C&C Maybe I'm not done designing my cage! Tubing!?!

Traysea said:

Well, I just happen to stumble on this cage in the gallery and I think that would be so much fun for my piggies to have a racetrack around the outside of the cage. How big do you think the tubing would need to be? There is a huge jump in price once you get around 5" wide tubing.

Has anyone done this? What do you think!?!?

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That would be awesome. I have no done so, but if you have a larger guinea pig (like me) you may have to get the 5" tubing. I have a tube inside my cage that is the 5" but my guinea pig loves it!

Thanks! I appreciate the size info. I will look around and see how much it goes for. I am not sure what size the PVC elbows come in either. One of my pigs is a pretty large girl. Larger than my other two.

It think 6" would be a safer option.

I think you would need to drill holes for ventilation.

Yeah thats what I'm thinking. I have been looking at 6" tubing. The outer dimensions are 6" making the inner dimension 5 3/4" depending on the thickness of the tubing. I would also definitely drill holes for ventilation. Just trying to figure out if it would be safe with 3 piggies using the tunnels? What if one goes in one way and the others go the other direction? Might cause a traffic jam.

It should work if you have plenty of air holes and places that it connects to the cage. It probably would be a good idea to have several entrances/exits.

That looks cool! just a few thoughts, you might want to have fleece in there so that they have traction and so that when they pee it wont just sit there. And I would assume it would be hard to clean unless you took it apart every time (I mean like if you need to scrub it, not just dumping out the poo and cleaning the fleece). Besides that, I might do this when I do my cage change!

Since you seem pretty handy @Traysea, could you devise a way of making the tubes flip-top, so as they open to be cleaned? And then click-lock shut for when the pigs are using them? Like @RandomCavy says, keeping those clean to avoid infection/bumblefoot etc could be a real pain.

You may also want to consider the possibility that one of your pigs might love it so much they decide it's their 'new hidey' and refuse to come out. Probably won't happen, but still.

You could also get some opaque tubing for sections of it, so they can have some hidden parts and some exposed parts of the tunnel. I'd love to have something like this for my girls!

Good points, I was also thinking of possibly a square version but they don't make it in square. I was thinking of using a T shape to connect it to the cage which could in theory be capped off so they couldn't use it all the time. I love the idea of having trap doors on top of the tube so that I could reach in without having to take apart the segments. In my mind I would have to detach it every time to clean it out. Oh but what fun it would be for them to play in! I could do a fleece runner for traction on the floors. My mind is spinning!


I will ask them if they can cut the tubes in half the long way and see if that can even be done.

This week I finally started testing out the acrylic tube idea. I decided to start with a tube in the cage and see how it was to maintain. I bought a 6' long 6" wide tube online and had them cut it to 3' long. So I actually have enough to put in a second tube. I wanted to see how they liked the extra space and so far they LOVE it. I decide to modify the design a bit and turned the tube into a catwalk. Ultimately, my thought is to do one more tube in the front of the cage so that it basically pops thru the front two grids on either side and creates a loop but for now here is my first attempt at the tube used inside the cage. Since it is only 3' long I can reach my arm in easily to wipe it out and it doesn't need air holes drilled into it. The girls are loving the extra overhanging space the other patio provides and they are all claiming areas to lounge around. So far it's a success! I need to see if I put the second tube in the front how much viewing area that blocks. I feel like it might be too blocked off. The tube is see thru but not as clear as the plexiglass windows.

That is so cool what a great job. I'm impressed. It does give me some ideas for mybdaughters ferret.

Thanks! And a ferret could have a smaller tube, which is cheaper!

Whoa! Very cool! If this continues to work for you I might have to give it a go. Your cages are so beautifully done!

When I first was gathering the things for my c&c cage I was like, "this is going to be the classiest, most well put together cage ever!" But then I remembered material cost money, and I just got the basics. haha. I've now excepted an awesome cage takes time. Plus I'm a perfectionist so I'm always changing things trying to make them better anyhow. Lol.

Anyway you're a real inspiration, so thanks!

That's exactly how I am. I just keep tweaking and redoing and fussing with it. I limit what I buy each week or month until I collect all the materials. Today I bought three more bins for the last section of the stand. It just doesn't end and I don't want it to I really enjoy the changes. When my upstairs is finally finished I will probably blow out the cage a little more but I am happy with the size for now.

LuvCavysLuvCats said:

Whoa! Very cool! If this continues to work for you I might have to give it a go. Your cages are so beautifully done!

When I first was gathering the things for my c&c cage I was like, "this is going to be the classiest, most well put together cage ever!" But then I remembered material cost money, and I just got the basics. haha. I've now excepted an awesome cage takes time. Plus I'm a perfectionist so I'm always changing things trying to make them better anyhow. Lol.

Anyway you're a real inspiration, so thanks!

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@Traysea I have a 2x4 and two weeks after I got Penelope (8 wks old at the time, tiny little thing!) I was already wanting to upgrade to a 2x5! She's tiny but very active. I can't even imagine her in a 2x3! That just seems super tiny to me now. Lol.

Right now I'm trying to figure out how to put Plexiglass just on the front wall. Is there different kinds of plexiglass or are they all the same?

It comes in different styles and thicknesses. Mine is the same size as a grid so I can make it modular so it has to be 1/8" thick. If you want to do one long piece across the whole front then you can make it thicker. I bought mine from tap plastics on line and it's the cheaper version. I also cut windows in my coroplast and attached more plexiglass there with Velcro so my coro looks lower but it's still a 6" high tray. Everything I do in my age is removable for cleaning and modifying.

LuvCavysLuvCats said:

@Traysea I have a 2x4 and two weeks after I got Penelope (8 wks old at the time, tiny little thing!) I was already wanting to upgrade to a 2x5! She's tiny but very active. I can't even imagine her in a 2x3! That just seems super tiny to me now. Lol.

Right now I'm trying to figure out how to put Plexiglass just on the front wall. Is there different kinds of plexiglass or are they all the same?

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You may want to consider getting T sections and putting it in the middle of all four corners of the cage for exact esscape routes. I hope this makes sense.

It looks great! Have you considered adding another section on the other side so they can run laps? I'll bet they loved having space to run complete laps with nothing in their way.

Yes I have more tubing. I just wanted to see how it was to clean, if I could still see them in the cage, and also access the bottom etc. Ideally I want to cut holes in the front end grids and extend the front tube out the front of the cage so the track willl be a little bigger and it will be cool to see them coming in and out of the cage. I can't do that right now because my kids are too young and I don't trust them with it so for now I will probably have to put the second tube inside in the front to make the track. I have it, I just need to cut the coroplast and mount it etc.

I want to make a patio so bad and this makes me want to even more! lol

I don't have enough coro on hand to make a patio right now and can't decide if I want to buy some from the cage store or not lol Now I want to make tubing too hehe

Your cage looks amazing!