Guinea Pig Housing Dilemna

[organica]

I'm hoping someone like Silver C can help here:

my apt. has just been cleaned & totally turned from a sh*thole into a beautful living space because my landlord wanted to drop in.
I had to tear down my C&C guinea pig enclosure, because it was large & the shavings were always escaping the walls & getting into the carpet. It was MURDER to vaccuum it all up, so I can't see doing this kind of set-up again, unfortunately. Too messy, & if the landlord saw it, I have no question we'd be kicked out.
The poor pigs (2) are now in a giant clear rubbermade container, which is still too small for them. They can't run around. :( It's temporary, I hope.

But now I need a housing solution for these pigs. They are big & active. I haven't seen a cage for sale that wasn't either too small or had a wire bottom, neither of which is suitable.

Are there any other options that don't make an aprtment look like a dump? TIA

[thebelovedtree]

Is there anyway you could set the old cage over a plastic liner of some sortto protect the carpet? or you could switch the bedding to something they'll be less able to kick out, like newsprint.

[jenna]

I found some links of really neat guinea pig cages, maybe they can help give you an idea.

http://kathyskritters.com/tales/pgallery/cage01.html
http://www.outsideconnection.com/gallant/ggp/
http://exoticpets.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=exoticpets&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aracnet.com%2F%7Eseagull%2FGui neas%2FCages%2F

I'm not sure if those would help, but they seemed to have some neat ideas. The wading pool might be a good one because of the height of the side.

You could also think about maybe using a different type of bedding. Carefresh is easier to keep control of and is a lot easier to get out of carpets because the pieces are bigger than shavings. I used it for my rats.

[organica]

Right now I'm thinking about getting a baby's playpen for my pigs. That way it can be collapsed & hidden when the landlord comes over again. Any comments?

you are right, Carefresh is cleaner. I just used aspen this week but I'll be returning to Carefresh on payday.

[jenna]

Does your landlord not let you have pets? Is that why you're wanting to hide it? Even so, I am not sure that a baby's playpen is big enough? Aren't there a lot of materials on it that they could chew? It's been years since there's been a baby playpen in the house.

I was doing some more looking last night, organica, and found this guy that took a metal bunkbed and turned it into a big cage. It looked very nice. I can get the link for you, if you're interested.

[jenna]

http://imageevent.com/cavyspirit/bunkbedcage

The person also reused a bunch of other stuff to help save money. Good way of recycling things.

[Minibean]

How high were the sides of your old cage? Could you make them a little higher so the bedding wouldn't get kicked out so easily? Mine are about 6 inches high - I don't know if shavings would get kicked out because I don't use them anymore.

Some people use various combinations of towels, fleece, absorbent pads (like puppy pads), etc. as bedding. That way nothing can get kicked out, but this is a lot of work though depending on what you use. I currently use two layers of thick bath towels - the whole two layers has to be replaced every day with an additional change of the top layer in the middle of the day. Do you have your own washer/dryer? If you don't that would be a problem because we have to wash towels EVERY day.

I'm not sure how people get fleece to work as a top layer, but I do know some people use it. Every kind of fleece I tried the urine stayed pooled or beaded on the top - yuck. They must be using a different kind.

Do a search on Guinealynx for fleece/towels as bedding, you should find some threads about it. There is even someone there who makes cage blankets designed for this purpose: http://home.comcast.net/~vinson02/blankets.htm I imagine they would have to be changed and washed quite frequently as well though, so again the washer/dryer issue.

Try looking on Cavycages.com for alternative housing and/or bedding ideas, too.

I'm afraid that's all I have to suggest at the moment - good luck!

[RachelJC-L]

Have you tried www.leithpetwerks.com? They make beautiful rabbit cages and I have one for my Eve. They are expensive, but totally worth it.

They manufacture a 'bunny abode apartment' (verses their main line, the condos) that is appropriate for guinea pigs. I don't know if it is large enough for your two, but you might want to check it out...

Guinea pigs are great, I had them as a child.

[jenna]

From what I've read the past couple days, you're not supposed to build UP for a guinea pig cage. having one levelgo up a bit like a loft or something is cool, but nothing like 3 levels. they need space to run around, not up and down. again, that's just been what i've read and seen the past couple days. i always thought that rabbits and guinea pigs were really just supposed to have a big main floor and not a bunch of floors. :confused:

i've actually gotten really interested the past couple days about guinea pigs. i still remember the first one i ever fell for. it was a grey and white rex. i've never owned one before.

organica, one idea could maybe be getting an L shaped desk or putting two together and then building onto that. it would have good space for storing food, toys, bedding, etc. It would be up against the wall, too, so it wouldn't invade the rest of the room much. I don't know the size you're thinking about doing, though.

[organica]

Thanks everybody: I checked out CavyCages & I printed the dimensions for a corrugated plastic base- I had previously been using the base of an old cage & an added area of plastic floor protector-mat, so there really weren't proper sides on it, hence the mess.