Ferplast v C&C - newbie here!

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SallyG

SallyG

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Hi everyone,

We've decided to get my son a guinea pig for his birthday, I've had other small pets before but never a guinea so am here to ask loads of (probably stupid!) questions! I've started a thread in the guinea pig chat so sorry if I'm repeating myself here.

I've been told a Ferplast 120 (or equivalent sized cage) would be a decent size for 2 females, but have read on here about how good C&C's are. I've had a look at them and wondered, when you buy the kits is it literally just the squares and connectors you get, so I'd have to make my own base? How do I do that? Also, we were planning on keeping the cage in my boy's bedroom. Originally we decided to get a hamster but since speaking to people it seems that a guinea pig or 2 would be better.

I know guinea pigs squeak, how noisy will they be at night? Is having the cage in the boy's room a daft idea? Baring in mind my 2 will fall asleep happily in the middle of a music festival I sort of think 2 guinea pigs squeaking might not be too much of a problem?

We do have a playroom though with one of these:
http://compare.ebay.co.uk/like/350594619193?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&adtype=pla
that the boys don't play with. Could I make a base to sit on top of here and have this as the cage with a bit of C&C help?

Can guinea pigs not jump? I've seen lots of open top cages, and love the idea of that. Though with the kids being aged 6 and almost 5, I think perhaps a roof might be best for the guinea pigs?

Compared to some of the C&C creations I've seen I'm worried a Ferplast is too small? I am planning to get both an inside and outside run so they will get exercise everyday though.

My son's birthday isn't until November but I am way too excited already :))
Thanks, sorry about all the questions!
Sally
 
I can only comment on the Noise factor as trialling a cc cage soon. Barnum lives in my room but is very quiet but currently after his friend died he has no one to talk to. Although he wheeks for food when income in!

Good luck with your pig you'll love it!
 
Personally I would go with C&C as I started off with a 120cm cage for my two girls which was fine when they were little but they grow quickly and then it started to look too small. The space you would need for a 4 grid x 2 grid C&C would be approx 140cm by 70cm. You can get the grids from places like Amazon and Ebay but you do need to put it all together yourself - it's easy though, they just snap together. The hardest bit is making the base, if you look at

http://www.guineapigcages.com/howto.htm

there are some good instructions. The coroplast/correx is harder to get hold of in the UK but there are sources, such as Teacrate Packaging and others. The grids are about 14inches square so they won't be able to jump out, but depending on how curious your kids are some sort of lid might be a good idea!

Bear in mind that guinea pigs are naturally nervous creatures and it can take them a while to get used to human noise and contact - and definitely get two if you can as they do much better in pairs or groups.
 
I think a c&c is good if you want to adapt it and they offer the most space, if however you want to move it around, maybe at night time you decide you dont want to keep it in the childrens bedroom then a shop bought cage would be better, I don't move my c&c as it is too difficult you see.

With regards to a lid as long as you get enough grids there are ways to hinge a roof out of the grids, either things like cable ties or bull dog clips. the doors to my lower c&c are held together with bulldog clips.

The correx you can buy online from sign manufactures, local builders merchants, b&q or www.teacratepackaging.co.uk.
Some members have their c&c on top of a low, cheap table from places like ikea or you could look on ebay for something similar. In ikea you can buy the top and the legs sperately very cheaply. Mine is two cages with a board to seperate and for stability, I'm thinking about putting legs on my wooden board though.

Some pigs do jump so it might be trial and error with that one! I would go for a 140cm or 150cm if you;re buying a shop cage though, the 120cm is fine, its the minimum required, I used to have and loved it then I rearranged somethings so I could get a c&c ;)

You can check out www.zooplus.co.uk for ideas on cages too, they're very reasonable and offer free delivery.

This is my c&c just for ideas:
025.jpg
 
Wow! Winnie woo I LOVE your c and c cage - very tempted to make an exact copy! Trouble is we have a cat so I need to keep all floors covered - just in case!

We only got our piggies last week and they have a c and c on the floor at the moment but I am very tempted to make a hayloft on an upstairs level for them. Your cage is fabulous!
 
Hi :) I have a ferplast 120 for my two fully grown girls and I would say that although it is (just about) enough space, you should definitely go for the C&C as they would love the room to wander around!

