ALERT! New Target grids are dangerous!

[salana]

Target has recently changed their "Organize-It" cube grids. So has K-mart. The openings are now larger and can kill cavies!!! Do NOT purchase any "Organize-It" or K-mart grids for use in a C&C cage without verifying that there are 9 grid openings per side! Fewer openings means they're larger and guinea pig heads can get stuck, leading to choking and death!

More info and pictures of the different grids are available on GuineaLynx:

http://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewtopic.php?t=47460

Please tell EVERYONE YOU KNOW who might even be thinking of using grids, to check them before they buy. Other brands should be checked too--with the price of metal going up, other brands may be trying to save money by skimping on crossbars in their grids.

If you can only find the 8x8 or 5x5 grids, you must stagger them as if for babyproofing. Otherwise, even the fattest adult pig could get their head stuck and die. Please, keep your pigs' safety first and foremost!

ONLY use the grids with 9 grid holes across in them to make your C&C cages!!

[PigWooBus]

Hi, I'm a volunteer with the Metropolitan Guinea Pig Rescue, and the grid change has been a big issue for us, as I suspect it is with many rescues across the country. One of our members contacted Target about the grids and has supplied us with contact informtion and a case number, so that others can continue to contact Target with more information. She is asking that we post this information to online forums where it will be seen and hopefully be of some use to others. I'm going to post below most of the email she sent out on our rescue forum because I think a lot of what she said is very important. If you use this contact information and talk to Lindy or anyone else at Target, please post and let us all know what you talked about and if anything came out of it! Thanks!


I decided to contact the Target Consumer affairs division this morning about this serious problem. First let me post that number along
with the contact person and case number.

Phone 1-800-555-1212
Contact- Lindy
Case #1-321-450-426

I explained to her that while we are well aware that we are using
this product (product # 085 110175) for something other than its
intended use, that it is commonly used nation wide for our purpose and
has been for quite some time. I told her that it was no longer of any
use for us and that there had also been at least one possible case of a
death. She has asked for more information about the death. Can anyone
put me in touch with the person that lost their pig? They would very
much like this information and I would like to be able to provide it for
them. Also any first hand problems could and should be reported to them
using the information above. I also told her that while we are able to
find a similar product (at least for the time being) at other places,
they are much more costly. We really like the product and price at
Target.

Lindy was very sympathetic and also supplied me with contact
information for the actual manufacturer I will be getting in touch with
them after the holiday. I asked her to please do some research online to
see what a large amount of cages are made out of this product and to try
to consider this when dealing with this issue.

I'm asking you all to start posting on your pig and rabbit forums
contact information for Target and to try to get people nation wide to
get in touch with them. While I know a few of you have looked for other
sources, my fear is that the grids are all coming from the same
manufacturer. When the current stocks are gone they could all be the
larger grids. Target is a caring community minded company and a large
player for any manufacturing company. We need to let them know how badly
we need to be able to continue to purchase this product. We need to put
some POLITE pressure on them. Remember that in using this product not
for its intended use we truly have no legitimate complaint. So act
accordingly when contacting them. We need a BIG IMPORTANT FAVOR from
them.

Application screeners, also please be aware that you will have to be sure that
your applicants check the actual size of the squares within the grids.
The product being offered by the other sources could change at any time.
One other issue that has only occurred to me while writing this so I
did not mention it this morning to Lindy is that there are most likely
hundreds of publications on the web and in print advising people on this
type of cage construction. It may be an issue we will be dealing with
for a long time.

Again anyone that can put me in touch with the person that lost
their sweet pig please try it would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks for reading everyone. If you can contribute any information, please call Target! Remember to be polite. If you volunteer with a rescue, it might also be helpful to post here how you are currently dealing with this problem. If you have any websites with information about where to buy grids or make cages printed on it, you may want to somehow modify it.

My friend mentions one person we have heard of whose pig died from an accident with the new grids. If you know this person, or of anyone whose pigs have had tragic accidents with the new grids, you can PM me and I will put them in touch with my friend, or just have them call Target directly. However, if anyone calls Target directly about this, can you also post that on here so we know someone did?

Thanks everyone.

[AbsLoveSnicks]

I discovered that recently. I got 3 sets of grids in the box, which 1 of the sets they had were alot bigger. I am only going to use those for the bottom parts of cages or stands. Thanks for warning people.

