Nearly Finished - C+C Cage

Status
Not open for further replies.
G

gpeiw

Joined
Nov 21, 2009
Messages
165
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
West Yorkshire
I am now much nearer to finishing - soon I will have my dining room back - it has been full of bits of wood, coroplast and piles of fleece everywhere :(|) .

Here are the pictures! I am still traumatised by cutting the coroplast (due to an unfortunate incident with a scalpel many years ago involving the end of a finger parting company temporarily ouch!). I spent Monday all day and Tuesday evening after work sorting out bits of coroplast and gaffer tape.

The guinea pigs you can see are not real. Last year my girls (human not fluffy) were absolutely bursting to get guinea pigs, but I wanted them to wait until this year and make sure we were doing the right thing - also I had a lot of time for the cage and finding out about guinea pigs and becoming hynotised by their sweet little eyes (ahh!). To give them something piggy related but not actual piggies, I got them some piggy toys.

The cage is being tested by Billy, Grace, Fluffy and Air Biscuit (don't ask).

3cage030210.jpg

This is a view from the end of the cage - you cvan see two of the ramps and the hayloft.

1cage030210.jpg

View of the ramp up to the hayloft.

4cage030210.jpg

View from the hayloft down through the porthole.

5cage030210.jpg

This is a view of the ramp to the lower level.

6cage030210.jpg

The end of the hayloft.

8cage030210.jpg

This is a door I did that forms a ramp for floortime, and part of the cage wall when it is shut.

All I have to do now is sew the piggy bedspreads I think!

The ramp for floor time was thought up yesterday while I was trying to make a ramp that would clip on and realised that I already had a ramp on the side by moving the cable ties duh!

The perspex wall at the back of the hayloft is missing - I changed the hayloft to give them more room and also we will be able to see them from the lounge now! I need to order it when I have worked out where the hayracks are going so I can get holes put in in the right places.

This is what the hayloft looked like before:
cagehideys2.jpg


I am hoping the future herd will like it, we should be getting them in a few weeks - we can't wait - we got hayracks, bottles, bowls, hay and pellets at the weekend when I got paid - it seems like it has taken forever to get this far but now it is just around the corner.
 
gpeiw said:
I am now much nearer to finishing - soon I will have my dining room back - it has been full of bits of wood, coroplast and piles of fleece everywhere :(|) .

Here are the pictures! I am still traumatised by cutting the coroplast (due to an unfortunate incident with a scalpel many years ago involving the end of a finger parting company temporarily ouch!). I spent Monday all day and Tuesday evening after work sorting out bits of coroplast and gaffer tape.

The guinea pigs you can see are not real. Last year my girls (human not fluffy) were absolutely bursting to get guinea pigs, but I wanted them to wait until this year and make sure we were doing the right thing - also I had a lot of time for the cage and finding out about guinea pigs and becoming hynotised by their sweet little eyes (ahh!). To give them something piggy related but not actual piggies, I got them some piggy toys.

The cage is being tested by Billy, Grace, Fluffy and Air Biscuit (don't ask).

3cage030210.jpg

This is a view from the end of the cage - you cvan see two of the ramps and the hayloft.

1cage030210.jpg

View of the ramp up to the hayloft.

4cage030210.jpg

View from the hayloft down through the porthole.

5cage030210.jpg

This is a view of the ramp to the lower level.

6cage030210.jpg

The end of the hayloft.

8cage030210.jpg

This is a door I did that forms a ramp for floortime, and part of the cage wall when it is shut.

All I have to do now is sew the piggy bedspreads I think!

The ramp for floor time was thought up yesterday while I was trying to make a ramp that would clip on and realised that I already had a ramp on the side by moving the cable ties duh!

The perspex wall at the back of the hayloft is missing - I changed the hayloft to give them more room and also we will be able to see them from the lounge now! I need to order it when I have worked out where the hayracks are going so I can get holes put in in the right places.

This is what the hayloft looked like before:
cagehideys2.jpg


I am hoping the future herd will like it, we should be getting them in a few weeks - we can't wait - we got hayracks, bottles, bowls, hay and pellets at the weekend when I got paid - it seems like it has taken forever to get this far but now it is just around the corner.
Click to expand...

awww its lovely well done you and good luck with your piggies they are very addictive lol
 
OMG that is an absolute palace. All the piggies will be throwing themselves at you to end up in a pad like that. You will have some spoiled piggies in there. I bet they make you cut their carrots into batons :(|) Your a piggie slave before you've got your piggies. There really is no hope for you :))
 
I thought we had already agreed your adopting me?! :))...

You will have some seriously spoiled piggies... I can't wait to see them! Do you have any in mind yet?

Are you going to get a neutered boar and some girlies, all girlies or a pair of boars?!
 
Wow your cage is fantastic!
You will have some very lucky piggies :)
ps I love the fake piggies x)
 
Thanks everyone!

I am getting ridiculously excited about getting the piggies - it should be in early March - I will be getting some lovely girls from Becklen (if all goes well and they all get on with each other). I am pining already.

Becky from Becklen has been so helpful and a pleasure to deal with in our adoption talks.

When I think of how much work rescues put in to save piggies in need and find homes for them I am feeling rather humble.

I read on the rescue forum and the stories of the pigs on there are really sad 8... but the difference that you can see when a rescue has worked its magic is amazing.

Once I finally finish the cage (in the next week or so) and get the fleece in I don't know what I will do with myself ) apart from sorting out their menus :(|), getting the first aid kit ready, sorting out the vet... omg there is so much to do!

I am already a humble piggy slave and their little slippers are not even warming on the radiator yet (that is a joke btw - you don't think I would really make piggy slippers do you!
 
Last edited:
Brilliant Job.

What a fantastic home you have created.

