A safe place for playtime

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neoma

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Mods, if I've placed this thread in the wrong forum, please feel free to move it.

I introduced myself in the intro section. Long story short, I got a pair of adult male piggies on Saturday. (They were housed together at the pet store, where they were left for adoption by two separate owners. They get along well.)They have a big cage with an Igloo to hide in. I've been taking them out one at a time to snuggle, and they are doing incredibly well, especially since I don't believe that either one was handled much in their original homes.

My question is regarding playtime. DH and I have a NY apartment in a very old building. No room is really piggy safe, and there are a myriad of things that they could get stuck behind or under. There is a large area in the living room that they could run around if I had a portable, maybe collapsible way to contain them. Ideally, this enclosure would be a couple of feet high and heavy enough so they couldn't burrow under it. Does anyone have a similar situation and a solution? I really would like to be able to give the boys some safe "out time."

Any suggestions?
 
Glad to hear your boys are adjusting well!

I've been trying to find a similar thing to use as a run as I am in a very small space
A lot of people on this forum seem to use ELC ball pits ... but unfortunately for you and me it seems like the only place they don't sell their products is North America.
Some people also use kiddy pools but they don't collapse.
I was talking to my OH about it and she has suggested making a sort of c&c cage but just putting the grids together with semi-loose zip ties so that they can collapse. You can get the grids from WalMart and most dollar stores carry zip ties. We have yet to work out what kind of floor. We'll probably work it out the next time she comes up for a visit (long distance is great funrolleyes)
 
PiratePig, thank you for your reply. Yes, that ball pit looks like the perfect piggy playpen. There has to be something like that in the *.S. At least that gives me a starting point.

What is a c&c?
 
Neoma,
If you find anything remotely like that let me know! I have looked but I'm not sure what that would be called to begin a good search.

C&C is a "cube and coroplast (corogated plastic)" cage. These are generally home made and very good for piggy cages (not to mention generally cheaper than comercial cages).

Here is a picture of my c&c cage:
piglets-house-maybe-i-should-call-it-the
 
PiratePig said:
Neoma,
If you find anything remotely like that let me know! I have looked but I'm not sure what that would be called to begin a good search.

C&C is a "cube and coroplast (corogated plastic)" cage. These are generally home made and very good for piggy cages (not to mention generally cheaper than comercial cages).

Here is a picture of my c&c cage:
piglets-house-maybe-i-should-call-it-the
Click to expand...
Will do, PiratePig. Thank you for the explanation in the C&C.

aalur said:
Hi :)p

Heres a link to a site that explains all about c&c, apparently it is very cheap to make over in the *.S. and the cubes are much more widely available than here.

http://www.guineapigcages.com/types.htm
Click to expand...
Hi aalur. :) Thank you for the link to C&C info!
 
I think that if I just got some cubes (no Coroplast), I could make a nice playpen. I could put a sheet or something down on the carpet and place the playpen on it. The weight of the cubes should be enough to keep them in place, right?
 
hi! for my boys i simple got 2 metres of pvc fabric for them to run on and do their business (so easy to clean) then got hold of some cardboard boxes opened them up to make a fence around the pvc fabric works brilliantly then when your done just fold your cardboard and fabric away until next play time. hope that helps.
 
aalur, the problem with putting two together to make a giant one is that I don't have that much floor space! :) Silly NY apartments! Don't they know that I need space for my piggies to play?

MrsWilsoncroft, that's exactly what I'm looking for. I'm going to the pet store tomorrow to see what they have.

chrissy88, that sounds like an excellent idea. Your piggies don't chew through the cardboard?
 
haha 2 try to but give up when they realise its impossible but they are a couple of really cheeky naughty boys :)) i over lap the cardboard and use tape on the outside to it together.
 
DH and I went to Petco to buy a playpen today. I didn't even look at the price tag -- I simply assumed it would be between $20 - $30 like the ones on the Internet. Bad move... The lady rang it up and it was $80! I had her cancel the charge.

I've got to come up with a homemade version for the pig boys. One requisite is that it be collapsible. I need to be able to fold it up or break it down between uses.

Right now, Ginger and Cocoa hang out with DH and me on couch, which is covered with a sheet because of our pet birds. The piggies are getting bolder and bolder. Now if I leave the room for a few seconds to get them a treat they will run and sit on the arm of the couch closest to the kitchen to wait for me. I'm not worried about them ruining the couch, which is ancient, but they do poop a lot. Not a big problem, since it's easy to pick up. But if they pee all over the couch, it's going to get stinky pretty fast.
 
You mentioning petco reminded me that I got my pens from petco.com (their website always has better prices than in store) for a really good deal... so I looked and they have them for super cheap again... $14.99 for one set AND free shipping on orders over $30... So if you get two sets of the pen (which I really suggest like I said before) that is a crazy good deal.

Shoot but it looks like the shipping deal ends today! If you see this today on Wednesday you'd have to act fast!

http://www.petco.com/product/13911/Midwest-Small-Pet-Playpens.aspx?CoreCat=LookAhead
 
ruthigrace23 said:
You mentioning petco reminded me that I got my pens from petco.com (their website always has better prices than in store) for a really good deal... so I looked and they have them for super cheap again... $14.99 for one set AND free shipping on orders over $30... So if you get two sets of the pen (which I really suggest like I said before) that is a crazy good deal.

Shoot but it looks like the shipping deal ends today! If you see this today on Wednesday you'd have to act fast!

http://www.petco.com/product/13911/Midwest-Small-Pet-Playpens.aspx?CoreCat=LookAhead
Click to expand...
Thank you, ruthigrace23. :rose Unfortunately, now the "free shipping" is listed for orders of $50.00.

I think I'm going to look into making something for the boys out of C&C. I'll keep everyone posted.
 
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