Guinea pigs like to hide.
This is something you’ll notice from the very moment you become a guinea parent.
So it won’t be long before you’re looking to make a little hidey house to put inside your guinea pig’s cage.
Of course, you could go to the pet store or onto Amazon and order one of the pre-built ones – but you never quite know what horrible glues or toxics have been used in the manufacturing process! That’s exactly why we didn’t feel comfortable going with that option.
A DIY guinea pig house is therefore in order and that’s exactly what we’ve got for you today.
Neither Chris nor I are expert DIY people (as you can tell from the below photos), but we did figure out a reasonably decent way of turning 2 planks of wood from the hardware store into a wooden hidey house.
This is what we started with:
I’ll attempt to provide some step by step instructions for y’all… but bare in mind of course you will need to play with the dimensions according to your own individual situation (cage and materials size).
The general design is based simply on chopping bits off two planks of wood from the hardware store – and is simple enough for you to figure out based on the photos below.
If you’re using pine, make sure it’s kiln-dried (most is) as the oils from fresher more aromatic stuff could hurt your guinea babies’ lungs.
Wooden Guinea Pig Boutique Hotel Hidey House Instructions:
1) Cut bits off your planks until they look like the below (we used a little coping saw to do the doors):
2) Don’t forget to drill some ventilation holes in the roof. We also cut an internal door in the inside wall so our piggies can pay visits from each others chalets rooms. Sand any rough edges so your little mates don’t get splinters.
3) Hammer it all together with some nails. Once the roof has been attached to the end pieces and secured with the internal wall, it should look something like this:
4) Keep on hammering until the sides are affixed (we designed the whole thing around making the house exactly the length of 2 planks, but you don’t have to do that, you’re probably cleverer than us). Note that we also used a little metal brace (like $1 from the hardware store) to secure each of the two side roof pieces together.
5) Ta Da! You’ll notice that the ends of the ‘side roofs’ (is that what their called?) are slightly longer than the front and back of the house, which actually elevates the whole thing off the floor slightly. We considered sanding these off, but decided against it, since keeping it elevates provides better air flow and slightly more usable space.
6) Ooops, almost forgot to hammer on the little sign… Now the guinea pig’s hidey house is done!
7) Lastly, top with a bath mat to turn the hidey house into a climbable ramp / observation tower. Guinea pigs love elevated areas so they can see the world around them!
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Lovely! Lot of useful info and great to see folk putting in the thought and care of our fluffy & furry friends! Sometimes these little animals, like Guinea Pigs and Hamsters don’t get the attention they deserve! Lots of space for them,a s you say should be able to house a small child in their dwelling place….