Cage Newbie alert!

You can get the grids at sears, walmart, Kmart or online. They should be around $20-30 for a set, the Coroplast can be found at sign shops(ask if they have any mistakes you can take off their hands). I'm not on my home computer so I can't post the links I have saved but somebody else should be along soon with tons more info. Good luck!

Here's the link: How to build a C&C

Here are pics of single level closed top cages


Here are pics of multilevel closed cages

Thank you so much. Looking at the second story ones makes me nervous. The idea is great, I loved the idea when I first heard it. But now that I see it my stomach turns. I would hate for something to give while we are gone hurting our poor piggies. I do love the idea of zip ties on one grid to make a door. Genius. And I read that it needs to have 9 holes per grid, correct? Anything less and their heads could get stuck. Awesome! So, I should be able to build a nice one for my budget and still have a little for fleece. YAY!

That is understandable about the second level. I love mine it keeps the fleece much cleaner. If your baby proofing you will also want to make coroplast side at least 6 inches high.

Good luck with your build!

You can also get the complete cage kits at Guinea Pig Cages, Care, Shelters, Veterinarians - Guinea Pig Zone.

And a loft won't collapse if you support it properly. I believe GPZ is going to be selling support rods, but they're not already doing so, you can get a 2x2 at your local home improvement store. (Lissie, if you'll post that link one more time, I promise I'll bookmark it! Thanks.) A 2x2 is the nominal size, the actual size is 1.5x1.5, so it slides easily through the holes in the grids.

Here's the support.

Nifty. Oh and is fleece easy to make on your own? I sew, but didn't know how hard it is. I know about the wicking process because I cloth diapered and you have to do a vinegar rinse eight times on them to get them ready.

I dont know about fleece, because I used bedding, but I recently had our piggy in one of the larger petstore cages. I was also nervous about building a C&C, but I recently did it, and its wonderful! I bought these grids, so far the cheapest I can find Sears: Online department store featuring appliances, tools, fitness equipment and more If you have a sears near you, you can have them ship it to your local store for free. As far as coroplast goes, you just have to look up your local sign stores and call around. I bought a sheet from mine for $20. So total, you only spend about $40, and you get a nice big cage. Its amazing how much happier the piggies get. In the store cage, he just layed around all day, not doing much other than eating and pooping, but now he runs around squeaking and making all kinds of noises, popcorning and everything. Much happier and healthier. Go ahead and be brave, make it! If you're worried about sturdiness, just use lots of zip ties. I have a toddler, and he loves to come up and shake the whole cage, and at first I was afraid he would shake it apart, but then I went over it, reinforcing it with zipties everywhere, and now it is solid. Check out the photo section, they have loads of ideas! Good luck, and I hope you go for it, your piggy with thank you! lol


These are pics from before I went over it with more zip ties. It looks pretty much the same, but I did change the base to make it sturdier. You can see its tall enough to keep my toddler from reaching in, but he can pet the guinea pig if he wants to come over and let him. The worst thing he does is shake the cage, and throw toys in there when he starts wheeking for food. But we're working on it, and now he knows he is not allowed to shake the cage, and to come and ask me for a veggie to give him, not toys.

Love your cage!

I will post pics of the cage I built later but for now I can tell you that my son 2 1/2 is fine with my cage. I built a 2x4 with a 1x2 kitchen loft. It's on a base made out of grids and I went over it with zip ties. He can pet miss piggy and he enjoys doing that but he pretty much leaves her alone and I don't have a lid. Once I get my piggy bedspreads in tomorrow I will take some pics and you can see what you think. My cage cost me about $65 Canadian for the grids (two six packs) and I got two full sheets of coroplast for free from a sign company who had misprinted them. They will be covered with fleece so it's not going to show and it saved me about $50.

Nice. Yeah, I found that I can get 19 grids for roughly a dollar a piece. The coroplast is what I worry won't work out. We have plenty of sign shops around here, but I fear they will try and charge me a ton for something my piggy will poop on. LOL! Maybe I will get lucky and get something for free. I have to do fleece, I hate the recycled paper bedding, and the other is really expensive. So for three piggies, would you do the equivalent to the XL C&C cage in the store?

You know, some people on here use linoleum instead. You can get it at Lowes or somewhere, a lot of times they will have remnant rolls, at my local store, they had a few smaller rolls, (around 8x10', if Im remembering correctly), for about $25. I havent actually tried linoleum, but some people on here seem to like it. You just have to be extra careful when scoring it, since it is thinner and easier to cut through.