Creating a second story?

[Tara95]

I have been debating this for a while but can't quite make a decision. Initially the whole reason to create a second story would be to prevent potential issues over space in the future as I have 7 guinea pigs (2 have been added in the last month). One of the main reasons for doing it initially was because of two older farm sisters not getting along for around 3 months now consistently - teeth chattering and chasing out of territory whenever one of them came near whilst being nice to all of the other guinea pigs. Amazingly in the last two weeks this has completely stopped since the two new arrivals have settled in and will often see all of the guinea pigs choosing to hang out together in the same small space. Another factor is initially I thought some of the older sows may need some space from the babies who seemed very annoying but now in the last few weeks that has changed. Although as cute as they are to me if I was a guinea pig I would find them very annoying - squeaking loudly all the time, stealing food, jumping on the owner's lap in order to be fed first, humping other sows, snatchings food from the mouth -don't know how they are so well liked perhaps it's because they're so small?) Then again, I don't know what the younger guinea pigs will be like when they are fully grown they may require more space. Will they use the second story? I don't want to go to all this effort for them to not use it atall. I would be happy with atleast three using it. The only squabbles we have is during feeding time so I would be great to give half the pigs food upstairs and the others downstairs. I'm hoping to create a horseshoe shape. So it would be a single grid like a pathway going around the cage but in the corners it would be a 2 X 2 set up. Is it worth getting a second level? Would I need supporting polls for stability? Which I don't have. This is how there current set up looks like when it's clean so I would have to add all the grids from scratch. Although it looks big(6x6), when you see all of the 7 together (and two aren't fully grown) you feel it may be slightly overcrowded. (I've been used to 5 for a long time so seeing 7 together takes up alot of space plus with all the hideys and tunnels. But then again they are choosing to be together but that could all change in the future. Sorry for the essay. Many thanks

 

[Piggies&buns]

if you are going to have it a single pathway round, then it is going to need downward supports - grids put in vertically resting on the floor every now and then. A 2x2 loft in the corner will also need vertical supports down the floor but will also need horizontal support bars. Due to the need for vertical support as well, adding a second level could break up the floor space, thereby making the cage feel smaller. Of course it doesn’t depend on how you are going to do it and whether you have any other ideas on how to make it strong enough without vertical supports

My personal feeling on second levels is that if you have an option to make a cage bigger on ground level then do that first and foremost instead of adding a second level. Simply because if there are space issues (even if a cage meets recommendations then bigger is always beter!) then a second level doesn’t count towards the cage size anyway although it of course does give them somewhere else to go.
Whether they will use it is going to be such an individual thing. As you know, mine are in my shed with a hutch and the whole thing is surrounded by c&c grids. I added a 2x2 loft on one corner (down the side of the hutch). A full kit one ordered from c&c guinea pig cages. They used it for a week while it was a novelty and then never went up there again, so it took it down as it was just adding to bedding costs and putting hay up there for no reason.

 

[Tara95]

if you are going to have it a single pathway round, then it is going to need downward supports - grids put in vertically resting on the floor every now and then. A 2x2 loft in the corner will also need vertical supports down the floor but will also need horizontal support bars. Due to the need for vertical support as well, adding a second level could break up the floor space, thereby making the cage feel smaller. Of course it doesn’t depend on how you are going to do it and whether you have any other ideas on how to make it strong enough without vertical supports

My personal feeling on second levels is that if you have an option to make a cage bigger on ground level then do that first and foremost instead of adding a second level. Simply because if there are space issues (even if a cage meets recommendations then bigger is always beter!) then a second level doesn’t count towards the cage size anyway although it of course does give them somewhere else to go.
Whether they will use it is going to be such an individual thing. As you know, mine are in my shed with a hutch and the whole thing is surrounded by c&c grids. I added a 2x2 loft on one corner (down the side of the hutch). A full kit one ordered from c&c guinea pig cages. They used it for a week while it was a novelty and then never went up there again, so it took it down as it was just adding to bedding costs and putting hay up there for no reason.

Thank you for your advice. Good points made, it would also be trickier to do because I've had to shape the Correx around the radiator plus the extra cleaning involved! What if I just had a single second story one grid long going across would I need support for that? I don't really have the option to extend I don't think as that space is used for storage. Then again I don't want them fighting over the second level if it's too small. I had that issue in my last cage (not C&C) four of the pigs just wanted to be on the small second story resting and not doing anything and there wasn't room for all of them causing arguments.

 

[Piggies&buns]

If you put a level one grid wide along one side of the cage, then yes it would still need vertical support. Grids need a vertical support every second grid, so if you’re cage is six grids down one side, then you would three vertical grids supporting the top level down to the floor. Youd end up with three 1x2 ‘cupboards‘ under the second level. Hope that makes sense!

 

[Siikibam]

I think any width of second level would need support of some sort. I think with the number you have, unless you could make the second level almost as big as the first I don’t know if it would be worth it. If it was a 2x2 in the corner but 1x1 corridor, I’d worry that would cause issues with piggies passing each other. Multiple ramps would also eat into the floor space they have on the ground.

 

[Tara95]

If you put a level one grid wide along one side of the cage, then yes it would still need vertical support. Grids need a vertical support every second grid, so if you’re cage is six grids down one side, then you would three vertical grids supporting the top level down to the floor. Youd end up with three 1x2 ‘cupboards‘ under the second level. Hope that makes sense!

I think any width of second level would need support of some sort. I think with the number you have, unless you could make the second level almost as big as the first I don’t know if it would be worth it. If it was a 2x2 in the corner but 1x1 corridor, I’d worry that would cause issues with piggies passing each other. Multiple ramps would also eat into the floor space they have on the ground.

Thank you both couldn't agree more. It would end up reducing the size of the cage. They're happy as they are currently and even if they weren't a second story would probably cause more issues over territory! It would always be a pain to clean with all of the supports! I'll see if I could potentially extend a little bit perhaps Thanks again for advice.

 

[Julesie]

Sorry to interrupt but where did you get the hay holder with the ramp? That looks ideal to have for hay.

 

[Tara95]

@Julesie I brought it from Etsy and they also do them on eBay. It was about £25. The seller makes lots of designs like this so there's lots to choose from. It's called a "Guinea pig Castle" a few of mine use it for hay but not all of them. All of mine use this for hay. It's called a forage cube and you can buy them for like £2.50 online I wait for mine to forage all the hay out and then I replenish it with fresh hay and you can fit so much hay in there it's unbelievable. It also keeps it off the floor! Mine love it and everyday it's almost empty. They also love grinding their teeth on it.