Building The Wheekies Indoor Pen

How we built The Wheekies Pen

From this ....	.... To this !	Inside Window/Door View !

We built the Wheekies indoor pen at the end of the summer in 1996. Mouse and Squirt had been living in 'Wheekies Pen' prototype #1 [which can be seen at the bottom of our 'My Housing' page] which had been built by my Grandfather for them. Pen #1 was very similar but smaller, with a glass window instead of Plexi-glass and a 'lower-down' ramp rather than opening door. It was long but narrower, though ideal for 2 pigs. However, I knew I was going to add to my initial herd so my other half and I began designing a larger pen that could accommodate more pigs. To fit in with the space available in my living room we decided that a corner shaped pen would be order of the day and we basically built it to fit the corner available which at the time was in the corner between my settee and a cupboard ! Very shortly after Mouse and Squirt moved in to the new pen Mop and Tiger came to live with us - they were quarantined in Pen #1 - then after a month they moved in with Mouse and Squirt in the main pen [they were all girls] and we haven't looked back !

Wheekies Pen has been home to 10 guinea pigs over the years [Snowballs never made it out of quarantine]. I have always loved my pen as it is individual - different to others I have seen around and is absolutely perfect for my needs and has a little character all of its own !

Wheekies Pen is made out of Melamine coated chipboard, the type found at most DIY stores, the brown coloured board on the base is actually part of the side of a built-in wardrobe that was in my bedroom when I moved in. This is easy to wipe over during clean-out time and doesn't allow any dampness to soak in, as it would if it was made out of untreated/coated wood. We find this very hygenic, you can also obtain it in several colours, eg white and varying shades of brown - to help fit in with the colour of your room. The original Pen #1 was built out of the wardrobe doors and shelves, and the original glass window was an old bathroom shelf - I am a great advocate of re-using existing materials !
Wheekies Pen has a Plexiglass window, which is sort of very hard clear plastic. I feel this is safer than glass when you are as clumsy as me and there are animals involved ! It is light and easy to slip out for cleaning etc. It is lovely to sit in the evening and let your eyes wander over to the pen and be able to easily see what they are up to through the window.
We decided on a little wooden door which opened outwards on hinges to allow easy access for the pigs during floortime. It has a little door-knob and we have to say, we think it's very cute ! At floor-time the pigs can go in and out as they please, then when they're all back in the pen we just go and close the door again. I put a little door-stop, which was a Christmas present, outside of the door, though the latch does keep the door shut securely.
The whole pen is on castor WHEELS so is easy to wheel around for hoovering underneath etc. It is also useful when you need to wheel the pen around to make room for a Christmas tree somewhere in the room at Christmas !
Then pen is lined with a sheet of Lino, so it is damproof. It is easy to wipe-clean. This is of course then covered with newspaper / bedding etc !

It has a lovely open feel about it, making the pigs feel as though they are not hemmed in, but the solid sides keep out floor-level draughts and make them feel safe and secure. [I have the towel covered cube grid length over the top in the above pic as I temporarily had the pen under my window and wanted to make sure no draughts came downwards from the window into the pen]. The depth back into the corner of the room also gives a lovely deep wide floor area for them. I would always build any future pens based on this method as we have found it so agreeable. More details about the pen below.

How we built The Wheekies Pen - Step By Step ....
Check all parts present !	Lay out 2 x base boards	Attach securely together	Flip over, a nice smooth base

Attach back panel	Attach side panel #1	Attach side panel #2	Flip over and prepare screws

Screw sides from underneath	Attach side panel #3	Begin attaching front panel	Screw from underneath again

Screw to side panel #3	Attach castors to underside	Complete underside	Front door & bottle clip

Lino & Plexiglass Window in !	Close-up of bottle clip	Butterfly screw for clip	Water bottle in action !

A few tips !

The Plexi-Glass window was slotted into 2 x wooden uprights obtained from the local DIY store [see top right internal photo] this enables me to slide the window in and out for cleaning purposes. Plexi-Glass can be quite tricky to cut neatly so be very careful when cutting or get the DIY store to do it to your precise measurements if you can !
The little wooden door is attached with 2 x small hinges and we screwed a metal plate into the inside of the pen to stop it opening inwards so it was nice and secure. We had a metal latch on the outside to keep it shut which slid downwards when we opened the door. [see top middle & right photos]. The local woodyard supplied and cut the door to our measurements and we rounded / smoothed it off back home then used it as a template to cut the door opening on the front panel.
The water bottle clip was a stroke of luck ! I found it at my local DIY store - it is a coated 1.1/2" tool clip ! However, it exactly fitted the cap of my water bottle so we screwed it to the inside of the pen using a butterfly type screw [I'm not sure of the technical name !] and it holds the water bottle in extremely snugly.
The base of the pen is made out of 2 different bits of chipboard as I couldn't get 1 bit deep enough, we have bolted them securely together from underneath. As the pen is lined with Linoleum it does not matter in the slightest that there is a join.
We measured and cut all parts to size before we began construction but depending on your experience and confidence you may want to measure and cut the parts as you go. Most DIY stores regularly have '10%' days so it's worth waiting for one of those before buying your supplies then get everything in one go - chipboard, wheels, plexi-glass, lino & screws etc !
As the pen is based on a 'corner' design some of the bits of coated chipboard had to be cut at slight angles, which obviously is a very careful and precise job. If you are not confident of cutting the board at the correct angles, to ensure a tight snug fit when screwing panels together, it might be better to build a rectangular design pen.
The pen is approx 4.5 ft x 3.5 ft which is perfect for us *and* nice and spacious for the pigs ! The sides are 12 inches high - we find this is perfect for noses and front paws to pop out of when there are treats around but the pigs cannot actually escape from this height [unless of course you put a little house they can jump on right next to the side - but that's just common sense !].

Using this method you can make your pen as big as you need and whatever shape you choose - the design is up to you - just be sure to draw out your plans very carefully and precisely so you can get the most amount of panels out of the coated chipboard you buy and minimise wasteage. Have you any old wardrobes / shelving units / kitchen units made of melamine coated chipboard that you can use to make your pen, or part of it from ? Ensure you measure well so all parts fit snugly together and you don't have any gaps where bedding may get caught etc. Have fun and be proud of your construction !

Further info / pics of Wheekies Pen: See our Bedding / Housekeeping options and My Housing page. The next page shows how we built our outside exercise run !

Wheekies Inspired Poems

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Page Last Updated: 20/04/06