Where People & Piggies Thrive

Newbie or Guinea Guru? Popcorn in!

Register for free to enjoy the full benefits.
Find out more about the NEW, drastically improved site and forum!

Register

C&C Considering adding a basement to the cage

pigger123

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Nov 26, 2013
Posts
2,178
Joined
Nov 26, 2013
Messages
2,178
My 2x6 cage is on a grid stand which I use for piggy supply storage. I had been using all 6 cubbies for storage, but today I reorganized and found that I only need 3 of the cubbies to fit everything! Since I have 3 empty ones, I had an idea to make a 2x3 basement for the pigs. What are your thoughts on basements?
 

littlepaws1999

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Jan 26, 2013
Posts
75
Joined
Jan 26, 2013
Messages
75
I think that's I really good idea! Although you would have to cut a whole in the base of your 2x6 which would decrease the size of it by a tiny bit... But nothing drastic
 

pigger123

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Nov 26, 2013
Posts
2,178
Joined
Nov 26, 2013
Messages
2,178
Yeah, the opening for the ramp would take up some space. But I only have 2 girls in it so it's plenty of space anyway!
 

pigger123

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Nov 26, 2013
Posts
2,178
Joined
Nov 26, 2013
Messages
2,178
I tried taking out some of the grids in the stand to make a space for a basement, but I realized that it was very saggy. I guess I'm going to Home Depot tomorrow to get some kind of dowel or PVC pipe for support. I had to go there to get the coroplast and zip ties anyway.
 

littlepaws1999

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Jan 26, 2013
Posts
75
Joined
Jan 26, 2013
Messages
75
I know what you mean when you said it sags.... I have a 2x3 and 2x2 on top and I used an old curtain rod that wasn't needed anymore to hold it up works like a charm
 

pigger123

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Nov 26, 2013
Posts
2,178
Joined
Nov 26, 2013
Messages
2,178
All I have left to do is install the ramp and make some fleece liners! I have 2 1-1/4" dowels for support, going across the whole 3 grids. The front 3 grids flip up to open, and are held shut with clips and bungee cords. It took me absolutely forever to figure out how to make a door that works, but this ended up being pretty good!
 

littlepaws1999

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Jan 26, 2013
Posts
75
Joined
Jan 26, 2013
Messages
75
Wow that looks awesome... I'm sure they will love the extra running room
 

NinjaAlena

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Oct 6, 2013
Posts
113
Joined
Oct 6, 2013
Messages
113
Really nice! Lots of room for them!
 

Jonesloonybin

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Mar 2, 2014
Posts
97
Joined
Mar 2, 2014
Messages
97
All I have left to do is install the ramp and make some fleece liners! I have 2 1-1/4" dowels for support, going across the whole 3 grids. The front 3 grids flip up to open, and are held shut with clips and bungee cords. It took me absolutely forever to figure out how to make a door that works, but this ended up being pretty good!

What a great idea! Your piggie in your avatar (same as the one looking at the camera above) looks JUST LIKE my girl Pip!! They could be twins!.
 

HugglesBubble

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Feb 19, 2014
Posts
1,003
Joined
Feb 19, 2014
Messages
1,003
All I have left to do is install the ramp and make some fleece liners! I have 2 1-1/4" dowels for support, going across the whole 3 grids. The front 3 grids flip up to open, and are held shut with clips and bungee cords. It took me absolutely forever to figure out how to make a door that works, but this ended up being pretty good!
That looks really cool, but how are you going to get in the *basement* to clean it? An idea;
Take the plastic things off, you'll do better with zip ties, in my opinion, and you'll be able to maneuver it around, the grids I mean. If you put the zipties on the part of the grid that's closest to the ground (I'm confusing I know) you'll be able to use the grids like a drawbridge and you'll be able to pull that coroplast put to clean it. Thoughts?
PS. If you use zipties, you'll need the larger kind, the thicker ones. That way they won't break. Just remember to pull them tight. To test the secureness I usually put my palm down and press on the coroplast to test how durable the zips make it. :D I can provide pictures of mine if it will help any;
 
Last edited:

dani_starr

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Mar 7, 2012
Posts
390
Joined
Mar 7, 2012
Messages
390
@HugglesBubble, pigger123 said above "The front 3 grids flip up to open, and are held shut with clips and bungee cords. It took me absolutely forever to figure out how to make a door that works, but this ended up being pretty good!"

