Cage Cage idea?

[Rnd210]

I am thinking about redoing my cage mainly for easier cleaning.

These are drawings of my ideas, mind you I am not the best artist but this is my ideas.

Cage 1 is for the girs 3x6 grid with a 1x3 hayloft and cage 2 is using the top bunk of my son's bunk bed that makes a 3x5 with a 1x3 hayloft or it might be a 2 1/2x 5grid with a 1x2 1/2 grid loft.

Any feed back would be great since I am thinking the new cages will be perminate for I will not be redoing after this.

 

[Scout.Layne]

This is just my opinion and I'm new at this but A) I think that a hayloft would be a great idea to keep the hay semi-seperate from the fleece. This might make cleaning easier. But B) Wouldn't it be hard to reach up on top of a bunkbed to clean out the second cage? Maybe I'm just short.

 

[Rnd210]

I'm short but I can clean it by standing on the bottom bunk since the bottom bunk is fullsize and if all else fells my hubby who is over 6 feet can clean it and my son who is taller than me can clean it too.

 

[lissie]

I wouldn't keep the pigs on top bunk for some personal reasons.
1) My son is allergic to hay. Sleeping under hay would probably be a bad idea. Even if there's no allergies involved, he'll hear the pigs running above him while he tries to sleep. Why not put his bed on top and the pigs on the bottom?

2) I won't be able to see the pigs run around and popcorn because I'm short.

The girls' cage is a good idea. I have a hayloft and haven't had to clean hay on the fleece.

 

[Rnd210]

I thought of that too but my son is an insomniac, so that's not really a problem since the doctor has put him on sleeping pills, he is a very heavy sleeper and the hay doesn't bother him at all.

 

[lissie]

How many girls and boys do you have? Your current cage looks great, why are you changing it?

 

[blackarrow]

I am thinking about redoing my cage mainly for easier cleaning.

I took a look at what I think are your current cages and I'm guessing the difficulty cleaning them is that the walls are higher than typical (2 grids high in some sections). Is that right? If so, why not just lower the cage walls? If you can explain what's difficult now we might be able to suggest easier ways of working what you have (drop-down walls, etc.) rather than a complete re-do.

I agree that I would not want to spend my sleeping hours underneath a guinea pig cage, as poo and hay occasionally rains down from above, and I can't imagine how something atop a bunk bed would be easier to clean than something lower.

 

[Rnd210]

How many girls and boys do you have? Your current cage looks great, why are you changing it?

I have 2 girls and 2 boys in divided cages, don't want any accidents. They are currently in 2x5 stacked x4 and 2 top stories where the girls are is rather easy to clean. But the boys are on the bottom 2 levels and just getting down that low to clean there cage is just to painful on my back and knees. So I need 2 cages that will make cleaning easier on my back.

The space that I have for one cage can very easily accomadate a 3x6 grid with no problem. Any other suggestions would be great. I also had another drawing but I am not sure if I wanted to use it or not I will post it later.

 

[Rnd210]

Here are 2 more drawings first one is current cage and the other is the 3rd idea.

 

[Rnd210]

I need ideas for a good devided cage that will allow plenty of room for my piggies I have 2 girls and 2 boys and ages 7 months (girl) 2 years (girl) 3months (boy) 4 months boy.

I am looking through the Galleries now I can easily fit a 3x7 in the place where I want the cage and if I moved a book case to some where else I can easily get a 3x6 in the other as in an L shape but if it's l shape then one would be 3x6 and the other would be 3x5 any ideas and it has to high eneough up so that it is an easy comphortable bend and reach for cleaning and accessing and I want to give my piggies lots of room for running laps since they do that frequintly mostly at night. So a 3 width grid is a must and obviously bigger than a 3x2 or 3x3. Please help me with any ideas that you think will work.

Also the bunkbed and other ideas are out of the question.

 

[akstrohm]

The 3x7 and 3x6 would be excellent, although the second option is great as well. If it's easier to keep the cages apart instead of next to each other, that's fine too. In fact, if you notice the boys squabbling as they go through puberty, it may be because they smell the girls.

 

[Rnd210]

So should I make a cage for the boys some where else or go ahead and have the boys cage connected to the girls' cage. Actually the boys get along great never had any squeals and any other noises out of them other then at feeding times.

 

[Rnd210]

I like this cage layout Open Divided 3x7 with 1x7 upper - Guinea Pig Cage Photos

but obviously I would have to make some changes for it to be the way that I want atleast to enable lap running for my piggies.

 

[akstrohm]

Your boys have not hit puberty yet, so if there are problems with them being near the girls, they probably won't start for a few months. A lot of people have success with divided cages with boars on one side and sows on the other. So if that is what works best for you, go ahead and try it. But if you run into problems, separating the cages could help.

 

[Peggysu]

I find that an open level that is nice and open is easiest for me to clean and much easier on my back and knees. I love the example of the cage you posted a link to. I look at this cage and want a nice big open low cage one day when I have room.

 

[Rnd210]

One of the changes that I will have to do it have more off the ground as getting the on the floor is not easy for me and I am not looking to add a loft area still thinking but not sure about the loft part. However the 3x3 part I am thinking about bringing it out to a 3x6 and the 3x5 side the way it is but just maybe giving each cage a 1x3 hay loft kitchen area. I am still thinking and I have to wait for hubby to get home and aprove of how I want but that is usually not a problem.

 

[Peggysu]

You can always add a hayloft after you do the main area and see how you like it. You can use grids to raise it off the ground.

 

[Rnd210]

I have started building the new devided cage and it is 3x8 but both sides will have a 3x4.

 

[Peggysu]

3x4 is a great size. That's what I have for my two girls with a 1x4 kitchen area. I built the 1x4 a few months after I built the 3x4. I like my design as it's easy for me to clean. It's also raised up 1 grid high.

 

[Rnd210]

My hubby made me change it as he felt it took up to much space or basically more space than he would like. So it is a 3x7 grid and the boys are younger and smaller right now so they get the 3x3 and girls get the 3x4 I add my photo to the devided cages area probably tonight or tomorrow. Another thing is that my hubby and I have been looking for Dog kennels for our Cocker Spaniels so that they could be put in them instead of being closed up in a bedroom when we eat since they like to jump on us and still food off our plates. To lift the Cage up off the floor I made 2 dog kennels out of the Grids also and they are both 2x3 and 2 grids high with a door that opens and closes. If it works it saved us close to $300.00 or more.