Review of the Top-Rated C&C Guinea Pig Cage Sellers

Whenever I go online shopping for a C&C (Cubes and Coroplast) cage, I always inevitably end up at eBay. While there are some other individual sites selling C&C cages for small animals, eBay always seems to have the biggest selection and pretty good prices too.

As a family, we have owned quite a few guinea pigs over the years so I’ve had to go shopping for cages several times over those years. Also, since we run a web site specializing in guinea pigs and guinea pig cage information, we make an effort to keep up to date on the latest developments in C&C cages.

What we’ve noticed is that most guinea pig cage sellers don’t seem to last long on eBay. We’ve seen quite a few come and go over the last five or six years. But we’ve also noticed that there are four sellers that have survived over the years and become successful. These sellers are (in alphabetical order):

BlueStoneCommerce Cages and Guitars

Of the four sellers that we studied, Blue Stone Commerce seems to be the clear leader in terms of innovation and product design. Some of their listings claim they have an engineer with 30-years experience on staff, and from the quality of their designs, it appears to be so. They have quite a large variety of cage designs. In addition, they seem to go out of their way to add features that make the cage user-friendly for the pet owner.

The BlueStoneCommerce eBay store is also the only one with an extensive FAQ page with loads of information and videos on C&C cages – definitely a great resource for us. A link to the FAQ page is available in the upper left-hand corner of their store.

What I Liked About Blue Stone Commerce

Like I said earlier, I like the innovative designs – especially a model that they call the Millennium 200. It’s a futuristic looking angular design with a triangular-shaped bridge that connects two upper-level platforms – a very unique and “space age” looking cage. Also several of their cage designs are available with a built-in storage level – handy for storing hay, treats, cleaning supplies and other items. Also raises the cage up off the ground so pigs are less-susceptible to drafts and makes it easier for you to care for your pigs.

The other thing I like is that all their cages have huge openings for easy cleaning. On most cages, the entire side folds down – Blue Stone Commerce calls it a tailgate. In our opinion, in terms of time-saving, this single feature alone really gives them a huge advantage over the other three sellers.

The other thing we like is that Blue Stone Commerce uses zip-ties instead of plastic push-on connectors to hold their cages together. In the past, we have built cages with both kinds of fasteners and clearly, zip-ties are the more reliable fastener to use. They make a sturdier cage – and they don’t come off – never.

We also like the fact that all of their cages have bottoms to insure your pigs’ safety. We never thought this was a big deal until we watched their video (on their FAQ page) which showed a cage dramatically tumbling off a table because it didn’t have a bottom.

And their ramp design is very good. Appears to be extremely sturdy and uses a plastic grip material to provide traction for the pigs which means no hazardous wire grids like some other sellers use.

Blue Stone Commerce appears to have confidence in their product. They offer a 30-Day, money-back guarantee – the others offer only 7 or 10 days.

What I Didn’t Like About Blue Stone Commerce

They seem to specialize in the larger and more complex cages. While they had a very large selection of highly-engineered and innovative cages, they don’t offer many of the basic C&C small cages.

Also, their cages only came in black. Many of the other sellers offer color choices for the Coroplast bin. When we contacted Blue Stone Commerce, they told us that they don’t stock colors but if we wanted a specific color, they would special order it for us free-of-charge.

Rating

I give Blue Stone Commerce 4 1/2 pigs.

They did not warrent 5 pigs mostly because of the two small issues mentioned above.

Despite these two small negatives, I feel that Blue Stone Commerce is an excellent company with efficient, robust and utilitarian cage designs. Their eBay feedback numbers were outstanding and we were extremely impressed when we read their feedback comments. Their customers were practically gushing. They love their products, they love their service – they love Blue Stone Commerce.

Click Here to Visit the Blue Stone Commerce eBay Store

Cage Corner and More

When you first visit Cage Corner’s eBay store, the first thing you notice is the colors. Cage Corners offers Coroplast in red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, navy and black. We also noted that they had a large variety of different designs and offered single-level, two-level and three-level cages. They even had a divided cage with two separate compartments so you can house two pigs in it – but keep them apart.

They also offer a variety of replacement parts – including Coroplast flooring and a cage door.

What I Liked About Cage Corner

Cage Corner offers a large variety of different configurations. Many of the cages are multi-level cages. The cages are roomy and provide a lot of space for your pigs.

They have one really innovative concept available on a few of their small cages. They call it the QUICK-SET system. In this system, the grids are pre-assembled with metal rings. This offers two advantages: the metal rings are much stronger and sturdier than the press-on plastic connectors they replace and the cage comes to you mostly assembled.

You can tell from the feedback numbers that this seller has been around for a long time. In short, Cage Corner has the experience, they have the designs and they are able to ship a pretty good product.

What I Didn’t Like About Cage Corner

Except for the few QUICK-SET models, all cages are held together with press-on plastic connectors. This is not a huge issue because plastic press-on connectors are the standard for C&C cages – the overwhelming majority of builders and sellers use them. Just the same, our experience from building our own cages at home has shown us that the zip-tie is the far superior fastener.

The QUICK-SET cages have lids that flip up for easy cleaning. However, most of the other cages have very small doors – the openings look like less than 12-inches by 12-inches. Our experience is that it takes up a lot of time to clean a large cage when you have to change 15-lbs of bedding (or more) through a small opening.

