The CHALLENGES with GRIDS

If you buy NON-CAGETOPIA grids:

• They MUST MEASURE 14" square.
• They SHOULD have 9 inner holes across (less than 1.5" openings). 8 or less is HIGHLY UNSAFE for your guinea pigs.
  Do not listen to the people who have not had their pig strangle as a result. It only takes once. Don't be that person.

EVEN IF THEY MEASURE 14", NO TWO GRID VENDORS are the same anymore.

ONLY TWO BRANDS of grid companies come close to ours right now. Here are the problems with both of them. You need to decide which way you want to go.

STAPLES Brand: The 14" grids available at Staples (called Mini Grids) are compatible in size and connector fit. Our connectors will fit their grids and visa versa. The difference between Staples grids and and Cagetopia grids is that the Staple grids are vinyl-coated and the Cagetopia grids are powder-coated. So, if you have grid-munching guinea pigs, they'll be able eat away at the coating and expose the wire. Not all guinea pigs do this and the behavior can be mitigated. Overall, powder-coated is preferred, but the fit and overall quality is good. Just FYI, you must purchase their connectors separately, unlike other vendors who package them together with a grid set.

WHITMOR Brand: They have a slightly smaller gauge outer wire than ours. Their grids will be a little loose in our connectors. That can be mitigated by using zip ties with the connectors. However, our grids will not fit in their connectors. The quality of the Whitmor brand grids is excellent.

AMAZON BASICS Brand: This is the cheap knockoff of the Whitmor Brand. Cheaper manufacturer, poorer quality grids -- they tend to be noticeably bent with inconsistent inner wire spacing and poor welds. Their grids are a matte finish (not shiny). Their white is an off-white and their white connectors are more ivory than white. Their grids tend to be tiny fraction smaller than our grids.

While the 'fit' of the connectors is more compatible with ours, their connectors have a fatter distance between the grids which can affect the fit and spacing of the coro within the grids, more noticeably on longer-sided cages, like 2x5's and 2x6's.

WHY DOES THIS MATTER?

If you decide you want to ADD-ON later using any of our products, like lofts, patios or anything else, you'll likely need to use our specialty grids and our connectors.

Understand that it might be a challenge or maybe impossible and you may need to replace your grids and connectors at some point to make things fit and work properly.