[The Guinea Pig Compendium]  
Living vicariously through guinea pigs
since February, 1997



[menu bar]

Cage Design Ideas

Most commercially available guinea pig pages are designed to hold exactly one guinea pig, typically in cramped quarters.  If you want to provide your cavy with more exercise room, or you want to expand your herd past one, then it is necessary to seek out a cage design as an alternative to the stock, commercial guinea pig cages.

This page is aimed at stirring your creativity, by giving you ideas of simple cage concepts that other guinea pig owners have found functional, affordable and flexible. Feel free to copy any of the ideas you see here, or use them as inspiration for a cage idea of your own.

Wading Pool

This cage provides ample space for the guinea pigs, using a child's wading pool as the litter bin.  It is easy to clean, and easy to set up.  Optionally, you can surround the pool with a pet exercise pen, sometimes referred to as "X-Pens" (the particular brand shown above is Midwest), which can be found at most pet stores.

Hutch

This cage is a basic "starting" frame for a guinea pig hutch.  The frame is made from wood, and the wiring is cage wire, available from feed and garden stores.  The base of the hutch is vinyl floor covering, which can be found at any home supply or interiors store.  For safety, the cage wire is "sandwiched" between two wood planks all around the frame, and the edges of the vinyl are underneath the "inner" wood frame, so that the guinea pigs can not chew on it.  The front door is hinged and latched.

A hutch like this should be considered a starting point for building a luxury cage.  Ideally, one would not cover the entire floor with litter, but rather provide one or two small litter bins.  A second level, with a ramp for climbing between them, would also provide more floor space, as well as varied terrain and "lookouts" for the curious cavy.  Multiple hutches could be placed side by side, or adjoined, for larger herds.

Creative Cubes System

The wall panels for this cage came from the Creative Cubes storage system, which is available from some department stores, like Target, and speciality stores such as Storables.  Similar systems, from different manufacturers, are also available.  The grid panels are designed to form into cubes, for creating storage units, but also work well for building fences.  The litter bins are underbed storage boxes, and the fence can either surround just the bins, or open up to the floor to provide an exercise area.

We used the Creative Cube system for our guinea pig cage for over two years, before moving on to the style, below. More information on our first custom-built cage can be found in the Seagull's Cavies section.


Creative Combinations

Our latest guinea pig cage, affectionately referred to as "the Condominium", is a hybrid design employing both a wading pool and the Creative Cubes system. As you begin to experiment with different cage designs, remember that you aren't limited to just one. Combining different types of cages together, and connecting those cages with plastic pipe, can lead to exciting and unusual cage designs that are easy to manage. More information on this cage can be found in the Seagull's Cavies section.

home | care guide | cavy corner | vet finder | web links | seagull's caviary




[an error occurred while processing this directive]