C&C Alternatives Guinea Habitat Plus

[true secret]

I was just surfing the internet and found this cage and I would like some opinions from people who are experienced with guinea pigs. I'm thinking of getting a guinea pig and would like to know if this would be a good alternative to a C&C cage in case I have difficulties finding the supplies.

Any opinions would be great. Here is a link that I found that has some good pictures of it:

GuineaPigSupply.com. Midwest Guinea Habitat Plus 14" H x 24" W x 47" D

Thanks in advance.

 

[PiggiePaws]

The midwest cages are okay, but it doesn't meet the minimums of this site. They are too skinny and don't have alot of running room.

I know of another member who has multiple midwest cages attatched together, and that works great! Might be expensive, though. I'm just not sure about only using one. Making a C&C would be much cheaper.

Guinea pigs are social animals and do great in groups or pairs. Please, please adopt and don't buy your pig(s).

 

[true secret]

Trust me, if/when I get a guinea pig I will be heading to the nearest humane society. People want the cute babies from the pet stores/breeders, the adult ones are just as cute.

I currently have a 12in x 24in rat cage (it was for my hamster) and I was thinking of adding it on, making it the bedroom/kitchen area and leaving the Midwest cage open. Would that be sufficient?

I do hope to make a C&C cage (they are fantastic), but I'm just looking around in case I have any major difficulties finding materials.

 

[pinky]

You can probably make a coroplast cage for less than what you would spend on that cage. If you can't find coroplast, you can use a shower curtain liner which is very inexpensive. You should be able to find the grids or even order them online. If you can't locate coroplast, try and look it up as corrugated plastic.

 

[sdpiggylvr]

This cage is decent, but nowhere near as luxuriously spacious as C&C cages are. Though it claims to be "expandable" to go from 8 sq. ft. (the minimum for one sow) to 16 sq. ft. (able to accomodate up to five sows and four males), I would always choose a C&C cage over this one.

This cage is quite long and skinny, which doesn't allow for adequate running space. A wider space would be more preferable and is achievable with a C&C cage.

C&C cages are not only cheaper, they are just easier to put together, use, and clean than the other expensive, low quality, hard-to-clean cages that can cost triple the amount you'd pay with a C&C cage.

To me, there's no comparison between any other cage and a C&C cage. While this Midwest cage may be an acceptable alternative if you have difficulty finding the supplies, a C&C cage will always be cheaper and better.

I would say if you can find the materials for a C&C cage, that's your best bet. But if all else fails, this cage will work.

Hope this helps! Good luck with your journey towards piggy ownership!

 

[Jennicat]

Pricewise, the "regular" model of the Midwest Guinea Pig Habitat is comparable to building a C&C cage. You can get it shipped free from Amazon for $38, and it typically costs us $35 to build a C&C cage if we don't put a lid or stand on it. I would recommend getting the plain model instead of the plus because the plus divides the kitchen area which really takes away from running room, to me.

I've had adopters buy these, and though they are flimsy, they're not stiflingly narrow. They're 24" wide, which is 4" more narrow than a C&C -- and that is essentially added on to the length of the cage (only 5" longer than a C&C). I have had one person say that the canvas bottom was not especially sturdy, and she ended up replacing it with coroplast cut to size. Overall, the people that use them seem to be happy with them, and the big selling feature has been the lid (which you can buy additionally) and several of the parents that use these cages preferred them because the clips kept the lid very securely on the cage and were a bit difficult for the kids to open (whereas the closet shelving lids are fairly easy for small kids to open) and dog and cat owners that liked the smaller spacing on the bars that would keep out most of their pets more readily than the 1" grid spacing.

A 2x4 C&C is more preferable for a pair in my opinion, but I think the Midwest cage does adequately meet the minimum you'd need for many pairs of pigs (probably most except for the very young adolescent pigs/contentious males).

 

[1frankie7]

If it's 38$, it was cheaper than my C&C. BUT, my C&C was much larger, more than double the size actually.

I would go with the C&C, these cages are pretty expensive to get the right size though.