Help! Too small guinea pig cage?

floatingzoo

floatingzoo

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Hi! So I am planning on adopting two guinea pigs in October and am super excited! I don't have too much space that they could live in, and was planning on creating a two story cage for them that would be 8-9 square feet altogether. My brother offered to build one out of wood for me which sounded great! It will have 18 inches of headspace for each story, but I just found out his blueprints shrank with the wood we have on hand. Originally going to be 8-9 square feet all together it is now going to be 7.33 square feet and I'm not sure what to do. My room is guinea pig proof and there will be a ramp for them to climb out of their house very easily into my room, but I am now worried about them using the bathroom everywhere. I'd like to give them the best life they possibly can have, and was excited to allow them to run around my room whenever I was around -- but now I'm not sure if that is an option? I'd love to get your feedback or know what you would do in this situation as I am stuck. Thank you!
 
Piggies are ground roaming animals, so additional floors don’t count I’m afraid.

If they have access to floor time 24/7 then it may just be ok. You could use something like puppy pads with fleece on top for the area outside the cage. That would protect the floor from any toileting.

Sow pairs and a mixed sex pair can live in a 8sq foot cage. But boars need at least 140cm+ (Roughly 9sq feet), although 10sq feet would be better for them.

So bear in mind how much space you can provide when it comes to getting your piggies. If you’re rescuing (the best way to get them), I would hold off until you’ve spoken to the rescue. They may have their own ‘standards’ When it comes to housing. And may suggest the best housing.
 
Siikibam said:
Piggies are ground roaming animals, so additional floors don’t count I’m afraid.

If they have access to floor time 24/7 then it may just be ok. You could use something like puppy pads with fleece on top for the area outside the cage. That would protect the floor from any toileting.

Sow pairs and a mixed sex pair can live in a 8sq foot cage. But boars need at least 140cm+ (Roughly 9sq feet), although 10sq feet would be better for them.

So bear in mind how much space you can provide when it comes to getting your piggies. If you’re rescuing (the best way to get them), I would hold off until you’ve spoken to the rescue. They may have their own ‘standards’ When it comes to housing. And may suggest the best housing.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the quick reply! I'm just curious as to why additional floors don't count even if they are able to roam up and down between them? I'm really not sure as I don't have room for eight square feet of ground space. I'm getting two girls and I sadly have no rescues near me so will be adopting them through craigslist. How often would you let them out if you were in this situation and would you put fleece over the entire area they are roaming? I'm currently making fleece bedding for them. Thank you so much for your help!
 
I would definitely cover the floor with puppy pads and fleece as piggies don’t care where they wee and poo. For a pair of girls you need a minimum of 120cm ground space. I have a double cage for my neutered boar and 2 sows who thankfully use the whole cage but please bare in mind that not all piggies will use a ramp
 
Welcome to the Forum
:wel:

Here is our cage size guide complete with pictures (which I personally always find really helpful, but that might just me me).
Cage Size Guide

The reason that second levels don't count as they can't be used for exercise - guinea pigs are ground roamers and when they run around they do it on one level, so whilst they may go up and down to a second level to sleep and explore it still doesn't really count as excecise space.

However what you could do is buy some C&C grids and cable tie these together and attatch them to the front of your cage. This would give them more open space outside of the cage to run and play, but allow you to keep them contained. You could put a fleece liner or puppy pads in their play pen area, so if they do got to the toilet there it is easy to clean up.

Take a look through the members cage gallery - several members have used this permanent playpen system to increase the floor space their piggies have available.
 
I would let them have 24/7 access to the floor space, so they have enough room. You can put some hides there and a pile of hay, as well as in their cage.
 
floatingzoo said:
Thank you for the quick reply! I'm just curious as to why additional floors don't count even if they are able to roam up and down between them? I'm really not sure as I don't have room for eight square feet of ground space. I'm getting two girls and I sadly have no rescues near me so will be adopting them through craigslist. How often would you let them out if you were in this situation and would you put fleece over the entire area they are roaming? I'm currently making fleece bedding for them. Thank you so much for your help!
Click to expand...
In short, it's basicly like picking your guinea pig up and putting it in another cage, the same size, don't get me wrong, the enrichment and interest would be there with 2 levels. But the exercise wouldn't be any better👍.

If you want a cage high and not too wide, I would suggest rescuing a pair of rats, absolutely incredible pets.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Swissgreys said:
Welcome to the Forum
:wel:

Here is our cage size guide complete with pictures (which I personally always find really helpful, but that might just me me).
Cage Size Guide

The reason that second levels don't count as they can't be used for exercise - guinea pigs are ground roamers and when they run around they do it on one level, so whilst they may go up and down to a second level to sleep and explore it still doesn't really count as excecise space.

However what you could do is buy some C&C grids and cable tie these together and attatch them to the front of your cage. This would give them more open space outside of the cage to run and play, but allow you to keep them contained. You could put a fleece liner or puppy pads in their play pen area, so if they do got to the toilet there it is easy to clean up.

Take a look through the members cage gallery - several members have used this permanent playpen system to increase the floor space their piggies have available.
Click to expand...


Ah this would totally work in my space! I'll definitely do this, thank you so SO much! It would look like a little yard for them too -- adorable!
 
UPDATE! My brother called and is going to be adding 8 inches to both floors making each floor 5.5 square feet. I am also going to be taking Swissgreys advice and add a "yard" type area to the front. It's such a relief that they will have a good home -- thank you for all your help!
 
Swissgreys said:
Well done for researching in advance to be able to offer your piggies such a great environment.
You know we will need photos of the cage too plus piggies when they come.
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for your help! Haha yes, I can't wait to share them with the forum! :)
 
How exciting! New piggies. Please be aware that they will be quite shy at first when you get them. They are prey animals and are very wary of new places. It helps if you cover part of the cage with a blanket so that they feel protected. Also provide lots of hideys in the "yard" so that when they are feeling brave enough they can dash from one hidey to another. Have a read of this it will help you to understand your new piggies.

Arrival in a home from the perspective of pet shop guinea pigs

I know they won't be pet shop piggies but the idea is the same.
 
Betsy said:
How exciting! New piggies. Please be aware that they will be quite shy at first when you get them. They are prey animals and are very wary of new places. It helps if you cover part of the cage with a blanket so that they feel protected. Also provide lots of hideys in the "yard" so that when they are feeling brave enough they can dash from one hidey to another. Have a read of this it will help you to understand your new piggies.

Arrival in a home from the perspective of pet shop guinea pigs

I know they won't be pet shop piggies but the idea is the same.
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for all of the information! And I will definitely get a couple more hideys for the yard and read the article you sent!
 
what I did for my daughters guinea pigs is they have a 28”x28” cage and then I went to the carpet store and got a piece of linoleum about 3’x 5’ and one and a half yards of fleece, then we took grids and put then around it and attached the fleece about 4 inches up the side of the grids to keep the Poohs in side and it’s easy to clean and move when she needs the space for something else. So they have a lot of space but then my daughter could still get in and out of her bed and around. Keep in mind we don’t have any animal that would bother them either.
 
I made a separate post for this when I realized I should have probably put this all together! Thank you all again for all your help. My brother finished the house and it is beautiful! Once the pigs move in there will, of course, be a yard attached to the front as well!
 

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