Mine are very lazy piggies so I'm going to get the bits for a C&C when I get paid to try and make them run around a bit more :(|)

Piggies can climb tiny things (like shoeboxes) but anything larger than that is too big, mine try and smush themselves behind things which is more of a problem :))
 
thanks alot, they really love it and it worked out cheaper than the biggest cage I could buy even with the home made table! :)
 
Hi there, it's great that you are doing some research before getting guinea pigs and that you are looking into suitable sized accomodation.

I'd like to make a couple of points though.

Firstly, please don't get a single piggy as they need company of their own kind. This is very important.
Your children are still very young. I assume that you will be providing the care for the guinea pigs? The average life span is 5-7 years so they are a long term commitment and children often lose interest more quickly than expected. I would also recommend that you start with a rule that the children are never allowed to handle the guinea pigs unsupervised. I am involved in rescue and have seen some bad injuries where children have dropped a guinea pig, including a very young pig that had to have a leg amputed due to an injury caused when he was dropped.

Are you considering rescue? There are some fabulous recommended rescues all round the country.

Again, really great that you are looking into this before getting guinea pigs. :)
 
Hi Sally,

A Ferplast is ok, but not great. The 120 is supposedly 120cm (the minimum recommended size for two pigs), but... it isn't really. They take those measurements based on the whole cage. In other words, including the rim or lip that runs round the edge, and the sides slope slightly. That means that the actual floor space is several cm smaller than 120, and therefore smaller than the recommended size. It will probably be ok for two sows if they get lots of run time, but if you fall in love with a pair of boars (who are often thought to be more cuddly, if that matters to you), I'd be a little worried about it. Boys are especially prone to fighting when they're crowded. mallethead

I have a C&C now, and my base is made from more grids. This takes rather a lot of grids, though. (My set-up.) I do like the look of the low tables though, and people make them quite cheaply with a bit of wood and some table legs from somewhere like B&Q or Ikea.

To answer you other question, no, guinea pigs can't jump. Or at least, not very high! They aren't climbers either, and as most grid cubes are about 14 inches high, there's really NO chance of them escaping unless you pretty much build them a stairway to the top and down the other side! rolleyes An open top cage is completely great and fine as long as you don't have other pets (ie, cats and dogs). If you do, or really want a top, that's easy to do with grids (and again, you can see on my thread above; I have a cat so it was necessary).

I would second the "only handling under supervision" rule, and probably add a "while sitting down" caveat, especially while the pigs are young or new. They can be very wriggly, and although they may love a cuddle once they're tame, up until that point they will try hard to evade capture. Even I've lost grip on mine once or twice -- luckily, while sitting on the floor! Although once when he was a baby, Picchu made a break for it while I was carrying him down the stairs, and that could have been a fatal accident if I haven't caught hold of him again. They are unfortunately very easy to injure if they suffer a fall.

The great thing about getting from a rescue if you'll often get a pair who are already bonded, so they're less likely to fight, and often will have been handled so will be more tame.
 
Hi,

Thanks everyone. I think it'll have to be a C&C, I'm planning on the playroom for it, which is next to the boy's bedroom. I am a bit concerned about when they have friends to play, but I was going to buy a run anyway so can just bring the piggies down and put them in the run, with a box to hide in if it's get's noisy, and to protect them from small people!

Thanks for the link for how to make the base, doesn't look too tricky. What do you guys put on the base? I've read on here some people use wood shavings, also fleece blankets with the bed liners underneath.

Winnie and gogoguineas your cages are ace. You're definitely my inspiration!

Do guinea pigs choose a particular toilet spot, where they always go, or is in anywhere. I've read that rabbits can be toilet trained to use a litter tray, can piggies do that?

Yes I've decided that we'll deifinitely get 2, hate the thought of a lonely guinea.

Although they will be a present for my son really they will be a family pet and I know it will end up with me providing most of the care. There's a resuce really close to me http://www.hullanimalwelfare.co.uk/ and they have piggies occasionally but the lady gave me the number of a lady who has a piggie fostering service in the area so will probably get them from her.

I'm trying to find out everything before we get them. I hate it when peoiple just buy a pet, then get bored and give them away. Infact it infuriates me beyond words :x

Thanks again everyone, I'm sure I'll be back asking even more questions (and ofcourse posting pics of the finished product. Waiting till my son's birthday in November is going to be the hardest thing!)

