Cage for guinea pig do it yourself

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Guinea pigs are wonderful pets that can give joy by their mere presence in the house. Each owner of this fluffy miracle wants to create the best conditions for his animal. And although there is no shortage of various accessories for rodents in stores now, many still spare no time and imagination to have a home-made, unique guinea pig cage. It is about how to make a cage for this animal with your own hands, and we will discuss below.

Cage material

We must not forget that a guinea pig is, first of all, a rodent. This means that the cage must be made of durable material that is not easy to gnaw through. At the same time, the cage must be safe for the he alth of the pet. That is, so that even if he bites the cage a little, he could not get poisoned and die. The most commonly used building materialssimilar cells - multilayer corrugated cardboard and metal mesh. Corrugated cardboard is very convenient to use, it is light, strong, durable and safe for rodents. It can be pre-glued on both sides with a wide adhesive tape or coated with acrylic. Practice shows that pigs do not at all tend to gnaw this material, moreover, it does not absorb odor at all.

Metal mesh is a very important element to build really big cages for guinea pigs. Due to its strength, such a grid will withstand several floors of shelves, ladders and hammocks. That's just the size of the cells will need to be determined in advance. In general, 3 cm cells are sufficient for keeping adult guinea pigs. However, if this is a cage for a family of rodents with babies, the cells should be smaller. There is another option with the construction of separate "queen cells" for the female and cubs inside a large common cage.

Guinea pig cage size

You need to think about the size of the future cage even before you start making it. There is a simple rule: there is no such thing as too big a cage. The more spacious it is, the better. The only question is where to find a place in the apartment for a huge aviary. The animal, of course, will be more comfortable in a large cage, but the possibilities of our standard apartments are also limited. We will proceed from the average generally accepted standards. For each adult pig you need no less than 0.7 m2. This is 100 cm by 70 cm. If you plan to breed pigs, then the area must be multiplied by 5-6times.

Remember: A guinea pig is not a squirrel or a chinchilla. She will not jump on the shelves higher and higher, she prefers to move around the floor. The most that can be offered to her is the second floor with a smooth, gentle rise. The size of a cage for a guinea pig can vary, but usually cages and aviaries are single-story, spacious, more reminiscent of pens for herd animals.

Pallet making

No matter how wide the pallet is, its height must be at least 15 cm. After all, a cage for a guinea pig necessarily requires the presence of bedding, and with a low pallet, it will constantly fall out. Small rodents like to rummage through sawdust and shavings, so it is better to make the pallet higher. On the other hand, you need to consider where it will stand. If a cage with a high pallet is raised high above the floor, the pig in the cage will simply not be visible, and the pet itself will not see the owners. Best placed on the floor or on low cabinets or tables.

Corrugated cardboard for pallets is convenient because it is easy to give it any shape. Usually a rectangular box is folded with a wall height of 15-20 cm. The size of the floor can be any - this is the beauty of a do-it-yourself cage for guinea pigs. Photos of cells are presented in the article. The main thing is not to forget to glue the walls from the inside with several layers of adhesive tape or cover with acrylic. In the latter case, you will have to wait at least a couple of days until the protective layer dries completely before populating the pig in the cage. But it would be better to ventilate the pan in the openair for a few days.

Walls and ceiling

When the pallet is ready, metal mesh walls are attached to it. Most often they are attached with cable ties. You can also connect "tightly" wire. If the cage for the guinea pig will have shelves, they must be cut to size in advance, and then attached to the walls at the desired level. Do not make too many of them and place them high from the floor. These rodents do not like to climb and prefer to sit on the floor.

It is quite convenient to assemble and fasten a one-piece frame from the mesh together with the floor, and then simply insert it into the pallet and remove it when cleaning is necessary. It will be more convenient to do this if you build a special handle on top of the roof. So you can simply remove the cage from the pallet at any time, clean it, and then insert it completely back.

Arrangement

The main difference between a do-it-yourself cage for a guinea pig and a cage bought in a store is the unlimited possibilities for arranging the “interior”. Drinkers, feeders, minks, tunnels, hammocks, shelves and much more interesting things can be thought up to make it interesting and comfortable for a fluffy animal to live in its house.

It is better to buy a drinker for rodents in the store. It consists of a bottle and a special tube with a ball at the end. Water from such a drinker will not pour out and wet the litter. All other accessories can be made independently. The house is best placed on the floor, andnot on top of the shelf. In addition to a nook, you can make tunnels and labyrinths out of cardboard. Guinea pigs love to climb into burrows and run through narrow passages. It is better to make rises to the second floor from wide wooden planks, and not from a grid. A cage for a guinea pig should contain several feeders. It is also recommended to build a sennik for fresh grass and hay. If you just put them in a cage, the pet will scatter the greens all over the floor.

Features of the manufacture of mother liquor

Separately, it is worth mentioning what kind of cage a guinea pig with cubs will need to build. This can be either a separate “housing” with a fine mesh and a spacious burrow house, or a removable mother liquor placed inside a common enclosure. The main rule is that a female who has given birth and nursing cubs must be kept separately from other animals.

A large box no smaller than 50x50 cm with an entrance, closed at the top, can serve as a mother liquor. In fact, this is a hole in which the pig will build a nest, give birth to cubs and feed them. The bottom of the mother liquor should be lined with large, non-coniferous shavings. The feeder and drinker should be placed right at the entrance, as the female at first will not want to leave her babies even for a minute. The cell itself with the mother liquor should be in a quiet, semi-dark and warm place away from household appliances.

Big cage advantage

Large cages for guinea pigs have significant advantages over small ones, and this has been proven by the world's leading veterinarians. Pigs just need to actively move,to have he althy joints, heart, lungs and stomach. Indeed, in nature they are constantly in motion. In addition, more toys, labyrinths, minks and different play areas can be placed in a large cage.

Guinea pigs are friendly creatures. But if several individuals are kept in a cramped cage, they can start to fight. In a spacious cage, each pet has a separate zone, so that fights for the territory will be excluded. It is also much more convenient to clean up in a spacious aviary. Yes, and watching the pigs frolic and run with might and main is very interesting.

Cage-showcase made of wood

Recently, showcase cages for rodents have been popular. Such a cage for a guinea pig is made of wood, and it is very exciting to watch the pets living in it. You can convert an ordinary bedside table or a small chest of drawers under such a showcase. True, wood is not the most suitable material for rodents:

• Firstly, this natural material is a kind of delicacy for pigs. Toothy pets will certainly not resist the temptation to gnaw on the walls and floor made of wood.
• Secondly, wood gets wet and absorbs odors.
• Third, the lacquer coating of the furniture used to make homemade aviaries can be dangerous for the he alth of the guinea pig.

Perhaps purchasing a factory display case that meets safety and operating standards is the best option for caring hosts.