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Cage Features To Look For
1) Adequate space for the cavy - at
least 1 foot by 2 feet per cavy, preferably more!
2) Easily cleanable - the cage and
materials it is made out of must be easy to clean and disinfect or chances are,
it won't be done properly. Non-porous materials are preferable over
products such as wood or particle boards.
3) The cage must provide adequate
air-flow. Cavies can develop respiratory problems if forced to live in
stale or ammonia-saturated air (from urine).
4) Cage style must protect the cavy
from other household pets!
5) Last but not least - your cavy's
cage MUST have a solid floor to it - cavies do not have thick foot pads nor do
they have furred feet, such as rabbits, and they cannot tolerate wire flooring
well. (There might be flooring exceptions for some long-haired show cavies.)
 Location of the Cage
1) Cavies prefer a mildly-warm climate and
must be kept within your house - they cannot tolerate weather extremes or winter
conditions!. Cavies do not thrive in damp conditions either - so an
unfinished or damp basement is not a good place for your cavy to live!
2) Place the cage away from direct
sunlight, drafts or heat vents.
Cage Styles
We have used many different cavy cages over
the years, including homemade cages and make-shift contraptions! Below we
will list the different styles along with good and bad points of each:
Aquariums are not good for cavies -
they are usually too small and retain too much moisture and stale air within the cage
space, plus they are difficult to handle while cleaning due to their heavy glass
construction. You can see the cavy through the glass walls which makes
aquariums popular for school classroom pet
housing. Also, some like aquariums because they keep the bedding inside
the cage,
instead of on the floor!
Homemade cages constructed of wood
and wire are ok, but need special attention and cleaning of the wood surfaces to
prevent bacteria growth and odor. The plus side to the homemade cage is
that you can construct it any way, shape, and size you want. You can even
make it 'special order' to fit into a designated space within your home - your
imagination can create quite an interesting playground/cage for your cavies!
Just remember to plan on a solid, easily- cleanable floor for your cavies!
I was recently visiting some friends who
had an interesting way of housing their cavy herd - they first laid out a sturdy
6' x 8' plastic tarp on the floor, then around the outer edges, they placed
building bricks, high enough so the cavies could not easily jump out - they then
'filled' the tarp with a thick layer of shavings. They also provided a
variety of houses and toys along with food and water bowls inside. They
were able to house several cavies this way-and they have tons of room! The
whole thing seemed like a lot of work to me, but they assured me that cleaning
was a snap - daily they scooped out wet bedding and added a bit of fresh
bedding. About once a month they would clean the whole 'cage' by moving
the bricks aside and 'roll' the tarp up, then conveniently empty the bedding
into a trash bag. Definitely a two-person job.
For several years, we used the
metal-wire cages, with the flip-open tops and the heavy galvanized sheet
metal pans. These provided plenty of room for the guinea pigs, were
relatively inexpensive and portable, and fairly easy to clean. They also
provided excellent airflow to the animal inside! One drawback is the space
they took up - we have always had several guinea pigs and space in our house is
at a premium - we had to buy metal shelving to stack these cages on. The
other drawback about this type of cage, and in fact, any open-wire cage, is that
the ever-active guinea pigs continuously shoot the bedding out of the
cage-making quite a mess!
After several years of breeding and
maintaining a growing herd of cavies, we needed to find another cage solution
that was cheaper than the individual metal-wire cages were. We discovered the
clear plastic storage-type containers, similar to what you would call a
'storage-tote' These come in many sizes and are very affordable, easy to
clean and offer the pig a view of his world! We've written a short article
on this cage style and how to modify storage totes for cavy cage use. Visit
Cheap Cavy Cages to read more....
Recently we purchased some stacking cavy cages to
accommodate more cavies in a smaller area. These stacking cages are
basically the wire cages mentioned earlier in this article, but permanently
stacked one on top of another. The front side of each cage is a door that
opens outwards and the pans can be slid out when the door is opened.