Sal
x
 
I wanted a C&C but it's really expensive to get the pieces in the UK and i'll need enough for a lid (cat and dog). I have got a ferplast which i do like (you can lift the side panels to join them together to make them bigger).
My ferplast IS too small (only 100cm for 2 boars) BUT they were only in it when they were young and now they're in a 16sq foot chicken coop. They'll only go in the cage in the middle of winter at night/ when it's below about 5 degrees
 
Sal,

A lot of pigs will pick a spot. Others will go anywhere and everywhere. Depends on the pig! One of mine is litter trained to the point that I can put his litter tray in his playpen with him when he's indoors and he'll STILL only go there, even if it's in the middle of the floor! But that's very rare, and I use the word "trained" very loosely, anyway, as I think it was mostly his decision. :)

Things to try for litter training:

Figure out your pigs' preferences. Some like to go in dark places, like hidey holes. Some kind of covered litter tray (under a towel tent, maybe) might therefore tempt them.

Many many pigs will just go while they're eating (sanitary!), so a lot of people place litter trays under their hay racks. You aren't litter training them as such, but you'll still get most of their mess in the trays, because they spend a looooot of time munching!

Mine always preferred a particular corner, so I bought a corner litter tray (at pet shops or online as rabbit or ferret litter trays) and plonked it in that corner. Every time I changed it, I would sprinkle a little of the wet wood shavings back over the top. This means it still smells like them, even in a clean cage, and in theory keeps them coming back.

The general consensus is that most guinea pigs can't be litter trained, at least not completely. They're pretty lazy about the whole thing and will just do their business wherever they happen to be at the time. Some will take to it, and some won't, but more often than not they'll have one area where they TEND to go and you can just plonk a litter tray there and get most of it.
 
Woo hoo just ordered the c and c grids, can't wait to get constructing!
It's going to have to be a random shape though I think for where it's going to fit. Ohhhh let the fun begin...

Thanks for all your help x
 
Defo get some pics on here when it's made.

Yup we'll get 2, would hate the thought of a lonely piggy.

What are your thoughts on rabbits and guinea pigs together - we are defo getting 2 guineas but it's what I remember everyone seemed to have when I was young!
 
General consensus is that it's actually a BIG no-no. A lot of people have traditionally done it, but there are loads of problems with it. Firstly, the two have different dietary needs beyond their staple hay, so they can't really share food. Rabbits are also a lot bigger and more powerful than piggies. They can bully them, and even if they don't do it purposefully, an accidental kick from their powerful back legs can injure or even kill a guinea pig. They can also carry diseases which pigs are susceptible to.
 
guinea pigs for boy - sorry but I don't think is good idea.Guinea pig might good for old people who not travel a lot.Who got big house can dedicate room and spent money on vet bills.
I can not imaging boy cleaning guinea pig cage twice from dropping unless something he realy want grow with and dedicate him self in learning animal life and even science.
Guinea pig not home animals and never will became friend like dogs for example.

What ever you single cage choose will be not enough for them.These rspca recommendation base on fact what people can afford - not what gp needed.

There is also very high risk of sudden death - personally I don't wish my kids to know how to lose someone who you love so early.

If you still want to get guinea pig prepare for very hard job.c&c migth be better not because it is bigger - because you can build another structure with it easier than with ferplast.

ferplast 100 it is not cage it is joke or for hamsters or similar size animals.

ferplast 120 too big for servicing.It would not fit into sink to wash properly.

I cant give you any advice with c&c simply because I doth have any experience dealing with it.But I have several ferplast 100 and spent around month of diy work to build something suitable for GPs.
 
I know alot of this will have already been covered but i wrote a bit of an essay for someone who was thinking of piggies before and they said it was helpful so i thought i'd copy and paste to give you a good idea of what you need etc.
I also have a website for piggy information ! (:
http://piggieosity.weebly.com/index.html

"Firstly, i’m Pro rescue, i think that adopting piggies should be your first priority, secondly a good recommended, experienced breeder, baby pet shop guinea pigs can look very cute and be small little babies, but they are often miss-sexed, or ill and can come from sad backgrounds of abuse, rescues often have pregnant pigs come in and so do have baby piggies too ! Not only will you be having a new family member you’ll be giving the piggy a new start and a chance for a better life !
This aside, you firstly need to find a reliable rescue in your area.

