Here are the cages which I have made for my piggers using the
fantastic design at
www.cavycages.com.  The two main ingredients are the cube grids - I got mine from Littlewoods (who have since stopped selling this line), and correx/ corroplast which is a sheet of corrugated plastic, the kind used for making 'for sale' signs. Look for 'sign makers' or 'plastics' in your free ads directory to find local suppliers. You can normally get the supplier to cut it to size for you. You can make massive cages for very little money and I can't say how easy it is! But more importantly, guinea pigs really do thrive with extra space - mine free range for most of the day so I was expecting little change, but they are crazy about them! Go to the site for more information and details on how to build various designs. Many thanks to Teresa for this fabulous idea - I'm sure it's made many very happy piggies around the world!! I would also like to say a huge thank you to my lovely friend Lisa (Auntie Lisa to the pigs!) who designed the little doors for me, and even supplied the materials, so my herd can still free range with ease! Here are some other home made cages I like that might give you some more ideas on how to give your piggers the space they deserve! If you know of any of any other source of cubes in the UK please let me know and I will post it here. After a cold spell, availability of the grids seems to be picking up over here which is great news! Please check stock in national chains before travelling as some are still a bit hit and miss. If you go to the www.cavycages.com site and select 'find materials' from the left navigation bar, you may be able to find more local information. Other possible sources for cubes in the UK: - Screwfix Direct sell 2 cube (£12.99) and 4 cube (£22.99) shelving sets and delivery is £5.95 for orders under £45. Search for 'cube shelving' (thanks Simon and Vicky!). - Eden Shop Equipment Ltd sell 2 cube (£10.95) and 4 cube (£17.95) shelving sets and delivery is £7 (prices ex VAT). Search for 'cube system'. - Shelving Direct sell a 4 cube shelving set for £19.98 and delivery is £1.99 (prices ex VAT). - Caranco sell various sizes of individual chrome plated grids and connectors and look to be quite reasonable (thanks Keith!) - They often sell on eBay - search for 'wire cube shelving' or 'storage cubes'. - Melanie sells them direct for £21.99, email her at pets4usonline@yahoo.com. - Some branches of Homebase sell them as a 3-tier bathroom storage set. They come in white with 13 grids and 16 connectors for £19.99. - Some branches of CostCo carry them, selling a pack of 21 (called 'Great Cubes') for £9.99 (thanks Duggy!). - Some QD stores sell a pack of 23 grids and 26 connectors for £9.99 (listed as a '6 cube starter set'). Their stores are mainly in East Anglia - see the website for branches. - Kleneze are selling are selling a three cube store comprising 13 metal squares (36x36 cm) and 16 connectors for £19.99. They are on page 18 (order code 79502) of their catalogue Kleeneze Plus (Edition 8). You can order them via your local Kleneze rep - phone the Kleneze Head Office for details on 0870 333 6688 (thanks Mark!). - Robert May Shopfittings sell 12 zinc coated grids for £19.95 + vat (item number mgp100). They are based in London but do mail order - delivery is £7.50 per item. Please check the dimensions before ordering as these may be smaller than regular cubes (thank you Fen!) - Some branches of Poundstretcher sell them. I previously listed this source on here, but was contacted by Poundtretcher and asked to take it down because they didn't stock them and had no plans to in the future. But since then several people have told me that they've found them at their local branch, so it's worth a try (just don't tell them I told you!)! - As an alternative, some stores sell flat cooling racks which are similar in size to the cube grids. You can make the outer pen from these, secured with cable ties. Apparently Matalan sell suitably sized ones at a very reasonable price (thanks Cath!). You may also be able to find wire shelving at DIY stores that will do the job. - Another alternative to consider is looking for a good sized puppy pen and making the correx box to fit inside this. |
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| The cubes. Using the connectors included in the pack, make the grids up to the size you want the cages to be. I chose 2 x 4 which is a good size for getting some laps in! | The correx. Measure the inside of the pen (allow space for the connectors) and add a 6" border to make the sides. Cut the correx to this size. Then score the correx 6" in on each side (taking the lines right from end to end) to make an inner rectangle the size of the inside of the pen. | Make one cut through on each corner of the border to make a corner. | Make in to a box! |
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| Use clear packing tape (or a good quality sellotape) to secure the correx box. | Place inside the cubes - hey presto - a cage!! | Place bedding and pigs in cage! | Repeat to make another if you have many pigs! |
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| Now for the door. I removed two sets of connectors and fixed the 'hinged' side with cable ties (a good substitute if you run out of connectors). The other side is fixed with a foldback clip (one used for paper). This can easily be opened and securely closed whenever you want. | Make two cuts down, wider than the width of a your fattest pig on the side of the correx box, where the hinged door is. | The correx is held in the 'closed' position by a folder spine which slides across so there are are no edges flapping around inviting nibbling! | The door in action! Superb!!! The flap can simply be pulled down and left when your piggies are free ranging (I put a towel over it to collect stray pieces of bedding). |