Either metal pans or newer plastic pans can be ordered with the cage. We purchased our
stacking cages from
Da-Mar's in Illinois, and
were able to affordably 'custom order' the size, style and number of cages
in each of our stacker units. Many other cage suppliers also make these They cost roughly $25-$30 per
'section' or individual cage - so if you purchase a 4-cage rack, plan on around
$120 or so.
We like the wire-sided cages because they
allow more air circulation for our pigs. The pans we ordered are metal with 3
inch high sides, but I wish I had ordered higher-sided, and plastic pans - the shavings still
tend to get 'shot out' the wire of the cage and end up all over the floor.
These stackers are easy to clean, and water bottles readily attach to the wire
sides.
Furnishing the Cage
We try to provide each cavy with a 'house'.
Oftentimes this is nothing more than a box or an oatmeal box, but the plastic
'igloos' sold in stores are also popular. The guinea
pigs love their houses - they chew them, race around them, climb on them and hide in
them. Our home is
fairly active and noisy and the guinea pigs appreciate a dark place to hide if
something frightens them. If you use cardboard, take care not to use
boxes that held poisons or chemicals, and remove all
staples, tape and stickers too!
Cavies must use a water bottle for
water - they will quickly and thoroughly soil a bowl of water, if they don't tip
it over first! Cavies drink a lot of water and it is tempting to purchase
a huge water bottle to satisfy their thirst - but these large, rabbit-sized bottles have a
large-diameter sipper tube that can be difficult for the cavy to drink from, and
they end up dribbling much of the water onto the bedding, so stick with the
smaller (8-16 oz) bottles. Do not use a water bottle with a glass sipper
tube, your cavy will break the glass!
Food bowls should be small (3-5 inch
diameter), fairly shallow, and heavy. A ceramic crock-type dish works
well. No matter what you use, there will be some feed loss - cavies take
great delight in soiling their feed and can always accomplish this
despite your efforts to prevent it!
Bedding
There are many articles on the
internet claiming pine bedding is bad for pets, including cavies.
Apparently some groups' studies have determined that pine bedding might cause
certain cancers and liver problems, therefore they recommend Aspen shavings
for use as cavy bedding.
In our area, Aspen costs twice as much as
pine. While Aspen shavings might be affordable for someone who owns
one or two cavies, it is not a practical bedding for our caviary.
Occasionally we've purchased Aspen, especially when we raised Gerbils, but
we have
used pine shavings for years and don't believe we've had any ill effects
from it. Keep in mind that cavies really do not live that long to begin
with, I would think that even if pine shavings really could cause a cancer or
liver problem, it probably would not be able manifest itself within the normal
lifespan of a guinea pig.
If you use pine shavings, you will
find that each manufacturer produces completely different shavings! You
will need to try different brands to find the one you like. Strive to find
a 'softer' bedding with wood curls vs wood chunks, look for a sifted or dustless product,
and one that absorbs well.
Don't choose shavings that have a
consistency close to sawdust - this finely-ground bedding can accumulate in a
boar's anal pouch area and cause you to experience the lovely job of cleaning
out your boar's anal sac.
There are many other beddings out
there but truthfully we haven't used them as most are cost-prohibitive for us.
Aromatic cedar shavings have always been popular with people as these
shavings tend to 'mask' the animal's odors, but they should not be used as sole
bedding - they can cause respiratory problems. Occasionally we will throw
a handful of cedar shavings in with the pine shavings and our cavies have never
suffered ill effects from this.
Most long-haired breeds should not be
housed on shavings or other fine particle beddings because these beddings will
quickly become tangled up in the cavy's hair strands creating quite a mess!
For these, you can use the pellet-type beddings. I've also known of some
breeders using plastic-coated wire for flooring for these long-hairs, and some
have a few pieces of indoor-outdoor type carpet - replacing the soiled one with
a clean on while the soiled one is washed and left to dry in the sun. We
don't raise the long haired breeds so if you want more info - please contact
some the the breeders in our other website -
The Rabbit & Cavy Directory
Good luck in your search for cavy
housing! If we can be of any help please email us!
Cathy LaReau , July 05
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