guinea advice please

[plum100]

we got guineas at the weekend and as I've never had them before I wondered if anyone had any good advice...

They have a two storey hutch ( i have 3 piggies they are 4 wks old) and a seperate run that is 5ft x 5ft. I have been putting them in their run all day and the hutch at night. However yesterday it poured with rain and so the grass was wet all day. I read not to put them out in the rain- even if they have shelter - which they do - or put them on wet grass. Ok fine but I felt really mean keeping them in their hutch all day. Now, in the winter the grass will be pretty wet and muddy for a long time - what do people do with their outdoor living piggies? I am happy to bring mine into the garage with their run to live in the winter but then i read that piggies need sunlight! So how do you tick all the boxes in the winter - Exercise- warm and dry - and sunlight?

They have become very good at being handled - they have cuddles and veg after breakfast, cuddles again sometime in the afternoon and again at bedtime with supper - they will stand still for you now while you pick them up,. But their little bodies do shake sometimes - is this because they are frightened or so small or what? They also make little noises when on us, which I hope is a sign of contentment.

We really love our little pigs and want then to be happy and content with us . I think their hutch will be too small when they are bigger - its 3ft by 2ft - I read that you need that for one piggy - does the upstairs count as square footage as well? We werent actually planning to get three so we knowe we wil have to expand. what size do you think we would need?

Any advice given will be gratefully received - thanks

[breatheslowly]

This is a great resource for guinea pig cages and sizes. Ours lived indoors, but you could make them a run to put down in your kitchen during the winter for a bit of exercise and keep them in their hutch most of the time.

Weight for weight our piggies had the same area of our house as us.

Here is a page that explains their noises.