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Size Sizing of grids

New@Piggies

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Hi there. Can someone help me with the size of a C&C grid?
I'm from South Africa, we don't get the grids here :( So I'm going to make a cage out of a huge wooden box we have at home. Going to cut down the 'front' and make a lid with mesh (have dogs & a cat so can't have an open cage, just in case). Will make some sort of 'box' to go inside the cage with the Coroplex/coroplast stuff you guys use, although I have yet to find where I can buy it from because again, we don't seem to have the same stuff available here.
I'm asking about the sizing as I want to know what size in grids my box cage will be. Then I will be able to say what size my cage is, in 'grid language' :)
Thank you.
 

HappyHopperz

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Each standard grid is 14 inches long and high, Atleast here in the US. Depending on the number of pigs you have, the cage size differs. Look for standards here: Guinea Pig Cages, Your Cavy At Home Good Luck! :)
 

Kota12

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I searched some sign shops but I'm not familiar with Anywhere else except Florida.
Here's the link: cape town south Africa sign shop - Google Search

I'm not quite sure they have coroplast but you can call and ask! :) If not, you can use a shower curtain as a substitute.
 

bpatters

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New[MENTION=258]piggies[/MENTION], you can also talk in square feet, rather than grids. The sizes on the Main page of this website also show foot/inch measurements.

Search for corrugated plastic in your area, which is what coroplast is. Try sign shops -- they use a lot of it, and may be willing to give you a price break if you tell them it's for your guinea pigs. Otherwise, they may think you're competing against their sign business. You can also use plastic tablecloths or shower curtains for the waterproof layer, but you have to protect them from being eaten by the pigs.

Be sure to cut a lot of ventilation holes in the wooden box -- housing pigs in an area with insufficient ventilation can increase the chances of respiratory problems.
 

New@Piggies

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Thanks all - now I know exactly what to look for, thank you :)
bpatters, don't worry - the 2/3's of the front and the lid I'm going to do with mesh. It's a thin wood 'box', we have been meaning to turn it into a type of storage cupboard for my husbands tools but as we've been in this house for over 2 years and he hasn't done what he intended with it, i am now nabbing it for the pigs. We haven't got our pigs yet, I want to do the cage setup 1st and then we will getting our pigs.
Square feet - ok... here we talk in metres and centimeters, I will have to google to see how to convert cm to feet :) (I was planning to convert cm to inches anyway)
Thanks again.
 

bpatters

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You can google up a conversion program for just about anything you need. And we can handle centimeters as well.
 

lissie

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Here's the recommended sizes in metric.
(broken link removed)
 

New@Piggies

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Thank you so much!! Our box cage is going to be a fraction smaller than the recommended size (by about half a sq metre) but I plan to add a level inside it, as the sides are quite high. I know it says that extra height does not count but I will play with some ideas as to how to give them as much running space as possible inside the cage. At the very least, the box cage will be Draft Number 1 while I still continue to hunt down the allusive grids here in South Africa :rolleyes:
 

New@Piggies

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Hi Lissie,
I hope you get this reply (I am still figuring out how the forum works). The box is (in centimetres) 117 x 80. Which when I convert it to sq foot seems to be 6.42. The recommended size worked out to 127 x 76 in centimetres. This is all so very complicated, working out the measurements etc.
I don't have guinea pigs yet, I am wanting to get 2 and am learning/investigating beforehand. At this rate though, I just don't know. Might be easier just to buy the biggest store bought cage and just have 1 pig. Feeling very frustrated right now. I am on the computer constantly, simply CANNOT find something to use & just don't know how to go about this. Sigh.
 

New@Piggies

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Oh and thanks for the links :) I have gone through the Alternative Cages one, and will go through the other one now. "Problem' is that I must have a cover & it needs to be off the ground (have 3 small dogs & a cat). Have worked out which room in the house we're going to assemble the cage (at least I have got something sorted)...
 

RodentCuddles

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Just to be clear, did you mean adopt or recuse a guinea pig? Not buy one from the pet store?

I'm sure you'll be able to make a good size, but honestly if you're just gonna buy 1 pig and a pet store cage please don't get either.
The cage will still be to small and the guinea pig won't be happy as they do need friends.
 
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New@Piggies

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Yes I know they need company, that's why I want 2. In the 'Introduce yourself' category, I explained the whole story, didn't realise I'd need to do it again on every post :)
I live in South Africa (Cape Town). There is NO guinea pig rescue organisation here. The places that do DO 'rescue' (as in take in guinea pigs that people no longer want) have inbred them horribly - they take them into one huge run and they just breed & breed. And the other option to 'adopt' is to buy guinea pigs off the classifieds, as in adult pigs that are being sold as people no longer want them. A true rescue is when people hand over their guinea pigs to a rescue who rehomes them, not just buying them off the local classifieds. So unfortunately, I doubt I will be adopting from a rescue, as that does not exist here. Believe me, I have spent HOURS online looking!
I never said I WAS going to buy just 1 pig, I said it out of frustration as I cannot figure out HOW to do this properly. For information purposes, the big store bought cage is 1.2metres long, not exactly the baby hamster size cage.
 

Nix16

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Your box size sounds about right I think, just trying to convert off the top of my head that must be a little over 10 sq feet. You'll get the hang of sizes we use cm and metres in Australia too but when it comes to cages I've got my head around square feet. Also I would think your better to have two pigs in that size than one on it's own
Edit, I just saw you've posted saying you want to get 2 anyway sorry
 

Nix16

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Just checked my calculations and those measurements give 10.56 sq ft and you need 10.5 for two pigs so your all good.
 

New@Piggies

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Oh thank goodness. My husband (who is not being that helpful with my investigations as I would have hoped he'd be) must have given me the incorrect conversions then. I did think the box looked big enough to me (comparing to some cages I've seen on here). I have just come from our largest plastics supplier & have got the owner sourcing me some ideas he has, although he has doubts that he can get the storage grid system for me. He has offered me a very large metal storage shelf setup that if turned on its side & adapted could also work.. So now I'm feeling a bit better about tackling this. Thanks Nix16, am very glad to hear my 'box' could work. I hope to have some pics on here soon when i complete what I have in mind :)
 
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