Is my cage too small?

SkyandGizmo · Mar 13, 2016

Is my cage to small? I bought the petco Guinea pig starter cage 3 weeks ago for deceased Guinea pig Coco puff. (I bought her with a URI and took her back to petco 2 days after I bought her for treatment. The day before I was supposed to bring her home they took her to the vet because she had diarea. They told me to call on Monday (it was Friday) so my mom called and they told her that they put her to sleep because she has a nerological disorder and was too small to operate on a couple hours later I went out and bought my Gizmo and she's been living in the cage ever since) She's happy in it she popcorns and runs around constantly. I do plan on getting a bigger one when she a bit older ( she's 4 months old right now) so is this one good for now?

just8be8free · Mar 13, 2016

tbh, no. It's WAY too small. First of all she needs a mate asap. But before you get a mate you need to buy a new cage, and that needs to be done quickly. That cage is WAY to small, it's less than a quarter of what it should be. It should be at least 100cm*100cm: or 50cm*50cm. So 1 sq meter. You should buy a C&C cage then put the new piggie in quarantine in the smaller cage. But yes you should definitely consider a new cage

SkyandGizmo · Mar 13, 2016

Oh ok thank you! I'll try to get a new one as quickly as I can. I'm only 15 and I don't have a job yet so my parents bought me that and we're not the riches people so the $80 for that cage was a lot of money! I also bought her alone they told me she wasn't with any other piggie before I bought her so idk how she'll react to a new piggie. I also don't have the $40 for a new one and she seems perfectly happy alone. But again thank you so much!

bpatters · Mar 13, 2016

The people who market those cages for guinea pigs should be shot. Could you take it back for a refund?

You can build a much larger cage for much less. See the Main tab at the top of the page for instructions on how to do that.

Pigglet_pose · Mar 13, 2016

SkyandGizmo said:
Oh ok thank you! I'll try to get a new one as quickly as I can. I'm only 15 and I don't have a job yet so my parents bought me that and we're not the riches people so the $80 for that cage was a lot of money! I also bought her alone they told me she wasn't with any other piggie before I bought her so idk how she'll react to a new piggie. I also don't have the $40 for a new one and she seems perfectly happy alone. But again thank you so much!

I thought my piggie was happy alone until i found her a friend as well. Your main thing to do would be to return that piece of junk and get a good size cage. You could build a good cage that's 4x the size as that for about $30-$40. Don't shop at petsmart either. I see you're in Illinois and there is a rescue down south that you may be able to go to.

lunarminx · Mar 13, 2016

SkyandGizmo said:
Oh ok thank you! I'll try to get a new one as quickly as I can. I'm only 15 and I don't have a job yet so my parents bought me that and we're not the riches people so the $80 for that cage was a lot of money! I also bought her alone they told me she wasn't with any other piggie before I bought her so idk how she'll react to a new piggie. I also don't have the $40 for a new one and she seems perfectly happy alone. But again thank you so much!

Since she was sick when you bought her and she was put down, i would get a refund for the cage, get some grids and build one. The one you could build for $80.oo even buying the coroplastand zipties is huge.

just8be8free · Mar 13, 2016

SkyandGizmo said:
Oh ok thank you! I'll try to get a new one as quickly as I can. I'm only 15 and I don't have a job yet so my parents bought me that and we're not the riches people so the $80 for that cage was a lot of money! I also bought her alone they told me she wasn't with any other piggie before I bought her so idk how she'll react to a new piggie. I also don't have the $40 for a new one and she seems perfectly happy alone. But again thank you so much!

$80 is A LOT for that tiny cage! I'm 13 and my parents aren't rich either, but we were able to afford a C&C cage, in fact it was really cheap! She may seem happy but in actuality she's not the happiest she can be. She'll get lonely. Guinea pigs are very sociable animals and need a companion of the same breed and preferably the same gender. You don't necessarily have to pay a lot for a guinea pig, some rescues give them cheap, maybe, if you search enough, for free! It's important she has a friend. If the shelter's good then they'll let you take your guinea pig and see who she gets along with best, and you will go through the whole introduction process. She will definitely be happier with a friend, seeing as though she's been alone. Hope this helps (;

HollyLeaf · Mar 13, 2016

just8be8free said:
$80 is A LOT for that tiny cage! I'm 13 and my parents aren't rich either, but we were able to afford a C&C cage, in fact it was really cheap! She may seem happy but in actuality she's not the happiest she can be. She'll get lonely. Guinea pigs are very sociable animals and need a companion of the same breed and preferably the same gender. You don't necessarily have to pay a lot for a guinea pig, some rescues give them cheap, maybe, if you search enough, for free! It's important she has a friend. If the shelter's good then they'll let you take your guinea pig and see who she gets along with best, and you will go through the whole introduction process. She will definitely be happier with a friend, seeing as though she's been alone. Hope this helps (;

Breed doesnt matter. She can be housed with any other pig, so long as the other is of the same gender or fixed. Age isnt very important either, as whether two pigs get along or not is based upon personality more often than not.

