A couple of questions about Guinea Pigs.

[coldwater1]

I am thinking of buying a couple of Guinea Pigs as much for me as my kids. Although my eldest who is 12 has been on and on at me to buy them for years since our cute little rabbit died.

A couple of things have stopped me, the main one being i have never owned one so don't know what they require in terms of housing and food. I have had cats, dogs, hamsters, fish and rabbits but never a guinea pig.

Can someone please tell me if they are better kept indoors or out, or a mixture? Indoors through winter but out in summer? What do they use as bedding, sawdust, hay or straw? What do they eat? I know you can buy the ready mix stuff and they can eat fresh veg but how much of each everyday? What veg to avoid? Are females better for children or does it not matter? If they are kept as indoor pets do they make noise at night? I remember our hamsters being very noisy at night. Lol anything else i should think about before making a decision?

[coldwater1]

Oh and one more question, do they require vaccines like other pets?

[Stripytop]

Here is all you need to know.

I love GP's.

No vaccines required.

[coldwater1]

Ah thank you. Will read that tonight. Have just ordered a little book about caring for guinea pigs too, i want to know everything first!

[LadySnapcase]

This is what we were told before we got ours...

We were advised not to use sawdust (can cause breathing problems) or straw (too pokey) for bedding, so we use carefresh/megasorb with hay. The pellet food is apparently better than the cereal stuff as they just pick out the bits of the cereal they like and can miss out on nutrients. Ours probably get too much food, they are porky! Their diet should be 80% hay and the rest pellets and fresh veg. Male/female doesn't really make a difference as far as I know, except that males have grease glands that need some extra maintenance or else they can get gunked up. Obviously be very careful that you don't get one of each, they can be hard to sex when they're young! They aren't nocturnal exactly but they will move about a bit at night, though they're generally pretty quiet...except when they hear the fridge door go/you go near them at food time, when you will get some fantastic squeaking

They do need cleaning out regularly, they don't half poo a lot! And please get a nice big cage, they're social animals so you should get at least two and will need at least a 120cm cage IIRC...

[coldwater1]

Thank you. Do you keep yours indoors? If they are kept indoors do i need to take them outside everyday for exercise in a run?

[LadySnapcase]

Yes mine are indoors, they should be let out of the cage regularly for a run about, but we don't do daily bad owners, but we do have a massive cage and it doesn't have to be outside. We used to put a couple of towels on the floor and hide any wires and just let them have at it. We did have them live in a sort of permanent run on the floor for a while, until one night they escaped and we had to spend a morning coaxing them out from under the sofa...

[LittleBabyPigsus]

You can actually line their cages with fleece and just wash it when it gets dirty - because their poops are pellets, they are easy to get rid of with a little hand-held hoover and then just wash the fleece when it's been peed on a bit too much. They do poop everywhere but it's like the least messy animal poop ever, it doesn't even smell (herbivore poop >>>> carnivore poop).

Piggies don't jump so you can make open-topped cages out of wire squares clipped together. The bonus is that if you want to extend the cage, you simply add more squares, and it also means double-tier cages are possible (very fun for piggies). See examples and information here.

Guinea pigs love tunnels to run through (you can get ones covered in vegetable fibre paper which they love to nibble), fleece tunnels and pouches to cuddle in and toys to play with, they are very inquisitive and sociable animals. If they are well-socialised they should enjoy cuddles. Please get your pigs from a rescue - Pets At Home are notorious for bad advice and selling pigs that are too young to be sold. Rescue pigs have the bonus of often coming in established pairs (or bigger groups) and will already be used to people, so will settle in easier.

[LittleBabyPigsus]

Also they have great fun when running around indoors, it's absolutely fine. They run FAST!

[yummystepford]

GP are the best pets, easy to look after and very cute. I thought mine would be a pain and just for the kids but I'm very attached to them and preferred them over my dog!!

[yummystepford]

Agree, not from pets at home, poor genetically and not very well cared for, but they do also have a rescue centre which would be worth looking at

[LittleBabyPigsus]

Oh yes, rescue piggies that are being housed at P@H are fine!

[guineapiglet]

Do make sure non of your family are allergic, guineas are such allergenic creatures, and can cause problems for anyone with fur allergies, in which case they really cannot be indoors. - Our girls lived out in the shed for most of the year and were brought in when it was seriously cold - we put them on a tiled floor ( no carpets), but my asthmatic son had to be kept well away from them, he reacted terribly to them. ( and the hay!)

Good luck , they are fabulous little creatures, but do require regular cleaning out, and adult input, - by the way, the poos are brilliant manure if you collect them and put on lawn, plants etc, completely bio degradable, I used to have a brilliant green lawnwith loads of dandelions

:)

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

I'm reading and running here (but I will be back) a la Arnold S.

RSPCA site says "Get your male guinea-pig neutered"

Yes , if you want boar/sow pairs
No if you want boar/boar. (Two boars will not alter their piganalities if they have their 'nads removed. And the risk is present of surgery. Lots of rescue sites recommend boar pairing)

We matched our adult boar with a piglet last year (his cagemate died) and 99% of the time they are fine.
I'd say space, 'Get Out of My Face' Space and food is the key.

