How to Build a Guinea Pig Cage

Whatever you do, don't buy one of the "starter" guinea pig cages offered in pet stores. They are far, far too small for any guinea pig. Unlike hamsters or mice, guinea pigs don't run on wheels so need to get their exercise by running around their cage. Also, because they are highly social animals, they like to be able to see out of their cages and interact with their surroundings.

The best cages are those that are made from storage grid cubes and coroplast, a type of plastic cardboard available from sign making stores. These cages are commonly called "C&C cages". The storage grid panels usually measure about 14 inches, and the general recommendations are that for one guinea pig that you have a cage that measures 2 x 3 grids, preferrably 2 x 4 grids. That comes out to 28" x 42" or 28" x 56" -- almost as big as an entire table top! That's a minimum of 7.5 square feet for one cavy, ideally 10.5 square feet is needed for two animals.

So, yes, it's a big space, but when you think about it, it's not really that much as the cavies need room to not only run, but also eat, urinate, and deficate.

There are multiple references online that provide excellent directions on how to build guinea pig cages -- one of the best is at www.cavycages.com.

One of the key benefits of the larger cages is that they are actually a lot easier to clean. You can use a dustpan to scoop out the dirty litter, directly into a plastic garbage bag.

So where are you going to place this monstrerosity?!? One suggestion -- get the cubes and set them up to trial locations around your house to see where they fit best. It's a great activity for kids -- it gets them involved and also gets you acclimated to the idea of having a large cage. Try it out for a few days to see how the cage fits into your household. If you find yourself running into even a 2x3 grid cage, then you may want to rethink becoming a guinea pig owner.

One question that frequently comes up is how often cages need to be cleaned. There's no set rule -- it's as often as is needed to keep the cages from smelling. Under no circumstances should there be a stench around the cage. On average, the entire cage needs to be cleaned out once a week, and wet spots removed every 2-3 days.

One little tidbit -- if you put newspapers underneath the shavings, you can simply roll up the newspaper and dispose of the entire mess in one fell swoop.