Amazing living arrangements!

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Christina

Christina

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The girls got a new cage today and I have started on the fleece. As of right now (it has been 4 hours) everyone is quite content and sleeping after Miss Mollie caused a major disagreement.... Meaning she was bouncing on everyone and everyone was blaming each other. Oreo pulled some of Sadie's hair by mistake while trying to discipline Mollie but all is good now and there is no arguing and there is lots of room. It is a store bought cage but I ended up getting it for free. It is wider than the cage I had before (the one with Bugs, Oreo and Mollie were in) and it is longer too. It is turning out really well so far.
 
Here is the new living arrangement. This is after the first night. And there was no fighting!

D857C8B7-137F-4653-BE2B-DC9BB995B9BB-5673-000004988F2F986E.jpg
 
That cage looks really small to house 5 piggys.

Could you maybe try a c and c cage if you want them all to be together?
 
Toffeewoffee said:
I could see 4, but thought i could see a 5th.
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On the users profile on here it says she has 5 guinea pigs, so I would guess there are 5 - although I can only see 4 and only 4 are named in the original post. But on the right, at the food bowl, it's hard to tell if that's one piggy or 2. If it's 2 piggys then that makes 5

Either way, it looks too small.

I only have 2 in each of my cages and my cages are both bigger than that one
 
There is one in the house, one just outside the house, one at the food bowl, and one in each of the left corners. :(
 
They are quite content actually. The photo doesn't do justice. There is actually quite a lot of room for them.

No bloodshed or anything. I dont have a whole lot of room for a c&c yet and it is wider and longer than what i had before
 
Not sure. Apparently it housed 3-4 rabbits comfortably at one point and then afterwards had two male guineas in there.

I figure if i put c&c figures in it would be eadier to tell te dimensions. 1 3/4 x 4 1/2 long for a c&c grid wise.
 
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I don't know. I know if my piggies weren't happy they would be lashing out at one another and there would be bloodshed. I know most of you do not approve this but right now it works.
 
To be fair, when I first had guinea pigs, Connie and Eliza lived in a hutch which I admit probably wasn't quite up to the recommend measurements but they spent a lot of times out of the hutch and I did the best I could by them.

I was slated by a couple of members for the size of the hutch and that was after I'd explained that the hutch came with Connie and they would soon have a new one.

Connie died a few years ago but Eliza now lives in a 3ft by 6ft shed with her three friends.

I am not wanting to start an argument but I just think the facts should be heard first :)
 
Sadly, I don't think they look comfortable at all. There is not enough room for 5 piggys in there, it looks big enough for 2, but definitely not 5.

If space is an issue, could you buy one of these? (Or one similar)
http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/hutches_cages/rabbit_cage/120_cm_cages/137450

It would take up no more room because it is tall rather than long / wide and the piggys would have so much more room and be so much happier :)

(I'm not trying to cause trouble or upset you, but I am sure that you want to do the absolute best for your guinea pigs, so just trying to offer a suggestion :) )
 
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I'm sorry but i think they look really cramped :(
They haven't got enough room to run around. If you;re looking to upgrade i reccomend getting grids to make a c&c cage or try zooplus they have good prices.
 
Christina said:
Not sure. Apparently it housed 3-4 rabbits comfortably at one point and then afterwards had two male guineas in there.

I figure if i put c&c figures in it would be eadier to tell te dimensions. 1 3/4 x 4 1/2 long for a c&c grid wise.
Click to expand...


Just because 3-4 rabbits fit in that cage doesn't mean they were comfortable.
There are no cages AT ALL that are suitable for rabbits.

I do think your set-up is too small for 5 guinea pigs.
You can get really nice cheap, double level cages on zooplus if you lack space.
 
I dont mean to sound mean but i too agree its way to small for 5 pigs and just because theres no blood shed doesnt mean there comfortable. Maybe look at something bigger for them or getting a 2nd similar cage for a pair of your pigs. Just suggestions . I have my boar in a ferplast 120 and i think even thats a bit small so I'm trying to make room for a c&c for him.
 
I agree that it seems very small for 5 piggies. I also understand that this is a step up as they were in an even smaller cage before. My boys are on their 3rd cage, each one bigger than the last and we are now working on a C & C cage. As you are in Canada, I believe, ordering cages from the UK would cost too much in postage as they are heavy items. A Canadian member on here stated that Canadian Tire sells the grids for a C & C cage. They are likely to have the coroplast as well although it may be called something else over there. I say this because I discovered our big Aussie hardware chain sells it under a different name. But you can always make do with lino for the cage bottom. I also suspect Canadian Tire sells outdoor wooden hutches which you can certainly use indoors. I have my 2 boys indoors in one at present as I have been gathering the stuff to make C & C as here in OZ such things are not easy to find.
 
