need advice on making a cage

Yes, they'll chew the wood.

A throwaway piece of wood won't work for the bottom, unless you've got many of them. But you can use linoleum for the bottom as long as you fix it so that the pigs can't chew it, or a plastic tablecloth, or a shower curtain.

If you've got a cat, you'll need a lid. Closet shelving makes a good sturdy lid.

No, they won't use a litter box like a cat would. Some pigs will use one quite often, others ignore them entirely. You can't potty train them like you would a kitten or a puppy. The best you can do is put a litter box where they pee and poop the most, and catch as much of it as possible that way.

It needs air circulation to keep them from developing respiratory infections. It needs a minimum of 7.5 square feet for two pigs, and an additional 2.5 square feet for every additional pig.

Take a look through the photo galleries -- there are hundreds of pictures in there of cages of all kinds.

And welcome to the forum! We'd love to see pictures of your pigs.

I've been reading since i posted. Learning alot.

Too bad that I can't use wood. I still might frame something in wood but I need to make it cat proof. I see how people make cages here.

I think I might need a wood sheel where I can put in that C&C stuff inside. Maybe a plexiglass front.

Super confused right now. I was hoping to build this thing tomorrow and i am seeing those hopes disappear quickly.

I have two cats and use a C&C cage with no problem. I've made a top for it out of the grids also to keep the cats out. No need for plexiglass

rebeccars said:

I have two cats and use a C&C cage with no problem. I've made a top for it out of the grids also to keep the cats out. No need for plexiglass

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Can't cat arms get in there? 1"+ squares are pretty big in terms of a cat.

How do I make a floor? I mean, I see people using fleece. Is the idea to make a waterproof base layer out of cloroplast then putting absorbant layers on top that you launder weekly?

So:
layer 1) clorplast
layer 2) fleece
????????????????????????
What layers am I missing? What about bedding?


Right now the bedding material we use is their "litter".

Somewhat confused.

kfh227 said:

Can't cat arms get in there? 1"+ squares are pretty big in terms of a cat.

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You could always double over the grids.

What are those white pieces? What is the floor surface?

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That white surface is called coroflute (coroplast), it is commonly used to make signs and is cheap, waterproof and easy to clean. The stuff on top of the coroplast would be an absorbent layer (Like towels or Uhaul Pads), and on top of the absorbent layer would be a layer of fleece, the liquid wicks through the fleece onto the absorbent layer keeping your pigs environment nice and dry on the top.

Grids, some people use grids under the coroplast to give strength and stability to the cage structure.

Then,
- coroplast
- uhaul pad/towels
- fleece

Typically the flooring goes as follows: Coroplast on the bottom, a few layers of towels, and one layer of fleece on top. Droppings get sweeped daily and towels and fleece washed once a week.

Lots of people with cats use the grids (9x9) with no problems. However, there are grids with smaller holes available. I don't know where you'd get them except online. Maybe someone will chime in about where they got theirs.

Target used to carry ones with small squares, but I haven't found them currently listed. They were red, yellow and blue.

I have my cages on tables and I didn't leave much room for the cats to get onto the tables, so it hasn't been a real problem. They have looked from the floor, but once they got used to the noises coming from the cage they really weren't interested. I use the coroplast bottom and then a double layer of the uhaul pads and then fleece. I have a "litter box" for them with carefresh and I put their hay rack in there, which seems to help contain the poop somewhat. I sweep it every night and then do a whole clean every week. I spot clean the litter box each day and every few days completely change out the care fresh.

Starting to understand things much better.

Much appreciated. My neighbor owns a sign shop so I'll have to ask him about this coroplast.

Still thinking about this wood cage idea. I am thinking that I might do a wood frame (with considerations for air flow) and then do a cage inside that.

Thinking about doing a 4'x2.5' base level with 2+ levels above that.

Definitely be wary of grid cages and cats. I see a lot of people here don't seem to have problems with their cats being overly curious and sticking their paws in the cage, or they say their arms are too big to fit in between the closet shelving used for lids. Mine do. Not just one of them, but both of my cats. They crawl on top, and they swat down at them. So, we we keep a folded sheet over the top of the cage. What do they do now? They lean over the edge of the cage and poke at them from the sides.
I've heard some people suggest using ...fencing? I forget what it's called. The stuff you'd protect your outdoors plants with. That stuff. They attach it to the cage/lid so there's no room to poke through.

My cat attacks my dog on occasion. It's a wonderful cat but can get rambunctious. the more I think about this, the more I realize that i need this cage to be totally cat safe.

My wife is going to kill me when she see what I end up making. Probably going 3 levels. the bottom level will be 10 sqft. Not sure about the higher levels. I do worry about them chewing wood though.

I am thinking of looking at fencing materials at home depot or lowes to see if anything there is a tight mech. Could also use heavy duty door screen material. Stuff that cats can't claw through. Use that on the sides and back. do the front plexiglass.

Here is my wooden cage. I used linoleum on the bottom. I attached it to the wooden base just like you'd lay a floor then had it go up the sides about 2". Works wonderful! I don't have any cats though, so I don't have to worry about that.



The cage is 2x7.



I added lights on a timer because it's cool. Basically the only reason. lol



Here is a picture up close of the linoleum in one corner of the cage.



You can see more pictures of the construction (broken link removed).

Oh, I could get hose 1'x1' linoleum tiles. Easier to install that stuff

I might use this stuff on the side and back of the cages:
Phifer 36 in. x 84 in. Black Pet Screen-3004152 at The Home Depot
It's heavy duty door screen material. I've seen cats climb this stuff and it doesn't do any damage to the screen.

Then do the front with plexiglass.

Welcome. This is a great forum! Some of us have good alternative cages (personally I'd love a C&C cage but...), & a wood-frame one is fine. My piggies started off in a cage which was an old wood fishtank stand with garden mesh nailed around it. They nibbled at the wood at first then lost interest.The wood was plain untreated wood. Now they are happily at home in an 8'L cage. The petscreen you mention should work, or galvanised wire mesh - whatever you use will have to go the full height around the cage & you need a sturdy secure cover. Wonder why you want plexiglass? Not that it's a bad thing but there must be goid air circulation/ventilation. Would recommend having the cage raised up off the floor, on a table or you could build a nice wooden stand for it.. I think 4'x2.5' might be too small -the bigger you can have it the better. Multilevel cages are fine but not really necessary. Make sure you have absorbent layers between floor & fleece. I use newspaper(intend to replace with uhaul (furniture) blankets), then showermats with shelf liners on top. And make sure there is plenty of hay. Piggies are efficient pee-and-poo producers so regular cleaning & daily poo-removing is a must. Lots & lots of info & advice here. Enjoy your adventures!!

As for wood, should I just use Pine? If I should avoid that I cold always use Poplar which is a harder wood that is the same cost.

Can you link to some "wire mesh" so I know exactly what product I should consider?

Thanks!

Sorry to hijack here but @Inle_Rabbit, I love your cage. I want to do something similar not to replace the C&C I use but to use as a stand. At the moment my girls are on the floor and I want to lift them so I can utilize space better and so they can feel a bit more at our level.