C&c Set Up Ideas For Limited Space?

[Dilly's Piggies]

I have 8 female guinea pigs, 5 of them live in this cage pictured here, the size is adequate for them but I would like to add more, maybe a 1x2 loft on each end of the cage, just for some extra room. My other 3 females (Mum and 2 newborn babies) live in a 100cm store bought cage, which is only temporary as I felt my sow would feel better with her new pups in a more secluded cage. I do have a 120 store bought cage but that is still way too small for them to permanently live in for the rest of their lives, so I want to buy a C&C cage this wednesday for Mum and pups, but the problem I have is space. As you can see in the photo I literally only have this space to work with, I will be buying a stand for the current cage I have and I might be attaching the new cage to this one underneath somewhere, but I don't know how I can build it where all my pigs will have enough space and I will be able to have access to them and also to clean them out. Mum and pups cage will be at least 2x4 but I would prefer 2x5.

Does anyone have any ideas on how I can make this work? If you have photos or can help me come up with a build that will work within this space I would really appreciate it, I just wish I had more room! The Mum of the babies is aggressive towards other guinea pigs so I cannot just build one big cage sadly (which is what I wanted to do originally until I found out Mum didn't like other pigs) so Mum will have to live with her babies separately. Hoping you guys can help, thanks!

 

[Cookies&Glitter]

Mine is a double decker I only have 4 piggies but they don't get along so I have 2 cages. I had space for lofts but they didn't like them so I took them down temporarily anyway. Each cage is 2x5 grids

 

[Kit06]

I'd suggest going up another layer. @Wiebke has a great set up to show this off and I believe uses IKEA table tops and legs to create the base for the second level?

 

[Wiebke]

I am using Ikea linnmon tables 75x150cm, which support a cable-wired 2x4 grid cage. For a 2x5 grid cage, my husband has added an offcut from the remainder section in Ikea.
I have 24 piggies; my flexible setup allows me to change the size and layout of the pens according to my current needs.


For cleaning, I just lift the table with my shoulder to slide fleece and towels in an off or to clean underneath the legs. But the tables provide me with a good height to get to the upstairs piggies and plenty of air and light for the downstairs groups.

My husband has built me wooden frames on which to rest a wooden platform for a mezzanine. It makes a great group dormitory-cum-upstairs platform even for guinea pigs with cataracts, so you can extend the floor space quite a bit if needed.

You can find more ideas in my Wiebke's Tribe facebook page album: The Tribe pens | Facebook

 

[Swissgreys]

Oh my goodness - that is the most extraordinary set up I have ever seen @Wiebke

 

[Wiebke]

It currently looks like that to accommodate some fall-outs amongst my elderly Peru Mafia; two peru pairs live on the Ikea table that has been extended both sides, so it fitsnearly 2x7 grid (two 3 1/2 x2 grid) pens. All downstairs pens have direct access to the roaming floor in turn.


This is the old tv cabinet, which has been turned into a piggy storage unit with a time-shared roaming den at the bottom:

 

[Cookies&Glitter]

wow! So many possibilities, I love C&C cages!