How high is too high?

**gpigluver14** · #1 03-28-07, 03:56 pm

My cage right now has four levels. (The fourth level is a 1 x 1 cube, so it's nothing much.) But how high is too high? How many levels of cubes would it take before it would be too unstable that it would be just not safe? I mean, I'm obviously not going to do much more with my cage right now. I don't think I want to anyway, account of it not being 100% sturdy as it is. (Let's just say when my pigs popcorn and run around, the cage shakes a little bit.)

But how many levels is just too much for the piggies or otherwise?

Thanks.

**catzeye21138** · #2 03-28-07, 04:30 pm

The highest I've seen was 5 full levels. I think that you can go even higher if you take the precausions of stabalizing it. Like, cable ties at EVERY intervel, metal brackets are nice too! The ones that sort of look like an L support upper levels by attaching it to the side also. I wouldn't go higher than wider/longer though. It also depends on the type of grids you use, there are some VERY sturdy grids on the market that work wonders for larger cages! Hope you find some good information.

Linds

**cavy-cool-crazy** · #3 03-29-07, 03:01 pm

I once had a 4 level 2x4 (until October 06), which was very sturdy. Cable ties are the answer to keeping it that way! I also have solid chrome grids with much thicker metal than the colored painted ones, and that makes multi-levels very steady too.

**heatherbunnie** · #4 03-29-07, 03:23 pm

I was wondering for those of you with multi-leveled cages, how steep (or not steep) are your ramps? I currently have a 2x4 C&C, and I've been thinking of adding a level.

**this_lil_piggy** · #5 03-29-07, 03:36 pm

My previous cage was 4 full 2x3 levels and was sturdy as a building. Cable ties used properly are amazing things!

**gpigluver14** · #6 03-29-07, 05:40 pm

Quote:

I once had a 4 level 2x4 (until October 06), which was very sturdy. Cable ties are the answer to keeping it that way! I also have solid chrome grids with much thicker metal than the colored painted ones, and that makes multi-levels very steady too.

You know what, I saw the chrome grids at Target, but I didn't get them because they were like $3 more...I didn't know they were sturdier.

Quote:

I was wondering for those of you with multi-leveled cages, how steep (or not steep) are your ramps? I currently have a 2x4 C&C, and I've been thinking of adding a level.

Well I don't know how you would tell if a ramp is too steep by measurements, but what I do is literally look at it from a pig's point of view.

Once it is built, get down and look at it at about the height of one of your pigs. If it looks steep from that view then it will probably be too hard for your piggies to get up. My ramps are made of bent grids, and my longest ramp is made of two bent grids. I also have a wooden ramp made out of the top to a wooden hidy house. That one I think is kind of steep, but the piggies go up fine, so as long as it is secure and the pigs are comfortable with it, the incline shouldn't matter too much.

Also it's been kind of hard adding all the levels, because I need to have some spots open just for convenience to be able to get in to the fleece to vacuum it fairly easily. Right now I have it where I can get to almost everywhere, so I am very happy!

The reason I asked was because looking at the gallery there were only a few cages that had four levels, I didn't see any with five or more...hmmm...Maybe I can be the first one to have a 6 level piggy castle!! LOL!

**this_lil_piggy** · #7 03-29-07, 09:44 pm

Sit your elbow on the table with your hand in the air directly above it. Now keeping your elbow in it's spot, move your hand towards the table until it is about half way between the table and where it started. This is a good, safe, and comfortable slope for a ramp to be. Less slope is fine, but if you make the ramp much steeper than that, they may not be so willing to go up and down it.

**cavy-cool-crazy** · #8 03-31-07, 04:27 am

My ramp was about 1 and a half grids long. I use a shelf now but still have the ramp.

**gpigluver14** · #9 03-31-07, 07:37 pm

I got a bag of 60 cable ties, three different sizes, so I'm going to use them to make my cage overall more secure and stable. I'm also adding one more level. Wish me luck!

Also today is wash day, so their fleece and towels will be nice and fresh and clean!!

**RyanR** · #10 04-06-07, 07:31 am

Mine is two stories high now from an original 4 story 2x5 to a 3 story 2x5. Due to a recent situation in the kitchen, I had to stream line the cage into a two story 2x4 with a 2x2 pent house. Mine is very sturdy and I have a underlined base for the cage.

**Rachy1412** · #11 04-06-07, 05:39 pm

The biggest cage I have had is a 5 leveled 2x4. It was divided into 3 cages, each had a loft or basement. I used the connectors, cable ties and planks of wood to stablelize it. It was very stable but I couldn't reach the top cage without a chair!

**gpigluver14** · #12 04-06-07, 06:50 pm

OMG, that cage is huge! That's the downside, I can't have too many levels because my room has a low ceiling. That's why I made like a "mini level" by dividing what would be a grid square in half to make another whole level.

**Tulia&Susie** · #13 04-08-07, 02:38 pm

Wow that's a pretty big cage!! See I personally would rather have a cage that is wider/longer then one that had 3+ levels. I wouldnt mind having a loft but I don't think I would like having 3+ levels.

**gpigluver14** · #14 04-09-07, 07:20 am

He he, I must say I went a little crazy with my cage. The most I had to work with for a while was two boxes of cubes, and because of the lack of space I couldn't go wider or longer, so I built it up. And pretty much I did as much as I could with the two boxes of cubes. The first level is a two by three open space, besides the ramp, that they could run laps around, but they prefer running up and down all the ramps in the whole cage. Which is really quite fun to watch!

**Rachy1412** · #15 04-09-07, 05:18 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tulia&Susie

Wow that's a pretty big cage!! See I personally would rather have a cage that is wider/longer then one that had 3+ levels. I wouldnt mind having a loft but I don't think I would like having 3+ levels.

Me too actually! That cage contained 6pigs which lived in 3 seperate groups so each group had a loft and a main level. I always prefer length and width to height. But to be allowed to keep my piggies indoors I had to build upwards, I orginally only had a 3 leveled cage but because it took up alot of width room I had to downsize that and go up instead. Shame, I really love long and wide cages!

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