Cage Please help me design a cage!

[Piggly12]

Hi

I have 3 piggies, and I know that the cage is the minimum size so I want to upgrade it.

I ordered 12 grids and some connectors from guineapigsaustralia and they arrived today, so I can upgrade their cage for the first time! I can go to Bunnings and get some corflute once I have the design and the measurements.

I currently have a 2x4 with 1x2 loft, and would prefer to keep the 2x4 corflute base as it is so I don’t waste corflute/coroplast cutting another. Also I have cut some fleece to fit this size and don’t want to waste that either. However I guess I could either cut them up or put them aside to wait for the next upgrade!

I am thinking maybe a 2x4 with 2x2 or 2x3 offset loft, or would a 1x something along the back be better? I thought maybe I could keep the 2x4 with just tunnels and lots of space for running, and make a loft for the hideys and food, or maybe keep the food in a separate hay loft, depending on the construction.

I’ll post a pic of the current setup tomorrow. Also I will draw some pics of my ideas and put them up too.

I have a total of about 6 grids wide space to work with, but I could probably move a shelf or two to add an extra 3-4 grids space.
I have a grand total of 32 grids and 54 (i think) connectors.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
(also does anyone know how to use google sketchup?)

Thanks in advance!

P.S. Does anyone know any good ramp ideas and how to make covers for them? The one my c&c came with (off gumtree so it is an older version) has a ramp made of a layer of corflute with strips of corflute attached as grip things. this pic is before I put the fleece etc in - before i got the pigs. Also, I made a fleece cover before I let them use it, so it looks like this: But I think it is unsafe as the pigs could fall off the edge.

Thanks again and sorry for the long post!
The 3 little pigs and me

 

[80s_piggies]

I know what you mean about not wanting to waste the coroplast. Maybe there is a good way to join two pieces together so you can expand? I'm not sure, I've never connected it.

I used grids for my ramp. I bent the grids to form a "U" shape. This makes walls up either side so piggies don't fall off. I used 2 grids and overlapped them and ziptied in place really snug. Then I ziptied a piece of coroplast to the bottom of the ramp to make a floor. I cover mine with towel and fleece that I binder clip to the grid so it stays in place. My ramp is against the side of my cage and I zip tie it to the cage itself (from about half way up) as well as the loft so it's very sturdy and I can still lift it to change bedding underneath and such. My boys love it and feel nice and safe. They actually started using it before I had the loft ready. They were looking around like "nothing's up here mom?" So impatient... lol

 

[piggielover200]

What about adding an L shape like 2 by 3 on the side. Then you wouldn't need to waste the fleece or corplast just cut it so it lays down.

 

[Piggly12]

Thanks 80s_piggies and piggieslover200!
You mean like this ramp? (broken link removed)
Piggielover, thats a great idea, but mum says im probably not allowed to have the cage extend any further into the room. Could you send me a pic of the idea please?

I just tried sketchup, and could only figure out how to use the rectangles, so here is what i’ve come up with:do you think it’s ok? with ramps of course. I was thinking of putting the hideys in the 2x2 loft, the food in the 1x2, and some tunnels and maybe a fleece forest in the 2x4, leaving it free for running. Does the cage have to be 2x5 for lots of pigs even if the 2x4 running space is large enough for 1 pig and their hideys are elsewhere, not taking up that space? i mean the don’t need individual running space, they can share the same space if you get what I mean?

Thanks

also how do you get the squares on sketchup t have grid patterns on them? and how do you add corflute? And is there a way to only make perfect squares? thanks

 

[80s_piggies]

Yes, very similar! Here is a picture of mine. I really like your cage idea. The only question I would have is how are you planning to get them access to both lofts? If you do 2 ramps that might take up a lot of floor space. Maybe one ramp and one bridge? I've seen some cool bridge ideas in pictures here.

 

[Piggly12]

Cool!
Thanks for the bridge idea; I wasn’t really sure how i would connect them.
would this be better?

I was thinking of maybe making the ramp out of 2 of these from Ikea connected together with zip ties or similar - like this:


also does anyone else have any designs that would help me make the bridge? I don’t think i will have any leftover grids if i make a support or a fleece forest, so it will probably have to be something other than grids. Thanks

 

[Piggly12]

Do you people think the ramp and the design are ok? And any ideas for the bridge?

Thanks

 

[pinky]

Cool!
Thanks for the bridge idea; I wasn’t really sure how i would connect them.
would this be better? View attachment 73033

I was thinking of maybe making the ramp out of 2 of these from Ikea View attachment 73034 connected together with zip ties or similar - like this: View attachment 73035


also does anyone else have any designs that would help me make the bridge? I don’t think i will have any leftover grids if i make a support or a fleece forest, so it will probably have to be something other than grids. Thanks

I'm not sure about that ramp. It looks like a guinea pig could fit their head in those holes and get it stuck.

 

[Piggly12]

Oh ok. Good point. Do you have any other suggestions that don’t involve grids? thanks

 

[Piggly12]

By the way I designed some other cages: are any of these a better option?, ? I will most likely not use the first one; too many ramps, but a fun idea though.

 

[80s_piggies]

I agree about the ramp. There are a lot of people that make them out of coroplast. They have that style in the store here, also has walls to it.

I like that last design with the oversized offset loft.

 

[Piggly12]

These are all the designs I have come up with so far: Which would be best?

 

[barbaramudge]

I like the third one but it may be a pain to clean.

 

[Piggly12]

Me too. Do you think any of the other ones could be edited to improve them? E.g. adding lofts elsewhere, moving lofts or ramps etc.
Thanks!

 

[barbaramudge]

I'm no good at that...lol. Where the heck is @lissie? She's amazing.

 

[lissie]

also how do you get the squares on sketchup t have grid patterns on them? and how do you add corflute? And is there a way to only make perfect squares? thanks

You can download the grid I've posted here. https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model.html?id=a3e0f27ef3545b7d6a133dff97cc0cbd

To add corflute tray, you can make a rectangle, then use the push/pull tool to make it into a rectangular prism, then select the top surface, and delete the top surface. Select all the surfaces, then group them together, or turn into a component. Then you can move it around, or scale it to the size you need.

These are all the designs I have come up with so far: Which would be best?
View attachment 73063

I like this one. For me, the simplest one works best. When there are too many ramps, or walk ways, my pigs don't use them.

If you don't have enough grids to build a ramp, you can always make one from just coroplast, or build one from wood. Just make sure your ramp has a side rail (I know it's hard to draw the side rail into the design).

 

[Piggly12]

Do you think the 3rd one from post (broken link removed) would work? I kind of wanted a separate hay loft.

Thanks for the info on sketchup!

 

[lissie]

Do you think the 3rd one from post (broken link removed) would work? I kind of wanted a separate hay loft.

Thanks for the info on sketchup!

If it were my pigs, they would squabble over the narrow walk way to the hay loft, but that's just how mine are.

How about this cage? You'll get a 2x2 loft, with a 1x2 hay loft. The bottom could be bigger. I'd warn you though, a 1x2 hay loft is quite small for 3 pigs. If your pigs get along well, it might work.

Copied images from: https://www.guineapigcages.com/foru...coroplast-base?p=822330&viewfull=1#post822330

 

[Piggly12]

Following up from post number 3 by @(broken link removed), here is another design... the bars on the bottom right will be some kind of hayrack - that is just so i know where it will go

What do you think?

Is there any way I could incorporate some storage?

I have a space that is 6 grids wide, but I could move a shelf to make room for about four more (total 10 grids wide)

 

[lissie]

I like the latest design. Lots of space on the bottom floor. For storage, you can build them from grids, or use coffee table.