What Counts Against Running Space?

Mikknu

Mikknu

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hey everybody.

I'm having some trouble picking how I want to design my cage. I'm trying to teach a balance between easy for me to clean, and giving my boys as much room as possible.

I was wondering, do "kitchen" areas count against floor space? If there's a transition from flat fleece up about ~1 inch(2.54 cm?), does that make that area no longer count as open running space for zoomies?

Also, for those who may have lofted food sections- Do the guinea pigs still use them consistently, or do they make the area under the food loft their prime toilet? I'm not looking or expecting perfection, but I'd like to know what you guys have experienced for places that typically need some extra pee pads.

Thanks in advance for any advice or experience!
 
Mine used under the loft, I wanted them to use the loft more and they did that when I pinned a fleece roof over the loft.

I prefer not to have raised edge kitchens in the main floor area so I either use a loft or currently have one half of the cage with hay on puppy pads, without barriers.
 
Thank you for responding! I hadn't thought of using just flat puppy pads... I've heard a lot of people use bath mats as well. Do you think that would work for under a hay bag? And then I could put my hay box on the half loft?

Also, by fleece roof, did you make something or just throw a blanket over the top of the cage?
 
That sounds like it would work well.

I buy fleece fabric and just cut it to make rectangles to clip over bits on the cage. Blanket would be good too.
 
Some of it will depend on your piggies, how they like to eat their hay etc. They look tiny just now. They may take a few days/weeks to go up the ramp. On their first few days with you when they could be hiding and settling in, I guess be good to have plenty hay on lower level. They might need you to put a blanket under the bottom of the ramp to make it less steep.
 
Black piggies said:
Some of it will depend on your piggies, how they like to eat their hay etc. They look tiny just now. They may take a few days/weeks to go up the ramp. On their first few days with you when they could be hiding and settling in, I guess be good to have plenty hay on lower level. They might need you to put a blanket under the bottom of the ramp to make it less steep.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was worried about them not wanting to go up there. Thus the desire for a ground floor hay area that they can access without worry. However, since I'm making my own ramps, I can make them as steep or... not steep, as a I want. The "loft" will also be most likely about 7 inches high, 6.5" maybe to be safe. If I make a 14" ramp, then it will extend about ~12". That's an angle of about 47°. Would this still be too steep? Should I make the ramps longer?

The plan is to have a sideways L-shaped loft. Area. 2x1 on the far left with a 3x1 on the back wall. Fleece forest underneath the 2x1 area, and the haybox would be up there somewhere. I'm not sure whether or not I want the half-height loft to have walls on the side facing the interior of the cage. I don't want them to possibly fall and get hurt, but I've heard that 6-7" is okay for guinea pigs and doesn't need a wall. I want to make as few enclosed spaces as possible, so that my boys can't trap one another. The hay box would be an exception to this, but I'd cut multiple entryways into it.
 
Sounds fantastic. Doesn't sound too steep but you'll see for sure once you get them. Half the fun of piggies for me is repeatedly re-doing their cages.

If I've understood you correctly I wouldn't have a loft half way up the grid that didn't have a full surround of a second lot of grids on top. My boar climbed out the c and c when he was nearing the end of the 6 week wait after neutering and was crazy for lady company. He never did it again but I'd never have any area with less than a full grid...
 
Wow - it sounds like you have given it a lot of thought.
Don't forget to share photos when you are done.

What I found with the toilet areas was that if they started to use an area in a corner that was difficult to reach/clean, I just moved a hay box there.
So they basically pick their area and I work with them!
 
Black piggies said:
Sounds fantastic. Doesn't sound too steep but you'll see for sure once you get them. Half the fun of piggies for me is repeatedly re-doing their cages.

If I've understood you correctly I wouldn't have a loft half way up the grid that didn't have a full surround of a second lot of grids on top. My boar climbed out the c and c when he was nearing the end of the 6 week wait after neutering and was crazy for lady company. He never did it again but I'd never have any area with less than a full grid...
Click to expand...

I knowww, I've redone my design like 7 times already xD

I could see about extending the top area, but the cage will have a lid that will be zip corded to the cage itself. The lid can support a cat, so I'm reasonably sure a guinea pig won't be able to squeeze out of it. I can do some additional clipping around the edges of the half loft for safety though, to make sure there's not an area they can squeeze out of.

@Swissgreys That's an awesome idea, thank you! And I appreciate the compliment. I'll be sure to post pictures. I'm starting to get supplies in as of today actually, and I'm hoping the main cage and liners will be here by next week! They're ordered, I've just got to go through that painstaking waiting period now... I'm really excited. I've been sewing like crazy lately too, I just finished 2 9"x9" potty pads and 4 14"x9" potty pads. Just to scatter around, wherever I need them. Maybe under water bottles. Now I've got to make a loft liner though 😅
 
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