letting guinea pigs loose around the garden

[SlartyBartFast]

a friend plans to do this, currently they have a haphazard wire enclosure, quite large, but he reckons they will become more tame and will no longer need the enclosure

any one do this?

[ilovesprouts]

not at all imo ,too many dogs /cats around !!

[brokenspacebar]

We had an open enclosure for ours, the stoat got them, killed one and the other one had to be put to sleep... if there isn't a stoat around there probably will be a cat?

[nickytwotimes]

No.
They will get into trouble in some way - cat/get stuck somewhere.
A decent sizeed run is better for them.
Bless them, they aren't the smartest of beasts.

[Countingthegreyhairs]

he will lose them ...most gps have a sense of adventure ...

we do do it, but have walled garden, and we surpervise for cats and would advise for this reason, bringing them in at night

did lose one of them overnight recently but fortunately found her in the morning so I now only let them out of their enclosure for two or three hours at a time

gps can scrunch up their bodies (can't remember technical term) like most rodents to enable them to pass through small holes

[LaaDeDa]

I've done it and was fine for a while - i would put food into the hutch at the end of the day and they would jump back in themselves BUT kept seeing a cat watching them from the fence and let the dog out to see it off (they scuttled under a canoe when she was let out) got distracted by the phone and... you can guess the rest

Big thumbs down from me. If i hadn't been so stupid the cat would have probably got it anyway as they are so quiet and can wait without moving for ages so the guineas kind of forget to be wary of it and go near it.

[SlartyBartFast]

thanks for all your responses

so how can i tell him?

we have loose rabbits but generally only when i am at home and they have failed so far to dig their way out.
but gpigs are much smaller, and i think too stupid to come back to their hutch at night

[SlartyBartFast]

about the cat

[nickytwotimes]

Oh, my rabbit was fine loose.
Guinea pigs are natural 'hiders' so will easily get lost.

I might suggest to him that you have heard a number of unfortunate stories about piggies being eaten/hurt/going missing while on the loose.

Seriously, they are really cute but really dim.

[moshie]

My neighbour's guinea pig had it's eyes pecked out by magpies, so it's not just cats you have to watch out for.

[SlartyBartFast]

oh, ouch

[Countingthegreyhairs]

yikes!!!!! ooohhhhh noooo!!!