C&C cage designers - assemble!

[Jellybeanio]

Hi all,
I’ve recently found this site and was hoping for some ideas if possible! Sorry, it’s a long explanation!
We have 2 lovely bonded boys, brothers, called Bert & Ernie who are 1.5 years old. They live in our kitchen in a 2 tier c&c cage, both levels being 2x3. It’s not quite as big as I’d like but they both have their own spaces and are quite happy to be together or apart when they wish. We also let them free roam on a regular basis.
Well, after a trip to pets at home this week, we saw a little boar called Popcorn who they’d had up for adoption for over 2 weeks, on his own and not from the best situation, after several consideration walks around the store, we took him home.
He’s currently doing his quarantine 2 weeks in a starter cage on our kitchen table next to the other two so he can see and smell them, and get used to the sounds in our house. They told us he was around 1 year old but he’s certainly nowhere near that, he’s definitely still a baby.
I’m very aware though that 3 boys together doesn’t often work, so I’m trying to figure out a creative cage configuration, that’s easy to access and easy to clean, but possibly allows them to see one another through the bars. Ideally with a ferplast/correx base as they’ll be on fleece and bath mats.
The cage we currently have is 3 panels across the back which is the space we have that it fits in, and 2 at the sides, with 3 door panels across the front of the lower tier.
To access the upper floor, we have to climb on our table, but we don’t mind that, it just makes cleaning an interesting experience!
We can possibly extend to 3x3 but it means we’ll struggle to reach the back of the cage to clean, so I’ve been looking at some kind 3 tier cages with U formations on the top two floors, but what I’ve come up with so far keeps the bonded pair completely separate from the new baby.
I’m very aware I may be asking for a unicorn here but any ideas would be much appreciated! I’m also aware that taking on an extra with limited room possibly wasn’t the best idea, but at least he’s in a home where he’ll be loved rather than stuck on his own with folks banging on his enclosure every ten minutes.
Many thanks

 

[Piggies&buns]

Welcome to the forum

It is important to note that upper levels are simply a bonus but do not double floor space. The ground floor is the one which needs to meet size requirements. Two boys need a 5x2 cage, so at 3x2 on the bottom level, your cage only just meets minimum requirement for two sows, but not minimum for two boars (two boars need a 4x2 as minimum) and is obviously a long way off the recommended size.

The issue you will face is that a single piggy must have 24/7 side by side interaction at all times. Cages cannot be stacked on top of each other where there is a single piggy involved - a three tier cage won’t work. It is also very important that if he is likely to be under four months of age that he is not quarantined. If he is in this age range, then he needs to be side by side with them now. His cage would need to be a minimum of a 3x2 (Or 120x60cm if it is a ferplast type cage).

Ultimately you are looking at needing to find space for a single level 4x2 c&c (or a 150x60cm ferplast style) for the pair (5x2 ideally) and a 3x2 c&c minimum (or a 120x60cm ferplast style) for the single right next to the pair.

I'm not sure what to suggest if you don’t have this space as this is the minimum requirement.

(Given you don’t have the space, definitely dont attempt to bond him with the pair. A boar trio cage sizing goes well beyond normal sizing requirements - you’d be looking at needing around a 9x3 c&c cage on a single level to provide enough territory and space to stand even a small chance of a trio working.)

 

[Jellybeanio]

Welcome to the forum

It is important to note that upper levels are simply a bonus but do not double floor space. The ground floor is the one which needs to meet size requirements. Two boys need a 5x2 cage, so at 3x2 on the bottom level, your cage only just meets minimum requirement for two sows, but not minimum for two boars (two boars need a 4x2 as minimum) and is obviously a long way off the recommended size.

The issue you will face is that a single piggy must have 24/7 side by side interaction at all times. Cages cannot be stacked on top of each other where there is a single piggy involved - a three tier cage won’t work. It is also very important that if he is likely to be under four months of age that he is not quarantined. If he is in this age range, then he needs to be side by side with them now. His cage would need to be a minimum of a 3x2 (Or 120x60cm if it is a ferplast type cage).

Ultimately you are looking at needing to find space for a single level 4x2 c&c (or a 150x60cm ferplast style) for the pair (5x2 ideally) and a 3x2 c&c (or a 120x60cm ferplast style) for the single right next to the pair.

I'm not sure what to suggest if you don’t have this space as this is the minimum requirement.

(Given you don’t have the space, definitely dont attempt to bond him with the pair. A boar trio cage sizing goes well beyond normal sizing requirements - you’d be looking at needing around a 9x3 c&c cage on a single level to provide enough territory and space to stand even a small chance of a trio working.)

Thank you for the advice, looks like I’m definitely going to have to be rearranging my kitchen somehow then.
We do have a friend who has said she would take him on if needs be, and definitely has the space, so we may have to consider that option, as much as we would love to keep him.

 

[Piggies&buns]

You’ve done a lovely thing in giving him a loving home and it sounds as if you’ve got a back up plan if rearranging kitchen plans don’t pan out.
Obviously we don’t know the exact space you are working with but C&C are versatile so could be made L shaped for example but always providing it meets at least the minimum sizing requirements (never one grid wide for example).