C&C Alternatives Building a cage/hutch

Hi!!
I live in NZ too! I've manged to find the girds for sale on Trademe.
And have made a huge c&c cage for my three boys and another nice big c&c for my girl.
I can't help you with the hutch though, good luck!

Oh, cool! lol Too bad we have cats. (I love my cats, but you know what I mean. xD) I know you can make covers, but my family don't think they're suitable when you have predatory animals around. (One of our cast weighs 2-3 kg, the other is 6-7! He's rather heavy!)

Two of guys are in an indoor cage made from wood, polypropylene plastic, and acrylic. We also have 3 cats. We wanted the cage to be cat proof (we, too, have a 6kg cat), easy to clean and disinfect, sturdy, and we also wanted it to look half decent.

We made a 5-sided plywood box (no lid), cut a large hole in the front, and put acrylic in that hole. We then cut the polypropylene as if it were coroplast - covering the bottom and a short way up the sides, and slipped that inside. Then we put a small 'lip' made of metal on the inside at the top, and a mesh and wood top for the lid. This folds back half way or it can be taken off completely. The cats sit and lie on this no problem. The mesh was 'sandwiched' between two pieces of wood and pressure stapled to keep it secure.

To clean, I sweep out the base then pick out polypropylene base (it's very light) and take it outside and give it a hose down. The wood never gets wet and the acrylic just requires a quick wipe with a water/vinegar solution to keep it clean.

We made ours 2' high. Partly because this looks better for lidded cages imo, and also so the piggies and cats aren't too close when the cats sit on it.

@Blizzard, @Pipsqueak, just make sure that there's plenty of air circulation in your indoor hutches. Keeping cavies in a relatively confined space without sufficient air movement can contribute to respiratory problems.

we also made our own cage for our guineas. we started with a large sheet of plywood (we opted for the smoother cut plywood) and we cut a floor (30"x60") then we cut 2 12" walls, one for the side and one for the back, then 2 more 6" walls for the other side and the front. we used a simply staple gun to attach them all together. then we covered the floor and walls in laminate tiles (they're super cheap and easy to install). we also bought mesh wire fencing and cut it to the right height and put it around the 2 shorter walls of the cage. you could easily make a cover for something like this by using hinges, we just didn't because we have no other indoor pets. hope this helps a little!

@rachelappel I love the idea of the laminate tile over the wood!

@Kota12 thanks we had tried to think of a bunch of other different products to cover the wood so their little piggy feet didn't get injured and when we were at menard's one day they were having a sale on it and so we tried it out and its worked awesome. its held up against all the mess of pigs and doesn't hold onto odors like some things do. plus, it looks really luxurious lol we did have to reglue some of the pieces with construction adhesive as some were falling off, but besides that, it has worked really great for us.

Yeah it does! If I wouldn't had read the description I would've thought it was tile!

a lot of people think it is tile at first the nice part is that we were able to find something that semi matches our kitchen tile and that complements well with the rest of the decor in the room

bpatters said:

@Blizzard , @Pipsqueak , just make sure that there's plenty of air circulation in your indoor hutches. Keeping cavies in a relatively confined space without sufficient air movement can contribute to respiratory problems.

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Our cage is 2'x5'ish so gets plenty of ventilation from the roof. We do also have an air purifier in the room, though, which undoubtedly helps keep the air fresh, and we use a mix of woodshavings and Carefresh. I'd be wary of making a solid-sided cage if the cage was smaller than 2x4 or so.