[pigster80]

I just built a C&C cage for my daughter and bought the grids from Target. About half of the grids were 8X8 and the other half 5x5. I had already started to put the cage together when I noticed. I went back to buy another grid type and discovered two different grid sets - one with all 9x9s and the other like I already had. The SKU (checkout code) was the exact same for both. Everything on the outside of both boxes was exactly the same EXCEPT the sample picture. The set with the 8x8s and 5x5s clearly showed the different grid sizes used to build a typical grid cabinet. The 5x5s are used for the back side of the cabinet. I bought the right size 8x8s, went home and build the cage. I used two 5x5s grid for the floor of the loft which was being covered by coroplast anyway. I used all of the extra grids and connectors from the two boxes to build an entertainment center for my son's room.

[RainKindle]

Remember not to use the 8 squares across near the guinea pigs, as they are still dangerous according to the link above. Use only the 9 squares across that measure 1.5"

[Zipfelmuetze]

Woah that's horrible. Well, honestly though. I had a short haired guinea pig who fit his entire body through the 9 squares across grid. He was about 1 yrs old when he did it. I took a picture of it too! I still can't believe he did that! I don't think it was good for him. It might have crushed his bones or something. He lived until he was 2 yrs old.

[i-love-nev]

UKers - B&Q grids are now the same HOWEVER they are 12" grids now so they are the same sized openings.

[wheekypigs]

For all in the Santa Monica/Culver area, I was just at Target (Jefferson) today - they still have the 9x9 grids in chrome, which costs more at $24.99 (6-cubes).

They also have 9x9grids in Bed Bath and Beyond next door - they are $14.99 for 4-cubes, and only available in gray.

[cavy-cool-crazy]

I have copied and credited/linked this post on two other forums. Let me know if that is ok or if I should try to reword myself.

[jessibee33]

I recently made my first guinea pig cage out of grids and had a hard time at Target. I bought 2 sets, got them home, and realized the grids were too big. I must have been one of the first to have this problem, because I kept searching on here and no one mentioned bigger grids at the time.
I took them back and they didn't have the other kind. I went to a different Target and realized they had two different sizes, although, as another poster said, the only way to tell was by comparing the pictures on the two boxes. There was no measurement size listed. I bought the smaller grids, then got home and realized some of them were bigger still, in the same box with the small ones. So be sure to check them even if the box shows the smaller picture.

[Lorie.J.Call]

While I was in the downtown Minneapolis Target this evening, I noticed the prices had increased for the grids. The chrome are now US$25 and the colors are now US$20.

As another member mentioned, the packaging for the color grids shows both the 5x5 grids as well as the 9x9 grids, while the packaging for the chrome grids still shows all 9x9s. On Friday (payday), I will return and open all boxes of the chrome grids, and buy as many as they have that contain only the 9x9s. If any of the boxes of the chrome grids contain both 5x5 and 9x9, I will post again.

[rabbitsncavyluv]

The chrome has always cost more here.

[Lorie.J.Call]

Originally Posted by Lorie.J.Call

While I was in the downtown Minneapolis Target this evening, I noticed the prices had increased for the grids. The chrome are now US$25 and the colors are now US$20.

As another member mentioned, the packaging for the color grids shows both the 5x5 grids as well as the 9x9 grids, while the packaging for the chrome grids still shows all 9x9s. On Friday (payday), I will return and open all boxes of the chrome grids, and buy as many as they have that contain only the 9x9s. If any of the boxes of the chrome grids contain both 5x5 and 9x9, I will post again.

(Correction to my earlier post: the packaging for color grids shows 5x5 and 8x8 grids. My apologies.)

Well, I was able to buy only 2 boxes of the chrome grids. Both boxes contained just the 9x9 grids. I'm in this store at least twice a week, so I'll keep an eye on them, and if the chrome grids switch to the 5x5 and 8x8 grids, I'll post again.

[Bennalaya]

I just wanted to add this suggestion, if anyone were interested. Since a lot of people are having trouble finding safe grids and the ones that are safe are more expensive check your local Craigslist. Some keywords they are typically sold under:

Wire Cubes
Wire Cube Shelving
Cubes
Storage cubes
Wire storage

Just be sure to look carefully at the photographs (if posted) to make sure they are the appropriate size. People sell them for little to nothing most of the time. Usually they are sold by people who used them in their kids' rooms and they've grown out of them or kids who used them in their college dorm.