Project Rebuild

[Himino]

Hey everyone,

Most of you know about both of my piggies, Gizmo and Pollie, who passed away not that long ago. I have been confused in weather or not I will adopt any more in the future. After thinking about it and talking to some people I have decided that I will. I was looking at my cage and for no reason began to fix it up. This is what it was:

It had grids lose and connecters missing and it was truely an eyesore. So I decided not only to rebuild my cage but my relationship with my future piggies.
When my father comes to visit in January I plan on making a trip to my local humane socitey. I hope to adopt a fixed male/female pair, or two females. But as of now I am getting my home and myself ready for them.
This is where the cage is now:

The cage is now a 2x4. I am in the process of getting it flecce ready. I also have to buy another pack of grids from Bath and Body works. The cage is not the only thing that I am changing with this project. I will be starting my job soon so I plan to use half of my check on my animals. I will use that money for immediate care and set the rest aside in case of emergencies. That way my animals/guinea pigs will get everything they need while I know if anything happens to them I can have that extra money to get them vet care asap.
I want to keep updating this page with my progress on all aspects of the "projet". I want to thank the amazing members here at Cavy Cages for supporting me and making me feel better in the wake of my boys loss. I hope to incourage others who have lost pets to keep going. I love the species so much and would feel bad if I didn't rescue as many as I could and give them a great life.

 

[CavySpirit]

It looks great. I'm glad you are going to adopt and save some more piggies soon.

All the best!

 

[Himino]

Thanks! I look up to you so much, so having you say that motivates me even more.

 

[Himino]

I just have a quick question for you guys. When prewashing the fleece before you first use it should I use detergent or just water? And do you think a 2x4 is enough room for two guineas or should I just make a whole new cage?

 

[fourbwabbys]

Did the lady from the video ever get into contact with you? That would be great if you could adopt those two and get them out of those conditions.

 

[Himino]

No, not yet. I doubt she will. But if she does I'll be so happy. I'll keep you posted.

 

[Slave to the Wheek]

Don't know the back story but it's good to know you are working hard at getting everything ready. Imagine how happy you can make two piggers lives compared to how they would have to live if they were in a regular person's lousy petstore cage and fed nothing but pellets.

I highly recommend, ney, urge folks to use zip ties. They are worth the 2 bucks. If you zip tie them at each connector, both at the bottom and at the top, your cage will be indestructable. See my gallery for close up of how I zip tied mine. Use a good size zip tie, and place it below where the connector holds the two pieces together.

This not only keeps it tight, but it helps hold the connectors firmly in place. Basically the connector and the zip tie work as a team. The connector holds the grid sturdy, the zip tie keeps it tight. Then cut them with a pair of wire cutters really close to the connection.

Even though it's technically "ok" to not put a floor on your cage, I think you will find that it's soooo much more worth it to make a floor. The floor keeps the grids from "splaying" out and keeps the sides from popping around and when you bump it, it doesn't budge.

Either way, good luck in everything!

 

[this_lil_piggy]

Good going on your improvements, and congrats on considering two new piggers to love!

On the fleece subject, I would say yes, use detergent. The detergent should help break down any waterproofing chemicals that may have been sprayed on the fabric.
I use detergent and either bleach or vinegar each time I wash my fleece, to clean and disinfect it. Avoid fabric softners though, they will add a film to the fleece that will prevent it absorbing as it should.

 

[Himino]

I have the fleece ready and I have a layer of newspapers, then a layer of towels. Should I have two layers of towels or will one do. I'll be putting down the fleece later on today after I clean the rest of the room. Oh, and thanks Slave- those are some good tips! Thanks you lil_piggy also!

 

[cookie_gal]

Thats great you will be getting more. I say the biggest compliment you can give your past pet is to get another one as you enjoyed them so much.

