C And C Cage Help And New Bedding!

[kelly Marie x]

Hello all, I currently have 3 boars that have been separated over a year now due to fighting long story shirt, there are currently in cages too small and I bought the largest pet shop cage available and have had to split it down the middle for 2 of them. The other pig lives in something equivalent to a 2x1.


Anyway this is way to tiny for them and so I have saved up my pennies (not easy with all the bad luck I've been having lol) and am about to order c and c cage grids of ebay! There is 30 grids for £36.99 (English pounds) this is the cheapest I have found them if anyone knows where to get that cheaper that would be fab!

I have also found a bloke eBay who will sell me 3 x 8ft by 4 ft sheets if correx 4mm thick for 35 inc. Delivery. I need so much because I will hopefully be expanding the cages that I will be building again in a few month when I have more money! I will obviously be trying a local sign shop to see if they have correx and can get me some cheaper. Ideally I wanted 6mm is 4mm okay?

Anyway the amount of space I have currently been given is currently the back wall of my dining room excluding an armchair in the corner and I have measure that I will be able to fit 4 and a half grids lengthways and 2 grids out width.

So my plan will be 4x2 on the bottom with a 2x2 second level eventually but will only be 2x1 currently and my dad is going to build a wooden frame and the back legs will be behind the c and c cage on the floor and the front legs will be in the cage somewhere in the middle, and on top I am going to have a 3x2 for one guinea pig, no levels.

This uses excactly my 30 grids which I will have on my first order.

I know the bottom cage is a lite small and 2x2 each even with a 1x1 level each but I am hoping to put the grid between them without correx so they can see each other for a couple of weeks and then 're introduce them.. If I dare..

Has anybody ever tried this? They are both 2. They sometimes meet in the garden when one escapes there run and they rumblestrutt the other side of the mesh together and touch snouts through the mesh. Good, bad? I'm not sure!


Anyway that's the plan if it all goes well they will share the bottom pen if not Will have to be kept devided.

my final question is I'm going to buy a litter tray to put food bowl, water bowl and hay in with sawdust bedding, but how do I go about fleece as the bedding? Does it need to be special fleece, do I need special pet safe handwashing powder? Towels? How do I make the fleece soak the wee through? My lap fleece Just kind of pools it!


Any help links, photos advice would be greatly appreciated as you can imagine with buying the Wood for the stand an eexpensive and large (although Will be worth it) project! Feeling a bit over wheeled but looking forward to getting them out of those pet shop cages

 

[madguinealady]

fleece needs washed three times without detergent to make it wick.i have a waterproof layer , i don't use correx because on the floor, then incontinence pads then main fleece.Have smaller pieces of towel and fleece under their hideys as that's where they pee sometimes and this gets changed when wet.Litter trays at one end with fleece pegged over the cage above the litter trays.Have newspaper then finacard then hay in litter trays

 

[kelly Marie x]

Okay, can I wash with normal detergent when I clean once the pigs are in? Or should I always wash the fleece/towels without any?

And I assume you mean fleece over the litter trays for privacy?

Another thing I am wondering is how do I encourage them to use a litter tray?

Thanyou

 

[Lilly]

I think @madguinealady meant wash the fleece 3 times before first use without fabric softener to get it ready for wicking. And always wash any piggy fabric without fabric softener. Do this with your lap fleece as well to stop wee pooling. Any fleece will do so long as it is 100% polyester, it is usually called polar fleece over here. Can't help with the litter training I'm afraid, my boys failed that course! I tried the approach of always leaving some of their poops in the litter tray, even after a full cage clean. They just used the litter tray as another sleeping area & continued to poop & wee all over the place.

 

[gus+walter]

This is what I have. I use towels then two layers of fleece (and some waterproof mattress toppers which I cut into pads for under the huts which I put under both layers if fleece). I have a dustbuster for the poo which is the best thing I've ever bought as trying to pick up with a dustpan and brush can be a nightmare! I have the hayloft up top which I just have a puppy pad on the bottom and a litter tray for the hay which I line with a whole newspaper. That gets tipped out and washed every couple of days.
Hope that helps you a bit

 

[kelly Marie x]

Lovely thanks am a bit concerned they might try to hide underneath the fleece! Do any if yours do that?

 

[gus+walter]

Mine don't, but I tuck mine in around the sides (I used to clip it up the sides of the correx but it was hard work every week).
You can always leave scraps of spare fleece in the cage for them to burrow under and hopefully save the rest of it if they try it

 

[theoretikos]

I have trays in the areas that the pigs used most as a toilet. I have put finacard paper pellets in the trays.

 

[kelly Marie x]

Okay looks like I will definatley be giving fleece a try, just need to get some litter trays etc now then I still have a massive bale of sawdust so will probably pop that in the litter trays until used up! need to figure out how to introduce my boars without any fighting, I have 3 so hoping that if one pairing isn't successful I can try him with the other

Any tips on making the ramps, was thinking I would use Correx (but until it arrives I don't know how sturdy it will be) but a bit unsure what to put on to stop them from sliding down it!

