C&C Alternatives Could I use a dog Crate as a cage?

[PandaCase]

Hi,

Hi'm still generally new to taking care of guinea pigs. It's been a few months now since i got mine (Hayzl and Charlie, both girls )

Anyways, I was noticing that my piggies are looking really cramped ( and miserable ) by their lack of space. I read that they need a lot of space to run around and play, that sort of thing and i feel awful that they don't have that. :sad:

So I decided to to do some research and I read a lot about C&C cages however, I'm not great at building or building in general ( I get really stressed out and frustrated easily ) and all the things that I would need would essentially be the equivalent to just buying a cage.

I do however, Have a large dog cage, and I was wondering if that would be okay to convert into a cage for them? It's big enough so that they could run around and play and all that and fun stuff and I would feel much better and not as guilty for leaving them in that tiny little cage.

 

[bpatters]

How big? Two pigs need a minimum of eight square feet, and more is better.

I've used a dog cage as a temporary fix when having to isolate a pig, and while it works for a short time, it would have to be a pretty big cage to serve as permanent quarters for two pigs.

 

[ItsaZoo]

A 2 foot by 4 foot dog cage would be the minimum size for two guinea pigs. However, I would be concerned about the floor since most dog cages have a tray that slides in. There are gaps around the bottom that a guinea pig could
catch a leg on while running. So you would need something to keep them safe.

We have a small 15-lb dog who actually got his back leg caught when he ran to jump in his cage. His foot went through the grid and he couldn’t pull his leg out.

 

[MerryFriarTuck]

Does it have a grate or solid bottom? Are the bars big enough anywhere they could put their heads through and get stuck? Is it a kennel with bars on all sides, or a plastic one with just a wire front?

Here's a bunch of fantastic info for new piggy owners... https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/113176-Information-for-new-guinea-pig-owners

This site also helped me as a newbie a lot: www.guineapigmanual.com

 

[thistlewriter]

Hi,

Hi'm still generally new to taking care of guinea pigs. It's been a few months now since i got mine (Hayzl and Charlie, both girls )

Anyways, I was noticing that my piggies are looking really cramped ( and miserable ) by their lack of space. I read that they need a lot of space to run around and play, that sort of thing and i feel awful that they don't have that. :sad:

So I decided to to do some research and I read a lot about C&C cages however, I'm not great at building or building in general ( I get really stressed out and frustrated easily ) and all the things that I would need would essentially be the equivalent to just buying a cage.

I do however, Have a large dog cage, and I was wondering if that would be okay to convert into a cage for them? It's big enough so that they could run around and play and all that and fun stuff and I would feel much better and not as guilty for leaving them in that tiny little cage.

If it's any comfort, I'm not good at building things either. Putting together my boys' C&C cage did try my patience on more than one occasion, but seeing the end result was well worth it. Besides, your pigs aren't going to care if it's not absolutely perfect. When I made a temporary C&C cage for when I pet-sat two female pigs, it looked pretty terrible, but it did the job, which in the end was all that mattered.