Homemade Guinea Pig Cages
You’ve decided to choose one, or hopefully at least two, fuzzy little guinea pigs to brighten your life. Prepare a cozy place for them to live before you even bring them home! Homemade guinea pig cages are far better than anything you can find in a store. Ultimately, they’re less expensive, too.
Putting together a homemade hangout for your pet is a great way to get the whole family involved in a creative project. Even if you do it just by yourself, you’ll have lots of fun.
Plus, homemade guinea pig cages stand head and shoulders above the store-bought types because you can make them large enough for your pet. Store-bought cages are generally too small, either in terms of total floor area or height.
You’ll need grid panels with connectors, Coroplast, scissors and box cutter, a pen, packaging tape and a yardstick. You can use plastic ties in place of the connectors, but be certain to trim the ends. You can use a tape measure the measuring, but you do need a straight edge to draw the lines you need. A small hammer might be useful as well.
The best type of homemade guinea pig cages are referred to as C&C, a combination of cubes and Coroplast. The cubes are made from grid panels that come with connectors; each grid usually measures 14 square inches. The little grids of each panel should be no larger than 1.5 inches. The Coroplast is a brand name of corrugated plastic. Here’s a general guideline for size:
For one lonely little guinea pig, your cage should be two grids wide by three grids long. Two little guinea pig pals will play happily ever after in a cage two grids wide by four grids long. Three or more wild guinea pig buddies will party on in a cage two grids by five and your own singing guinea piggy quartet demands a stage area of two by six grids. These are minimum measurements!
Carefully calculate the number of grids you need. A cage measuring two by four grids requires twelve for the walls plus eight more for the ceiling. Then you assemble the walls of the basic cage. Use your hammer or pliers if you need to tap the connectors into place.
Next, measure the Coroplast for the floor of the cage. Keep in mind that your grids are 14 square inches and not 12×12. Measure the length and width of the cage and allow an extra six inches all the way around. For example: If your cage is two by four grids, it measures 28 inches by 56 inches. Cut a piece of Coroplast that’s 40 inches by 68 inches wide. Place it under the walls of your cage. Draw a line around the inner perimeter of the cage.
The six-inch overhang you’ve just drawn will fold up to become part of the walls. You’re going to fold those six-inch flaps up like the bottom of a box. Use your razor or a box cutter to score the Coroplast along the lines. Be certain not to cut it all the way through. Try it on a scrap first to get the feel for scoring it properly. At each corner, cut the flaps through so that you can fold them up. Tape them with clear packaging tape. You can also find colored plastic tape that will coordinate with your Coroplast color.
The Coroplast box should fit inside your grids so that it’s the bottom of the cage. If you have a dog or cat in the house, enclosing the top of the cage is a must.
These homemade guinea pig cages are easy and inexpensive compared to the type you find in the stores. You can arrange the walls to an L shape or whatever design suits your fancy as long as you allow enough square footage for your pets. Give your guinea pigs two or more levels to roam about! And decorate it with style and flair so that it’s not just a pet habitat-it’s an attractive focal point in your family room where you and your guinea pigs can enjoy one another’s company.