Friday, October 30, 2009

Guinea Pig Cages - Characteristics of C&C Cages

What is a C&C Cage?


First of all, I mention the phrase C&C cage in the title of this article. This is cage-building technology that has become more and more popular in recent years. C&C stands for Cubes and Coroplast – the two major components used to design and construct these types of cages.

In reality the word cubes does not accurately describe the construction material being used. In actuality, steel wire grids are used to construct the cage walls. They are referred to as cubes, simply because these grids are traditionally used to build storage cube systems.

Coroplast is technically the brand name of the product. The name is actually a contraction of the words corrugated and plastic. Coroplast is a corrugated plastic material that comes in sheet form and is usually used to make signs. You may have seen political campaign signs, for instance, on people’s lawns made from this material.

Why Choose a C&C Cage?

The major reason that people chose C&C cages over mass-produced pet store cages is because pet store cages are generally much too small to provide a healthy environment for your pig(s). Larger cages can be difficult to find. Additionally, guinea pigs are social creatures so it is always recommended that they be kept in groups of two or more. This, of course, creates an even larger space requirement.

Because C&C cages are made from 14-inch x 14-inch grids, they can be used to design a variety of cage sizes and shapes. In fact the range of options is unlimited. Many cages feature multiple level, wheels, bridges, ramps and other innovative features. Your imagination is the only limit.

A Word about Safety

Recently, one of the popular national department store chains has redesigned its cube storage units in order to save cost. The new design still uses 14-inch x 14-inch grids, however, each individual grid only has 8 squares on a side. The old design used a 9x9 grid layout – thus, each opening was smaller than in the new 8x8 grids.

As C&C Cage sellers, we have been contacted by a few pig rescue organizations who have informed us that guinea pig strangulation deaths have been reported by people using the new 8x8 grids. It is very important for your pig’s safety that you avoid 8x8 14-inch grids and only use 9x9 14-inch grids.

Once again, 8x8 grids pose a strangulation hazard for your pigs and should be avoided at all costs.

C&C cages offer a lot of cage for the money. You have the option of designing and building one yourself. This offers maximum freedom – but also maximum labor on your part. Alternatively, you can also purchase one online in kit form from a reputable seller.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

C&C Guinea Pig Cages - Very Sturdy Ramps for BlueStoneCommerce 2-Level and 3-Level Cages

Unfortunately, many people don't pay close attention to ramps when searching for cages. But ramps are an important element of multi-level guinea pig and rabbit cages.

If you want the peace of mind that comes from the knowledge of knowing that your pigs are safe, you will shop around until you find a ramp that is both 1) strong enough to safely support your pig and 2) has No Metal Grids or Bars - these can injure your pigs' feet and legs.

Learn all about the materials used in the construction of various types of guinea pig and rabbit cage ramps. See demonstrations of various ramp designs under heavy loads.

Monday, October 26, 2009

VERY STURDY C&C Guinea Pig Cage - 3-Level Deluxe Large Custom Cage Design by BlueStoneCommerce

Check out our 2nd infomercial. See why guinea pig cages need to be stronger than you think. Discover why wheels may be a more important option than you thought. See Cosmo - the 15 lb wonder pig. This video shows you our biggest cage ever - the Deluxe Colonial Homestead with Storage being tested under heavy loads. If you're interested this deluxe, new 3-level 2x4 guinea pig custom large cage, or another C&C design, visit our store at http://stores.ebay.com/BluestoneCommerce-Cages-and-Guitars  or visit our web site at http://www.bluestonecages.com/ because... your pigs are waiting.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Guinea Pig Cages - Building Your Own

Guinea pigs are lovable little creatures. They make great pets, are relatively easy to care for and can be very friendly if they are brought up with care and kindness. One very important step in bringing a new guinea pig into the home is providing adequate housing.

Pet store cages are an option that many people choose. They are certainly convenient. All one needs do is choose one and take it home. The major drawback is that most cages are too small and confining to insure a healthy environment for your pig. Larger cages can often be very difficult to find – and even when they are available, they can be extremely costly.

A very viable second option is to build your own cage. You can not only save a bundle of money by building your own cage, but you can get exactly the cage you want by adding any custom features you so desire.

The first step will be to design the cage. The most important item to be considered will be the dimensions of the cage. The following approximate de facto standards for minimum cage sizes can be found with a fast search on the internet. Your cage should provide at least the minimum square footage suggested:

• One guinea pig: 6-7 sq. ft.

• Two guinea pigs: 7.5 sq. ft.

• Three guinea pigs: 10.5 sq. ft.

• Four guinea pigs: 13 sq. ft.

A cage construction technology called C and C (cubes and coroplast) has become popular in recent years. This method uses steel girds to form the walls of the cage (and optionally a top and bottom). A corrugated plastic sheet is used to form the litter pan or litter box on the cage. The grids are joined using either plastic connectors designed for this purpose or tie-wrap (zip tie) fasteners.

The grids are each 14-inches square. So your cage design can be any shape and size that can be formed using 14-inch x 14-inch squares. Many cage design variations are possible including squares, rectangles, triangle – and even multi-level cages with ramps for moving between levels.

From our experience as cage builders and designers, multi-level cages are the most popular. And most guinea pigs seem to love them.

Designing and building a C and C cage for your guinea pig(s) is something that nearly anyone can do. No special skills or tools are necessary. All it takes is a little planning and access to the right materials. As an alternative, you can also buy a C&C cage kit online from a reputable seller.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

SLIM PROFILE C&C Guinea Pig Cage 3-Level Large Custom Cage Design by BlueStoneCommerce

This video shows you one of our very unique cages. It's a slim profile cage - we call this model the Large Mega-Tower. This cage does for the guinea pig cage what flat screen monitors did for TV. It fits closer to the wall and saves space.

If you're a little short on room - perhaps you live in an apartment or dorm room, or maybe it's going in a kid's room where there's not a lot of space - this cage may help solve your problems.

This video was made to appear in our eBay listing for this product. The introductory part of the video is common to all our cage videos. Footage specific to this cage begins at about the 4:12 minute mark. You can see a couple of our guinea pigs in it. Charlie is the one in the pet store cage and Pumpkin makes her cameo appearance - being chased around the Colonial. And if you like the cage, be sure to visit any of our online stores to get more information on it. Just go to http://www.bluestonecages.com/ and click on any of the store links on the front page.

Enjoy the video:

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

HUGE C&C Guinea Pig Cage - 3-Level Deluxe Large Custom Cage Design by BlueStoneCommerce

Check out our very first infomercial - made to appear in our eBay listing for this cage. This video shows you our biggest cage ever - the Deluxe Colonial Homestead with Storage. Not only is this cage HUGE, but it has four storage bays in the bottom level to store guinea pig supplies. The introductory part of the video is common to all our cage videos. Footage specific to this cage begins at about the 4:12 minute mark. Also, see a couple of our guinea pigs. Charlie is the one in the pet store cage and Pumpkin makes her cameo appearance - being chased around the Colonial. If you're interested a deluxe, new 3-level 2x4 guinea pig custom large cage, visit our store at http://stores.ebay.com/BluestoneCommerce-Cages-and-Guitars or visit our web site at http://www.bluestonecages.com/ because... your pigs are waiting.