Most commercially manufactured guinea pig cages (proper name, cavy - pronounced K-V), are inadequately sized for the little beasts. Even the largest may only be suitable for housing one or two smaller animals. I house my cavies in Marchioro Tommy 102 cages - the largest and most sturdily built commercially available cage I have found. There is a larger, the Marchioro Tommy 120, but I have not been able to find it at any regional pet supply store or on an online search of US sites, though I found several UK sites carrying them. My son’s three boars have outgrown their cage (they are no longer babies) and are in serious need of larger digs. While searching for cages, I found listings on EBay for C&C cages. I was curious and began looking closer at this kind of housing. A C&C cage is a do-it-yourself cage. When the concept of writing about these cages was brought up, I dove at the idea! If I have not done it or used it, chances are it will not be written about! Therefore, I am making a C&C cage and writing about it! The first step was to figure out what C&C stood for: Cubes and Coroplast!
The cubes referred to are panels found in kits to build storage cubes. The kits contain metal grids that click together with connectors. It is important to find cubes that have no more than 1.5 inches between the wires. This is fine for housing most adult cavies. Coroplast is corrugated plastic - same concept as corrugated cardboard.
I decided to do this project from the standpoint of starting from scratch and having no references, kit or plans as a guide. I am "winging it. Do not worry, at the end, I will give you some wonderful resources for making or purchasing these cages.
The next step was to determine the needs of the three cavies. When I began the project, they were in 5.8 square feet of cage: far too small. They should have double this. The cage needs to be covered and relatively toddler-proof. Second, because space in my son’s room is an issue, I may need to build a two-level cage if possible: one area for housing and food, another for exercise and enrichment. I also want a base under the coroplast tray so I could lift the cage as a single unit.
Finding cubes was easy. I found mine at Bed, Bath and Beyond. I had to determine how many of the pieces I would need to create a cage. My original thought was a 2x3-cube footprint, one cube high for the sides and a top: at least 22 cubes. Now, this is smaller than recommended for three cavies but larger than what they are in now. I purchased two boxes of cube kits at $14.99 each. I decided to use cable ties instead of the cube connectors to attach the panels. The cable ties were found at Target and Lowes. I spent less than $8.00 for two packs of 100, 8 ties. Finding coroplast sheets was harder. Remember, I am doing this from the perspective of having no resources assisting me with finding materials. Therefore, I ignored all resources and started hunting.
When in doubt, find a manufacturer. I contacted a national coroplast manufacturer and was directed to a nationwide distributor: Curbell Plastics. Curbell had a facility about an hour away. The price of the coroplast will be determined by how much you want to buy. The local Curbell distributor recommends calling for pricing with smaller orders.
Before connecting anything, lay out your grids first. I decided that 2x3 would not be large enough. I did not want to get fancy with multilevel my first time building. Grabbing the trusty tape measure, I determined a 2x4-grid cage would fit - sort of. The panels I used are 14.5 x 14.5", which by my calculations gives the piggies about 11 ½ square feet of space as opposed to the old 5.8 square foot cage.
I waited until my husband and son were out and "the girl was asleep before I lay out and assembled the floor and walls. I connected each bottom panel with several cable ties making sure that I affixed some in "X patterns where the four corners would meet to help prevent the grids from slipping back and forth. Once the bottom was secured, I lay out the walls, tacked them to the bottom panels, lifted and connected the corners. I put the cage up on its side, added a few more ties, and cut off the excess length from the ties.
To make the top I overlapped grids to make it a bit larger than the base, four spaced about 1 apart and three covering the spaces. I tacked this to the back half of the cage. I found a piece of 1 copper pipe (we had some downstairs) and lay that across the middle of the cage lengthwise and secures the back grids to it. I then attached four grids to the pipe so they over hung the cage by about ¾ to make four flaps that could be opened as needed or locked down. Do not attach the cover until the tray is in place. Just built it, make sure it works and then take it off. Alternatively, make the tray last.
