Converting Cabinet & Fleece Bedding

[Malice]

So my boyfriend and I have been thinking about guinea pig cages. We'd like something a bit fancier than their plastic base, wire top store bought home at the moment. Why? Because I'd like to spoil my piggies with a home they are proud to live in!

Anyway, we're thinking of converting a set of drawers or a cabinet (or other similar furniture) into a multi-level cage of sorts. Of course, we'll check that the floor/shelf space is still of an adequate size beforehand! I was just wondering if anyone had ever done this or similar before? It'd be interesting to hear other people's stories about converting furniture (I was looking around Pinterest, which sparked the idea in the first place, so I know it's possible) and whether anyone had any tips? Not so much on how to do the DIY, but anything we need to take in to consideration when building our own cage that we may not have considered?

We're also considering switching from sawdust bedding to fleeces, but I have no experience of this before. Presumably there are dos and don'ts regarding fabrics? I was also wondering how often fleece needs changing compared to sawdust?

Any advice would be much appreciated or even just sharing stories would be great! ^_^

Thanks in advance!

 

[Seven]

For the cage, I have no experience. It seems like a lot of work. Are you sure it wouldn't be easier to just make a good-sized C&C cage. They're easy to make and can be pretty aesthetically pleasing if they're set up right.

For the fleece you want to get anti-pill fleece. Then you want to prepare it (there's instructions online) so it wicks the fluids onto your bottom layer — doggy pee pads or an old towel would work. Fleece makes spotcleaning much more convenient than having shavings or Carefresh. For the fleece I prefer having light colours and plain. It makes the poop more visible and less camouflaged which can be 'gross' but it makes cleaning easier IMO. I'm sure you'll appreciate the conversion to fleece.

 

[TAN]

My first big guinea pig cage was a solid pine 5ft bookcase - just took out the shelves - laid it flat on the floor - added fleesce cosies tunnels and two piggies and we were well away - the sides of the bookcase were 12" high and we never had any problems with them trying to get out - we used it for 2 years until we got more pigs.