C&C Help for a newbie! Building 2x4.

Welcome to the forum!

@lissie is the master at cages so I will leave it to her for the help on the cage!

Are your boys already together and very bonded? The reason I am asking this is that a 2x4 is normally too small for 2 boars to live happily together.

Well, it is going to be a 2x4 on top of a 2x4. I would go bigger, but I can't. And, yes very bonded.

GuineaPigster said:

Well, it is going to be a 2x4 on top of a 2x4. I would go bigger, but I can't. And, yes very bonded.

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If they are very bonded then it should work just fine! My boy pairs would never work out in a 2x4. You are lucky!

Thanks!!! What size are your boys in? Are you thinking territorial wise?

Welcome to the forum!

What size is the cage are you going to inherit? Depends on the size, you might need a new sheet of coroplast or two. You might need to buy more grids too.

Here's a page that will teach you how to score coroplast. The instructions for connecting grids won't apply to you, since the cage you're planning to build doesn't use connectors.
https://www.guineapigcages.com/howto.htm

Thanks Lissie!
There is no set cage-just endless grids, coroplast, and connectors! I'm definitely doing a 2 level 2x4, but I will take any and all advice!

My boy pairs are in 3x4's right now. I did have them in 4x4's a bit ago though. I've had fights is larger cages and fights in smaller cages. It really just depends on the pigs.

Okay, these pigs are pretty funny. Albert is just like: ''Whatev. I could care less about being with Tofu.'' and Tofu is like ''ALBERT!! Come quick! Come here! Let's cuddle! I'm gonna follow you!!'' (And Tofu has an issue with humping Albert.)
But Alby is really patient, so I don't think I'll have issues.

The more cable ties you use the sturdier it will be. If you use connectors it seems to be a little more straight because it stops the grids from shifting around a bit but it's faster and easier to build without the connectors. If you are going to build a stand you might want to consider building the stand separately from the rest of the cage and then tie wrap the cage onto the stand. it will be easier to change your cage around in the future if you decide you want to. Also, using velcro to build the tray helps a lot with cleaning because you can sweep out the waste right into a trash can and spray the tray while it's flat and it gets the nasty out of the corners. If you have seen the video from that vendor, you probably already know about that. )

Thanks Traysea!
Could I use both?

Yes you definitely want to use cable ties no matter if you use the connectors or not. The cable ties keep everything all nice and secure! The connectors make the cage a wee bit bigger and seem to keep everything nice and straight but without the connectors it make it much easier to reconfigure and assemble. What I do when I build or rebuild my cage is make sure I get the grids into the connectors as far as possible. But then while you are building sometimes things slip out a notch or two so once it's all built I go back and push on each wall and joint to make sure it's as tight as it can be. Then I go in and use a cable tie on every single place where two grids meet so each joint will have a cable tie. That means that on some spots there are 4 cable ties or 3 or 2 or 1. etc. I put the ties up close to the connectors and then after I tighten them and clip the edges i push them all the way up to the connector so you can't see them and it looks nice and neat. I also buy the same color cable ties as the grids, I like it all to look nice and neat LOL

Thanks! Agreed about the neatness thing! I was either gonna use cable ties, or both, but I'll use both.

Tomorrow is the big day!!! Getting new fleece today!!
YAY!