6 Benefits of C&C Guinea Pig Cages
We’re delighted to welcome Kavee as a guest contributor to our blog, sharing their expert insight into guinea pig care and housing.
In this guest blog, Kavee sheds light on the importance of suitable housing and introduces the benefits of C&C cages – a popular and piggy-approved solution that’s transforming guinea pig homes across the country.
If you’re a current or future piggy parent, this one’s for you!
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Guinea pigs are popular small pets across the UK and beyond, loved for their cute furry faces and sweet personalities. However, despite their popularity, some misconceptions still prevail about their care. While piggies are classified as rodents, like mice and hamsters, their needs call for more care and attention, including a more spacious living area.
As highly sociable animals, guinea pigs come in either pairs or herds of three or more, requiring a large enclosure where each individual piggy can thrive. There are many options for guinea pig cages on the market, but not all of them are equally suitable, such as wooden cages and cramped hamster-sized cages.
In the past 25 years, a guinea pig cage design has grown in popularity to meet the size & well-being requirements of these pets: C&C cages. Let’s take a look at how this cage type has revolutionised guinea pig enclosures and what are their benefits.
What are C&C Cages for Guinea Pigs?
C&C cages stand out for their unique building components: Cubes & Coroplast. The cubes are made out of steel grids, creating secure walls(and roof, if you wish to add one!) that safely keep piggies inside their cage. Compared to wooden guinea pig cages, these provide better ventilation and can be thoroughly cleaned. In C&C cages, there’s only one section without grids… the floor!
So here comes the Coroplast, also known as Correx, a base made from corrugated plastic. This solid base helps prevent bumblefoot in piggies (a common paw infection), as it stops them from walking over uncomfortable grids. Coroplast is also easy to clean and works with most guinea pig bedding options, including fleece liners.
Kavee has further adapted this design to meet even more of their specific needs, modifying the grid spacing to be suitable for small & baby piggies, and lowering the coroplast sides to give them a better view of their surroundings. But more on this later!
The Benefits of C&C Guinea Pig Cages
But what makes these the best cages for guinea pigs? Here are six reasons why piggy parents everywhere choose this set-up as their preferred guinea pig home.
1. More Space for Piggies
The amount of space you give to your guinea pigs plays a significant role in their happiness and health. Guinea pigs should never be housed alone, and so require at least one other piggy living in the same cage. This means that the guinea pig cage you choose has to be big enough for both of them to roam and play to their heart’s content. You should also provide each piggy with dedicated supplies and accessories to limit bickering.
C&C guinea pig cages are designed to provide plenty of space for your small pets. Depending on the number of guinea pigs you have, you can adapt and modify the cage to make more room for each new furry companion.
2. Designed to Be Safe
Guinea pigs are delicate pets, so their new home must be designed to prevent accidents or health scares. C&C cages for guinea pigs provide great ventilation to reduce the chances of heatstroke, have a solid base to prevent bumblefoot, and are made from non-toxic materials to be harmless in case of nibbling.
Kavee’s grid cubes have thin meshing gaps of no more than 2.5cm to prevent small & baby piggies from getting stuck or escaping. While their coroplast base is designed with lower sides to allow piggies to keep an eye on their favourite human, reducing their anxiety.
3. Flexible Set-up
Since C&C cages are designed with cubes and coroplast, they can easily be modified to meet the needs of your growing piggy family. If you wish to introduce more guinea pigs to your enclosure, you can buy separate grid cubes to add to your existing set-up, rather than looking for an entirely new cage. This makes it a great long-term solution for your small pets, ensuring they always get the space they need wherever they’re homed.
When you adopt a new piggy, you will need to quarantine them in a separate cage before introducing them to your herd. Thanks to the flexibility of C&C cages, you can easily re-adapt your large cage to create a separate enclosure where to temporarily house your quarantined piggy. And when it’s time for introductions, you can go back to a single cage and use two grids to create a divider, giving your piggies the time to get close & familiar with each other without anyone suddenly invading the other’s space!
4. Easy to Clean
Dirty cages can be the source of many health issues for guinea pigs. That’s why you must always consider the ease of cleaning of the cage you choose for your small pet. Guinea pigs require daily spot cleaning (where you remove excess poops & leftover hay) and a weekly full clean(where you wash their bedding, clean their food & water bowls, and scrub any surface).
C&C cages for guinea pigs make it simple for piggy parents to clean, as they give you full access to every corner of the enclosure. A simple spray and wipe with a pet-safe cleaner is enough to sanitise and clean both the cubes and coroplast base, which will leave no remaining stains or odours from the cleaning products (the same can’t be said for wooden cages!). Set-ups like the Kavee C&C cages can also be modified to include a stand, which would allow you to clean without having to bend down!
5. Approved by Experts
Here at the National Animal Welfare Trust, we recommend C&C cages for guinea pigs for the happiness and well-being they bring to these small pets. And so do countless vets, charities, and piggy parents all over the world! This set-up suits the nature & personality of piggies, who are sociable animals that require plenty of space to thrive in their new domesticated life.
They also need flexibility, as any piggy parent will tell you that once you adopt one guinea pig pair, you’ll soon be looking to adopt more. So, a set-up that can grow with your furry family is one bound to be longer-lasting for you and your pets.
6. Easy to Assemble
C&C cages for guinea pigs are designed to be easy to assemble without requiring DIY skills or specific tools. The grid cubes simply slot together with the use of connectors and can be further secured with cable ties. While the coroplast bases can be folded in, and—if you’ve chosen a Kavee cage—secured by slotting the pre-cut corners into each other.
These same grids can then be used to upgrade your cage however you wish: from adding extra grids to create a lid (recommended for households with multiple pets) to using cubes as stands to elevate the cage (recommended to reduce anxiety in piggies), and even to create a double cage (recommended if you need to separate your piggies).
How to find the right guinea pig cage size
The size of C&C cage for guinea pigs you get will vary depending on the number of piggies you have. Here’s a quick overview of cage size by herd size, but the general rule is: the bigger, the better!
Keep in mind that male pairings will require an even bigger cage size to reduce bickering and ensure every boar gets its own space.
Conclusion
Guinea pigs make fantastic pets, and while they require more space than most people think, the right cage will make a world of difference to their well-being and happiness. C&C cages have become the preferred solution for a reason, and considering the huge benefits that come with this option, we hope that more piggy parents will continue to choose them over smaller and unsuitable alternatives.
At Kavee, the original C&C cage for guinea pigs has been modified to meet even more of your small pets’ needs. Visit their website to find the best cage option for furry families of all sizes, and browse their accessories for enrichment and comfort.