Can't believe what.....

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lily 74

lily 74

Adult Guinea Pig
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they pass off as hutches for rabbits and guinea pigs:(


I have been looking at hutches today trying to find the biggest ones I can find for each of my groups I am housing together.


Most of the ones I saw were okay length wise but the width was ridiculous really narrow and small, it's quite simple pet shops etc shouldn't be allowed to sell any hutch under 4ft x 2ft but a majority are:{
 
I know, it's awful! I saw one today which was about 3ft by 1ft; I was amazed they could sell hutches that small. Really made me sad :(
 
The indoor cages are just as bad. Someone on my facebook posted up a picture of their new guinea pigs that are in a cage that I'd be reluctant to keep a hamster in. It makes me really sad for those poor guinea pigs. Shops just should not be allowed to sell people cages/hutches that are so completely inadequate. :( It is really upsetting.
 
Unfortunately finding a 4x2 hutch anywhere is practically impossible... I've never seen one! Most commercial hutches are 4x1 or 4x1.5 or something...

Some of them are teeny :(
 
the worst ive seen in a shop was 2ft x 1ft,that was about a month ago and it was nearly £90!. here at the sunday market theres a guy who makes his own and he sells similar sized ones aswell. i hate to see it. nothing should be forced to survive in such a small space, they must go stir crazy :(
 
I mentioned this in another post. It really concerns me that the RSPCA have a cage standard, and yet cages are still being sold that do not meet this standard. Surely it should be against the law to sell these cages, or it should be law that pet shops state that the smaller sizes are to be used only as hospital cages for animals that need their movement restricted. I have some of the small indoors that I use as hospital cages, but I've had animals come in that have lived in these permanently. I think that rabbits suffer even more as people keep rabbits in these sizes too. A rabbit should be kept in a cage big enough to do 3 unrestricted hops from one side to the other, and this is at least 6ft, although most breeds it's more. Very rarely have i seen hutches that fit this spec.
 
kelspiggies said:
the worst ive seen in a shop was 2ft x 1ft,that was about a month ago and it was nearly £90!. here at the sunday market theres a guy who makes his own and he sells similar sized ones aswell. i hate to see it. nothing should be forced to survive in such a small space, they must go stir crazy :(
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Yes, I agree, it' sad also when you see rabbits just sitting in small cages 24/7 rabbits need lots of height and most cages don't provide this.

guinea pig cages tend to be even smaller as you say starting at 2ft:(

My hamsters tank is 2ft wide and that's the smallest I would house them in!
 
flips said:
http://www.ukrabbithutches.co.uk/guineapighutches.html

Good size hutches. :)
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I'm going to bookmark this one! They're pretty decent prices!

I may well need a slightly bigger hutch soon for my single girl, but depending on when I get the money together to buy a shed, I may just get two hutches built into that instead, one for my herd and one for the little sow. But the hutches on this one are definitely a viable alternative to getting them built in! :D
 
My 2 storey hutch that hubby made is 4ft by 2ft. Hes making me a 3 storey one, with the same dimentions. Except the top one is going to be a single for Tam, and the bottom part is going to be the double for Boofle and Bee.
Its going to cost us approx £40/45 tops.
 
zarapiggie said:
This is the worst one ive seen:

http://www.petplanet.co.uk/product.asp?dept_id=393&pf_id=53506&co=fr

"Keep your guinea pigs in the comfort and style they deserve with a large Cavie 60."

erm i dont think so!!
Click to expand...

That's the size my recently rescued 'Pootle' pig came in :)>>> 18months of his life living in 2ft by 1ft cage, its gone to the dump!

'Shelly' posted something similar about RSPCA recomended hutch/cage sizes not being made readily available in pet shops....well I had my rant on that thread :))
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=66402


Big hutches -

6x2hutch.jpg

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260371889785&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
This 6x2x2

6x30inchhutch.jpg

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250803539325&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:PN:ENLRG
This is a 6ft by 30inch wide and 30inch high so could quite easiely made having mezzanine levels to double the living area.

@)
 
I think the problem with hutches that are 4x2 is that many of them are custom made/bespoke and therefore a lot more expensive than commercial 'pet shop hutches'...

Not everyone has £200 to spend on a hutch like the last one there. I know there are cheaper ones out there, such as the one I've bookmarked as a possible home for Teaser and a friend we manage to find for her, but as much as I love my girls, I wouldn't be able to afford a home like that! I'm pretty lucky that I can make use of hutches my dad built for rabbits (which are 14sq feet each - with the option to easily add a second floor to them). If I were getting into piggie ownership without that though, I couldn't spend that much money on a hutch, hence why the smaller commerical ones are still so popular...

I don't agree with it, but at the end of the day it comes down to looking at what owners can afford to buy, rather than what they should be buying...
 
As much as I hate to support them, the only place I could get a decent 4' x 2' hutch was the dreaded P@H! Their Poppy Den 'for rabbits' (yes, anyway) was the only 4' x 2' hutch I could find at short notice. As I needed to house more than 2 guineas, I did this

IMG_3058.jpg


(Yes, Whiskey likes the camera...)

This gave me an extra almost 4 sq ft of space, and because I made the ramp myself I know it isn't too steep, has a 'bannister', and is suitably grippy (used carpet tiles!)

