C&C Alternatives What Cage?

TBSam said:

i was also thinking about fleece flippers; but ya my room stinks cause of them so i wanted to move them downstairs; whats a good handheld vacumm for cleaning fleece under 30$ cad?

Click to expand...

If money is an issue, why spend it on fleece flippers?? If your room stinks, then there's a problem with your cage hygiene! hmy: Take the money that would otherwise have been spent on something you don't really need and buy a good air purifier. I have a Homedics small one that literally has been running 24/7 for about seven years. I vacuum the filter monthly and replace it yearly. It isn't inexpensive, but here is where quality wins. I can't imagine a unit running 24/7 for that long.......and I wouldn't be without it.

There is NO good handheld vacuum for that price. Yes, you can find a cheaper handheld but it won't last long and may not function as it should. I personally like Black & Decker, but again, after having owned various models over the past 8 years, buying one of their more expensive ones has proven to the the best and long-lasting.

If you have Bed, Bath & Beyond in Canada, take advantage of the 20% off coupons that they make available. They carry quality products and the 20% off price makes them very competitive.

spy9doc said:

If money is an issue, why spend it on fleece flippers?? If your room stinks, then there's a problem with your cage hygiene! hmy: Take the money that would otherwise have been spent on something you don't really need and buy a good air purifier. I have a Homedics small one that literally has been running 24/7 for about seven years. I vacuum the filter monthly and replace it yearly. It isn't inexpensive, but here is where quality wins. I can't imagine a unit running 24/7 for that long.......and I wouldn't be without it.

There is NO good handheld vacuum for that price. Yes, you can find a cheaper handheld but it won't last long and may not function as it should. I personally like Black & Decker, but again, after having owned various models over the past 8 years, buying one of their more expensive ones has proven to the the best and long-lasting.

If you have Bed, Bath & Beyond in Canada, take advantage of the 20% off coupons that they make available. They carry quality products and the 20% off price makes them very competitive.

Click to expand...

I agree, there really aren't any good handhelds. Sometimes Amazon has some decent ones on sale, especially if you have prime. I couldn't help you in so far as the varnish goes, but with the fleece: how often were you washing it? What were you washing it with? In my experience, darker sets tend to look nicer longer. Also, I have about a 1 1/2 grid section of my cage that uses paper bedding and that is mostly where they use the restroom. I wash my fleece every 2-3 days (I have three girls).

Also, the reason I quoted you spy9doc, I wanted to know whether air purifiers make the air in the room dry? I've been using a humidifier in the girls' room because of itchy skin and sneezing. It's helped a lot. I've been looking into a purifier to remove dust and so on from the air but I'm uncertain because I don't want it to make the air super dry in that room.

boopy said:

I wanted to know whether air purifiers make the air in the room dry?

Click to expand...

I wish that I could help, but I have absolutely no idea. I spend an inordinate amount of time in the room with the piggies because that room is also my home office. I don't perceive that the air is dry, but I am so accustomed to the room year- round that it could have escaped my notice. You are probably better off consulting your friend Google for an answer.

Most air purifiers don't affect humidity. Which is one of the big reasons to avoid air purifiers that have paper based filters in humid environments (high humidity+cellulose filters+mould spores captured from the air = mould growth inside the purifier itself) .

Soecara said:

Most air purifiers don't affect humidity. Which is one of the big reasons to avoid air purifiers that have paper based filters in humid environments (high humidity+cellulose filters+mould spores captured from the air = mould growth inside the purifier itself) .

Click to expand...

Thanks! Any recommendation on what sort of filter I should be looking for?

True HEPA air purifiers (not HEPA-type) are the best way to go (ideally also with some kind of carbon/charcoal filter or other chemical filtration), now most of them do use a paper and fiber mixture in their filters, but as long as your rooms humidity isn't above 60 to 75% regularly (if you are running a humidifier you should already have a hygrometer on hand, if not you should consider getting one) and you maintain the air purifier properly then mould usually isn't an issue.

