chesca_27
Junior Guinea Pig
I thought I'd share something I made earlier and a tutorial for it! I made a bottle holder for Oreo's cage as I haven't received my wire C & C grids yet, so I've just got plastic ones. I couldn't find a tutorial anywhere, so I wasted loads of cable ties trying to create one.
It's really easy and only requires a few bits and bobs that you probably already have at home. It's quite cheap as well, and very sturdy.
This would be perfect for C & C cages with plastic grids, or for hospital cages without bars.
You will need a bottle, some kind of sturdy wire (I used a folded hay rack, but it also works with metal cat carrier doors), a bottle spring (two would be better) and seven zip/cable ties. My bottle spring came with my glass bottle, but I have seen them on eBay. The hay rack can be bought at Pets At Home, but aren't suited for their intended purpose because guinea pigs can get their heads stuck in them. I bought my zip ties at Poundland. They have two types, but both are packs of 100, just different sizes. The DIY section ones are better than the gardening ones.
I started off by using zip ties to secure the rack together, to stop it from opening. I used one on each side, at the top and trimmed the excess to prevent poking and trimming,
I then attached the spring to the rack.
I used a zip tie on each side to tighten the spring, to make it sturdier. Loop the zip tie around the end of the rack and the clip on part of the spring. Pull the zip tie enough to secure it, but not too much. You will finish tightening this later, when the bottle is attached. Repeat for the other side.
This is what it should look like so far.
At the end of the spring, there should be a little loop of wire. Thread a zip tie through this and the top of the rack and secure it together. Trim the excess zip tie. Repeat on the other side.
The back of it should look like this.
Finally, slot in the bottle. Underneath the bottle and rack, lay a longer zip tie down. Pull both side up and secure it around the top metal part just above the spout. Secure it tight enough to stop the bottle wobbling, but make sure you can still remove it easily and without cutting a zip tie. If you have a second spring, substitute the zip tie for this. Turn the zip tie around so the long, pokey part is facing away, so piggies can't chew on it.
Also tighten the side zip ties to stop the bottle moving too much. If you over tighten it, the spring will become too wide and the bottle won't stay up. This is the point where you should also trim off the excess from the zip ties.
The bottle holder should now look like this and it's done!
You can now attach it to the cage. It would need to be zip tied a little higher, so this photo just demonstrates what it would roughly look like. I hope this helps someone
It's really easy and only requires a few bits and bobs that you probably already have at home. It's quite cheap as well, and very sturdy.
This would be perfect for C & C cages with plastic grids, or for hospital cages without bars.
You will need a bottle, some kind of sturdy wire (I used a folded hay rack, but it also works with metal cat carrier doors), a bottle spring (two would be better) and seven zip/cable ties. My bottle spring came with my glass bottle, but I have seen them on eBay. The hay rack can be bought at Pets At Home, but aren't suited for their intended purpose because guinea pigs can get their heads stuck in them. I bought my zip ties at Poundland. They have two types, but both are packs of 100, just different sizes. The DIY section ones are better than the gardening ones.
I started off by using zip ties to secure the rack together, to stop it from opening. I used one on each side, at the top and trimmed the excess to prevent poking and trimming,
I then attached the spring to the rack.
I used a zip tie on each side to tighten the spring, to make it sturdier. Loop the zip tie around the end of the rack and the clip on part of the spring. Pull the zip tie enough to secure it, but not too much. You will finish tightening this later, when the bottle is attached. Repeat for the other side.
This is what it should look like so far.
At the end of the spring, there should be a little loop of wire. Thread a zip tie through this and the top of the rack and secure it together. Trim the excess zip tie. Repeat on the other side.
The back of it should look like this.
Finally, slot in the bottle. Underneath the bottle and rack, lay a longer zip tie down. Pull both side up and secure it around the top metal part just above the spout. Secure it tight enough to stop the bottle wobbling, but make sure you can still remove it easily and without cutting a zip tie. If you have a second spring, substitute the zip tie for this. Turn the zip tie around so the long, pokey part is facing away, so piggies can't chew on it.
Also tighten the side zip ties to stop the bottle moving too much. If you over tighten it, the spring will become too wide and the bottle won't stay up. This is the point where you should also trim off the excess from the zip ties.
The bottle holder should now look like this and it's done!
You can now attach it to the cage. It would need to be zip tied a little higher, so this photo just demonstrates what it would roughly look like. I hope this helps someone