Also note the changing of the crappy catches for proper bolts!
 
ghostbusterbunny said:
I think the problem with hutches that are 4x2 is that many of them are custom made/bespoke and therefore a lot more expensive than commercial 'pet shop hutches'...

Not everyone has £200 to spend on a hutch like the last one there. I know there are cheaper ones out there, such as the one I've bookmarked as a possible home for Teaser and a friend we manage to find for her, but as much as I love my girls, I wouldn't be able to afford a home like that! I'm pretty lucky that I can make use of hutches my dad built for rabbits (which are 14sq feet each - with the option to easily add a second floor to them). If I were getting into piggie ownership without that though, I couldn't spend that much money on a hutch, hence why the smaller commerical ones are still so popular...

I don't agree with it, but at the end of the day it comes down to looking at what owners can afford to buy, rather than what they should be buying...
Click to expand...


you, the second one is quite bespoke :))
I still love it even though it is £195. My Rabbit Playhouse cost less than that!

However after saying that the first hutch is still big and is built with shiplap cladding so great quality and would really out last the petstore type plywood. I find pet store hutches quite expensive for the quality though. P&H sell Dandelions Den which is 5ftx2ft for £90, so this shiplap 6ftx2ft works out at £20 more. Here's their website it's the 'Happyhutchcompany' http://www.happyhutch.co.uk/

Someone quite local were making these 7foot hutches for £65 but I dont know if he still does them? First time I'd seen a 7ft for sale :) and I like how the door opens up for little piggies to get in and out :))
7fthutch.jpg
 
All0about0the0animals said:
I mentioned this in another post. It really concerns me that the RSPCA have a cage standard, and yet cages are still being sold that do not meet this standard. Surely it should be against the law to sell these cages, or it should be law that pet shops state that the smaller sizes are to be used only as hospital cages for animals that need their movement restricted. I have some of the small indoors that I use as hospital cages, but I've had animals come in that have lived in these permanently. I think that rabbits suffer even more as people keep rabbits in these sizes too. A rabbit should be kept in a cage big enough to do 3 unrestricted hops from one side to the other, and this is at least 6ft, although most breeds it's more. Very rarely have i seen hutches that fit this spec.
Click to expand...

pet shops are the worst.... after purchasing my fist guinea pigs (2 of them) the cage i was told would be suitable for them... is far too small... because when they were babies... yeh they had lodes of space... but now there bigger... not a chance in hell....!
and my baby piggie is in a tiny cage at the moment(temperary) this cage is apparently suitable for one fully grown piggie... but christ its not even something id house a hamster in... poor thorn... hopefully getting him his big new cage soon... :)
but it is rediculous...
x
 
When we got our boys they sold these pippy little hutches for loads of dollars, so OH said forget that i'll make them a house! He made ours and it's about 5' x 2' roughly maybe a bit longer and then for the boys they had an added section on at the front, cause we had to separate them. For the girls i have the 5 x 2 and their mezzanine floor :) Even now i feel as if i could give them more room!

I must see what our RSPCA recommend 8:)
 
If you know someone who is even vaguely okay with woodwork it's pretty easy to make your own hutch. I printed off some good plans from the internet, bought cheap-ish wood and made a double storey 6ft by 2ft hutch with the help of a couple of family members. Only took us a couple of days to finish. If you have an old hutch you can even use some wood/fixtures from that and save money. All in all it cost me about £80 for a massive space and I was able to make it much sturdier than a lot of the shop bought hutches seem now.

I can totally understand it's very hard to justify buying a large bespoke hutch given the high price, even if you love your guineas to pieces, it is very much unaffordable in the current economic climate. I'm really struggling for money lately - I'd rather pay my bills than buy a brand spanking new pig palace!
 
We have french lop rabbits and 2 that live together and as it is difficult to find adequate sized housing, we found a man who made us massive 6ft hutches, and 2 runs for the piggies, and delivered for free! and it was miles away. It's great if you can find someone like that, who doesnt take the mickey with prices and knows how much space animals require.
 
I know they are tiny. I bought one a couple of years ago when i was a first timer. But then i started to look around and was appauled about how small my hutch was so it had to go!
 
KaiLouise said:
http://www.ukrabbithutches.co.uk/tortoiseruns.html

This is what we are likey getting for 4 sows, plus when the garden is secure they will have free reign some of the time
Click to expand...

To be honest, the housing area on that looks really small. I'm really not very good with measurements but I'm guessing maybe 3x2? Which is far too small for 4 piggies. Have you considered a 6x2 hutch? And maybe purchasing a separate run?
 
Shelley said:
To be honest, the housing area on that looks really small. I'm really not very good with measurements but I'm guessing maybe 3x2? Which is far too small for 4 piggies. Have you considered a 6x2 hutch? And maybe purchasing a separate run?
Click to expand...

I think that's just a photo of the smaller one hun, we plan on getting the big one so i am gonna email them nearer time to get measuments for inside part x,
 
Maybe I am wrong, photos can be very decieving. Definitely ask about how big the actual living space is as they will only be able to use the run if the weather is nice. The minimum recommended living space for 4 guinea pigs is 13 sq ft (this is actual living space, not including the run measurements).
 
Hubs in the process(in this dreadful weather)of making a two tiered 4 fby 2 foot hutch. 2 seperate ones for Bumble and Gaga. Its huuge. My girls that are indoors are going in a 2 tiered double hutch which has the same measurments top and bottom. With a ramp obviously.
 
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