It appeared that none of the cages had bottoms (other than Coroplast). Not a problem for the big cages because they sit on the floor. However the small cages can be dangerous for your pigs if they have no bottom and are placed on a table.

The cages with ramps had wire grids mounted on the top surface to give the pigs traction. Wire grids can be bad for your pigs’ feet. Pigs who live in cages with wire bottoms often injure their feet and toes. Your pigs’ feet are delicate – all cage surfaces should be free of wire grids - even the ramps.

Also some of the multi-level cages did not have Coroplast walls on the upper levels. This design does not allow you to put bedding in the upper levels (unless you’re prepared to deal with a big mess).

Rating

I give Cage Corner 3 1/2 pigs.

All-in-all Cage Corner is a good seller with great feedback numbers. As you can tell, we really like the QUICK-SET cages. They have strong, reliable fasteners and large openings for easy cleaning. While the other cages were pretty good, they had just a few important things we didn’t like – most of all those small doors. When you’ve had to live with a cage with little doors like we have in the past, you really begin to appreciate just how much time and aggravation it costs you.

Click Here to Visit the Cage Corner eBay Store

Sue’s Cubes and Coroplast Cages

Sue’s Cubes and Coroplast Cages store, listings and product line are all the picture of simplicity. We would call Sue a purist. All of Sue’s cages are all very traditional, single-level, classic C&C cage designs. In fact, according to her listings, Sue’s cages have actually been approved by the original inventor of the C&C cage.

What I Liked About Sue’s Cubes and Coroplast

Because of Sue’s affiliation with Cavy Spirit Rescue - a very high-profile guinea pig rescue organization – it is apparent that Sue is concerned about the welfare of our pigs. And in our minds, being truly concerned about the health and safety of our guinea pigs makes her more trustworthy and credible to us as a cage vendor.

The cage designs are simple, efficient and economical. In addition, they offer a very large selection of Coroplast colors: red, purple, yellow, green, navy, light blue, black, white, silver, brown and orange.

What I Didn’t Like About Sue’s Cubes and Coroplast Cages

As a traditionalist, Sue uses plastic press-on connectors for all her cage construction.

Also, none of her cages have bottoms. We see this as a potential hazard because all of her cages are single-level cages which means a high percentage of them are going to end up on tables. And, as I mentioned earlier, cages with no bottoms are very much easier to knock off a table than those with bottoms.

Rating

I give Sue 3 pigs.

Sue has great eBay feedback numbers and it’s clear from the comments that her customers love the product. As a traditionalist, Sue’s products do not deviate from the classic, rectangular, single-level C&C design. While Sue’s product selection is a bit limited from our point of view, this classic style of cage is still a good economical choice. And from the pig’s point of view these relatively spacious cages are still a fantastic alternative to the dreaded pet store cage.

Click Here to Visit Sue’s C&C Cages eBay Store

Superior Cages by Sandy

Sandy has a selection of several different cage styles. She sells the traditional classic single-level rectangular cage as well as a few models that has a small upper level that looks like a balcony or observation level for your pigs. Also, she has one cage design that has cubes for storage on the lower level.

What I Liked About Superior Cages by Sandy

Sandy has a few innovative cage designs. The “balcony cage” that I mentioned above is one such design. It is kind of a unique concept in that it gives the pig an opportunity to climb to “higher ground” to have a look around – but it leaves the lower level mostly open so it is easy to clean.

What I Didn’t Like About Superior Cages by Sandy

Once again, as with the last two sellers, the issue with press-on plastic connectors and bottomless cages (‘nuf said).

Many of her designs have six-inch walls on the front and 10-inch side and back walls to better contain the litter. While this may cut down on messes, in our opinion, 10-inch walls limit air flow too much and may be less healthy for your pigs (the same reason you never put a pig in an aquarium).

Lids on the enclosed cages are made from “Closet Maid” shelving. While it appears to work well, we feel it doesn’t match the rest of the cage and – to be honest - it just doesn’t look good to us.

Rating

I give Sandy 3 pigs.

Sandy has a good selection of guinea pig cages with a couple innovative designs.

From the pictures, the ramps on the multi-level ramps look flimsy – however, her listings say that they are reinforced underneath. She has great feedback numbers and good comments – she’s a reputable seller – we have to believe her. To her credit, they don’t use wire grids for traction – they use Coroplast steps.

I did not rate her as highly as Blue Stone Commerce or Cage Corner because she has a more limited cage selection than either of them and they both present a more professional image – especially Blue Stone Commerce with it’s quality FAQ page and informative videos.

Click Here to Visit Sandy’s eBay Store

Summary

Shown below is a summary of our ratings for the four cage vendors we reviewed. In our opinion, when it comes to C&C cages, these four sellers are at the top so it was hard for us to rank any above or below the others. Nevertheless, here are our ratings based on the reasons outlined in this review:

Blue Stone Commerce 4 1/2 pigs.

Cage Corner 3 1/2 pigs.

Sue’s Cubes and Coroplast Cages 3 pigs.

Superior Cages by Sandy 3 pigs.

The Guinea Pig Cage Site