[coldwater1]

Thank you all so much for your advice.

I would never consider buying a pet from Pets at Home after hearing some sad stories.
I like the idea of a ready made pair from a rescue centre, how would i find a rescue centre near me?
I'm in no rush to get them, was going to wait a few weeks until the weather cheers up a little and i'm still undecided about whether to keep them indoors or out. I am worried that when my kids have a nutty half-hour they'll scare the little piggies (they can get loud!) But i hate the idea of the piggies being outside with not much interaction, at least if they are indoors we can see/speak to them at will.

[yummystepford]

Guinea pigs are very happy outside, they do not really need much interaction as much as you may feel like you should more. You should handle them regularly to get them used to it. Make sure they come inside at winter though and if they live indoors (mine used to) they can go out in a run. I hate when pets are left outside in winter, even with the hutch covers, I know they would live outside in the wild, but say rabbits would be underground huddled up in big groups for warmth. My oh his used to live in the shed during winter. They would also get used to kids noise, but they can be smelly! Especially if you feed them broccoli. Which they love, and they usually love herbs like basil, parsley. Better than the guinea pig treats you can buy. We are going to start growing some herbs for our 4! They also love grass and if you moved them square by square round your garden in the run you probably wouldn't ever need to mow the lawn. Now wondering if I love my GPs a little too much right now!

[yummystepford]

You can use the rescue centre at pea at home, or google to search local ones.

[dietcokeandwine]

coldwater have a look at The Piggy Bank - nationwide group of guinea pig rescues.

We keep our guineas indoors, and have young (and noisy!) children. It is amazing how the pigs adapt. What I've found is that they will always startle to sudden noises after a period of relative quiet, but the general noise and clatter of children playing doesn't seem to bother them at all.

I kept guineas outside (housed in hutches in a shed) as a child, and I have to say I much prefer having them indoors. We all love the interaction and it's so much easier to take care of them when they're just outside the kitchen! I do a quick daily bedding change (replacing soiled hay with fresh) and then a full cage scrub twice a week and this seems to manage the smell factor pretty well.

Our guineas go out on the lawn during the warmer months and for indoor 'floortime' whenever I can manage.

For bedding I can highly recommend Finacard which is a shredded cardboard bedding. I used to use shavings (which you're not really supposed to use because of the dust factor) and tried other beddings such as fleece/Megazorb but didn't really get on with either (hated the Megazorb smell!). Finacard is great however and the pigs seem to love it too.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

I bought a shredder (fine cross cut confetti rather than the long strips) and anything piggiesafe gets shredded for bedding. Even loo roll tubes.

Saves a fortune and recycling

[coldwater1]

Wow thank you all for your tips, i'm trying to scribble it all down. Going to go to my local pet shop at the weekend and look at indoor cages for size/price, i'm definitely swaying towards keeping them indoors. Will be nicer for the kids and i to be able to see them all the time and easier for cleaning purposes!

[FernieB]

Look online for cages - pet shops don't always have the largest sizes and you need the biggest you can.

[coldwater1]

Oh ok thanks. Just off to uni but will have a look tonight.

[LittleBabyPigsus]

I don't have piggies myself but my best friend does and she loves having hers indoors, she likes just having them chill out with her when watching TV etc. They are sociable little animals and can really bond with their owners. Tbh they are noisy enough themselves so kids' noise shouldn't be an issue! Peppers (sweet/bell peppers, not hot ones) go down very well food-wise btw.

70 great idea re the shredder!

[coldwater1]

Thank you.

I have looked online and found a cage but just wanted to ask if it will be big enough for two, the measurements are 119L x 59W x 47H cm, that seems to be the biggest i can find.

Also, i've found a really good Guinea Pig forum and they have a chart for what fruit/veg you can feed and how often. Now heres my question, how big is a portion size for a Guinea Pig? Can you tell i over think things?! lol

I have added some things to my online basket and saved it before buying (just needed to ask about cage size first!) Have i missed anything?

Cage
Feeding bottle
Feeding bowl
Rack for the hay
Tunnel
House
Hemp flooring for cage
Pellet food
Shortened straw

I am going to buy the hay rather than order it.

[LittleBabyPigsus]

A handful of fruit/veg (heavier on the veg is best to keep sugar levels down) is fine - think maybe half a little gem lettuce each. Not sure on the measurements as I am so bad at maths (dyscalculia) but that sounds reasonable if they have exercise outside the cage too.

Is the tunnel a cardboard one or a fabric one? They like fabric tunnels/pouches/beds to snuggle up in, and they're nice to cuddle them in. Fleece is good because it's easy to wash and dry after being weed on!

What kind of hay rack is it? Friend's piggy got his head stuck in a wire one and nearly died, I would recommend the wooden manger type. They often like to sit in the manger which is very cute

Btw the cheapo supermarket basics hay will be fine as long as it's soft and not hard/really yellow. Timothy hay is naice hay but the cheaper meadow kind is absolutely fine. Avoid alfalfa for adult piggies.

[ABitterPIL]

Look for cage liners on line. (I got mine from a lady who hand makes them. Ziggiespiggies) they are SO much easier and cheaper to use than sawdust!

They eat and poo a LOT but it is lovely when they call for you if they hear your voice.