Hand build or buy guinea pig house?

[amico1582]

I'm getting a guinea pig for my daughter but not sure whether to hand build one or purchase a ready made home, has any one got any suggestions either way?

 

[piggyfan]

Please get two guinea pigs as they are social animals and should not live alone. The best housing is to make a c and c cage as you can make a lovely spacious home. There are lots of pictures on peoples set ups in the housing section to give you ideas.

 

[Bekki]

For indoors , its quicker and easier to buy a ready made cage, a 120cm long cage from zooplus is big enough for two and its only £40, or a bigger cage 150cm long is available by liberta for £97 on there too. These are more secure especially if you have cats/dogs/young children , being secure is important!

Though if you want bigger than that c&c cages are more flexible size and shape wise but its faffy to get the grids and cut the correx

£40 cage http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/hutches_cages/guinea_pig_cages/120_cm_cages/83034

£100 ish cage http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/hutches_cages/rabbit_cage/140_cm_cages/95921

 

[Chained]

I just recently built my own cage, and i have to say, not only was it cheaper, but it is waaaay better than anything ive found in stores. cost me a total of about 60$ and maybe 2 hours to put it together (it was my first time making one)

heres a pic of jack, morgan, and baileys home.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/37/dscn1369u.jpg/

 

[Wiebke]

Which country are you in, please, so we can give you the appropriate links. Are you planning on indoors piggies?

Please consider getting two guinea pigs of the same sex. Guinea pigs are herd animals and not really wired to be on their own, especially once your daughter will lose her initial interest. You will also find that the lively, vocal interaction between guinea pigs is what makes them so special and unique! Make sure that you sex them again upon their arrival to be on the safe side. It would also be great if you considered rehoming from a guinea pig rescue if that is possible. You will get more support as well as properly sexed, bonded, health checked and not pregnant animals from a good one. http://www.guinealynx.info/companionship.html
http://www.cavyspirit.com/sexing.htm

You may also want to consider setting aside a small sum of money every week towards a "piggy bank", so you are not caught out by mounting vet cost.

 

[scrumpy66]

Just a word of warning due to the experience i have had. I bought a 150cm from Zooplus a few weeks ago. It arrived with the bottom basin, which is plastic, smashed. sent a new one which arrived yesterday, and was smashed even worse. I would avoid this company at all costs. The goods are shipped from Holland (the company is German), and the only protection the cage had was a bit of cardboard.
I have hashed together a repair of the cage, and if it hadnt been damaged I would highly recommend it.
It is HUGE, plenty of room for my 2 boys. They sell them on Amazon, so I would go there if this is the route you choose to take. I have bought from Amazon loads and never had a problem. Cage is a bit pricier there, but worth it if it arrives intact.

 

[Shalom]

Hello and welcome to the forum. There is so much to learn about guinea pigs and you won't get better advice than on here.

 

[teddy2011]

I am getting a hand made double hutch for indoors.
It will be made from solid pine,I cant use c&c as I have a cat and two dogs and it would be too open!

I love hand made because I think a lot of the pet shop hutches are small and they are for outside,and the wood rots very quick on them,and again a cage would be too easy for my cat to stick his paws through!

 

[amico1582]

Thanks for all the great advice, I found this guinea pig home last night do people think its big enough or could I make a bigger one for less money, opinions please?

 

[BossHogg]

That looks a good cage, all my hutches are hand made to a very sturdy standard.

 

[Raven]

Thanks for all the great advice, I found this guinea pig home last night do people think its big enough or could I make a bigger one for less money, opinions please?

The problem I have with that cage is that the dimensions do not appear to be stated. *If it is 1.2m long, it is big enough. *Any smaller would not give 2 adult guinea pigs space to run round. *Two stories look good, but the ramp actually takes away some of the floor space and piggies like to run laps of their homes!

I do believe you could make a bigger home for less money. *My home-made cages:

The larger one ( with the child in, we do let her out occasionally...) cost something like £45 to make, the smaller one about £35. *Like other posters, I would recommend adopting a pair of guinea pigs as they are much happier with company.