I have looked EVERYWHERE online for an answer to a piggy cage dilemma, with no luck. Hopefully you guys can help. I have many different kinds of pets (cats, dogs, ferrets, various rodents...), and just acquired two baby guinea pigs -- my first piggies ever. I LOVE them! They are just so stinkin' sweet! LOL I am temporarily housing them in an old starter ferret cage I had on hand (about 3.5' x 1.5'), but of course I'd like to provide something bigger for them in the very near future. I have considered making a cage using the vinyl-covered metal grid storage cubes, but I have several concerns about such a cage.
My first concern is the durability of the storage cube cages in the face of my Labrador Retriever. Obviously she can't do much with the metal, but are zip ties/cable ties sturdy enough to hold together if she gets overly curious? Initially, she showed an unhealthy interest in my mice, rats, and hamsters (unhealthy for THEM, that is). But gradually, she's gotten used to them and now ignores them. The guinea pigs may turn out to be a different story though, because their vocalizations will likely to continue attracting her attention for years to come.
My second concern is my free roaming ferrets. I have been looking for storage cubes with a small enough grid pattern that the ferrets cannot get into the guinea pig cage. Does such a thing exist? Every cube set I've found so far seems to have 1.5" grid spaces, which I KNOW some of my ferrets could get into. Also, the smaller of my ferrets can squeeze under the door of every room in my house, so keeping the piggies in a separate room isn't an option. It seems that bars/grids of all the commercially available cages (or homemade cage ideas) are designed for the size of the animal INSIDE -- which makes sense, of course -- but I have the opposite need of keeping OUT an animal that is SMALLER than the one in the cage.
Hmm, I just thought of something as I was typing this. I currently have two large ferret highrise-type towers. As a last resort, I think I can use parts from those two cages to form one complete guinea pig cage that ferrets won't be able to get into (and turn it on its side so it's not a high rise) then purchase some Coroform to insert into the "new" bottom.
Repurposing the ferret cage and putting it on its side would provide about 11.5 sq. feet of space for the piggies.... BUT, I'd hate to lose the use of my two large ferret cages, for the occasional times when I DO want to cage the ferrets, so if anyone can think of any other solutions for me, I'd love to hear them!
My first concern is the durability of the storage cube cages in the face of my Labrador Retriever. Obviously she can't do much with the metal, but are zip ties/cable ties sturdy enough to hold together if she gets overly curious? Initially, she showed an unhealthy interest in my mice, rats, and hamsters (unhealthy for THEM, that is). But gradually, she's gotten used to them and now ignores them. The guinea pigs may turn out to be a different story though, because their vocalizations will likely to continue attracting her attention for years to come.
My second concern is my free roaming ferrets. I have been looking for storage cubes with a small enough grid pattern that the ferrets cannot get into the guinea pig cage. Does such a thing exist? Every cube set I've found so far seems to have 1.5" grid spaces, which I KNOW some of my ferrets could get into. Also, the smaller of my ferrets can squeeze under the door of every room in my house, so keeping the piggies in a separate room isn't an option. It seems that bars/grids of all the commercially available cages (or homemade cage ideas) are designed for the size of the animal INSIDE -- which makes sense, of course -- but I have the opposite need of keeping OUT an animal that is SMALLER than the one in the cage.
Hmm, I just thought of something as I was typing this. I currently have two large ferret highrise-type towers. As a last resort, I think I can use parts from those two cages to form one complete guinea pig cage that ferrets won't be able to get into (and turn it on its side so it's not a high rise) then purchase some Coroform to insert into the "new" bottom.
Repurposing the ferret cage and putting it on its side would provide about 11.5 sq. feet of space for the piggies.... BUT, I'd hate to lose the use of my two large ferret cages, for the occasional times when I DO want to cage the ferrets, so if anyone can think of any other solutions for me, I'd love to hear them!
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