Cant wait to see more photos once the 'real' Piggies have arrived.

How many have you planned for?

I started my c&c cage a year ago and have changed it around 3 times, it is rather addictive isnt it.

Getting really excited for you. Keep posting photos and updates. Its so lovely to see.
 
Can I just ask, what do you use under your fleece? As it looks very neat. Do you have to wash the fleece quite often?
 
To the fleece question - there isn't any fleece yet - that is just coroplast - but I will be trying inco pads and/or zorb when I do the piggy bedspreads in the next week or so - I am going to start with the smallest one for the hayloft, and see how it goes.

I have done some testing with water after lots of washes and the fleeces seem to be wicking ok, and the pads and zorb worked well.

I must also do some hoover testing as well once it is finished. Got to hoover poop!

Thanks everyone for your comments. I need some real piggies now or I am going to start looking a bit strange...
 
I think you should a neutered boar plus girlies ;)!

How many girlies you getting?

How much did you pay for the Zorb?
 
We are getting four girls - that is if they get on ok - they are at the moment I think but one is pregnant so it will be a while before we can get the girls.

I have considered a neutered boar and girls but I am still not sure - what are the pros and cons.

I was really tempted to ask Becky if ben was available - he is the silver rex now paired up with Poppet - so him having Poppet for his wife saved me from myself!

Poppet really needed someone to live with though so I am happy that they are getting on with each other.

Before I read that post about them being up for rehoming together I was fighting with myself whether to PM Becky or not and say well if they get on with Ben.......!

I do want to be careful not to bite off more than I can chew however - so we have to be able to manage the piggies we get so that they are looked after properly.

However I am very curious about the boar issue - what does everybody think? Are herds of girls better than a neutered boar and girls?

Are there any bad points to either way?

And of course what are the good points?

Oh yes - the zorb $24 USD for P+P from Canada and about $23 for the zorb I got 4 yards I think. Roughly £30.

i have some more on the way as I altered the size of the cage after I had ordered it - it took 3 months to arrive though.
 
Last edited:
Can't give fancy explanations of good and bad points but I've always loved the dynamics of the boar and wife/wifes life style. I've had only girls and a boar and his ladies and both were good but I prefered the latter dynamics.
 
Ooooo I can't comment on herds of girls never had them, but I have had 2 boars which was awful! Horrible and they fought :( in the end I had to rehome marvin the baby boar as he was bullying my older boar, the piggies just didn't get on but I do know plenty of people who have male pairs, if I ever got males again they would be older and from rescue!

Guilt got to me, I felt so bad for Fred he'd been bullied, bitten, picked on and my wee man was still on his own.

My options a spayed sow which are very rare... or to get him neutered, which was not happening as my poor boy had been though enough, so I phoned every rehoming place in the uk were I finially tracked down my ladies in Rugby in England Pebbles and Wilma and I must say they are an absolute blessing. I don't know what a teeth chatter sounds like anymore *thankfully*. I was fully intending only too have 2 pigs, but now I have 3 and I am so thankful for it god forbid if I only got 2 one would have to have dealt with losing it's partner and as Fred is an intact boar. It wouldn't be all that easy to find him another wife! Also means I can't add to my group! Clever thinking on my part as piggies are so addictive and very often I want them all!

I do think you have to take into consideration, how many you can deal with etc, without compromising there care.

I must admit I love my group and I wouldn't change them for the world... but then again the girlies are exceptionally laid back I knew within 10 minutes they would be friends! Fred just Brrrr's alot but the poor boy will never get lucky! :))
 
Ok I had no idea they were fake piggys :o I thought they were yours running around lol

I'm so dumb!
 
Wow thats brill!
Love the piggys! I always loved C&C cages but it's not worth me swapping from the cage I've got because Of the dogs/cats and it fits where it is well on the piggy shelving.
 
A neutered boar with some girls is a great combination and also keeps the girls in order (like a cockerel and his hens!) especially if you're having more than a pair of girls. However other people have groups of girls and they are fine. Mine just don't get on without a boar, but then it's a big group (10).

Your cage is just fantastic, whichever pigs end up there will be lucky indeed

Sophie
x
 
heyyy,awesome cage! how do you get to clean the bottem floor out? i'm intreged!
 
The whole side of the cage drops down -

cagefulldoor.jpg


The coroplast tray pulls out to take off the fleece and do the wipe down clean with pet safe disinfectant.

I made the coroplast trays with a double thickness of coroplast so that they would be more robust as I would be pulling them out to clean.

This has made them much stronger and less flexible than when I did the first tray when the cage was smaller - it didn't stay together well as it was too big to move about without the gaffer tape peeling off in places.

This double wall approach is much better for a large cage and I had enough coro anyway as I got 5 big sheets from Mulberry Design and Print http://www.mdpsupplies.co.uk/corrugatedplastic.asp?parentcatname=Corrugated%20Plastic&parentcat=32 roughly £35 next day delivery for 5 sheets 61 inches by 41 inches.

The bookshelf bracket across the cage under the large top level keeps the whole floor from sagging.

I am considering putting in an access door on each side by re-jigging the cable ties so it is easier to clean up poop in this lower level - when the fleece bedspreads are in we are having a hoover test to see how easy the cleaning is and make adjustments before we get the piggies so that they are not disrupted.
 
Last edited:
Gosh you have really thought this through and it is fantastic I have to say. Is there a thread that this can be posted on so that people can refer back to it for ideas. Bet you can't wait for your piggies:))
 
Wow!

Can you put in instructions on what all you used? I'm working on building our C&C but Pancake just fell into our laps so she's been living in a large cat carrier up until tonight. That inspires me. When I go to the rescue to get her a friend I really want them to love her home and be excited to give her a friend. Carrot batons BTW? You mean your not supposed to cut the carrots into little sticks?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top