I'm guessing they just open the 3 grid wide door, and can pull the coroplast tray out to clean it. :)

You have some very lucky piggies pigger123! Those girls must be love all the space they get! :D

EDIT: What is your hay rack made out of? I like the looks of it :)




 

HugglesBubble

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Feb 19, 2014
Posts
1,003
Joined
Feb 19, 2014
Messages
1,003
Oops lol I was in the middle of class, bored and didn't really read pigger123's comment sorry qq'' but yay lol
 

MrCavyMadness

Cavy Star, Photo Contest Winner
Cavy Slave
Joined
May 28, 2013
Posts
319
Joined
May 28, 2013
Messages
319
Honestly [MENTION=30060]pigger123[/MENTION], I think it would be just as beneficial to take the middle grid out of the bottom. It should be just as sturdy, and you can get in there(at least a little) without having i flip up any grid.
 

pigger123

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Nov 26, 2013
Posts
2,178
Joined
Nov 26, 2013
Messages
2,178
Honestly [MENTION=30060]pigger123[/MENTION], I think it would be just as beneficial to take the middle grid out of the bottom. It should be just as sturdy, and you can get in there(at least a little) without having i flip up any grid.

Do you mean so that I wouldn't have that middle grid at all? Knowing my piggies, they would just jump right over the coroplast and be running around all over the house. Plus, I have dogs, so the pigs need to be completely enclosed.

Here's a photo of how it opens up for access:


Side view (I can clip it to the top of the cage to keep it open):

The coroplast tray slides right out:
 

pigger123

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Nov 26, 2013
Posts
2,178
Joined
Nov 26, 2013
Messages
2,178
@HugglesBubble, pigger123 said above "The front 3 grids flip up to open, and are held shut with clips and bungee cords. It took me absolutely forever to figure out how to make a door that works, but this ended up being pretty good!"

I'm guessing they just open the 3 grid wide door, and can pull the coroplast tray out to clean it. :)

You have some very lucky piggies pigger123! Those girls must be love all the space they get! :D

EDIT: What is your hay rack made out of? I like the looks of it :)





Yep, that's it! Thank you, my hay rack is actually just a grid, bent at a 90° angle so that the bottom is 9x2 grid squares and the front is 9x7 grid squares. Then it has coroplast zip tied to the sides, back, and bottom to prevent hay from falling out of the other sides!
 

pigger123

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Nov 26, 2013
Posts
2,178
Joined
Nov 26, 2013
Messages
2,178
What a great idea! Your piggie in your avatar (same as the one looking at the camera above) looks JUST LIKE my girl Pip!! They could be twins!.

Wow, they do look a lot like each other! They even both have that big brown patch on one side of their back.
 

HugglesBubble

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Feb 19, 2014
Posts
1,003
Joined
Feb 19, 2014
Messages
1,003
Do you mean so that I wouldn't have that middle grid at all? Knowing my piggies, they would just jump right over the coroplast and be running around all over the house. Plus, I have dogs, so the pigs need to be completely enclosed.

Here's a photo of how it opens up for access:


Side view (I can clip it to the top of the cage to keep it open):

The coroplast tray slides right out:
Would your dogs be able to pull the grids upward to get underneath?
Also; what about really thin Christmas lights to light it up underneath? :D you'd probably have to cover them to make sure your pigs don't think theyre a hanging snack :p
 

pigger123

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Nov 26, 2013
Posts
2,178
Joined
Nov 26, 2013
Messages
2,178
Would your dogs be able to pull the grids upward to get underneath?

No. I was concerned about that happening, but the way I have it clipped shut makes it impossible to open without removing the bungee cords and clips.
 

littlepaws1999

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Jan 26, 2013
Posts
75
Joined
Jan 26, 2013
Messages
75
I have Christmas lights around my cage and my piggies don't bother with them...
 

pigger123

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Nov 26, 2013
Posts
2,178
Joined
Nov 26, 2013
Messages
2,178
Here it is!
The ramp entrance from the main level:
They have yet to use the ramp, but I'm hoping they will learn how to use it. If they don't, I'll be very disappointed, because this took a long time to make!
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.

Similar threads

A
Replies
5
Views
376
iggy
failur3byh3art
Replies
1
Views
168
Guinea Pig Papa
Guinea Pig Papa
KirbyFan8910
Replies
3
Views
582
ItsaZoo
ItsaZoo
Squiggles
Replies
11
Views
2K
Squiggles
Squiggles
Top