Do pigs ever escape from C&C cages? and other little niggles

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Bekki

Bekki

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I put a photo of my doggy pen cage (63 cm tall) and the comments are:

Wont they just escape? Guinea pigs can jump you know
Where is your sawdust (I have fleece)
Sawdust is the best thing for piggies
They need straw
Fleece is bad for guinea pigs
 
I suggest you remove yourself from whatever site you got these comments.

Even my 3 week old baby piggy never jumped higher than say 1 ft when popcorning (30 cm) and that was with a flipping good run up when she first went in the run!
 
it was facebook :-) not some specialist site so it was to be expected but yeah

Comments by the sort that keep their pigs in small zoozones with sawdust and have done for years so it must be right type attitude. There is no telling them otherwise
 
sawdust no, wood shavings yes, for there are good when you cannot buy heaps of fleece or wash them enough, shavings are like one of the cheapest bedding's that are able to last longer than others.
 
Hey, no they can't escape! One of my piggies is quite a jumper and he even leaps up onto his piggie bed and the top is quite high - he still can't get over the bars though. I was really really worried about that when I first got my piggies, they haven't even come close to escaping.

Fleece is bad for piggies......? That's ridiculous! lol.
 
I once heard the line pigs need at least 4 inch of bedding lol
Sawdust is what we tend to call wood shavings in the UK it is just easier to say I think :L
I don't think a guinea pig escape from that. Unless he REALLY felt the need too. My guinea doesn't even bother jumping over a few inches unless food is involved :))
 
LittleEskimo said:
I once heard the line pigs need at least 4 inch of bedding lol
Sawdust is what we tend to call wood shavings in the UK it is just easier to say I think :L
I don't think a guinea pig escape from that. Unless he REALLY felt the need too. My guinea doesn't even bother jumping over a few inches unless food is involved :))
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The pet store actually sells sawdust and wood shavings! so its hard to know which one she meant but id hope it was the latter.

even I cant jump 63 cm in one go ha, c&c grids are only 35cm and I have never heard of anyone with regular great pig escapes!

any other advice I get will be posted here as its from the general p@h loving public

apparently they eat fleece and it kills them
 
Straw is a definite no no!

It's amazing the 'advice' you get from ignorant people isn't it. At least you have this place for sensible chat :))

Have you posted pics on here of your dog crate? I'd like to see it.

Edit - found the pic and I think it looks fine. Cute polka dot :)
 
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inside layout is not final, it looks a bit cluttered to me, but you get the idea :-) and I will no doubt be getting some correx at some point, but for now its towels and fleece on top of shower curtain on top of lino floor, theres also a door on the pen where I can attach a doggy crate (german shephard size one) to and my parents said I can have their old one and that would give an extra space and would be perfect for building a hay loft in as its very strong.

straw would seam pointless to me, I've read not to use straw but I cannot remember why, I know it has like zero nutrition in it but is there another reason?

The thing is these people giving advice are 5 years my senior and have had pigs 15 years so they wont take what I am saying as I know nothing having never owned a pig! (cat, dogs, budgie, fish yes ... anything else no)
 
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It is tricky when they think they know more. Have you told them about this forum? A good line to use is 'join the forum as they all love to look at pictures of your piggies'.

Straw can cause eye injuries as it isn't as soft as hay, plus as you say it has no nutritional value. Waste of money on their part.

We've been using c&c for 2 years now and I'm still not finished with the layout :)) Always making changes. Adding things, removing things. Guess it keeps the piggies on their toes. I like the little stool you have.
 
I like your layout. I think pigs like a little clutter :) Mine seem to love running through and under things.

People seem to have mixed feelings on shavings as they can cause respiratory issues in some pigs. Straw is too rough for little piggie feet and can cause serious eye- poke problems, it could be hay the person meant maybe?

I have had one escapee from a C&C, but it was my own fault as there was a tiny gap and Marmite is a bit if a Ninja pig it seems! She has also sussed out how to climb the stairs, but cannot jump nearly that high! ;)
 
Little Piggles said:
I like your layout. I think pigs like a little clutter :) Mine seem to love running through and under things.

People seem to have mixed feelings on shavings as they can cause respiratory issues in some pigs. Straw is too rough for little piggie feet and can cause serious eye- poke problems, it could be hay the person meant maybe?

I have had one escapee from a C&C, but it was my own fault as there was a tiny gap and Marmite is a bit if a Ninja pig it seems! She has also sussed out how to climb the stairs, but cannot jump nearly that high! ;)
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Unfortunately it wasn't hay they meant as they specified them both, piggies need hay straw and saw dust apparently ... facepalm.

I am happy with fleece all summer, and am going to look into megazorb (horse shop near my work ... if they sell it ill buy) or finacard or carefresh for really cold times in winter

I didnt know whether it was a bit too cluttered but if others say its fine then fine it is :-)
 
My cage is very similar to yours and my pigs would never ever get over the top. I have never seen mine jump, they just popcorn a bit. I personally prefer fleece in a cage like that. Just ignore them :)
 
Where did you get your tall grids from? I use small animal playpen ones in the living room but both Suilven & Angs regularly climb over them...
No C& C for me as I'd have to mega fortify it to keep those two master escapee climbers in.

I even found Suilven had climbed of of the playpen they have for floortime, onto the top of his cage and sat there looking smug!

They now need really tall playpen to keep them in!
 
We have a couple of piggies that are more than capable of climbing/escaping from the C+C. Ethel is quite the athlete, when she can be bothered! and has jumped, from a standing start, out of the pen onto my chest and then back into the pen (our pen is at waist height). I was holding a plate of veggies at the time.
Ruby is the gymnast and will tight rope walk along the edge of the panels, most disconcerting.
They have calmed done as they have got older and I cover the pens with a blanket or sheet if we are going out so that there are no surprises when we get back!

We have 2 C+C pens, the larger group have an upper deck on theirs, but I tend to use large corner litter trays for the hay as I keep mine on vet bed.
 
Your set up looks smashing..mine are all in C & cS none have escaped..i use finacard not as messy as shavings & they never smell.
 
MerryPip said:
Where did you get your tall grids from? I use small animal playpen ones in the living room but both Suilven & Angs regularly climb over them...
No C& C for me as I'd have to mega fortify it to keep those two master escapee climbers in.

I even found Suilven had climbed of of the playpen they have for floortime, onto the top of his cage and sat there looking smug!

They now need really tall playpen to keep them in!
Click to expand...

Mine is an old puppy pen and it was free :-)

You can 8 panel puppy pens like mine from £19.99 on ebay , price goes up depending on what height you want, the shortest is like 24 inches but they go upto stupidly tall heights meant for the likes of great danes and monster dogs like those :-) I think mine is not the shortest one but I havent measured it
 
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdG-fZ858rc[/ame]

video of my cage :-)
 
Your cage & set up looks fine :) I do like the idea of using a step stool! :p
 
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