Cage Safety Check Time! - Tragic Story

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PooksiedAnimals
Supporting my GL Habit

Post   » Wed Nov 28, 2007 9:34 am


How horrible.

I use the 50lb zip ties for the cage (the small ones are 18lbs). I figure they take the stress and strain better.


Elly - do you have an account on CM? If not, can I cross post this there, as well?

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Allysse

Post   » Wed Nov 28, 2007 10:25 am


That is tragic. I was going to say what Jennicat did, that people need to make their lids longer than the cage. I think that should also be included in the cross post.

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somechick

Post   » Wed Nov 28, 2007 11:03 am


While I love these grids and connectors, mine are always coming apart. It's a nightmare. They really aren't held together well by the connectors alone at all. Thank god for ties. I don't know how people use these things as shelving. This story was very disturbing, I actually just checked my cage last night because I saw one of the grids was a little loose.

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lisam

Post   » Wed Nov 28, 2007 11:06 am


Thanks for the warning. I think I'll email my adopters with a reminder to check connectors and ties.

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PooksiedAnimals
Supporting my GL Habit

Post   » Wed Nov 28, 2007 11:31 am


I found that the connectors worked well, only if I used a pair of pliers to push them all the way together. Because they're so tight, I could rarely get them fully set if I did them by hand.

Chaos+Order

Post   » Wed Nov 28, 2007 11:33 am


That is so sad :(

I will be sure to add checking the cage and connections to my routine.

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Elly

Post   » Wed Nov 28, 2007 11:35 am


Feel free to crosspost this wherever it may be helpful. Please do send along Teresa's suggestions as well.

Last I saw the cage the shelving lid was longer then the cage. I can't really imagine how this happened unless the lid was placed back on the cage wrong. I will be going by the home some time soon to help inspect the cage to try to figure out how this happened to insure it doesn't happen again.

In and of themselves C&C cages are safe even if they collapse. The individual grids aren't heavy enough to do any damage. Any danger seems to come from second levels and heavy lids. Thus why, as Teresa said, you must double or triple up with heavy duty zip ties. My second levels have way more ties then one would think necessary. Even if 4 were to pop it would still be held firmly in place.

Like I said; This was a tragic, almost freak, accident. It was not something one would expect and most likely one that none of us will ever experience. My friend's loss brings about the opportunity to insure our designs are stable and safe and reminds us not to take safety for granted.

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Piggster

Post   » Wed Nov 28, 2007 12:35 pm


I have a question concerning longevity of cable ties. I have a 2 x 5 with a second story that is a 1x 4 that comes into a 2 x 1 on one side. We built the second story three years ago and secured it to the first with about 50 cable tiles (cable ties that can handle 50 lbs per packaging), plus the default connectors.

Do I need to change the cable ties soon? Do they lose their strength with age? I regularly inspect for structural integrity anyway, but gave the cage a thorough going over this morning after reading this.

slavetofuzzy
4 the Good of all Pigs

Post   » Wed Nov 28, 2007 12:51 pm


I don't think the ties lose their strength but with the cage being jostled and bounced on by zoomie piggies, the wiggling can cause them to become loose. I have gone through my cages and re-tightened the ones that I could. If I'd cut the ties too close to effectively re-tighten, I replaced them.

Also, I have a tie on every possible connection point. The corners have 3 grids per tie for added sturdiness.

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cavyslave8
I GAVE, dammit!

Post   » Wed Nov 28, 2007 1:10 pm


I'm so sorry for your friends loss. Thank you for posting this. I will certainly be inspecting my cages.

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DaCourt

Post   » Wed Nov 28, 2007 1:29 pm


I tend to over use cable ties. I use them on the entire cage, not just tehe 2nd level. I also support my second level in the middle so it doesn't sag at all. My pigs RUN across and it takes a pounding. Better safe than sorry.

I am so sorry this happened to you friend.

TwoWhitePiggies

Post   » Wed Nov 28, 2007 1:40 pm


What a sad story. Thanks for the reminders to do safety checks. We, too, tend to overbuild the cage with supports, connectors, cable ties, etc. You just never know.

Our little pigs sometimes seem so strong and capable that it's easy to forget what fragile creatures they really are.

Perhaps, like with smoke detectors, cage construction safety checks should be done a month after the initial build and then every six months just to make sure everything is still in good working order.

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