Background:

ACR&S uses and recommends cages which have minimum standards for housing as per guineapigcages.com or rabbit.org, depending on species. We will provide and construct adequately sized cube cages for adopters or for anyone who wants to upgrade to these excellent cages. These cages are variously called C&C (Cube & Coroplast) or NIC (Nice Idea Cube) cages. Since the recent re-formulation of the cube grids to have overlarge openings, these cages are now often built with Closetmaid closet shelving.

Benefits:

The benefits of these cages are extensively discussed elsewhere, but here are just a few of the highlights to consider:

• Health. Guinea pigs in C&C cages are able to get the exercise they need to prevent obesity, bumblefoot, impaction, and other diseases of inactivity.
• Enrichment. Rabbits who are not able to be housebroken or who can not be free-ranged for other reasons, can live in spacious, multi-story cages which provide plenty of space for jumping platforms, digging boxes, tunnels, and other entertainment.
• Convenience. Coroplast is non-porous, and can be used to line rabbit pens, protecting floors from urine. It can be cleaned easily with white vinegar. For guinea pig cages coroplast allows you to customize your cage with tall walls to hold in bedding when they kick up their heels. Bedding is easy to remove - a dustpan and whiskbroom, and a spray bottle of white vinegar, is all you need! You can also easily build condo-style cages, which stack multiple cages in the same amount of floorspace. If you travel, these cages easily disassemble and fold up to fit in the back of a car.
• Price. In a petstore, $30 will get a cage the size of a computer keyboard. The largest cages are several hundred dollars and are still woefully undersized. For only $30 in materials you can build a guine pig or rabbit cage which is 3'x7' - nearly 21 square feet of space!

Cage Configurations:

• Basic Guinea Pig: 1 story, no lid, no base. Basically a wall around the coroplast.
• Basic Rabbit: 1 story cage with coroplast floor protector and cube fence with side-entry door. A lid MAY be required for avid jumpers!
• Delux Guinea Pig: Two or more stories with ramps.
• Delux Rabbit: Two or more stories and/or jumping platforms.
• Combo cages: Two stacked cages, either two rabbit, 2 guinea pig, or rabbit on bottom/guinea pig on top.
• Divided cages: If you have two animals who need to live side-by-side, but can't live together, a divided cage allows high levels of interaction.

Add-Ons:

Add-ons do cost extra due to increased amounts of materials used.

• Bases: Don't like bending down to clean out your cage, but don't really want to put it on a table? A cube base, either 14" or 28" high, raises the cage up of the floor and provides storage space underneath.
• Lids: Provide extra security with a lid made from Closetmaid Shelving. Both easy-access style (2 shelving lengths) and limited-access style (1 shelving length) available.
• Hay mangers: Closetmaid makes a wonderful variety of products which can be modified for use as hay mangers/water bottle hangers.
• Cube vs Shelving: If you need a cage with narrower openings, a little more sturdy, or measured in 12" instead of 14" widths, cages can be made out of Closetmaid Shelving instead of cube grids. Extra charges do apply as these materials do cost more.

Customization:

• Wall height: Standard wall height is 6" for guinea pigs and 3" for rabbits, but if your guinea pig or rabbit has a tendancy to kick bedding, help hold it in with walls up to 10" high (not available on cages over 28" deep or over 84" long).
• Cube vs Shelving: If you need a cage with narrower openings, a little more sturdy, or measured in 12" instead of 14" widths, cages can be made out of Closetmaid Shelving instead of cube grids. Extra charges do apply as these materials do cost more.
• Cage Size: Cages are available 2 depths and 4 widths:

   

  Size Measured in 14" Grids	Size in Inches	Square Feet of Interior Space
  2x3	28"x42"	7.69**
  2x4	28"x56"	10.32
  2x5	28"x70"	12.94
  2x6	28"x84"	15.56
  2.5x3	36"x42"	9.97
  2.5x4	36"x56"	13.37
  2.5x5	36"x70"	16.77
  2.5x6	36"x84"	20.17

  **This is the minimum size recommended for 1 or 2 pigs.