I paid $25 to adopt Maya. A little more than half of what my mom and i paid for each of my petsmart pigs. But i got those two before i knew just how bad buying from a pet store actually is.

lunarminx · Mar 13, 2016

$23.00 for grids, $20.00 for coroplast, $ 3.00 for zipties, $ 5.00 for Heavy packing tape or duct tape. $51.00 give or take. Then you are using bedding or you can invest in fleece and uhaul pad to wash and reuse that for bedding and this is the cage you can build. That was two packs to build the stand. You could build a basic 2x3 to set on your dresser or a 2x4 on the ground.

just8be8free · Mar 13, 2016

@lunarminx
Sorry I meant species >_< As in guinea pig, and I said that cos some people think it's ok to house rabbits with guinea pigs

lunarminx · Mar 13, 2016

just8be8free said:
@lunarminx
Sorry I meant species >_< As in guinea pig, and I said that cos some people think it's ok to house rabbits with guinea pigs

Like my sister did many years ago.

just8be8free · Mar 13, 2016

lunarminx said:
Like my sister did many years ago.

Sorry if I offended you, it's not their fault. They're just not told that it's wrong.

Comely Guineas · Mar 13, 2016

Sorry but you need to get a new cage as soon as possible. Also adopt a friend for your piggy. Watch this video for more inspiration https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2twgWZrvvo

SkyandGizmo · Mar 13, 2016

Oh... Well... Now that feel like a horrible person... The fish tank she was in at petco was smaller then what I have now... Once I get the money she'll get a bigger cage I usually have her out of the cage for about 5-7 hours a day... And with 2 piggies I can't do it... Not because I can't take care of them but because my parents didn't even want me to have her... I bought her myself... They just got the cage... So thank you for your concerns and demands... But I know a lot a people who have raised one Guinea pig... They all lived for 5+ years... So thank you for your feed back.. I will try to make her as happy as I possibly can with out a friend... I feel like I brought her home to a better place then where she came from... Having no love, no interaction with anyone.. No exercise... And not having everything she needs... I'm not that bad of a person... Just a teen with no money of her own and her parents barely make enough to live as it is...

bpatters · Mar 13, 2016

@SkyandGizmo, just a word of caution for you. If you don't have enough money for a cage, you don't have enough money for vet visits. Guinea pigs require exotic vets, and they're harder to find and more expensive than small animal (dog and cat) vets. The question isn't whether your pet will ever need a vet visit, it's when. So let me suggest that you start earning some money with odd jobs, babysitting, whatever, and put it back against the day that your pet is going to need it. Just providing food and bedding for a pet isn't enough -- responsible pet care requires you to also provide medical services.

just8be8free · Mar 14, 2016

SkyandGizmo said:
Oh... Well... Now that feel like a horrible person... The fish tank she was in at petco was smaller then what I have now... Once I get the money she'll get a bigger cage I usually have her out of the cage for about 5-7 hours a day... And with 2 piggies I can't do it... Not because I can't take care of them but because my parents didn't even want me to have her... I bought her myself... They just got the cage... So thank you for your concerns and demands... But I know a lot a people who have raised one Guinea pig... They all lived for 5+ years... So thank you for your feed back.. I will try to make her as happy as I possibly can with out a friend... I feel like I brought her home to a better place then where she came from... Having no love, no interaction with anyone.. No exercise... And not having everything she needs... I'm not that bad of a person... Just a teen with no money of her own and her parents barely make enough to live as it is... [emoji17]

No one was trying to offend you. We know you're not a bad person, we were just trying to tell you what's best for your piggie. And I'm sorry if that offended you. You don't necessarily have to buy her a friend now, but as soon as you've dealt with your money issues.
I agree with @bpatters you really do need to consider a way to earn money because guinea pigs aren't as cheap as people say they are.

peachyteen · Mar 14, 2016

Nobody is trying to say you're a bad person, just trying to give you advice. Sometimes people's intentions and tone can get lost over the internet, but everyone here has good intentions.

Wandalea · Mar 14, 2016

When I recently got my 2 piggies, I got the largest cage at the petstore which was 40" x 17.5". I planned to make a big corral & let them be in it a lot. But after joining this forum I realized they needed way more space all the time. So I made getting a C&C cage addition my top priority. You can still use your petstore cage as a "kitchen" & make an opening into the larger one, which is what I did. When we put the piggies into the new addition, they popcorned all over the place & ran like the wind--were so joyful. Hopefully you can find some way to make money, even if it's not a job you want to keep after you get your piggie set up. Don't feel bad! I had no clue about cage size until I read this forum. I thought I was doing great by getting the largest petstore cage.

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Is my cage too small?

SkyandGizmo

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just8be8free

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