1. How many animals, of what gender, do I need to house?
2. What do I do if they don't get along, or if a new cavy upsets the "pecking order?"
3. What if I have a "surprise" and decide to keep some of the pups?
4. Do I want the cavy to have free access to a room, or confine him/her to a cage?
5. Will I be able to allow the cavy ample exercise outside of the cage? Or will the cage have to be it's only area of access?
6. Where will I locate the housing unit?
7. Do I want it to blend into an existing decor or will the animal(s) be in a different area from "guests" to my home?
8. How easy must it be to clean, do I have medical reasons for making it easier to clean?
9. How handy am I with a hammer, saw and other tools? Or do I have a friend who is handy?

• Seagull's cages take over a room, this is a very casual arrangement, it allows for fairly easy cleaning, rearranging and adapting to a changing herd. Please note, he has one neutered male in this herd!
• Mary Barr's herd of females only lives in a custom built caviary that is a prominent part of the entrance to their home.
• Kelly Wagner does a lot of rescue work, her herd can go from 3 to 30 in a heartbeat! So her cages have to be highly versatile too.
• Dale's Mad Scramblers are a mixed sex herd, there is one neutered male, two females and four unneutered males, many of them related! So he has segregated their homes by gender (except for the neutered male and his bonded female).

Since this is a critical part of the health and well being of your animal, please take the time to get it mostly right the first time. (I've made several modifications to the Main Caviary, and working on a new Boys' Dorm, since some of the guys seem to need a lot of space!)