So lets start with a list of what you need !

A Cage, Guinea pigs need alot of space, a cage must be the minimum of a 120 cage for 2 guinea pigs, if the space is available make your cage bigger than minimum, also extra floors do not count in the minimum space and are counted as “extras” at least one level of the cage should meet minimum size requirements.
Guinea pigs are social creatures so boys should be kept in pairs, due to fighting in any groups of larger size. Girls can be kept in anything from 2 or more. Also, with a neutered boar, you can keep them with any number of girls.
Please remember neutering guinea pigs, unlike most animals, doesn’t change there behaviour so will not help if two male piggies are fighting !

A Run, Referring back to needing alot of space, guinea pigs need alot of exercise ! As exercise balls and wheels are out of the question due to the danger they pose to guinea pigs delicate backs, you need a run, a run should be bigger than the piggies actual living space so there cage basically, this run can be for indoor and outdoor or you can have one for each ! Remember though with piggies having a run outside, start with a small amount of time and slowly increase as most piggies will stuff themselves full of grass and if they aren’t use to eating grass it can be harmful due to the richness of the fresh grass.

Food, the most important thing to a piggy ! Nuggets are the base of a piggies diet, there is alot of mixed feed’s that i wouldn’t recommend due to promoting selective feeding, in a mixed food, each different coloured piece holds a different nutrient, and as each piece tastes different piggies will eat what they like and not get everything they need where as in nuggets all the nutrients and in the same pellet ! Nuggets usually look like guinea pig poo basically, there are several brands that people use and personally i use Burgess.
On top of nuggets, they need hay available at all times, this should be in a hay rack off the floor so that the piggies don’t urinate on it and then eat it (Yucky!) also hay can be used in the cage for extra warm bedding, stuffing in a box is very cosy for any pig ! Hay is useful for keeping the teeth in good order too, so helping keep down any dentist bills !
Also piggies need 1 cup per pig daily of fresh veggies a list here gives some ideas http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=42
You will require to have two separate bowls, one for veg and one for nuggets, with boars, it’s sometimes recommended to have 2 food bowls available to them, so they can have there own bowl and food, this can help prevent any fighting and reduce dominance behaviour.

When it comes to water, like hay, this must be available at all times ! Water should be kept in a bottle on the side of the cage to prevent knocking over any water bowls and causing a wet cage and a soggy piggy!

What comes next ?

Bedding, there is so much bedding to choose from, Sawdust is great but often the dust in it can be dangerous for there breathing, and sometimes it can get in the piggies eye causing damage, i’ve experienced both of these things.
Carefresh is a safer paper based bedding which alot of people love, although expensive cheaper brands can be bought such as Megazorb ,
Vet bed, this is a bedding that requires alot more work, and need’s to be changed and washed and poop scooped regularly, along with the similar fleece as a bedding, fleece requires daily poop scooping and washing around every 3 days but it looks great and piggies find it super comfey ! You can also buy fleecy pet products such as tunnels and cosy sacks/ bed’s to go in your piggies cage from people such as Pawsup !

Vet Bills, guinea pigs do need fairly regular nail clipping and untill you feel safe yourself doing this you may want it done by a vet costing between £4-£10 a time, on the other hand if you adopt the rescue may provide this service free of charge ! Also you could learn to do it yourself !
As i mentioned in bedding piggies do sometimes just end up hurting themselves with different things and this can total up vet bills a bit, so it’s good to know you have money saved for things like this!

Toys, Piggies need something to keep them active, tunnels, willow balls, and natural treats are great, as well as the essential hidey places like igloos ! But not all toys need to be bought, piggies can find fun in simple things like paper bags and toilet rolls, once you start searching you can find some really great and cheap ideas !

Time, Piggies require alot of time ! they like to be loved and played with, they require there run around time for about an hour and more if you can daily, they also need you to take the time to chop up there veggies every day, so if you don’t have the time to do all these things including the piggie shopping they may not be the right pet for you !

Obviously the starting up cost is alot more then day to day costs, if you go into your local pet shop they can help you price things up and you can get a good idea of a rough cost.
They may recommend things like water drops for vitamins and these just aren’t necessary and can sometimes put piggies off there water,

Good luck with your pottential piggie future !

