Aquariums

Re: Aquariums

<strong>Aquariums are NOT okay.</strong>

This is the expert site on housing for guinea pigs. This page has more details on why they are bad: (broken link removed)

In addition, they are <strong>WAY TOO SMALL</strong>.

Extra Problems with Aquariums

Yes, they're too small, and very poor with ventilation.

Other problems I've noticed back when I used aquariums:

ESCAPEES! Guinea pigs learn, and lean quick, how to get out of these buggers. They can jump- HIGH! They will escape if they are lonely (and it's too cramped to put more than one in there- it's not even good for 1). You can't really put a lid on them either all the way because the water bottle gets in the way

CLEANING- this is a pain in the butt! The aquariums are heavier, and more easily broken! With a cage, you can remove the bars part and dump the bedding into a dumpster or trash bag. With an aquarium you have to scoop the waste out, clean the sides (all the way up) and give it time to air out so the fumes don't hurt your piggie.

NOWHERE TO HIDE- pigs need little hiding places in their cages, and places to burrow. If you put houses or something in the aquarium, it takes up valuable space (which there's none of anyway) and gives them a stair to escape on!

COST- aquariums are more expensive than cages, even at a pet store. I made a C+C cage, and I got my coroplast for free at a real estate office- they just gave me their old signs. The cage cost me $20 (for the cubes) and it's about 10 square feet, and 14 inches tall. Plenty of room for hiding places, hay, food, waterbottle, and bedding.

aquirium?

how can you fit a pig into an aquirium? I have a hamster that lives in one, but he's small so for him its like a playground in there (with tunnels, and hidie houses). Its 20' x 12'. that's a big size for an aquirium. and there isn't much variation with sizes when it comes to aquirium's. Looking down at the aquirium, and looking at the little piggie chewing on the shirt, i can guarantee you there is no way a pig can comfortably fit in that cage. and im only talking about one pig, but you need at least two and together they would take up the entire cage. no, aquirium isn't good. their guinea pigs, not fish after all.

How Can I use aquariums?

We only used them before we knew they were bad, when the pigs were really small. Now that they're bigger, we have a new use for the aquariums: we turn them on their side and put some cloth over them to make a little home for the pigs in their C&C cage.

I totally agree, now, after having put pigs in a cage (and even more recently, a C&C cage) I can not imagine them being back in that little aquarium. (They've also gotten much bigger since then).

-Dan III

What about cabinets...i think that's what their called

If you were able to get your hands on a 1mx1m glass cabinets (like the ones at the pet shop), would those be ok?

Nope

Another problem with aquariums are ventilation. The same thing goes with the things at the petstore....

----------Ally