Cage Question

[nightowl]

I have two female Guinea Pigs living in a 2 x 4 C&C cage. I want to expand and build a second level 2 x 2 hay loft. How would I support the second level? I'm not exactly sure about adding a third Guinea Pig, even so it would be a female.
I went out and purchased a 48" shop light; lighting won't be a problem. I've thought about breeding my two females but I want to be sure I know exactly what I'm getting myself into before attempting it. Has anyone ever breeded Guinea Pigs before? Gizmo my first love; I brought her home at four weeks old and did'nt even realize she was expecting, what a nightmare. Either her father did it or her brother but the little ones did'nt even look like a guinea pig, it looked like a monkey. Gizmo was born on September 11, 2004. Her roommate Mauguai was purchased at Petsmart between 3 and 5 weeks old and I can't remember when she was purchased. Do male Guinea Pigs grow larger than a female Guinea pig? My females are small. Every six months I take them in to see my vet. They eat very well too lots of fruits and vegtables with pellets and Timothy Hay. I love my Piggies.

 

[Piglet]

DO NOT breed, its one of the most irresponsible things one can do. Go to www.cavyspirit.com and read up on breeding. Males do grow larger than females.

 

[pennick]

If you use alot of tie connectors you may not need support for a 2nd level 2x2. I have a 3 level so I got a piece of wood (like a stick) cut to size from home depot and placed it in the bottom level. If I took the wood out my top levels would still hold, so I dont think you will have a problem.

 

[Denise]

We have a piece of wood supporting our second level, too. It also will stand by itself, but sags a bit. I wouldn't want the second level to collapse. Nightowl, please do not breed. You said you possibly wanted another guinea pig, not many others. Pigs generally have more than one in a litter. Please go to the thread Piglet posted and read it carefully.

 

[nightowl]

I will not breed Guinea Pigs too many things could go wrong.

We have a piece of wood supporting our second level, too. It also will stand by itself, but sags a bit. I wouldn't want the second level to collapse. Nightowl, please do not breed. You said you possibly wanted another guinea pig, not many others. Pigs generally have more than one in a litter. Please go to the thread Piglet posted and read it carefully.

 

[suzy_99]

Please do not breed. I just read over your post and it does not say how old your other girl is. If she is over 8 months old and has never given birth before, her pelvic bones may have already fused together, which would mean that she would require a c-section in order to deliver. Also, responsible breeders (if there is such a thing) will tell you that a sow should only have one or maybe two litters at the most. Gizmo has already had one, so she really should not be breed again. I also got a pregnant piggy from a pet store and although I absolutely love her babies, I really do wish that she had never gotten pregnant and that the store would have taken better care of their guinea pigs. I just adopted a female who has given birth at least twice or maybe even 3 times and she is in pretty bad shape, emotionally anyways. She is almost bald from where she had barbered herself, she has mites, and she was so depressed when I first got her that she had to be force feed for 5 days.

You really do sound like a very responsible owner so please research all that you can before you make your desicion. After you see all the risks involved, I beleive that you will not want to breed, or at least I hope you won't.

 

[Eventrocker33]

I bent a grid and used it as a hayrack and it supports the third level in my cage.

 

[nightowl]

I won't be breeding Guinea Pigs. I remember when Gizmo was pregnant she was stressed out and losing some of her hair. I thought about getting rid of her do to the pregnancy and the stress she was in. I brought her home from my irresponsible friend who just won't stop breeding. At that time Gizmo was about 3.5 to 4 weeks old and pregnant; but I did'nt know at the time she was pregnant. I would come home from work at 7am and Gizmo would be screaming at me. So I would check her water, food, and make sure her cage was clean. It turned out she was hungry. So I would feed her. This would go on for about another three weeks. Well one day I went to pick her up and I noticed hey something moved and it just did'nt feel right. So I called the vet they told me what to look for and I never seen it comin; she was pregnant. So my vet told me to free feed her and give her lots of Timothy hay. Then three months went by and at about 5 am I heard little piggies screeching. Gizmo had three deformed piggies. OMG they resembled little monkeys with extra toes and a hunched back and so on. I won't breed but it would be nice to see a normal litter. Gizmo is doin great and she has a new cage mate named Maugaui who is also a female. You probally asking yourself what happen to the babies? Well I gave them to the pet store at 5 weeks old and my soon to be ex-wife adopted one the next day ( the only one left; others were quickly adopted ) took it home and come to find out she had starved them. Yes them she peviously had 3 others, one of my friends went over there and removed them from her home and took them to the vet for hand feedings and observations. To this day I know they survived and are in good homes. I take Gizmo and Maugaui to the vet at about every six months for regular check-ups. So will I breed? No! I will be going to petfinder to rescue a female. Have a wonderful day.

 

[Ly&Pigs]

Thank you for not breeding. That is a very responsible thing to do.

 

[marci]

Nightowl, reading your post upset me:
1. You were going to get rid of your pig because she was pregnant!?
2. Dumping her babys at a pet store?! Oh, and better, when they're deformed, so some uninformed pig person could buy it for their kid and not know how to take care of it and it's possible special needs?
3. What made you suddenly decide NOT to breed when you started out this post saying that you wanted to?

 

[Piglet]

I know, I'm shocked by your post. How could you get rid those poor pups... I gave him link marci and he must have read it.