Let me bend your ear...

young fellow posted a kijiji ad that caught my eye. Looking for a guinea pig as a pet.

talking with him, he's 11 years old and he and his sister want a guinea pig.

Mom won't buy him a costly cage so he needs to problem solve a home made cage. BUT she'll buy feed for it.

he has chicken wire, cardboard, and newspaper.

He doesn't have anything to hold up the chicken wire, what should I recommend him getting? he lives in town, pig will be kept in his room.

I have an old plastic rubbermaid lid that I can let him have (as I was only going to toss it). combine that with what he has, he should be able to make decent cage for the piggie.

Any suggestions?

Newspaper and cardboard will not hold a guinea pig.
If they can get some scrap wood from places that deal with wood
they might be able to fashion a frame for the Chicken wire.
I also feel that Chicken wire is easily chewed through by any rodent.
Perhaps some thicker cage wire. An old discarded cage could be cannibalized
and perhaps enough usable wire gleaned to build on the wooden frame.
An old rubber-made tub could be used to house the critter and the wire used as a top.
You do not want to house any animal in an unsuitable quarters.
I hope they can find a workable plan.
Sorry, I don't mean to sound like the voice of doom.
Dennis, C.V.R.

I know someone that keeps colonies of guinea pigs in big rubber maid containers with no lids, since they can't jump at all. Mind you they have no other animals that would climb in and have piggies for dinner.

or if you wanted, you could fasion a wire lid that curves down, with two streched out hangers to curl under and hook onto the lip of the container.

As DevonW said, they do not jump up. A lid would be to protect the piggies rather than to keep them in. I have also seen them kept in big rubbermaid bins quite well. Most discount and close-out stores have nice ones big enough to be considered a mansion to a single g-pig for less than $15 in my area so hopefully something can be found where you live. If a lid is needed it is simple to use the lid that comes with the bin, which will be a perfect fit. Just cut out a fairly big section from the middle of the lid and hot-glue some wire over the opening for ventilation. They are some of the most easily cared for critters and their squeals of delight (once they know you) when you walk into the room are guaranteed to give you the warm fuzzy feelings. They make a very nice kid-friendly pet.

chicken wire wrapped around the base of a chair or an old table...or maybe a folding table. Tie it at each leg or staple if the chair/table legs are wood. Although the plastic tub is a lot easier. maybe use the chicken wire as windows in the sides?

If they have a local "goodwill" or thrift store suggest they make a trip there. I just came home with a beautiful 18"x30" cage..heavy wire, with tray..$3.60.

Chicken wire should hold guinea pigs fine. I've kept them contained with screen door mesh before. If they have hay most aren't big about chewing. Rubbermaid containers are a bit small and with how much they pee guinea pigs do best with more ventilation. A larger surface area or more wire on the sides will lessen the chance of health issues and allow you to go longer between cage cleanings or keep multiple guinea pigs together.

A shower curtain covered in a cheap piece of fleece (polyester) preferably with old towels under it makes a good temporary floor. See the emergency cage when we had an outbreak of Streptococcus zooepidemicus (nasty stuff similar to strangles in horses which is Streptococcus equi):

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v244/ ... cy%20cage/

Lots of people keep guinea pigs on fleece. You just vacuum the poop at least daily and change out the towels under the fleece or switch out the fleece as it gets too much pee. The fleece pulls the urine down through it to the bottom or into other layers so the top dries quickly especially if the bottom is something absorbent like cotton. Dump it all in the wash and you're done. A little more daily work but with 8 pigs in an 8' long cage it only took maybe 15mins a day versus several hours a week to scoop out all that bedding and dispose of it.

A kiddie pool can also be used with wire wrapped around it.
http://www.guineapigcages.com/photos/sh ... hoto/10522

While the guineapigcages.com forum is kind of insane you can get a lot of good cage ideas including some off the wall ones from their gallery.

Highly suggested to get 2 pigs since they are very social and given enough space even intact males can get along fine. We had 4 adult boars in one cage and 8 adult sows in another at one point with all of them introduced after a year old. We also would let the boars and sows all together in 12 x12' horse stalls during good weather. Watching them interact together in a fair sized area is far more entertaining than a lone pig in a small cage just sitting there eating and pooping. Personally I didn't find them to be very good pets when we kept them that way as a kid. Since they poop and pee everywhere you can't just let them out of the cage to roam like a rabbit without having to vacuum the whole area afterward so if you want to see any normal or happy behaviors you have to go with the bigger cage. I'd probably suggest anyone who can't afford or fit a couple sq ft cage get some hamsters from a breeder instead. We had the friendliest dwarf hamsters that way and I've never been bit by anything but a pet store hamster. Far cheaper to house and maintain and good stock is even more interactive than a guinea pig.

DevonW":3j5zumn8 said:

I know someone that keeps colonies of guinea pigs in big rubber maid containers with no lids, since they can't jump at all. Mind you they have no other animals that would climb in and have piggies for dinner.

Click to expand...

That's not true.

Raven, my black American boar has escaped several times out of a rubber maid container. He was temporarily in one for two nights & he escaped twice, second time I just let him free till his cage was ready.

my friend has one (or did) and she used to jump all over the place, too. we figured she was half rabbit

I suppose I am becoming the Devils advocate here but,
I just have to say this about this situation.
Everybody would like to do something, for little or nothing,
it just doesn't happen that way! For everything we want there is a price.
When keeping animals we cannot skimp on the cost or
the animal we choose to love will suffer. I would say that the young fella
should figure out a way that he can prove to his parent that he will
take the responsibility to properly care for the animal in question.
He should seek out odd jobs which he could do to make enough money
to contribute to the purchase of all the essential items needed
to properly house and care for the wanted item.
Nothing in this world is EASY! If it was, everybody would be doing it.
I know, I know, you're probably getting your whips out right now!
But I just had to say it!
Ottersatin

I don't give away my animals, and I don't give away much of anything for free. People lie about what they want, and animals cost dollars to raise.... so there is always a price somewhere attached to my animals or the things I find...UNLESS you are a breeder that I trust.

but sometimes helping someone think outside the box requires that I need to think outside the box as well. THAT doesn't cost a dime.

Small kid time we always kept the guinea pigs in a big cardboard box that we put grass clippings and vegetable peelings in. They had a crockery dish to drink out of and some other boxes to hide and run around in. There was a layer of newspapers in the cardboard box and we would get a new cardboard box for them to live in when their old one wore out. The cardboard box was sitting in a corner of the kitchen on linoleum tile and every time the refrigerator door would open the little squeakers would start up hoping for a lettuce leaf. I'm not saying it was the perfect way to keep guinea pigs, but it worked for us for quite a few years.

This kid doesnt seem like he is in the position to properly care for a little critter if he cant even establish a suitable habitat. Just my 2 cents.