 

[madguinealady]

some people use drainpipes and others bend spare grids and join them together to make like a half tube.I dont have lofts so cant help you there. YOu can buy wooden ones on ebay but i think they tend to pee at the bottom so would end up stinky

 

[AuntyC]

I find fleece works very well - it dries very quickly after washing - I use a small amount of non-bio powder, own brand supermarket seems OK. I use it over a newspaper base( I chase round neighbours begging used newspapers from their recycling boxes! ) I hope your new cage arrangements work out well.

 

[Shauny]

Hi,

If you haven't ordered the grids already I've found them a couple of quid cheaper, £31.50+free shipping, from here (every penny counts! Lol):

I've also used plastic interlocking grids too, 2 of these together are the same size as 1 mesh grid. 1 set of these is roughly the same as 20 grids, and are great for creating a more custom sized cage. My cage is a 2&half x 4, with a 2x2 loft:

As for correx I'm using a 2mm thick base which is working perfectly fine, so you should be all good with 4mm (from eBay for £20 for 3 sheets 8x4: )

A good ramp for a loft is a cat scratching board with correx side, Taffy an Coco love running up an down it! Should hopefully help stop there nails being so sharp too.

Don't forget, to save your washing machine by washing the fleece in wash bag to collect all the hay

Oh an primark are selling fleeces for £2.50 in lots of different colours an patterns.

Hope all that helps!

 

[Katiedid]

The correx in my experience is not sturdy enough for ramps. I got a length of drainpipe from B&Q for £5 and a carpet tile, I glued the carpet to the top 2/3 of the ramp and put a removable bit on the bottom (to wash or replace as needed - as they wee there).

I got 2 of the 30 packs from eBay, they cost £35 each. The local signwriters sold me the correx.

Kate

 

[Shauny]

Oh mine do LOVE running under the fleece! A towel pile has sorted that problem out though.

 

[kelly Marie x]

Thanks everyone! Ordered 60 grids today and the 3 sheets of correx! Got my plans drawn out and my dads got the wood to make a stand, my boyfriend did offer to do it for me, but I had visions of said stand collapsing and possible guinea pig massacre!

Will definatley be looking in pimark for fleece!

Nervous about introducing the piggies, not sure which 2 to do, trial and error I expect. Thanks everyone

P.s where can I get a wash bag?

 

[kelly Marie x]

Hi,

If you haven't ordered the grids already I've found them a couple of quid cheaper, £31.50+free shipping, from here (every penny counts! Lol):

I've also used plastic interlocking grids too, 2 of these together are the same size as 1 mesh grid. 1 set of these is roughly the same as 20 grids, and are great for creating a more custom sized cage. My cage is a 2&half x 4, with a 2x2 loft:

As for correx I'm using a 2mm thick base which is working perfectly fine, so you should be all good with 4mm (from eBay for £20 for 3 sheets 8x4: )

A good ramp for a loft is a cat scratching board with correx side, Taffy an Coco love running up an down it! Should hopefully help stop there nails being so sharp too.

Don't forget, to save your washing machine by washing the fleece in wash bag to collect all the hay

Oh an primark are selling fleeces for £2.50 in lots of different colours an patterns.

Hope all that helps!

I like the sound of the cat boards! Can you pick them up cheapish?

 

[Shauny]

Cheapest I've found for the cat board was £11 from amazon, you could probably make one cheaper but if like me your not the best at DIY then it's a great alternative.

I'm not sponsored my amazon, promise! But I picked up the wash bag from there too . Though lidl did have some in just last week, some of the larger sized supermarkets that have home sections should have some cheap wash bags in also. I bought an equine wash bag though, the kind for washing horse blankets as my washing machine is brand new.

For the cat board just drill 2 holes at the top then use some cable ties to tie to the grids, simple.



You'll have to share some images of your new cage and let us know how your 3 boars are liking their new cage. Fingers crossed introducing them goes well!

 

[RachelE]

Thanks everyone! Ordered 60 grids today and the 3 sheets of correx! Got my plans drawn out and my dads got the wood to make a stand, my boyfriend did offer to do it for me, but I had visions of said stand collapsing and possible guinea pig massacre!

Will definatley be looking in pimark for fleece!

Nervous about introducing the piggies, not sure which 2 to do, trial and error I expect. Thanks everyone

P.s where can I get a wash bag?

I use an old pillowcase for a wash bag - just turned over the hem at the open end and threaded some rope through to tie it with, which I got from Dunelm. Much cheaper than buying one! If you need something bigger then I guess an old duvet cover would convert just as well - I'm sure you can pick something up really cheap in a charity shop.

 

[Briony_S]

I use duvet covers for wash bags, if you don't want to sew just use a whole one and tie in a knot. I have decided to adapt mine as I find a single duvet cover takes up too much room in my small machine. I have cut the single duvet cover it into four and sewn up three of sides then added some cord to top and a toggle. cord was about 30 per metre from abakhan and the toggles were about 50p each! I have also used pillow cases for hay bags as I buy by the bale and it comes in plastic which is not good for hay so I divide it up into home-made hay bags and I also have a plastic laundry basket for the bulk of the hay, again I have made a liner for it out of a quarter of a single duvet.