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C&C Starting My Project - Couple Questions

bwhite757

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I had been taking my daughter to the the Pet Store for a couple of weeks leading up to Christmas to see what kind of small animal she liked for me to possibly get her for Christmas. I had originally decided on a Hamster, and bought a cage, ball, extra tubes, food, and everything else I needed for a hamster. I went to the pet store on the 23rd, and while I was waiting on an employee to help me, I saw the cutest Guinea Pig (IMO), and well ended up buying him/her (didn't ask sex when I purchased) instead. Anyway, I ended up buying a Guinea Pig starter kit, which came with a cage, food, bedding, chew toys, water bottle, food bowl, etc. Once I got it home and all set up I quickly realized that this cage was far too small (should have done my research), and the guinea pig just didn't seem happy at all, wouldn't run around or do anything, even after a couple of days. Floor time was a completely different story. The pig would jump, play, run around, and act like a completely different animal. My daughter also noticed that "Ginny" just didn't seem happy at all in her cage. So I promised her I would have a different/bigger cage by the next time she came over. (I'm separated from my wife, and have my daughter on a 3 day/4 day per week rotation.) Anyway, did a little googling and came across this site, and decided on a C&C cage. I originally wanted to go with a 1 level 2x4 cage. I was able to get a sheet of white coroplast from a local sign shop for $15, then went to Target and found a 2x6 grid shelving pack, bought it, but when I got home realized that only 9 of the grids had the small openings, while the other grids had large enough openings for a pig to squeeze through. So I went back and got another box, and now got my initial project started, and now had enough grids to elevate the cage, and add a 2x1 loft. After a couple of trial and errors, I'm now to here:

cc_cage.jpg


My question is, I've seen a bunch of people that have some kind of edging on their coroplast, where can I get this edging from, and what is it? I'm using the leftover coroplast to construct a ramp, but want to put edging on it as it seems a little sharp to me.

I'm planning on the loft to be the "Kitchen", I will be putting wood pellet bedding in this area, and using fleece bedding in the main area (currently going through the 4th wash cycle to break it it).

Any other tips/tricks you guys would like to share I'd love to hear! This is our first guinea pig, and I'm becoming quite attached to this little critter pretty quickly. I'm even considering getting it a buddy in the near future once I get this cage complete.

Thanks in advance!
 

My_3_LittlePigs

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Aww.. That's awesome that u got ur little girl a guinea pig. She must love it. Your cage is very nice. I would suggest using zip ties to make the cage more secure. Also, guinea pigs are social animals and are happier in pairs.. but first you'd have to determine the sex of course. For the ramp I bent 2 grids, zip tied them together to make it longer then zip tied them to the upper level n the side. Binder clips are another useful thing to have. Then I binder clipped a folded town on the ramp for better traction.
 

LuvCavysLuvCats

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For the edges of the coroplast you want poster hangers. They are much thicker and stronger than those binder edge pop on things lol I've forgotten what they're called. Anyways you can find the poster hangers at Micheals. :)

By the way, your cage looks awesome so far!!!
 

lissie

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Welcome to GPC!

Your cage looks great. I'm sorry to tell you, Target grids are not safe. Guinea pigs can get stuck in the ones with the smaller square grids.
(broken link removed)!!

Can you overlap the grids to make the spacing between the bars smaller? I think you would need to do this anyways, since pet store pigs are usually babies. You would need to babyproof the cage.

(broken link removed)

(broken link removed)

By the way, your pig would be much happier with a friend. Please consider adopting a friend from a rescue or shelter.
https://www.cavyspirit.com/sociallife.htm

Before adopting a friend, please verify if yours is a boy or girl.
https://www.cavyspirit.com/sexing.htm
https://www.guinealynx.info/sexing.html

Also here's a great website for general care and medical guide.
https://www.guinealynx.info/healthycavy.html
 

Starthecavy123

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You can find the edgeing on the guinea pig cages store. Or the poster hangers are a very nice idea. I'm so glad you got a piggie. They are quite interesting creatures. And I'm so glad you found this site you can find all the answers to your questions here. Before getting him a friend you must find out what sex your piggie is first. You can do it yourself or go to an experienced exotic vet. I'm not sure how to find that out but I think its on here somewhere. I would go to a vet because you'll want to go to a vet for a physical. Just like babies they need a first exam to just to make sure they are healthy. Although you have to watch out for pet stores they usually don't care about the animal but the profit. My second pig I got from super pet ended up pregnent and we had to put her down, R.I.P Bella <3. She was only about 5 months old. My first I got lucky with she came from super pet to. But sadly my second piggies storie didn't end so well. My first one Star is still alive she is 5 soon to be 6 in May. Then once your ready for a friend for your current pig you will need to quarentine the new pig. Then you will need to introduce them. You can't just throw them in together and expect them to get along. Guinea pigs are territorial creatures and males are even more so than females. So if you end up with a male get him a male friend if its a female get it a female friend. Also if you have males they will need a bigger cage, males are more prone to fight each other. Good luck with your new piggie and welcome to piggie slavory lol :D:)
 

Starthecavy123

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Also when you get another I would suggest adopting not buying. I think you will see the difference, pet store pets usually come from mills. Where rescues pigs get handled right after birth. And rescues are less skiddish.
 

bwhite757

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Welcome to GPC!

Your cage looks great. I'm sorry to tell you, Target grids are not safe. Guinea pigs can get stuck in the ones with the smaller square grids.
(broken link removed)!!

Can you overlap the grids to make the spacing between the bars smaller? I think you would need to do this anyways, since pet store pigs are usually babies. You would need to babyproof the cage.

Oh my, did not see this, and it's obvious mine are of the 8 block grids. I'm pretty sure I have enough of the 5x5 grids to go around the grids that won't be up against the wall. I'll see if I can position them to decrease the opening sizes. Hopefully I'll be able to, because I'd hate to have to tear this back down and then have to order the grids as Target was the only local place I could find them. Thanks for the info!

**Edit**
Now too concernced with the grids, just going to scrap this one and order some Whitmor cubes from WalMart. Should get them in the end of next week. Thanks again for the info!
 
Last edited:

Traysea

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You can use the 8 square grids you have for the stand and how about some storage for your daughter?
 

Traysea

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Also, walmart sells the binder spines (edging) as well but the cage store sells them in both black and white if that makes a difference.
 

lissie

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You don't need to scrap the cage. With the correct size grids, you'd still need to babyproof. Just overlap the grids to make the smaller squares.
 

piggiepigpigs75

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Oh my, did not see this, and it's obvious mine are of the 8 block grids. I'm pretty sure I have enough of the 5x5 grids to go around the grids that won't be up against the wall. I'll see if I can position them to decrease the opening sizes. Hopefully I'll be able to, because I'd hate to have to tear this back down and then have to order the grids as Target was the only local place I could find them. Thanks for the info!

**Edit**
Now too concernced with the grids, just going to scrap this one and order some Whitmor cubes from WalMart. Should get them in the end of next week. Thanks again for the info!

you could make a base out of the target cubes!!!
 
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