Be sure to carefully research any model you are considering purchasing, as with all electronics they are not all created equal. Big things to take into consideration are performance, the energy efficiency to output yielded (in most cases output yielded will be listed as the maximum room size the machine can handle), and the price of replacement filters. Much like with printers, some brands/models might be cheaper at first but they have really expensive upkeep (with expensive ink cartridges in the case of printers, replacement filters in the case of air purifiers, or with high energy consumption).

i washed the fleece every 1 week and my mom wouldnt let me of doing it every 3 days cause water is expensive "so she says" and i used special eco friendly unscented detergent. so i am making they're new cage watch this video shes using varnish and shes putting a hamster in! im confused isint it bad tho? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8HWcdeED1I&t=558s im making mine a bit bigger with two floors its basically the same as my mid west cage. she said she uses sticky plastic but idk about that idea on the wall is it ok? also are plugin air freshers good or is it bad for them

Soecara said:

Be sure to carefully research any model you are considering purchasing, as with all electronics they are not all created equal. Big things to take into consideration are performance, the energy efficiency to output yielded (in most cases output yielded will be listed as the maximum room size the machine can handle), and the price of replacement filters. Much like with printers, some brands/models might be cheaper at first but they have really expensive upkeep (with expensive ink cartridges in the case of printers, replacement filters in the case of air purifiers, or with high energy consumption).

Click to expand...

Excellent explanation, @Soecara! But with all that being said, I stand by my recommendation of the (broken link removed) which I purchased at BBB seven years ago. I am currently still using the smaller one and it runs literally 24/7. The filter is expensive, but you need to replace it only once a year. I vacuum/brush it monthly at most. Our local BBB regularly sends out 20% off coupons to local households, you can sign up for email coupons, or download the BBB app. You may be able to find coupons online as well.

@spy9doc Looking at the homedics air purifier you linked, it is a true HEPA air purifier (even though the product page on BB&B doesn't say it, you can tell by looking at the replacement filters) and it has a carbon pre filter. Also as far as replacement filter pads go for air purifiers that is actually a very reasonable price (some air purifiers can have replacement filters cost upwards of $40 each). So as far as the things to look for in an air purifier that brand does tick quite a few boxes.

TBSam said:

i washed the fleece every 1 week and my mom wouldnt let me of doing it every 3 days cause water is expensive "so she says" and i used special eco friendly unscented detergent. so i am making they're new cage watch this video shes using varnish and shes putting a hamster in! im confused isint it bad tho? im making mine a bit bigger with two floors its basically the same as my mid west cage. she said she uses sticky plastic but idk about that idea on the wall is it ok? also are plugin air freshers good or is it bad for them

Click to expand...

It looks to me like the bits she has varnished cannot be reached by the cage inhabitants. I would think the varnish would be harmful if ingested but if you can ensure that the guinea pigs cannot chew or reach the varnished sections of wood in any way then the risk is greatly lowered. As for the sticky plastic, that would be to waterproof the wood. Without some kind of waterproofing the wood can swell and rot when it makes contact with fluids (water and/or urine) and turn into a horrible stinking mess. Once again as long as the plastic sheeting used to waterproof is secured well and all of the edges are covered so the guinea pigs can't lift it up and eat it then there is very minimal risk in using it.

Here is another cage idea from one of the other users of this forum, their cage was made using doors with coroplast for waterproofing (that might sound strange but it turned out really well, detailed instructions are given further down in the thread)
https://www.guineapigcages.com/foru...Cage-is-complete-and-I-love-it!!!!-(pictures)

I'm currently looking for a cage for my two guinea pigs presented me at work. And I believe I should be going for the biggest possible cage I can afford and fit in my home. I think keeping them indoors is a fantastic idea and we should never keep one on its own, that would be very cruel. They love company.
I just found a helpful video review on a spacious cage
[video=youtube_share;gYaV66MwbWA]https://youtu.be/gYaV66MwbWA[/video]
You can find (broken link removed) here.

@olouttt The cage in the video you linked is barley suitable for one guinea pigs and not suitable for two guinea pigs. It is under the absolute minimum of 8 square feet (as it is 7 square feet, that might not sound like a big difference but for an animal so small every little bit makes a big difference). For a pair of guinea pigs you should really be looking into a cage that is 10 square feet or bigger.

Now you aren't going to be able to find a pet store cage that is 10 square feet or bigger, but you do have options such as attaching together two midwest habitat cages, or making/buying a c&c cage, or even making your own cage out of other materials (my cages are wire closet shelving and coroplast, and I linked in an above post to a cage made out of doors with coroplast waterproofing).

Soecara said:

@olouttt The cage in the video you linked is barley suitable for one guinea pigs and not suitable for two guinea pigs. It is under the absolute minimum of 8 square feet (as it is 7 square feet, that might not sound like a big difference but for an animal so small every little bit makes a big difference). For a pair of guinea pigs you should really be looking into a cage that is 10 square feet or bigger.

Now you aren't going to be able to find a pet store cage that is 10 square feet or bigger, but you do have options such as attaching together two midwest habitat cages, or making/buying a c&c cage, or even making your own cage out of other materials (my cages are wire closet shelving and coroplast, and I linked in an above post to a cage made out of doors with coroplast waterproofing).

Click to expand...

Thank you for the help!