coroplast and try again. I'm worried, because we are picking up the boys this Saturday!

**aqh88** · #2 01-05-06, 06:15 pm

Well no coroplast on the sides isn't a danger to any pig grown up enough not to fit through but bedding and droppings will get knocked out of the sides of the cage. My 2nd level I just finished doesn't have coroplast on the sides and in a few places it doesn't have coroplast on the bottom. It has a mattress pad, 2 layers of towels, and then 2 layers of fleece with the layers bent slightly up the sides of the grids to keep droppings from getting knocked onto the lower level. It's a real pain for me to get coroplast here so I just gave up and decided to do that level without.

Some guinea pigs will jump over a 4" wall but most older pigs don't find it worth the effort. I had to set up a brick on one side that they could use to get over a 4" coroplast divider into their hay area. Only the 2 youngest ones out of 6 would go over it. It would still probably be best to increase the sides to at least 6" soon just incase someone gets brave. For ramp areas that only take up part of a grid section you can overlap grids so only part of the grid sticks out into the empty section, cut a grid(really annoying if you don't have bolt cutters and a grinding wheel), or make a 6" coroplast wall and then cut out a section exactly as wide as the ramp.

**tattooyu** · #3 01-05-06, 06:21 pm

Well, that's a relief. We will see how they do. I don't mind the droppings and hay flying out for a while until we can buy more Coroplast to make another box.

I'm still a little leary about the top, so I think I'll put a grid in front of it, but cut some of the grid out so it's more of a railing (half a grid high). Tonight I'm going to buy bolt cutters ($15 at Home Depot) and some heavy duty sand paper to smooth it down!

Thanks for your reply!

**nonamian_girl** · #4 01-06-06, 12:01 am

do you have any coroplast leftover? Maybe you can play around with it some more, I screwed mine up too and what I ended up doing is instead of having one big sheet of coroplast, I have one long one and one short one that slide into each other. IT works just as well though.

**tattooyu** · #5 01-06-06, 09:38 am

I do have some left over. I thought about it some more and I think I'm going to cut a piece of coroplast and put a wall on the outside for now. I'll have to cut around the water bottle though.

I brought my camera to work with me, so I'll be uploading pics of the cage today!

**Eolith** · #6 01-06-06, 04:48 pm

I'm I had help with my cage. I would have messed it up really bad if my dad hadn't helped out, we even have extra high walls where the hay rack will be to prevent hay from getting all over the place.

**tattooyu** · #7 01-06-06, 04:55 pm

Since the walls we have now aren't that tall, I zip-tied a fitted piece of coroplast to the back of the hay basket, so hay will go down or to the sides into the cage.

**Da_3_mad_pigs** · #8 01-07-06, 07:50 am

your cage looks fantastic!

**tattooyu** · #9 01-07-06, 11:23 pm

Thank you so much! We worked really hard on it. They both figured out the ramp within an hour!

We just picked up our boys today!!! We drove all the way from L.A. to San Mateo (near San Francisco) to pick them up.

We're crazy!

We're insane!

We're slaves!

I'll post some photos of them as soon as they get adjusted. There's some serious rumbestrutting going on, but nothing violent. It just freaks me out because one of the boars (Jackson, my avatar) is 8 months and is much bigger than the other (Splash) who is only 2 months old and is small.

**Ly&Pigs** · #10 01-09-06, 10:39 am

I am guessing you adopted from the Cavy Spirit Rescue and if so did you get to meet CavySpirit aka Teresa?

**tattooyu** · #11 01-09-06, 10:42 am

Yes! We met Theresa and Leah. They are great. What a great home they've given all their piggies. They were so helpful and friendly!

Our boys are doing well...rumblstrutting away...but no fights. They love each other. When one goes up the ramp to eat, the other will cry a little wondering where he went. They're figuring it out.

**Ly&Pigs** · #12 01-09-06, 10:52 am

I haven't met either in person but hope to someday. Teresa is like the big sister I never had to me.

Glad your boys are doing well!!

**tattooyu** · #13 01-09-06, 10:55 am

It was so hard for me to leave them alone this morning when I went to work!

I'm such a wuss!

**Mummy** · #14 01-09-06, 09:05 pm

Congratulations on your new boys :-)

You live really near Gavrielli's Plastic, which is where I get my coroplast from, should you ever need more. It's only $10/sheet there, and they have all the colors.

**tattooyu** · #15 01-10-06, 09:52 am

We checked out that place, but Valley Plastics (Woodland Hills, CA) is close to my wife's work, so we went there instead. Very nice people.

**Mummy** · #16 01-10-06, 10:46 am

How much did they charge you for a sheet? I called them yesterday, and they told me it was $35 for a sheet! I can get it for $10 at Gavrielli's

**DaCourt** · #17 01-10-06, 10:56 am

Wow...that's a nice little drive. Those pigs must have been distined to come to you.

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