Pigs climbing cage

[ratatellie]

Hi everyone! I have a 4x2 c&c cage for my two rescue sows. I brought them home yesterday and they were very shy and spent all day hiding, but this afternoon they've been more confident and have been exploring a little bit more. The only thing is, I've noticed one of them is climbing the sides of the cage! A couple of times she's gotten high enough that her head has been higher than the top of the grid and I'm terrified she's going to hurt herself or get out of the cage! These are my first pigs, but all the reading I've done before getting them suggested that they're not really climbers so I wasn't expecting this. Does anybody else's pigs have escape artist tendencies? What should I do? The way she's climbing up the grids is literally reminding me of the hamster I used to have!

 

[Piggies&buns]

Welcome to the forum

While they are climbers generally, you do occasionally get some who will give it a go!
One of my boys used to climb on the roof of his hides and could have got out.
I solved this by making the grids two rather than one high (they live in my shed and the grids surround the playpen area within the shed). Alternatively, you can make a lid using overlapped and cable tied grids

 

[ratatellie]

I think I'll have to buy some more grids and make it a little higher like you've suggested, at least to put my mind at rest. In the meantime I'm wondering how to keep them safe until I can get hold of more grids - I don't have anything solid but do you think a blanket/towel over the top will deter her from trying to get up too high?

 

[dhill_cb7]

Do you have binder clips? I have a towel binder clipped over the top on one end of my cage. That might prevent them from climbing out. My boys do not climb so I cannot give any solid advice here. Sorry. Do you have any plywood? You could lay that over top too.

 

[ratatellie]

I think I'll try that! I'm keeping an eye on them now and she climbs straight back down every time but I'll clip the towel on before I go to bed for some extra peace of mind.

 

[CV26]

We use an open C&C cage to take our boys on holiday with us. Normally they're in a commercial cage with a proper roof/lid.

They've never really shown signs of climbing or jumping but overnight and if we go out for the day on holiday, we always put a piece of thick pond/garden netting over the top and clip it in place. Makes us feel better, it folds down pretty small so doesn't take up too much packing space and the holes stop the cage from getting too dark during the day.