Holiday Cage Recommendations?

Helen82

Helen82

Teenage Guinea Pig
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I'm thinking about taking Primrose and Stanley on holiday with me to a lodge or holiday cottage for a week and wondering about buying a 'holiday' cage. (This is if I can find somewhere that will accept one human and two guinea pigs!) They live in a 2x5 C&C cage (185cm by 77cm or thereabouts), but even though I have spare grids I don't really want to be having to construct a cage when we arrive anywhere (especially as I always seem to lose fingernails when making C&C cages) and for my own peace of mind and their safety I would prefer them not to be in an open top cage if we went away. Can anyone recommend a good guinea pig cage which will work as holiday accommodation for them? Obviously it can't be as big as their normal home or it won't fit in either my car or where we would stay. But then I can't get anything too small as they would have to stay inside it for a week without floortime and I don't want them going stir crazy...
 
I have always used C&C grids to be honest. When making a temporary cage I just cable tie them together, fold them flat and join the last 2 grids together when we arrive.
It always offers so much more space and is much easier to transport than anything else.
We do have a couple of hospital cages for emergencies at home, but they are ferpalst 120s and would be huge to transport.
 
The first time we went away we managed to get a 120 x 60 cage in the car with the back seats down. That was too much hassle and not really big enough for the 2 boars. Whenever I've taken piggies away since then I've taken C&C grids all ready made up except one end and joined it with bull dog clips or clothes pegs. The grids concertina down into a very small package. I have a large sheet of heavy duty plastic (a bag that came off a new matress) to spread on the floor first, puppy pads, fleece, hideys, box for hay, water bottle, all the cage stuff goes in one big bag together, the food in another it all goes together in a couple of minets. Bracken and Rusty settled really well the twice they went away as it was all the same stuff they have at home, although the cage was slightly smaller.
 
We take a foldable puppy pen for our two boys, its great! We use a plastic tablecloth underneath it, although it has a waterproof base. Our boys love it, ours is 5ft in diameter, they do come in different sizes, I think we got ours on eBay. It has a zipped mesh top too for safety, and zipped windows too and a water bottle holder. We take them in their indoor cage in the car as we travel very long journeys, so they are comfortable, although probably not as safe as a carrier, you would have to weigh up how far you plan on travelling comfort wise against safety aspects.
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Helen82 said:
I'm thinking about taking Primrose and Stanley on holiday with me to a lodge or holiday cottage for a week and wondering about buying a 'holiday' cage. (This is if I can find somewhere that will accept one human and two guinea pigs!) They live in a 2x5 C&C cage (185cm by 77cm or thereabouts), but even though I have spare grids I don't really want to be having to construct a cage when we arrive anywhere (especially as I always seem to lose fingernails when making C&C cages) and for my own peace of mind and their safety I would prefer them not to be in an open top cage if we went away. Can anyone recommend a good guinea pig cage which will work as holiday accommodation for them? Obviously it can't be as big as their normal home or it won't fit in either my car or where we would stay. But then I can't get anything too small as they would have to stay inside it for a week without floortime and I don't want them going stir crazy...
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Hi!

You can find how to make quickly to set up holiday cage out of your normal cage with some cable ties with the help of come Ikea cupboard liner in this guide here: Temporary Housing Solutions?
 
Thanks everyone for the suggestions - lots to think about. I'm currently favouring @Bill & Ted 's idea of a big fabric play pen as it has a 'roof' aswell as being foldable. Which would be more practical than trying to get an actual cage in the car, as they're going to have far more luggage than me anyway!
 
Helen82 said:
Thanks everyone for the suggestions - lots to think about. I'm currently favouring @Bill & Ted 's idea of a big fabric play pen as it has a 'roof' aswell as being foldable. Which would be more practical than trying to get an actual cage in the car, as they're going to have far more luggage than me anyway!
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Yes, we can hardly get anything in our car, it’s totally full of all their stuff! 🤣
 
We're going on holiday! Myself and the GPs will be off to the Lake District in July; I spoke directly to the holiday park and they said though they normally just take dogs, two guinea pigs would be alright! Just got to send up prayers for nice weather now...
 
Hello @Bill & Ted - I notice from a previous thread that Bill & Ted stayed with you in a caravan at Ladram Bay. This is probably a daft question (and may not apply if the weather is grotty) but were there any problems with the caravan getting too hot at all? And did you feel confident about leaving them in it when you went out? As you can probably tell, after a short period of excitement, my mind is now wandering to all the things that could possibly go wrong...I do so love my brain! (Just been seeing where the nearest vet is in Windermere...)
 
Helen82 said:
Hello @Bill & Ted - I notice from a previous thread that Bill & Ted stayed with you in a caravan at Ladram Bay. This is probably a daft question (and may not apply if the weather is grotty) but were there any problems with the caravan getting too hot at all? And did you feel confident about leaving them in it when you went out? As you can probably tell, after a short period of excitement, my mind is now wandering to all the things that could possibly go wrong...I do so love my brain! (Just been seeing where the nearest vet is in Windermere...)
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We had one of those long weekend breaks there last year in June. It was lovely! The weather was nice not too hot but quite warm. We left all the windows locked on vent mode. They were in their large playpen with fleece and tunnels etc. Walked to Buddleigh Salterton and then got the bus back later to Otterton then walked the rest of the way, about 5 hours total, they were fine and it was not too hot at all inside. The caravan did have net curtains and we made sure we positioned them away from any sunlight. Went off to Lyme Regis fine the next day too. I did worry the first day out as it got quite warm but after that didn’t. I’d take them, it’s never that warm in Windermere haha used to have speed boat there in the 80’s, beautiful lakes. Go and enjoy yourselves x
I couldn’t leave mine, have had offers to look after them but prefer them to come with me as they have dental issues and I just would not enjoy been away from them x

