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Midwest Can I stack Midwest Habitats?

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caitlinbenosky

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So as some of you may know, my Winnie gave birth to three yesterday. As of right now, it's looking like two girls and one boy (I will check again in about two weeks.) So all together, I believe I have three girls and two boys. I am planning on purchasing two Midwest Plus's tonight after I get paid. However, my room really isn't that big, I have just enough space for the one pet store cage I have now. My brother and I measured and have found enough room for ONE MW if I rearrange a bit. But I was wondering if the cages are sturdy enough that I could put one on top of the other, so that I can keep both genders? If not, I will have to give away either boys or girls, which I really don't want to do =/ I don't have the money to build a C&C, or I would do that. I live on Long Island, the land of over-pricing everything. Help me? Thanks guys.

I don't want to hear "that cage isn't big enough." It's what I have room and money for right now.

PS. Moving them to a bigger room isn't an option. I still live with my parents, who don't even want me owning guinea pigs but gave in anyway.
 

pineapplepigs

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I am not too sure if midwest cages are big enough or not.If you look in the cage or fleece store they sell midwest products. But about stacking from what I have heard is a no. It sounds dangerous because the top cage can fall off and the cavy inside can get seriously injured. Post some pigtures soon and I wish good luck for you and your cavys!!
 

caitlinbenosky

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yeahhh, i looked on there, ridiculously over priced. they're selling fleece for 65 bucks. where i can get it here for 5 bucks a yard. the cages on there are like 20 more than they should be. i'll just purchase. thank you though. idk what to do =/
 

Princess_Piggie

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They may be stackable, they have lids don't they? If the lid is sturdy enough, and you put something flat (like a sturdy piece of cardboard) between the lid, and the cage aboves base, I think it could work. You could also get long, sturdy zip ties and tie the two cages together for extra support, but I've never even seen a midwest (IRL) so I don't know where they open etc.

I know you said don't tell you the cage isn't big enough...but it's really not. The measurements for a midwest plus are 47 inches long, by 24 inches across, which converts in to 7.7 square foot. That's not enough space for one guinea pig alone, let alone a mum and two pups (the two girls). However, you could potentially move your room around to attach the two midwests together for the mum and two female pups. I think you'll need to put the little boy up for adoption, he can't live with the girls (unless you neuter him, which it seems you couldn't), and he can't live his life on his own either.

Is there any way if you wiggled your room round, or took out a piece of furniture you don't need, that you could fit the two midwest's next to each other?
 

caitlinbenosky

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i was thinking about neutering him and the daddy (who is all alone as of right now) but i'm not sure if i want to do that. i may just put them up for adoption. but i would want them to stay together. so i'll tell any potential adoptee that. and no, i utilize everything in my room.
 

lissie

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I don't think Midwest cages are strong enough to be stacked. What you can do is put one under a table and put the other on top of the table. You can probably find cheap or free tables on craigslist.
 

Princess_Piggie

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Oh, I didn't realise daddy pig was in the picture, that's a whole different kettle of fish really. However, there's no point in neutering the boys if they'll be living together and not with the girls. Multiple boars in a cage with females can sometimes result in fighting.

Given you have limited space, I don't think it's a good idea to keep all the pigs, they require more space (in total) than you can provide. You could rehome all the pups, neuter the dad, and have him and momma pig living together? I only suggest rehoming the pups as you may not be as bonded with them as you are with the parents since the pups are new arrivals.
 

lissie

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If you plan to rehome them, the boy should go with the dad. No need to neuter anyone. Since you won't be able to neuter the baby boar until he's 4 months old. He can't be rehomed with his sister.
 

melynda

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I tried stacking two midwests and found it didn't work. You can stack them if you use a coroplast base instead of the cloth one and zip tie it all together, using the lid as support, but how would you clean the bottom level? I tried to unhinge the front part, thought maybe if you could swing it open like a door it would be possible to clean that way, but then there wasn't enough support and the whole thing collapsed on itself when tested. I did build a second level onto one midwest using storage shelves and zip ties.


Unfortunately it was not enough room for my two boars. They fought so badly I had to separate them.
 

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MAndPAreMyPigs

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Ive tried to do that before but it was very hard to clean the bottom level and wasn't really worth the extra floor space for me. I think lissie had a good idea about getting a cheap table to put the cage on.
 

sallyvh

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I will say I don't think directly stacking the cages would be healthy for the guinea pigs on the bottom as it would decrease the ventilation of the cage. Like other members of the forum have suggested, you should try to purchase some sort of table to allow one cage on the bottom, then about a foot of space to allow for ventilation and then the second cage. Just know that if you do get a table for the cage it needs to be at least 48"x 24" because the midwest cages need to sit on a completely sturdy surface as the cage bottom is flimsy.
 

pigslave1

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I don't think it would work very well, but I have a Midwest Habitat and, if necessary, try getting a top panel for the bottom cage, to set the top cage on, and put something between either cages.
 

Mellisenda

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Melynda, it seems a part may have been left out of my info. to you on adding the loft to the Midwest Habitat. I apologize if that was the case. Here are some pics I took after seeing this thread with your post;

image.jpg

image.jpg

We used the Closetmaid coated wire shelving from Home Depot that we made the loft walls from, zip tying it as a permanent lid to support the loft before we set it on, zip tyed it in place and then made the coroplast box for it. We had cut the necessary part of the base shelving out beforehand in order to attach the ramp to the coroplast box with velcro.
 

melynda

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@Mellisenda, Actually your instructions were perfect and the cage was great! Very sturdy. The problem I ran into was that my boars fought viciously and I had to separate them.
They simply needed more room. :)
 

CavySpirit

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yeahhh, i looked on there, ridiculously over priced. they're selling fleece for 65 bucks. where i can get it here for 5 bucks a yard. the cages on there are like 20 more than they should be. i'll just purchase. thank you though. idk what to do =/

The Fleece Flippers that we sell give you double the use of just buying straight fleece. They are double-sided (twice the amount of fleece of a cage bottom) and include a whole base worth of coroplast on the inside of the panels. The liners are 3x as thick as a single layer of liner that you would buy for yourself.

The cages $20 more than they should be? Says who? DIY? We are a COMPANY that ships out your custom cages in 15 colors in all kinds of configurations the next day. Quite frankly, with MW cages, you get what you pay for.

Canvas bottom that is NOT waterproof. It degrades over time. It's flimsy. Crappy wire sides that are NOT safe from kids and other pets. A cage that you cannot stack. It is completely unsafe for that. To make a MW cage act like a C&C Cage, you have to spend money to turn it into a C&C cage for all intents and purposes. Our prices are more than fair. We don't make our cages with slave labor overseas. Our fleece products are high quality and hand-crafted and available in a ton of fabrics and designs.

We're coming out with a variety of add-ons for MW cages. But, bottomline, you're going to be spending money to get them to act like a C&C Cage.

AND, it's the sales of our products on the cages and market stores that keep this forum going.

And of course, this whole site is devoted to helping you make your own C&C cage for not a lot of money. With a big database to help you source your materials to make your own. I do not appreciate the implication that we are ripping anyone off on our prices.
 
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