Canada New Owner, Creating my own Cage, Looking for info, etc. in Nova Scotia

[rkgirl]

Hello!

I am a first time owner! My critter looks a little different from the norm, but anyway, he's very awesome. I have a few questions, hopeful for answers.

Do any of you have pets that don't make much noise, yet are very friendly? Is that normal?

Have any of you heard about Snack Shaks? I've heard they are harmful, is there truth to this?

Does anyone here use anything other than that sign making material on the bottom of the cage? I'm almost done my new cage, and can't find this stuff for the life of me.

When you make these larger cages for them, can you put a blanket down or something? I see pictures of people using stuff other than wood chips, and then the woodchips are in a litter box... do they train themselves to use that as their bathroom or something? What is the stuff they are putting down instead, a blanket?

Thanks for any info.

-RKGirl
(broken link removed)

 

[Harrys Dad]

Hello!

I am a first time owner! My critter looks a little different from the norm, but anyway, he's very awesome. I have a few questions, hopeful for answers.

Do any of you have pets that don't make much noise, yet are very friendly? Is that normal?

Have any of you heard about Snack Shaks? I've heard they are harmful, is there truth to this?

Does anyone here use anything other than that sign making material on the bottom of the cage? I'm almost done my new cage, and can't find this stuff for the life of me.

When you make these larger cages for them, can you put a blanket down or something? I see pictures of people using stuff other than wood chips, and then the woodchips are in a litter box... do they train themselves to use that as their bathroom or something? What is the stuff they are putting down instead, a blanket?

Thanks for any info.

-RKGirl
(broken link removed)

Hello and welcome to the forum!

Yes snack shacks aren't good for them they are high in sugar I think and other things not very good for the piggies.

For the most part people use coroplast but you can use other things like shower curtains, cut open garbage bags but you then have to worry about them cutting them with their nails.

Most people use fleece it is easy to clean and it wicks the pee away from the piggies. The wood chip (aspen pine is best) is in a box where you also have their food and water as the piggies pee and poop where they eat for the most part but they do pee and poop ALL over the place which is why the fleece is so nice.

 

[justdawne]

Hi there,

We just outfitted our guinea pig with a C&C Cage using supplies found in HRM. Coroplast can be found at Kent Building Supplies and East West Plastics in Burnside Industrial Park. Call ahead to confirm that they have IN STOCK what you want before you drive out. East West Plastics carries colours and generally larger sizes. Kent carries white corroplast and tends to be a smidge pricier.

As for grids - Costco does sell them but they never know when they'll restock. I found ours at Superstore (but not all Superstores) and couldn't be more pleased. For $22.99 we got 17 grids and enough connectors for all those grids. We bought 2 packs and have leftovers which we've used for human needs.

I freecycled some grids but they were plastic coated. I don't personally recommend them as some piggies chew. The grids found at Superstore are all metal which is a bonus. One of our new babies went over for a nibble, found it to be metal and has ignored the cage ever since.

Definately switch to fleece bedding. A real money saver and so much nicer for the pigs. It really is important to wash the fleece several times so that it has the wick-away-moisture property. Our local Fabricville always has a bin of fleece remnants for good prices. We have several remnants that we rotate on wash days.

We also saw the snak hut thingees at a petstore. So many of the ingredients are real no-nos for piggies. I've printed the diet charts from this site and have never gone back to the pet store. We get our hay from a feed store and it is so much cheaper, and a better quality, than the small, pricey bags at a petstore.

Good luck to you. Feel free to send me a PM if you have more specific questions.