building a cage, worried about the wood absorbing pee

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jasonbe

Post   » Fri Jul 20, 2018 11:44 am


Hey everyone,

I'm building a structure for three screaming maniacs and am worried about pee absorption. I can put linoleum on the floor, but won't be able to put linoleum on the ramp or it'll turn into a slide. And I can't treat it with chemicals.

Is pee absorption a problem? It must be. I'm worried about a creating something that will be a pig-disease box in a few years.

Any tips?

Thanks in advance,
Jay

JX4

Post   » Fri Jul 20, 2018 2:53 pm


Most of use a C & C cage construction, that is coroplast bottoms and grids for the sides. Here's a link to a site that sells these types of cages so you can see what they look like, but you could also make your own.

https://www.guineapigcagesstore.com/

jasonbe

Post   » Fri Jul 20, 2018 8:42 pm


I appreciate that link, but I'm specifically wondering if bare wood is a problem that needs to be solved. I built one chloroplast cage, but have a big dog kennel that I'm converting to a multi-layer pig party mansion. Which I'm building with plywood and 2x2s.

I saw pics of wooden pig cages built online and they seem to be made of painted wood, but I'm hesitant. I'm worried about leaving bare wood (might absorb pee) or painting it (pigs might eat the paint).

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Jul 20, 2018 10:52 pm


Try some scraps of wood on the ramp and plan to replace them periodically.

kailaeve1271

Post   » Fri Jul 20, 2018 11:10 pm


There is actually a brand of paint that IS pet safe, I used it for my rabbit cage, please keep in mind that this paint is for indoors only: Caprinol Graden Shades. It is a water based led free paint, VOC free paint. You of course have to be very careful they don't ingest too much and be sure that they are not near the paint until it is dry. A small spot that has been chewed though shouldn't hurt them. Although I haven't tried it, I heard wood stains can help as well. I personally when it comes to guineapigs would place some sort of plastic under the shaving. If you can't use that, the paint said before is supposed to be very safe and in my experience I've never had a pet get sick from it. I would also try for the ramps placing carpet and regularly replacing it

jasonbe

Post   » Sat Jul 21, 2018 8:13 pm


Thank you all! So many good ideas

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pigjes
Cavy Comic

Post   » Sun Jul 22, 2018 3:54 am


I always put pure cotton towels on the ramps: it offered grip, absorbs pee without smells, and can be cleaned easily. You can even put some fleece over the top.

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