Guinea Pig virgin here ! How do they cope with the heat ?

[CaptainUnderpants]

Picking up some baby guinea pigs in next couple of days , just wondering how Gpigs cope with the heat ?

We have a run with shade and the hutch is in the shade but it is still pretty hot out there ( just in case you hadn't noticed !

Any tips ?

[CaptainUnderpants]

Bump

[northernrefugee39]

Hi- g pigs are gorgeous- you'll love them!

Ours just lie about in the heat- they go in the open part of the hutches, splay out and sleep during the day. In the evenings they come out and graze. Of all the exotic treats they get, there's nothing they like more than a pile of juicy grass.

As long as they have water and plenty of shade/hutch, they don't seem to suffer overly.

We have 7-(6 until dd1 "rescued" a "lonely" boy from the pet shop a couple of weeks ago grrr- lonely and highly sexed....)

[ZZZenAgain]

Ours are doing ok, they are both very small still and sleep in their shadey house. t
They get frisky in the early morning and late afternoon when it isn't too hot. I gave them both a wash yesterday anyway since they were due and I thought it might cool them down. Not sure if it is a good idea or not but they never seem to mind

[Lovemyshoes]

I put a housebrick in with ours, they lay on them to keep them cool and also gnaw on them to keep their teeth down.

[PurpleOne]

agree with nr39.

guineas are adapted to the desert anyway so will sleep in the shade. Just supply plenty of water, tasty fresh veg with water in it (cucumbers are great, and grapes) and let them sleep.

And g pigs love to have a bath. We often fill our bath right up and put the guineas in there...and they swim like mad. Just make sure they don't try to leap over the edge of bath and chip their teeth on the taps.
Plenty of shade, veg and water.

[ZZZenAgain]

didn't know they could swim

[Boco]

I didn't know they could swim either - can they really? How did you find that out?

[northernrefugee39]

Purple! I'm amazed!
We're going to try ours out at swimming this w/e.

I always thought they were really averse to water- they hate the rain. Am truly astounded.

Cucumber- yes a great favourite ours, as well as celery, avocado and melon.

[PurpleOne]

the helpful person advised us at the pet shop to give them a bath every month. i stood there totally at this but we bought some guinea shampoo (cos they stink sometimes) and filled the bath up halfway.
ease them in gently and watch their little legs go!!! don't make the water too cold obv and have plenty of towels down! they get cold VERY quickly and will shiver so make sure they are warm and dried properly. ours love a nice cuddle in the towel afterwards...and then fill the towel with poos!

just don't overfill the bath otherwise they will try and leap.

oh, and nr...we have a highly sexed boy too. his brother is NOT impressed!