 

[this_lil_piggy]

I think how many layers of towels, depends on the thickness of the towels. Some shop or kitchen type towels can be pretty thin and with those I would probably use 2-3 layers of them.
I use regular bath towels that are relatively thick, and I use only one layer of them. I cleaned my cage last night and was surprised to find that after a week, the bath towels had done such an awesome job of absorbing and drying that my newspaper underneath had not really even gotten wet! I found one spot in the boars cage where the top layer of newspaper in one corner had gotten slightly damp, and that was it. I wound up only having to remove and replace one small section of newspaper.

 

[Himino]

Don't know the back story but it's good to know you are working hard at getting everything ready. Imagine how happy you can make two piggers lives compared to how they would have to live if they were in a regular person's lousy petstore cage and fed nothing but pellets.

Here's the link to my other thread, incase anyone is interested in what happened to my previous guinea pigs.

https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/about-guinea-pigs/23117-i-could-use-your-opinion.html

 

[Himino]

Hey,

Just a quick update! I put down the fleece and it looks great! We'll just have to see how long that will last. I also called my Humane Society to see if they have any guineas up for adoption. The girl said they have six, but she's not sure of what. Unsure how many are boys or girls, if they are fixed, or if there are any bonded pairs. So I'll most likely be helping to sex pigs when it go to look at them. But hopefully I'll find a fixed male/female pair like I wanted. If not I will look at getting two females, as I've never had females. And because now my cage is a 2x4 and males would need more space.
Even though I miss Gimzo and Pollie so much and wish they were still with me, I'm excited to be adding to my already large pet family.

 

[Himino]

I was wondering if anyone had things they would recommend I do before I get my new piggies?

 

[Himino]

I am excited because I'm going to adopt my new piggies on the third! The shelter is closed till the 2nd because of New Years Eve. Today I will be getting all my supplies, and I'm happy because I found a pet store that sells oxbow pellets! Right now I need hay, pellets, toys, a hammock, zip ties, and a new hay rack. I will also get some batteries so I can post pictures my lovely new cage.

I have an important question though. With Critical Care, if it has been opened before and not used for a long time could it harm the animal you give it to. I ask this because my vet while treating Pollie gave us some Critical Care, but it had been opened perviously and we have no way of knowing how long it had been sitting out. I am suspious that the critical care may have killed them. They were both sick but right after we had got done feeding them a big syringe of it they died. And they both died the exact same way. It just doesn't add up. It seems after they had a lot of the old Critical Care they just went down hill. This has been bugging me so I just wanted to ask what you think...

 

[Ly&Pigs]

Not sure if it was the Critical Care or not. When handfeeding you have to be especially careful that you don't aspirate it into their lungs.

Right now I need hay, pellets, toys, a hammock, zip ties, and a new hay rack.

Many piggies don't use hammocks so you might want to provide at least 2 hidey houses as well.

 

[Himino]

Okay.
Yeah, I have two already one regular hidey pigloo and another really large one. I set up the cage and it looks great I'm so proud that I did a great job all on my own. I'll be posting pictures of it soon.

 

[Himino]

Okay here you go! This is the transformation!

• First the cage was ugly, flumsy, and all around not that nice.

Then I decided to make some changes. I cut the cage down from a 2x5 to a 2x4. Changed from aspen to fleece bedding, and fixed the stucture of the cage. This picture is when I was at the half way point:






And at last after some time and money spent here is my new and improved C&C cage! As you can see it's a 2x4. It has two pigloos, a hammock, a food area, and some toys.




This shows the hammock area and kitchen. If the piggies don't like or use the hammock, I'll mostlikely get a cozy cup instead. I am using a mat in the kitchen/food area so that hay won't get tracked onto the fleece.



Long view:

 

[Fanch]

Wow, it looks so much better then the first cage. Great job, I bet your soon to be piggies will love it.

 

[Himino]

Thanks Fanch!

I bought some pellets, and they are from kaytee. But they are timothy hay based and don't have any bad extra bits. Would this be okay to feed them? After these bags run out I will be useing oxbow, but can I use the pellets I have for now? I only ask because I've heard that people don't like kaytee, or is it Hartz thats bad?

Heres a pic of the pellets: