Cavy Club House
The Cavy Club House setup is a continuation of our previous Bump Loft layout.
Peter Pig and his lost boys are ready for some piggy adventuring!
The Bump Loft
The Bump Loft is a cage base extension added onto a Narrow Loft. Please visit the Bump Loft page for more setup details and images to give your piggies a LOT more space upstairs. It only takes another 7 inches of wall space and is self-supporting.
The Cavy Club House layout provides lots of action and fun for your guinea pigs -- great living enrichment. All the while -- as is the tradition of the Cagetopia brand -- it stays cleanable and accessible without having to do gymnastics or be a contortionist to clean your cage! LOL
Porch Patio, mid-cage
The Cavy Club house also features a Porch Patio in the middle of the cage, rather than at the traditional end of the cage. You can adjust the height reasonably by one inner grid hole from what we show here. You can make it a little lower if you prefer.
One Patio Ramp changed
The Porch Patio comes with an open side and two Porch Patio ramps and one Mini Moon Grid. For this layout, we cut the back wall down (easy to do with scissors) to create an opening along the back wall of the cage. We put the second Porch Patio ramp there. You can use just one Mini Moon Grid, or add another one to your order and double them up if you like, the way we did, if you want it super secure for your pigs. Most pigs are fine hopping down from the Porch Patio height when they choose, so it's not much of a safety hazard, but you know your pigs better than we do, so you do what works for you.
The ramp landing against the left-hand size of the cage (as shown) from the Patio to the floor is a little tight, but manageable by the pigs. There is plenty of play on your placement of the Patio and the Wonder Bars (included with the Patio) it sits on, so you can move it forward if you like to give more landing area in the back. You just give up a little square footage on the Patio for it. And if you elected to keep the regular Cavy Cafe kitchen, your front Patio ramp may land just in front of or on top of the lip of the kitchen. You could put some folded fleece over that if you like to compensate for it.
A Corner Kitchen
While we generally don't recommend a corner kitchen except for custom "L"-shaped cages in the corner because the space usage isn't as good, but the Corner Kitchen works well in this setup. It provides better run around flow for your guinea pigs. As the front ramp on the Porch Patio will land right in front of the traditional Cavy Cafe. You can work with that, but this is easier.
A fleece transition to the kitchen
Because we have the Corner Kitchen sitting ON TOP of the fleece bedding due to its shape rather then the fleece butting up next to the entrance, the lip is a little taller than desired. Our furry potatoes tend to like to plod over the lip rather than have to work at it too much, so we've added some folded fleece in front of the kitchen to make it easier for them to step into it.
I frequently put folded up fleece in front of my kitchens anyway, but it's more of a requirement when you put a kitchen on top of fleece. You can use any fleece, but I particularly love using our Fleece Flipper cases (on the Market) for this. They are the right size, don't bunch up, are extremely versatile, and have many other uses.
Fleece Forest on a Quarter Round Grid
We initially started with a regular Fleece Forest in the lower corner, but we were inspired to switch it out to a Quarter Round Grid for this setup, although the regular fleece forest is fine. We used a regular inner fleece forest piece, just be aware it's not 'flat' underneath the topper, but that doesn't matter. You can get the new topper on the Guinea Pig Market.
The CAVY CLUB HOUSE extra items needed
In addition to the large cage on a narrow loft with optional stand and bins, you will need:
This CAVY CLUB HOUSE design assumes you already have a Large 2x4 Grid Cage with Narrow Loft. We currently do not offer a loft size of 1.5 grids. We may later if there is enough demand, but for the moment, we are employing existing guinea pig cage company items. If you already have narrow loft, you just need to get the Medium to Large Extension Kit (with the connectors option on that item). Then add 4 Short Half Grids and probably a pack of zip ties.
For about $40 plus tax and shipping, your guinea pigs get greatly expanded space upstairs.
SOME DIY CONSTRUCTION NEEDED
The bump loft isn't a perfectly smooth base
To attach the extension to your loft, you detach the back rivets and fold the end wall down. Put extension atop the folded-down section. Secure the junction where the two pieces overlap with clear packing tape to ensure stability. If desired, create new holes in the extension for alignment with the rivet holes on the unfolded loft flap. The process will become clearer as you actually do it. Although a slight ridge may form due to the coro's thickness, causing an uneven surface, it's not a big deal. Since you'll line the loft with fleece, typically in two parts to fit the ramp cutout, any minor unevenness will be concealed and won't affect your guinea pig's comfort. The modification is beneficial despite these small imperfections.
Create this cage with our easy shopping guide
Please note, prices are base prices. Adding features and options can increase an items' price.
For the SMALL CAGE, LOFT, & optional STAND & BINS:
For the BUMP LOFT EXTENSION ONLY
(assumes you have a Narrow Loft already):
You'll want to have some clear packing tape available.
For the LOFT CORNER HALF-GRID REPLACEMENT
These replace the two front corner grids of the loft. If you need a cover, you may choose not to do this OR add Short Half Grids zip-tied to them for additional support.
For the SAFETY GRID at LOFT RAMP
For the PORCH PATIO
- (1) Porch Patio - $55.99 (do NOT get the safety perimeter grids)
- (2) Skinny Grids - $2.29 each (act as the safety grids, front and back)
- (1) Mini Moon Grid - $2.99 1 extra if you want 2. The Porch Patio comes with 1.
For the CAGE EXTRAS
Need a COVER?
The tricky aspect of covering this cage is that when you add the Patio, it raises the ramp angle and the regular cover won't clear it. So you need to ADD a total of 8 SKINNY GRIDS for the perimeter to your order for a slightly higher wall that clears the ramp due to landing on the Patio.
You'll just do the overlapping of the loft grids a bit differently. Follow the Wide Loft cover assembly, but just use the half grids for the back half. Also, if you are adding a cover, you should note we don't show using connectors along the top of the skinny grids as they aren't really necessary. You'll need to make sure that the wall is solid enough to have the cover flip open, so you'll need to consider adding 7 connectors, or due to the short span, you can also get away with just using zip ties there.
Also note that if you add a cover, you'll want the Under Cover Canopy rather than the regular Canopy.