You know, I am actually proud of myself right now. The cage I had before was smaller than that. I am in an apartment building and my space is limited. That cage sells fir 250 bucks and I got it for free. Yes you guys say c&c cages are better, but when your space is limited, you have to make due. Sorry if you are disgusted with me. I love my girls and they are well looked after. * guess I won't be posting my achievements much anymore because i just get my butt chewed
 
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Christina said:
You know, I am actually proud of myself right now. The cage I had before was smaller than that. I am in an apartment building and my space is limited. That cage sells fir 250 bucks and I got it for free. Yes you guys say c&c cages are better, but when your space is limited, you have to make due. Sorry if you are disgusted with me. I love my girls and they are well looked after. * guess I won't be posting my achievements much anymore because i just get my butt chewed
Click to expand...

If your space is limited perhaps you shouldn't have gotten so many - sorry!
 
We're only trying to make you aware that animals need certain space for animal welfare reasons, currently that cage does not mean meet those requirements and if you want to give them a good life you should think about this. That cage is only suitable for 2 pigs .
 
i think poor christina was so proud of this cage, she wanted to come here and show it off! I'll bet she.s feeling a bit bruised after all the replies! Hopefully she is now aware that she needs a bigger cage.
 
So sorry for you Christina. Put cages on floor, leave the cage doors open, create a safe enclosed space outside cage with anything they can't jump over or move. Make a ramp or ladder and this will give them the freedom to leave the cage, to run or get away from others. For free: inner cardboard tube from carpets for tunnels or big cardboard boxes taped together..

hope this helps...

susanx
 
Christina said:
You know, I am actually proud of myself right now. The cage I had before was smaller than that. I am in an apartment building and my space is limited. That cage sells fir 250 bucks and I got it for free. Yes you guys say c&c cages are better, but when your space is limited, you have to make due. Sorry if you are disgusted with me. I love my girls and they are well looked after. * guess I won't be posting my achievements much anymore because i just get my butt chewed
Click to expand...

No-one is trying to make you feel bad and undermine your achievements, but the fact is that you still have 5 guinea pigs in a cage that is too small for them. I understand that it is a big improvement for the guinea pigs from what they were in before and I think it's really good that you are trying to make things better for them.

I am really sorry that it upsets you to hear that this cage still isn't big enough.

I don't doubt that you love your guinea pigs, but they really need to be in a cage that is big enough for them.

Even if space is limited, there are things you can do to help them - there have been suggestions on this thread for you - you can get a multi-level cage. Although not ideal, this would give them more space to use and it wouldn't really take up any extra room.

Even a c and c cage wouldn't have to take up much more room - getting c and c grids and building it the same size as the cage you have, but making 3 levels with ramps going up to the additional levels would be much better than what you have - it wouldn't be ideal, but it would be better.

Please know that none of us are trying to upset you, we are just trying to help you with things to improve life for your guinea pigs :)
 
We have the following set up for our herd of 4:

At home a Ferplast 120 which has a cottage with parcel shelf on top, fleece lined etc. Now this cage is open to allow the herd free range from 6.30am approx to 8.00am and then from 4.00pm to 11pm Tue to Thur. The rest of the week its usually from 6.30am to 11 pm most days.

In the caravan we have fitted a 110 cage.

Now the herd know they have free range and most of the time stay in the cage eating and snoozing but then they have mad half hour sessions where they have a big wander about.

In the caravan they relax with us, get cuddles and when possible have grass time, usually a couple of hours and they let us know when they want to come in.

Space I think is relative to the lifestyle, our herd know the cage is for chilling in, eating, snoozing and pooping. They know they have loads of opportunity for piggy trains and other mischief (like Sue's new style aerodynamic soles on her flip flops).
 
I'm with ClaireW, when I first started out I knew nothing about cage sizes. I had my own suspicions, it wasn't big enough, it was later confirmed when they started squabbling and snapping at each other. I researched, looked at my budget, house arrangements in what suited me as well and I choose a ferplast140, and subsequently added a second floor in which they absolutely love.

Sometimes it's a fine line about what you can achieve. I guess like everyone else I'd like more piggies, I even thought of adding another female with jack and flossie but since he's a boar thought better of it. I don't want a cramped cage and it's just as well, flossie is very protective of jack.
 
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