Cage Cage Questions about Sides and Drain Pipe Ramps

[Anianna]

We are going to be the new family for a pair of piggies who need a new home because their people are moving and can't take them with them. I'm researching to make sure we are the best piggy family we can be. This pair of piggies already has a cage, but I'd like to give them more room to play. I'm looking to do one of these wire grid (is that C&C?) jobs. I'm loving all the DIY cages!

1. I notice everybody seems to include an edge of corrugated plastic or some other material up the inside of the grid wall even when using fleece liner instead of chip bedding. Why is this? Do piggies pee in corners or spray?

2. For a ramp up to the upper level, I'd like to use ribbed drain pipe. I plan to have a gradual incline and wrap it around the inside edge of the cage to give it a gradual curve, as well, securing it to the sides with zip ties. My thought is that it is ribbed, so should be easy to climb, and should be fun for them, too. I don't know how messy piggies are in their tubes, but a run through with the power washer should have it cleaned easily if necessary. I have not seen a lot of people use this, though, so I'd like your thoughts on why this would or would not be a good idea.

 

[sallyvh]

Welcome to the forum!

1 - Yes, that is corrugated plastic you see on the edges (often called coroplast or plasticore). That plastic is used for the entire base and it's beneficial to continue it up the sides for 4-6 inches. Even with fleece, guinea pigs will fling poop and hay out of their cage while running, the cage edges help reduce that. Some will pee in corners and females have a tendency to spray pee at each other if annoyed. Edges help keep everything contained!

2 - I don't have a ramp on my cages and I never have, so a different member may be able to answer better. However, I don't think a ridged tube would be the best choice for a ramp. Guinea pigs will pee and poop anywhere and you will likely find yourself having to scrub mushed waste out of each ridge. Also, guinea pigs won't use a ramp if it's slippery, they need to have traction or they likely won't even try to go up or down. Most ramps I have seen, people have some kind of fleece or material cover that washes easily and provides necessary traction.

 

[Anianna]

Very informative, thank you!

 

[spy9doc]

If you want to make your own ramp, have a look at a thread I started quite a while back. (broken link removed)

I generally don't have the time or patience to make my own ramp, so I buy it from the parent site of this forum. The stair tread material that I use to cover the floor of the ramp comes from Home Depot and can be found on a roll in the flooring section. Of course the ribs must be transversely oriented in order to work for the intended purpose.

 

[bpatters]

Ditto about not using the drain tubes. I made that mistake when I first started with guinea pigs. Don't go there.

They both pee in corners and spray, especially sows. The back wall of my cage (against the house wall) has MUCH higher coroplast than the rest of the cage. I got tired of washing the wall!

 

[Anianna]

Ditto about not using the drain tubes. I made that mistake when I first started with guinea pigs. Don't go there.

They both pee in corners and spray, especially sows. The back wall of my cage (against the house wall) has MUCH higher coroplast than the rest of the cage. I got tired of washing the wall!

Good to know!

 

[Anianna]

Another question:

What is the purpose of a "kitchen" with litter as part of a cage otherwise lined with fleece like these?

 

[bpatters]

The pigs poop and pee a lot when they're eating. You can clean that spot more frequently, and the rest of the cage less often.

 

[sallyvh]

A kitchen also helps keep hay contained. It will still get everywhere, but the hope is that most of it stays in the kitchen.

I have kitchen inserts that I fill with aspen shavings and put their hay in there. A few of mine are really good and pretty much only pee in their kitchen areas, while others do whatever they want, wherever they want.