The most commonly overlooked factor in choosing a guinea pig cage appears to be cage size. Sure, people may think they look at cage size when purchasing a cage. But, judging by the number of small, “standard” pet store cages still being purchased every year, it is clear that people do not really look at cage size.

Let’s do a little thought experiment. The average guinea pig is about 9 to 15 inches in length. The average height for a human is roughly 5’4” to 5’10”. An average pet store cage is 24-inches by 16-inches.

Put yourself in your pig’s place. An equivalent size room for you would be approximately 8-ft by 12-feet – the size of a large bathroom or a small bedroom. So, living your entire life in a large bathroom or small bedroom may not seem horrible – but it would certainly be a challenge to get a significant amount of exercise in a space that small.

Another related factor that I’m convinced that people do not consider when sizing a cage are the additional accessories that your pig requires – such as a nest box, a food dish and a hay rack.

So let’s return to our hypothetical equivalent room. When we add a nest box to our pig’s cage, we are adding an item that is perhaps 10 to 12-inches on each side. That might be equivalent to building a seven-foot by seven-foot storage shed and placing it our hypothetical equivalent room with us.

Add a food dish to your pig’s cage (about half the size of your pig) and it’s like throwing a kiddie pool – three-feet in diameter in the middle of the floor in our room.

Of course we’re going to need a water bottle. This would be roughly equivalent to something the size of a hot water heater standing in the corner of our equivalent room.

A hay rack is has a footprint of approximately four by seven inches. So adding a hay rack to the wall might be roughly equivalent to pushing a couple of nightstands up against one of the walls in our hypothetical equivalent room and placing them side-by side.

Does this sound like a lot of room? Does it sound like someplace you would like to spend the rest of your life? Let us review.

We start by moving into an 8 x 12 room – an area roughly the size of a large bathroom or a small bedroom. Next we put up a 7×7 storage shed in the corner. This leaves us with an eight-foot by five-foot space in front of the shed and a useless one-foot by seven-foot narrow strip along the side of the shed.

Then, to make matters worse, we place a three-foot wading pool, a water heater and two nightstands in our remaining 8×5 living space. What does this leave us with? We are left with a very small and cramped area in which to live. And, worst of all, our health begins to suffer because exercise becomes a nearly impossible task.

When you buy your next cage, consider the situation from your pig’s point of view. Look – really look – at the space situation facing your guinea pig and select a cage big enough to provide an adequate and comfortable living space. Over the past several years, C&C (Cubes and Coroplast) cages are gaining in popularity for this very reason – they provide a spacious, healthy environment for a reasonable price.

Want to read more? ...

• When are you going to find a better cage than a
  Blue Stone Commerce C&C Cage?
    That's Right! When Pigs Fly! Looking for a large variety of innovative C&C Guinea Pig Cages? CLICK ON A LINK DIRECTLY BELOW to visit one of our Online Stores     BlueStoneCommerce eBa...
• C&C (Cubes & Coroplast) Guinea Pig Cages
  Tie Wraps or Plastic Press-On Connectors
  A Comparison
  Most other Cubes and Coroplast guinea pig cage sellers use plastic press-on connectors in their cage construction. This video will show you exactly why we here at BlueStoneCommerce disagree with this ...
• Guinea Pig Cages – How to Build a C&C Cage
  C&C cages are becoming increasingly popular. Their usage has increased dramatically over the past few years. This is largely because pet owners are beginning to realize that while standard mass-pr...
• Guinea Pig Cages – The Most Important Element in Guinea Pig Cage Cleaning
  One of the most important factors in insuring that your guinea pig cage is easy to clean is ironically also one of the most overlooked criteria in cage selection. If you want to be assured that the ne...
• Guinea Pigs – A Cavy Q&A
  The guinea pig is one of the most popular pets in North America. In spite of this, there are many facts about this little creature that are not commonly known by most people. Please join me as I attem...