If you are looking for nothing but the absolute best guinea pig cage out there, you have got it absolutely right when it comes to doing the right thing for your cavy or cavies.
Keeping a guinea pig as a pet often means that the guinea pig will spend a very significant part of its life inside of their cage, playing, socializing, feeding and resting.
Just like us, guinea pigs are very happy when they have a great place to live in.
Below, you will find several tips and then cage recommendations to help you choose a guinea pig cage that you just can’t go wrong with.
Don't feel like reading 2,947 words? I recommend getting the Guinea Habitat Guinea Pig Cage by MidWestThis is one of the popular cage among guinea pig owners as well!
Top 5 Guinea Pig Cage Comparison Table
Last update on 2021-02-27 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
How To Choose A Cage For Your Guinea Pig? (Various factors)
Before we get into the factors you must consider to buy a great guinea pig cage; it is very important that you also understand how your guinea pig and cage need to be cared for. Just keeping your little pets in a great cage doesn't mean that they are automatically cared for. Constant care and maintenance are required to keep the cage clean, habitable and a positive environment for your pets.
Here's a great resource that tells you all about how to care for your guinea pig.
Space
Guinea pigs are very active and playful little creatures. When they have space, they go all out exploring, playing and just doing what guinea pigs do. Cramp them without space, and they begin to suffer. Not only will they gain weight, become fat and develop medical conditions but will also become depressed, anxious and possibly physically unhealthy as well.
If you want your guinea pig to have a happy home, please ensure that the cage you choose has a floor space of at least seven to eight square feet per guinea pig. If you are housing more than one guinea pig, you don't always have to multiply the number of guinea pigs you have into 7 or 8 square feet of space as guinea pigs can share space well.
So, for example, if you have two guinea pigs, you need not necessarily get them a cage that has 14 or 16 square feet of space. Instead, you can get them one that has about 12 square feet of space.
Also, don't make the mistake of getting too big a cage for your guinea pig. They can quickly get bored when they have too much barren space. If you are getting a large cage, make sure you buy a lot of toys, ramps, and accessories that will fill out the cage's space, to make things interesting for your guinea pig.
Speaking of toys and accessories, make sure that the cage you buy will be spacious even after you start littering it with toys, accessories, feeding boxes, hiding spots, bedding, etc.
Space-related to your guinea pig's age
How old is your guinea pig? If it is just a baby, a small starter cage will do. But, remember that guinea pigs grow and grow quickly. If you didn’t know, guinea pigs will continue to grow for about 14 months after they are born.
Will the cage be enough for when they begin to grow? Unless you plan on upgrading your cage as they grow, it is imperative that you buy them a cage that will accommodate their full-grown bodies.
Material
Guinea pigs are always adventurous and by nature will look to go beyond the cage you have housed them in. It is therefore imperative that you choose a cage that is built out of sturdy material.
First of all, wood is a no-no, as guinea pigs tend to chew through wood over time. Certain types of wood are OK, but they need to be qualified explicitly as wood that a cavy can't chew through. Plastic, wire, metal or a combination of those building materials are usually fine as building materials.
You might sometimes run into guinea pig cages that are built out of glass. Try to avoid buying such cages as they don’t ventilate the cage well, even if they look good in an aesthetic sense.
Latching doors
Again, choose cages that have escape proof doors or removable tops that double up as doors. Guinea pigs will persistently try to nudge doors open, and it is critical that the doors have a latching mechanism. They shouldn't be able to get out from the inside. Also, other pets like your cat or dog shouldn't be able to get in from the outside.
Before you finalize any cage purchase, please take a look at how the doors are designed and only buy a cage if you think it will keep your guinea pig safe.
Flooring
This is another very important factor you must consider when buying your guinea pig cage. Guinea pigs have legs that are designed to walk on a flat and smooth surface. There are too many cages out there that have a wire mesh type floor.
Though guinea pigs can walk on such floors, prolonged walking on such a surface will result in a crippling condition called bumblefoot, which can't really be reversed, not with any easy effort anyways. If you have to buy a cage with a wire mesh floor, please follow it up with a purchase of a cage mat that will make the surface smooth.
This is an extremely popular guinea pig cage as it is both practical as well as very easy to assemble, even without tools.
To begin with, it is very spacious and with a great living space layout. 8 square feet of space is divided into three main areas that give your little pet a combination of open as well as cozy space, to provide it with habitat that suits its mood or time of day. Each little area has just enough demarcation to make it a private space, but without too much isolation from the other spaces at the same time.
The cage ships with a wire mesh cage top that is fully removable. If your home doesn’t have pets, you have the option to leave the cage top-open. If you have cats or dogs, you can put the wire top on, to protect your little cavies. If you want to leave the top open, you don’t have to worry about the pets escaping as the walls are 14’ high.