And just to add to that here's my C&C cage (:

863854d2.jpg
 
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Kotov - Thanks for your advice, although the guinea will be a present for my son I fully realise he is too young to properly care for it and it will be me that does the cleaning out etc.

I initially planned to get a shop bought cage but have been persuaded by some of the ace c&c's I've seen on here and have ordered the panels already. (On a side note my sister has just bought a baby bunny and has the Ferplast 120. It already doesn't look very roomy, think she's going to end up getting something bigger).

Is there such a high risk of sudden death Kotov, I wasn't aware of that?

Twiams - thank you so much for your post, the info is great. With regards to a run, I was thinking of getting something like this:
[ame="http://www.amazon.co.uk/PLAYPEN-SAFETY-BUNNY-BUSINESS-WP-004M/dp/B004QRKP5I/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1347373843&sr=8-4"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/PLAYPEN-SAFETY-BUNNY-BUSINESS-WP-004M/dp/B004QRKP5I/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1347373843&sr=8-4[/ame]

That could be used inside and out. Is that big enough. The c&c will be kept upstairs but I am home most days so can have the piggies downstairs (in or out - obviously supervised) and will have toys for them in the run.

I used to have chinchillas so know about not buying the mixed food. My little devils were very good at only only the nice bits, and ignoring the rest. They went on a little hunger strike when I changed to pellets but soon realised they were too hungry to starve for long!

I'm liking the idea of fleece bedding, I was thinking of buying about 5 different fleeces for the base of the cage and changing daily, and then getting another which I could cut up and line whatever is to be their bed.

I'm loving the idea of them having fresh veg, chinchilla's have sensitive tums and can only have hay or pellets but I'll love being able to give bits of this and that.

Thanks again everyone for your help and advice. I've left a message with a lady from my local shelter who deals with guinea pig fostering so I'm sure she'll be able to help us find some piggies (and as I've already said it's not my little boys birthday until November, it is going to kill me waiting that long to get them!)
 
With regards to sudden death: sort of, but I'm going to stick my neck out a little and say Kotov's comment is a little misleading.

A guinea pig is just as healthy as any other rodent when cared for properly, but there are certain things some of them may be prone to (respiratory infections, etc.) and you'll want to be vigilant against those.

The problem with guinea pigs is that when they're sick, they hide it and hide it well. Thus, by the time you can SEE that they're sick, they're usually quite sick indeed and need veterinary care IMMEDIATELY or may die.

All this means is that you need to be aware of your pig's personality, and sensitive to any sudden changes in their eating, drinking, behavioural, and other habits as they may hint at an otherwise hidden illness. When they start to go downhill it can progress very quickly, and I think that's what Kotov refers to.

Sudden unexplained deaths are otherwise no more common than with any other rodent.
 
Here are a couple of information threads from our always useful reference section about what is normal in guinea pigs and what are early signs of illness to help newbies spot any problems quickly. Weigh your piggies weekly; that is always a good health indicator. The link also gives you tips when to start to worry and when to see a vet asap. Never hesitate to see a vet! The sooner a piggy can be treated the bigger the chances of a good recovery. The better you know a pet the easier it is to notice when something is not right.
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=58854
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=36332
http://www.guinealynx.info/weigh.html

Sudden death can happen at any age, but the vast majority of piggies live longer and die from other causes! It is just that is usually such a shock when it happens as you cannot brace for it.

However, vet bills (that goes for any kind of pet) can become an issue and you'd either best look for an exotic pets insurance (as which piggies are classed as) or put a certain amount of money aside each month, so you are not caught out if the treatment cost stack up quickly.
 
If you get on well with your c&c cage, you can mention to your sister that they can be used for rabbits as well, and can adapt to the size it needs.
 
yes - other member described what I mean.Main point of keeping of guinea pigs is that the problems almost everywhere.They are so special.
They are very sensitive,no suitable cages in shops,they eats a lot.They not responded to names.Very few vets.If I have a choice 3 years ago I'd rather get chinchilla.
Please understand correctly,nothing personal.I only dont want to see another ad on gumtree about someone give for free unwanted animal.That how I got mine long time ago.

Now we are afraid going on holiday.Every time when we was out of the country we gets ill gp on return.
 
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