Making a coroplast tray is not that difficult. It is a case of measuring, scoring just the top layer of the coroplast so it will bend and cutting all the way through the ends to make flaps to create a box shape. When you measure, make sure you measure for the INSIDE dimensions of the cubes or else the tray will not fit. Measure out from the inside of the cage sides to determine tray height. We went up the equivalent of four spaces on the grid for a deeper tray (less scatter of bedding when the boys get running). If you are not sure how to cut the coroplast to make a tray, practice folding and cutting paper until you get the idea of the pattern for the tray. I cheated; I had my husband do the tray! Secure the flaps to the outside of the tray sides and drop into the cage.
Making this cage was quite easy. I went further than most plans call for. I also used cable ties instead of the cube clips. A basic C&C cage can be designed and assembled in less than half an hour. My cage took about an hour to design, layout and assemble. It was a fun project and I feel my son’s boys will enjoy their new home. All cavy owners should seriously consider this option for their pets as opposed to the majority of just too small commercially manufactured cages.
Resources
Curbell Plastics, www.Curbell.com, toll free 1-888-CURBELL.
The Curbell Plastics office I contacted is in Ashland, VA 325-H Hill Carter Parkway. Since they are a distributor, call for pricing. 1-804-798-3775.
Cavy Cages, www.cavycages.com
This site is an excellent resource for instructions on building C&C cages, benefits of them, database for finding resources and general cavy care. Check around the site and you will find ideas to make cages for other small species of pet!
Finally, what should you do with that old cage? Ours is being kept as an emergency, vacation or quarantine cage. When I upgraded my two undersized sows to a larger cage, I donated the old cage to a small public animal shelter. They have very limited space, even more limited funds for purchasing cages and often get animals dropped off with no cage.
Note:
Thank you to Scott, Teresa and Sue for helping me with this and allowing me to reference to you.
Bright Steps Reflective Leg Bands for dogs
Product review by Karen Peak www.bright-steps.com
What a great new product for those who walk their dogs at night. The elastic bands with highly reflective strips slide up a dog's legs and are designed to fit various sized dogs. When a light hits them, Bright Steps reflect alerting the motorist to a walking dog.When I first unwrapped the bands, I was worried that the heavy feathering on my dogs would cover the bands. However, the hair on my dogs did not obstruct the reflective strip. Though it should be noted if your dog has excessively long hair (think Shih Tzu, Afghan Hound or Old English Sheepdog in full coat) the hair may cover the bands. My husband noted, that in a case like this (excessively long hair that covers the bands), the larger bands fit well over his wrists. Though for most dogs who was walked at night, Bright Steps is a product worth having!
How to Choose Goldfish
by Nate Jamieson
How you choose your goldfish, depends largely on two things: the type of fish you really like to see, and the kind of container you intend to keep them in.
People in warmer climates, like to populate their outdoor ponds and pools with goldfish, which is a wonderful addition to the outdoor décor of your lawns and gardens. These may be natural ponds, or manmade pools that are actually vinyl liners sunk into the ground, and provided with air and water circulation through a pump system. This circulation, natural or otherwise, is important to keeping the water well oxygenated for the fish.
But surprisingly, if your pond is deep enough, it's possible to over-winter your goldfish outside. If you are populating an outdoor pond, it's best to start with fish that were raised that way themselves, as there is less likelihood of losing some that are unable to adapt. Store-bought fish raised in tanks can adapt, but you can expect to lose a certain percentage of them, depending on the harshness of the weather.
If you're just starting out, you might try just the common goldfish at first, since these will be less expensive to replace, should you have a hard winter. If your fish are not surviving, you may need to look at better air and water circulation, or deepening the pond. But once you have a thriving colony, you can begin adding some of the hardier varieties of fancy goldfish.
About The Author
Nate Jamieson Love Tropical Fish? Find out how to create a beautiful, low-cost tropical fish aquarium with complimentary tips at www.TropicalFishIsland.com.