The mesh is made out of PVC and is lightweight yet sturdy. You can just hose down the entire cage for quick and easy cleaning.
What we like about this guinea pig cage is that it can be expanded. If you want to add more guinea pigs to your home or if your guinea pigs grow and continue to be more and more active, you can essentially buy another one of these cages and merge them as one big cage, with 16 square foot of total space!
Here's a video of a cage tour and a review by SmallPetChannel
PROS
CONS
This is an excellent starter guinea pig cage just perfect for that tiny little lone cavy that you want to keep as a pet. The base of this frame is made out of plastic while the top and most of the sides are wire mesh made out of PVC material.
What makes this cage a cozy place for your cavy to live in is that it has a little balcony for your hamster to just stick its head out, without any chance of escaping. Other thoughtful build elements are a built-in tip-proof food dish that can be secured to the balcony door. The feed dish is tiny enough for your guinea pig to not use as a place for it to sit and relieve itself, a common problem with feed dishes that are too big.
Just below the balcony, there's also a hiding spot, a favorite place where your cavy will like to hide when it is in play mode.
You don't need any tools to assemble this cage and assembly usually takes just a few minutes. The roof is removable in two sections, for easy access to the cage. There is also a wire door at the front of the cage, should you need to access just a small portion of the cage.
Here's a video on un-boxing and setting the cage up
PROS
CONS
This is a beginner cage for small guinea pigs. Though it can comfortably house a small or medium-sized guinea pig, it can be a little cramped for a full grown or large guinea pig. But, if the space parameters get a tick on your checklist, there's a lot of things to like about this guinea pig cage.
It's made out of wood. Though in our initial passages we recommended against buying a wooden cage, this one is chew proof and will prevent your cavy from escaping.
The cage has a very aesthetic look, with a grey and white trim paint. The whole cage is completely waterproof which means that you can heavily hose it down with water to clean it. The cage is accessible from almost all directions. The top opens up, and there is also a front door that is fairly large and which swings open. The bottom is removable as well. With all these access points, cleaning this cage is a very easy process.
If those access points don’t make your cleaning easier, the bottom also pulls out a like pull-out tray, for those quick cleanings where you just want to remove poop, urine or other debris that continually accumulates in your guinea pig cage.
This cage is different than most others so this video might help you
PROS
CONS
This is a guinea pig cage with two stories, giving your cavies the added fun element of exploring multiple levels in their living habitat. The cage is equipped with full-width double doors that allow for easy access to clean, play or care for your guinea pigs.
The cage is made out of very durable metal with solid construction, allowing it to last for a long time, giving no chance of escape for your little critters. The entire cage is housed on a stand that comes with wheels. The wheels have locking casters that prevent the cage from rolling around. The wheels are a nice touch as you can wheel out the entire cage to the patio for easy cleaning.
The two levels are connected by a safe ramp that uses a non-slip surface. This prevents falls and injuries. The base pan can be easily removed for quick cleanings, to remove droppings or urine.
PROS
CONS
This is a very good guinea pig cage as the base is very deep. Made out of a tubby material, the 6' base will prevent your guinea pig from throwing out a flurry of bedding as it runs across the surface.
There are two huge doors to access the cage. One is at the top, and the other is along the length of the cage. The base is connected to a large resting place via a ramp and will provide your guinea pig with a fun activity that will keep it active and happy.
The wire mesh is sturdy and cannot be chewed through. The doors also have a secure latching mechanism which prevents escape and also entry of other pets from the outside. Though the cage is a bit on the smaller side, it can be a beginner cage if you have just one guinea pig.
The mesh easily snaps off and is held in place by just 6 clips, though very sturdily. When you are thoroughly cleaning the cage, just snap off the mesh, hose down the cage and put it back on after drying it out.
PROS
CONS
What Can We Call As The Best Guinea Pig Cage Out There?
While all of our 5 recommendations for a guinea pig cage will make great cages, we would love to recommend the Guinea Habitat Guinea Pig Cage by MidWestas our top pick. What we like about it the most is that it has ample amount of space.
The quality of space is also excellent. There’s a very large rectangular area and then two small square areas that provide a great combination of public and semi-private space for your little guinea pigs. If you plan on getting in more guinea pigs or are going to introduce more and more toys, accessories and other things into the cage, you can always buy another one of the Guinea Habitat guinea pig cages and connect the two, doubling or even troubling the space for your little cavies.
Build quality is excellent. Access is excellent thanks to the fully open top or fully removable top. It is priced right and the base is very practical as well. You just can’t go wrong with this guinea pig cage.
