Help with C&C Cage Building

[AgentF]

OK so I have ordered the C&C grids and correx to build new cage for the boys and they have arrived however OH has now decided he is not happy with all aspects of this way of cage making here is a list of questions he has I am hoping you guys will be able to come up with solutions for me;

1) The little plastic bits you put the grids into do not finish flush with grids they stick out so how do you get correx to sit nicely?

2) He is convinced the boys will destroy the correx in weeks anyone had this problem?

3) We want to make a roof for the cage, guess this would work like second floor but he doesnt think the connectors are strong enough how do you guys do it?

4) How do you make access hatches I was hoping just to remove the whole front grids however OH thinks this will wear out the connectors

Thanks for your help

 

[twiams]

1) The little plastic bits you put the grids into do not finish flush with grids they stick out so how do you get correx to sit nicely?

The little connectors aren't essential as such, for mine i just used cable ties, one in the middle and one on either end to connect them and a few extra here and there for the joints, my cage has been up and running for a year and not one problem with just cable ties ! although i would recommend if your making an upper level using some wood for support or something

2) He is convinced the boys will destroy the correx in weeks anyone had this problem?

They probably will if they are anything like my boys, but they won't destroy it completely, it just won't have straight edges, they tend to nibble at it and create little holes for themselves, but if you can get into the habbitt of telling them off (i just click my fingers as they hate the noise) and making sure there is lots of other things in the cage to chew especially things hanging at the sides then it does stop, but i don't think anyones piggies will never chew just a bit !

3) We want to make a roof for the cage, guess this would work like second floor but he doesnt think the connectors are strong enough how do you guys do it?

I would again just use cable ties to make a roof as it would mean you could bend the roof back to get in, a top access hatch is almost essential and makes it much easier to clean out ! here is a link to a gallery full of 'closed' c&c cages, all with lids most i think you can bend back or lift up !
http://www.guineapigcages.com/photos/g504-closed-cages.html

4) How do you make access hatches I was hoping just to remove the whole front grids however OH thinks this will wear out the connectors

Back to cable ties, i have a fully open top cage but i do have a little access door at the front,for this i just used double cable ties on the edges of the two grids that open to keep the hinge part secure and use bulldog clips to keep them secure as a 'latch'

i hope this answered some of your questions, heres a picture of my cage just so you can get an idea of how it looks (sorry it's a bit festive!)

** where the green tinsel runs under the top level is where these a a piece of wood running along to give support to the upper level

 

[AgentF]

Thanks Twiams thats really useful so basically the cable ties are the hinges and then the bulldog clip is the lock lol well thats how I visualise it in my mind.

Love the festive cage

 

[PAMELAKT]

The connectors have a flat bottom so they just sit flatly on the floor - they stick out slightly.

As for the other questions I'm no good to help as I absolutely hate my c&c cage! I tried twice to make correx & failed miserbaly both times so ended up having my cage on a plastic sheet!

I also feel its not very secure at all compared to other cages, and I have not so far worked out how to make a roof I have to open one suqare at a time to get inside to feed/poop scoop which is annoying. I do need to sort this tho as I am going away for a couple of days in April so my mum will have to feed them for me...

I know people love c&c and get on with it great - and I'm not blaming the c&c. I'm blaiming my poor cage building skills!

 

[twiams]

Thanks Twiams thats really useful so basically the cable ties are the hinges and then the bulldog clip is the lock lol well thats how I visualise it in my mind.

Love the festive cage

Yeah thats how i've done the doors I'm glad my post helped ! Good luck with cage building !

 

[PAMELAKT]

Twiams your set up is lovely x

 

[Pepperdog]

the bare bones of the 5x2 c&c I built for the boys, with a floor because the pen is bigger than the table and would have fallen off but you can clearly see I just cable tied each grid to each other

To make a roof it would be exactly the same as my floor piece but with access points - yes cable tied. I have three grids on the side that are access points which are metal clipped (the kind climbers use but smaller and the spring clip type) and then clothe pegged to stay shut.

correx in place - for mine two sheets I used so I can slide the far one towards me as I cant get to the far corner, two 4'x3' sheets fitted nicely with nice wide sides and gaffer taped the outside flaps.

and you can see the side access grids are open in the pic too (my grids are plastic ones on metal frames mostly as it keeps the mess inside and as the boys are near girls, they cant see them through the plastic ones either)

I havent had any problems with the boys chewing the correx, maybe because its mostly covered by the fleece which is pegged into position, the boys love their wooden chew block and really go for that rather than anything else in the pen. The herd dont seem to chew their correx either (or the wooden chew)

You may need to replace some of the cable ties, have had a few snap but it might be down to the size I used which were small ones. But expect the pigs to chew them anyway so always helpful to have spares, oh and I snapped one once when the door flap twisted and broke one tie.

pen in use

 

[AgentF]

Thanks Pepperdog all these ideas are really useful I like the idea of using fleece to cover correx if they do chew wish me luck this weekend!

 

[Lucille]

The connectors have a flat bottom so they just sit flatly on the floor - they stick out slightly.

As for the other questions I'm no good to help as I absolutely hate my c&c cage! I tried twice to make correx & failed miserbaly both times so ended up having my cage on a plastic sheet!

I also feel its not very secure at all compared to other cages, and I have not so far worked out how to make a roof I have to open one suqare at a time to get inside to feed/poop scoop which is annoying. I do need to sort this tho as I am going away for a couple of days in April so my mum will have to feed them for me...

I know people love c&c and get on with it great - and I'm not blaming the c&c. I'm blaiming my poor cage building skills!

If you decide to try again I will walk you through the correx process step by step. We will trial on a piece of paper so you can see how it is done without any worry of what might happen if you get it mixed up, and when you see how it works, then you can do the same thing on a correx sheet.
I have a roof on my cage. My C&C cage does not have connectors, it is entirely done with zip ties. The roof is easy because it is only two grids wide: one side of each grid is connected to the cage with zip ties, and the roof grids are connected side-to-side with zip ties. Each of the two rows of grids that are zipped on the other side to the cage are held together in the center with bulldog clips.