The others travels to North Yorkshire involve a trip to see Simon for dentals and family so a necessity x
 
Bill & Ted said:
We had one of those long weekend breaks there last year in June. It was lovely! The weather was nice not too hot but quite warm. We left all the windows locked on vent mode. They were in their large playpen with fleece and tunnels etc. Walked to Buddleigh Salterton and then got the bus back later to Otterton then walked the rest of the way, about 5 hours total, they were fine and it was not too hot at all inside. The caravan did have net curtains and we made sure we positioned them away from any sunlight. Went off to Lyme Regis fine the next day too. I did worry the first day out as it got quite warm but after that didn’t. I’d take them, it’s never that warm in Windermere haha used to have speed boat there in the 80’s, beautiful lakes. Go and enjoy yourselves x
I couldn’t leave mine, have had offers to look after them but prefer them to come with me as they have dental issues and I just would not enjoy been away from them x

The others travels to North Yorkshire involve a trip to see Simon for dentals and family so a necessity x
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Thanks for the reassurance. It'll probably tip it down the entire time I'm there anyway! It's my usual cycle - initial excitement at having booked a holiday, brain then starts working through every disaster that could happen, forget about it for a bit, then stress that I'm going away in a couple of days and I'm not ready, then excitement again, then a slump when I arrive and think why have I come here...then hopefully a reasonable holiday once I've relaxed a bit! They'll definitely be coming with me; I'd probably have booked somewhere abroad if they weren't! I don't feel I'm ready to leave them with a pet sitter just yet though. They're also a bit too much work for any of my family to look after them for a week. This'll be my first time of taking pets on holiday - a few years before I was born, my parents and my sister took one cat and either one or two litters of kittens on a caravan holiday as they couldn't leave them with anybody...it can't be as bad as that!
 
Helen82 said:
Thanks for the reassurance. It'll probably tip it down the entire time I'm there anyway! It's my usual cycle - initial excitement at having booked a holiday, brain then starts working through every disaster that could happen, forget about it for a bit, then stress that I'm going away in a couple of days and I'm not ready, then excitement again, then a slump when I arrive and think why have I come here...then hopefully a reasonable holiday once I've relaxed a bit! They'll definitely be coming with me; I'd probably have booked somewhere abroad if they weren't! I don't feel I'm ready to leave them with a pet sitter just yet though. They're also a bit too much work for any of my family to look after them for a week. This'll be my first time of taking pets on holiday - a few years before I was born, my parents and my sister took one cat and either one or two litters of kittens on a caravan holiday as they couldn't leave them with anybody...it can't be as bad as that!
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EDIT: Just been speaking to my Mum - it wasn't quite as bad as a kittens and caravan holiday, but they were going to stop with some of my Dad's family in Devon and couldn't afford pet boarding and didn't have a cat carrier (back in the 70s by the way), so they were driving from Derbyshire to Devon with a cat and two kittens roaming about in the car...I think about halfway they had to stop and go look for somewhere to buy a cat basket!
 
Aw, try not to worry too much, I’m the same, I over think everything. Then once I’ve done it, I relax and everything seems fine and works out. I hope you have a lovely time. The Lake District is so beautiful and fingers crossed it doesn’t rain x Your piggies will be fine and far better with you than left with anybody else x
 
Bill & Ted said:
Aw, try not to worry too much, I’m the same, I over think everything. Then once I’ve done it, I relax and everything seems fine and works out. I hope you have a lovely time. The Lake District is so beautiful and fingers crossed it doesn’t rain x Your piggies will be fine and far better with you than left with anybody else x
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Thank you! I've been to Windermere for an afternoon once, on the way back home from elsewhere, but generally that part of the country is uncharted territory for me (I tend to go to the East coast) so I'm looking forward to having an explore.

(Just to add about the cats: mother cat Gem and kitten Squeak lived with us and both made it to 18 years old; the other kitten lived with my grandparents in London and though he wasn't quite as long-lived it had nothing to do with his epic car journey!)
 
I realise you're probably already set, and the option I'm going to mention is expensive, but eh. A Midwest folds down relatively flat, as does the inner for it. I managed to get two guinea pigs plus two Midwests plus a suitcase of clothes from Heywards Heath up to Manchester via at least two trains and I think 2 or 3 runs through the Underground.
 
Lorcan said:
I realise you're probably already set, and the option I'm going to mention is expensive, but eh. A Midwest folds down relatively flat, as does the inner for it. I managed to get two guinea pigs plus two Midwests plus a suitcase of clothes from Heywards Heath up to Manchester via at least two trains and I think 2 or 3 runs through the Underground.
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That’s sounds like a great cage for travelling, you did really well with that lot! That’s amazing, have you got 6 arms 🤣
 
Bill & Ted said:
That’s sounds like a great cage for travelling, you did really well with that lot! That’s amazing, have you got 6 arms 🤣
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To be fair I got to Wigan and decided I was done with the whole thing at that point so found a taxi service that would take the guinea pigs and went home that way. And then the cash point wouldn't work. But the taxi driver got paid and the boys got home fine and everyone and everything was in one piece. I wouldn't recommend it lol. But that's not a trip I could've made with a ferplast or even with a C&C cage, it was doable only because the Midwest liner folds down just like the cage sides do (I never use fleece bedding, so if you use fleece bedding this won't be so much of an issue). They also fold down much easier than any fabric playpen does...and I've tried a few.
 
Thanks for the suggestion @Lorcan - I've not bought their holiday quarters yet, so I'll look into the Midwest option aswell
 
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