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Every small animal has a different idea of a happy home. Because your little friend will be spending the majority of his time in his home, it is vital to create a happy, healthy, and appropriate living environment. When building homes for animals such as guinea pigs, hamsters, and gerbils, it is also important to note that bigger is better.
For your family's guinea pig, the home environment or cage should be an optimal 28 inches long by 24 inches wide by 14 inches high. If you are planning to add to your guinea pig family or you have a large family already, increasing the surface area by at least two square feet is best practice. Although hamsters and gerbils can live in smaller spaces, they will welcome the larger cage.
Remember, these type of animals are burrowers and appreciate a nice floor plan. By providing plenty of bedding and a cardboard or wooden "house" within the cage, and tunnels to crawl through and platforms on which to climb, you can offer a very natural living environment. A very important item to keep in mind is to never house these small animals in a cage with a wire bottom. Their feet can get used in the wire mesh, which could result in broken limbs.
Another helpful item that may be lying around is large aquariums. These can be used as cages, but be aware that they are more difficult to clean thoroughly and provide little to no air circulation, which is a problem. For this reason, most owners prefer a traditional, wire cage.
A great beading material can be aspen wood shavings or materials like corncob or walnut shell for a gerbil cage, or any small animal home. Great edible material for gerbil cages, hamster homes, and other small animal environments can be timothy hay, which is arguably the best: it's an essential food source. Your pet will tunnel through it, make "nests" in it for sleeping and play with it. Basic straw is predominately unsuitable and does not absorb urine and the hard stalks can cause serious injuries
For rabbits: a cage is a safe haven. Even if you're open to giving your rabbit free roam of the house, a cage is a necessary item. This can serve as the area for litter and will serve as a safe haven from guests and a place to rest. The rabbit cage should be approximately four times the size of your pet rabbit, and larger if they are bound for the majority of the day. Rabbits are also pretty good at becoming litter trained, so solid floors are perfect and are fairly easy to keep clean. An important aspect to remember is rabbit cages, gerbil cages, and most small animal homes contain wire bottoms that cause serious sores on their feet. An easy remedy is to cover the bottoms with a piece of wood, grass or sisal mat.
When considering safe material, and more importantly absorbent material for bedding, remember your rabbit may nibble on it. Because rabbit urine also has a strong odor, opt for a substance that absorbs and manages scent. Organic or paper-based pellets and litters are recommended over clay or clumping litters.
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Source by Isaac MaCalister
