Is this house suitable?

Welcome to the forum.

It looks to be fine but it is likely to get chewed and possibly urine soaked at the bottom (it does say they recommend you get their product to seal it) so depending on your feelings about it, you may want to buy cheaper wooden houses which can be more readily replaced.

My only other thought with it is that it says it does not have a back panel and designed to be put against a solid sided cage ie a wooden hutch. If you have an indoor c&c or commercial cage then the back of the house itself will be fully open and exposed against a fully wire cage.
And they may struggle with the ramp (they may also not use it and may instead just jump directly onto the roof of the house). We would advise it is covered with something that provides grip. When I had ramps in my hutches I used to Velcro vetbed to the ramps for grip, and then being stuck with Velcro meant I could just remove it to wash
 
Thank you for taking the time out to reply! I have the matching cage so the back shouldn't be a problem. I was having the same thoughts about the ramp but was thinking I could make a fleece cover. Great idea about the velcro! Really appreciated.
 
That’s great then - I did wonder if you had the cage by the company as well but you didn’t specifically say you had and I didn’t want to assume!
Are you getting sows or boars?
 
Piggies&buns said:
That’s great then - I did wonder if you had the cage by the company as well but you didn’t specifically say you had and I didn’t want to assume!
Are you getting sows or boars?
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We will be getting from a rescue so I'm unsure what they will have when we're ready. From the research I have done I was thinking sows as they seem to be the calmer (and less stinky) option. Do you have any experience with this? Feel sorry that all the boats might get left behind lol
 
Hello and welcome to the forum. I like the cage but not the hay rack and I wouldn’t bother with the hidey house either. I think it would be easier for you to clean and get to them if you had hides that you could move around more easily.

Just put big piles of hay down on the floor.

I’ve only ever had boars. They are wonderful. 😍

Good luck with your new arrivals. Can’t wait to see pictures when you get them.
 
I’m glad to hear you are rescuing! You will obviously have to see who they match you with!
Has the rescue approved your cage? If not, get in touch with them and get their approval before you spend a lot of money on things.
A 150x60cm cage is only really suitable for two sows or for a neutered boar/sow pair. Some rescues will be fine with a 150cm cage for two boars, but boars generally do need more room and 180cm is recommended for them.

I have four boars! Boars actually tend to mellow out as they get older, become calmer as testosterone fizzles out and more cuddly whereas sows don’t tend to. My two eldest boys are 5 and a half years old now and are just the sweetest boys. I also have two 10 month old boys who are bundles of zoomy, popcorning fun at the moment! Sadly they have fallen out with each other and are living in separate side by side enclosures now.
They only smell when they scent mark and that is overcome by not cleaning out the whole cage in one go (although mine do live in my shed so any smell (of which there isn’t much) isn’t in my house anyway. Leaving some soiled hay means they still recognise the enclosure as their own territory and helps to reduce their needs to scent mark - not totally eliminate but reduce.

I do agree with weepweeps about the house though - it’s not the sort of thing I would buy mostly due to how expensive it is and quickly piggies can destroy things! It’s fine, but there are other options.
If you are going to buy this house, then do ensure it is not the only house in the cage. You should always have two of everything in there. As this house is just one house (as large as it is), if one of the pigs doesn’t want the other in there, then it could cause issues if you don’t have any other hides for the other piggy to go into.
 
weepweeps said:
Hello and welcome to the forum. I like the cage but not the hay rack and I wouldn’t bother with the hidey house either. I think it would be easier for you to clean and get to them if you had hides that you could move around more easily.

Just put big piles of hay down on the floor.

I’ve only ever had boars. They are wonderful. 😍

Good luck with your new arrivals. Can’t wait to see pictures when you get them.
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Thank you for your reply! It would certainly be a lot cheaper that way! Will definitely have a good think. That's good to know about the boars. Think we'll be open to either in that case
 
Piggies&buns said:
I’m glad to hear you are rescuing! You will obviously have to see who they match you with!
Has the rescue approved your cage? If not, get in touch with them and get their approval before you spend a lot of money on things.
A 150x60cm cage is only really suitable for two sows or for a neutered boar/sow pair. Some rescues will be fine with a 150cm cage for two boars, but boars generally do need more room and 180cm is recommended for them.

I have four boars! Boars actually tend to mellow out as they get older, become calmer as testosterone fizzles out and more cuddly whereas sows don’t tend to. My two eldest boys are 5 and a half years old now and are just the sweetest boys. I also have two 10 month old boys who are bundles of popcorning fun at the moment! Sadly the two youngsters have fallen out and need to live in separate side by side cages.

I do agree with weepweeps about the house though - it’s not the sort of thing I would buy mostly due to how expensive it is and quickly piggies can destroy things! It’s fine, but there are other options.
If you are going to buy this house, then do ensure it is not the only house in the cage. You should always have two of everything in there. As this house is just one house (as large as it is), if one of the pigs doesn’t want the other in there, then it could cause issues if you don’t have any other hides for the other piggy to go into.
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Oh yes! I forgot I read that boars need more space to do boar things. Luckily I did check in with the rescue before buying as we were going by the RSPCA recommendation of 120x60 minimum and was told different by the rescue. Think I'll look into different options on housing after reading the replies so thank you.
 
GuineaMum135 said:
Oh yes! I forgot I read that boars need more space to do boar things. Luckily I did check in with the rescue before buying as we were going by the RSPCA recommendation of 120x60 minimum and was told different by the rescue. Think I'll look into different options on housing after reading the replies so thank you.
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Thats really great, it’s good you’re doing your research first!
See what the rescue say about your cage being a 150 and about a boar pair. Don’t discount a boar pair unless the rescue discounts them for you. There are a lot misconceptions about boars - smelling, behaviour etc. and sadly a lot of boars get left behind because of it.

Yes while the 120cm is minimum for two piggies (too small for two boars), rescues (and us) would always recommend going beyond it. It provides the space to add lots of enrichment and generally ensure the piggies not so tight on territory that their bond struggles.

Ensure any hide has two exits.
 
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