Upper Levels 2x2 loft or 1x4 loft?

I can give you my input on cleaning the 1x4 loft idea - I think it will work well!!! I have a 2 x 6 wooden cage with a 1.25 x 6 loft. The loft hangs off the back a bit, so the space underneath the loft is 1x6 (the .25 hangs off the back). I'm really happy with that set up and it is pretty easy to clean under the loft and in the loft. Mine is on a stand about 1 grid high. My loft is grids on the front and they hinge down, which makes it really easy to clean the loft. Like you, I also use a dustpan and small broom to sweep brooms and I can reach the whole cage pretty easily. Before I added my loft, I found a scrap piece of wood in my basement and laid it across the cage to simulate a loft to see how big it could be for me to still easily reach under it. I decided a 14 inch loft (1 grid) is the max loft I wanted to sweep under!

Here's my cage:


And with the loft front folded down for cleaning:

I used to have a 2x4 with a 1x4 loft and I found that it was easy to clean. The loft didn't work as well when more than 1 or 2 pigs wanted to use it because it was narrow, but they could run past each other just fine. One of my pigs would run up to the loft to beg for veggies and all 3 of them learned how to wait up there while I cleaned the bottom cage each night. They seemed to really like it. I have since expanded to a 2x5 with just a small 1x2 loft for an extra sleeping area.

Thank you for the replies. I appreciate the input. We really can't do the offset for now, because I really do NOT have the room. However, my husband has promised to work on getting the basement finished off this winter, which will allow me to reconfigure some things and that will allow me to expand what they have. For now I will just continue to suck it up and contort myself to get down underneath.

Eventually, I would love to do a 2x4 with offset 2x2 lofts at each end. They really do use the lofts and will actually eat the hay and veggies from there before touching what is downstairs for them (I keep stuff both places in an effort to ensure that they have available to them since so many have said their guinea pigs don't like lofts, but upstairs is SO MUCH easier to refill and keep clean!). So my eventual plan is to do one loft as the main kitchen food / water area (obviously with stuff down below as well just to ensure they are eating / drinking) and use the other loft as a sleeping cozy area leaving the "downstairs" as a run around and PLAY area.

It dawned on me that the loft fleece doesn't have to be clipped in place. One corner is the ramp (and they aren't willing to risk rolling down the ramp to burrow there), one corner has the veggie bowl, the third corner has the coral with the hay pile, and the last corner has the tree trunk hidey thing. They don't bother with the fleece at all up there. So why do they bother with the fleece downstairs? Well DUH, the corners were open to do it with! So this is what I did ... by not clipping the fleece up and over on the ramp down side, it allowed me enough fleece to REALLY go under the filled kitchen which is heavy enough to hold it there with it so far under. The remaining non-ramp corner now has a hidey house (formally resided under the ramp) sitting in it. That will now hold it in place (hopefully). That leaves only the ramp corner that is open for burrowing under. I took a spare piece of plexiglass I found in the garage and put it under the towels and fleece and clipped the whole thing together in the corner, so there is the metal binder clip there in the corner, but I used a fairly small one, and so far, so good! YAY! This will make it so much easier to get the fleece in place, that is if this works out. Hopefully it will make it less of a hassle and I won't dread doing it anymore. Today's swap out (holy moly did they make one heck of a mess with the cherry tomato I cut up on Monday!) was so much easier. Took me longer, but I was trying to figure out that ramp corner solution, and the rearranging of the hideys.

You sound like you are on your way to becoming a Guinea Pig Engineer (like me)!!! I swear I am moving and changing things in my cage all the time. All in an effort to outsmart my piggies and make it as easy to clean as possible. Best of luck with your cage!

p.s. how about some pics?

Pretty much. And since my daughter absolutely was concerned that they would climb to the top of the hidey in the corner and climb right up and out of the cage, we had to move it (seriously, there were tears, because "Hammie and Callie will fall and get very hurt and then we will have to go back to the veterinarian and they will have to get more shots and don't you remember how they just cried and cried yesterday?") so I had to turn the plexiglass 90 degrees to cover both corners, which it BARELY does. It really didn't photograph well to show the plexi in place, it either glared, or you couldn't tell it was there.

Note to admin: If these shouldn't be posted here, I would be ok if they were taken down, I can post them in the cage photo thread. Just let me know.

The first is the loft area. The second is the old fleece set up and the third is the new fleece set up.

@CavyChrissy how do you keep your fleece down? It looks like you have tall coro sides on your loft. Mine seem to get under ANYTHING even when I clip it.

Also BEAUTIFUL cage! What do you have framing it? Can you just come build mine hahaha?

Alternative solution: quick-detach connectors questions

So ... Where we these hiding when we ordered our cage?

https://www.guineapigcagesstore.com/connectors-quick-detach#.VoR5hOKIfMs

Because seriously, if I had seen those when I ordered the our 2x4 with a 2x2 loft the end of November, I TOTALLY would have added them into the order and just told my husband that they were part of the package and just what we had to order. End. Of. Story! But, before I go looking for the cash flow to order these now, I have a couple of questions:

1. With the 2x4 + 2x2, could I set it up to be able to lift the loft off (with the bottom) and do the regular connectors with the flat sides together in the middle pieces with the connectors in the corners? Or do I need to use these with EVERY top to bottom connection? Because this would make cleaning the bottom level so much easier!
2. Could I also use a second set to do the same on the base (with bottom) on the corners and the flat sides together on the stand? I'm thinking this would be SO much easier to travel with if we ever had a need to take pigs along with us and still allow them the space they need.
3. If I could do this, the loft would be AMAZING for trips to the vet, because the doctored laundry basket almost ended with a piggie sky diving sans parachute - and that CANNOT happen again. (Can we say heart attack?) However, any tips on how to handle the loft that doesn't detach at the top? I'd rather prevent piggies from walking the plank.

Those are pretty cool. I've never noticed them, either! Sorry I can't help with the questions though.

jrv4babies said:

@CavyChrissy how do you keep your fleece down? It looks like you have tall coro sides on your loft. Mine seem to get under ANYTHING even when I clip it.

Also BEAUTIFUL cage! What do you have framing it? Can you just come build mine hahaha?

Click to expand...

Thanks @jrv4babies ! I actually don't use anything to hold the fleece down. My fleece are like quilts that I made - fleece, Uhaul, fleece. I quilted all 3 layers together by sewing through all 3 layers in diagonal lines about 6 inches apart. So they are somewhat heavy and lay very flat in the cage. So my pigs don't try to burrow at all! Previously I used 1 layer of fleece over wood pellets and they DID burrow under that.

Yes, my coro goes all the way up in the loft and main level. My cage is made of wood doors (like bedroom doors), so I didn't want any exposed wood on the inside. Here is a thread about:

https://www.guineapigcages.com/foru...plete-and-I-love-it!!!!-(pictures)?highlight=

Actually, I love building stuff! This one wasn't hard to build, it was just a pain to paint it all.