Pets - guinea pigs?

[Elfthaygotaway]

We are considering purchasing guinea pigs as family pets.
They would be cared for by dh and I, and involving our ds age 4 (under very close supervision).
I totally understand children quickly get bored of pets so dh and I need to be fully on board with caring for these animals for the next 5-8 years, and we are trying to think things through very carefully before we commit.
As I’ve be never had guinea pigs before I’m just interested in others experience of what they need to be happy. We would probably get 2-3 same sex Guinea pigs as I know they need to live in groups to be happy.

The situation would be, that dh works full time, and I work 30 hours. Most days the guinea pigs would be on their own 9-5. But they will have a large run in the garden, and a large hutch and run in the garage if it was too cold to be out through they day.

Overnight I would probably bring them in to a smaller cage/hutch indoors, particularly in the winter.

We would be able to have them in the house for a couple of hours in the evening to play with/socialise.

I’m not really sure if this is enough for guinea pigs or if really we would need someone at home more.
Some sources I’ve read have said they need as much attention as a dog. But as they will be living in groups I don’t know if they’d be happy through the day with their own company?
Just wanting some insight before we make a decision.
Thank you .

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It’s great you’re thinking about this in advance, OP!
One thing I will say is that they need a lot of space, take a look at some size charts online for the minimum and preferred space option for a group of 3 sows or boars and decide firstly whether you can give that.
It’s not wise to take outdoor Guinea pigs inside during winter as the rapid change in temperature can shock them so it’d either be in or out, you couldn’t really bring them in for an hour or two. Ah outdoor hut would need a good cover, lots and lots of hay and maybe a few snugglesafe heat pads.
Good quality food can be expensive, each pig needs to eat it’s body size in hay each day as a minimum as it makes up 80% of their diet, helps with digestion and keeps their teeth in good shape. To supplement the hay they need pellets and fresh veggies too as they cannot make their own vitamin C so it must come from the diet. Guinea pig specialist foods such as Burgess are enriched with vitamin C but this only lasts for a short period of time so by the time of feeding it, it may not have any of the added goodness left.

Depending on their personality, they may like a lot of attention and can take quite a lot of cleaning out as they’re tiny poo machines but I must say they make the best pets! I’m 21 and I’ve never been without them, I currently have 3 and I think they’re what made me want to be a vet (current student). If you have any more questions feel free to PM!

Thanks student.
That’s really helpful what you have said about indoor/outdoor. My confusion now however is if they are outdoor how do we spend time with them during the colder months?
Do you think they would be happy enough with each other’s company without a huge amount of human interaction through the he day? (Particularly if we can’t bring them in for a while each night).

The warmer weather would be one thing but I just can’t really imagine finishing work and standing with ds in the garden in the dark at this time of year. So it seems during the winter months they’d have little human interaction if they couldn’t come inside.

Re the space issue the size of cage we would be looking at would be like a small child’s Wendy house so I think this would be enough? Although I will double check the size charts.

I definitely don’t want to squish them into a little cage or so anything to harm their wellbeing.
I would like pets and think it would be great for ds but I’m not going to go ahead with this if it’s going to compromise their welfare.
It’s so hard as I imagine you can’t anticipate all of the difficulties until you have the animal, by which point really it’s too late.

They could come inside during the winter but they'd have to stay inside; you couldn't just keep them out during the day then bring them in at night, for example.

I don’t think I could have a big enough living space inside the house for them to stay inside all of the time.
If they stayed outside they could have a fairly big living area, like a Wendy house.

How do you socialise/spend time with them during the winter months if they are kept outdoors however?

I think you’d have to wrap up and go out, I’m afraid. My 3 are kept in my bedroom which I know isn’t for everyone.

Ours have a old playhouse converted but dh is building a indoor hutch for dd Xmas as she doesn't get enough interaction in winter due to dark. If you had a shed this may be better.
Boys generally only in pairs but girls can be in bigger groups.

Guinea pigs are wonderful little pets. Bear in mind that if they do have the run of the house they chew everything including wires!! Please make the cage very, very fox proof.

They poo constantly so I cleanse their house daily and do The Big Clean once a week. I personally have found the gps a huge amount of work v what you get back although they are sweet. If they are outdoor piggies you won't see them much in winter.

We’ve always kept our piggies as indoor pets that only go out in runs when it’s warm . Indoors they get a lot more interaction naturally and I think it helps them with being friendlier / less nervous . I actually think rats make much better pets for children than either piggies , rabbits or hamsters .

We don't have any pets at the moment but we have had GPs in the past and I think they are very good pets for small children. We kept ours outdoors. They had a hutch and a big run which we moved around the garden every few days. They are quite a lot of work it is true, but they are so cute it's worth it!
Gerbils are good too. They are very bright and inquisitive and are awake during the day so much better pets than hamsters in my opinion. (Though I have a soft spot for most rodents really!)

I am a big animal lover and had a guinea pig once. Not again. Not for me. They cannot hold their wee and poo even when they are on your lap. I didn't find them particularly affectionate either, quite indifferent in fact. They also smell. I much prefer rats. Far more intelligent, affectionate, they can be toiler trained, and although they can also smell, they like water. Mine loved a bath and then being brushed dry :)

I had a pair of boy rats who would both wail dolefully the entire time if I tried to wash them

Our guinea pigs are outside during the summer, and in winter we bring them inside at night into a cage. They still go outside in the daytime for some air and a run around. They’re perfectly happy and healthy.

I wouldn’t worry about attention either, they’ll be fine all day.

Three guinea pigs would need a single level of floor space as a minimum of 150x60cm. They do not do well in temperatures under around 15, so would need to be above that temperature year round.

I’d say 3 rather than 2. We had 2, and I died a couple of weeks ago. I’m now looking for a single sow as a companion for the remaining pig and it’s a bit of a challenge.

I died a couple of weeks ago

ARGH A ZOMBIE THREAD

You don't need someone at home during the day with guinea pigs, they aren't that bothered about human interaction although mine do like a cuddle.

We had ours outside in the garden. They weren't too cold, we had a thermal cover on the hutch and used microwave heat pads to keep them warm at night. However we found that we didn't spend much time with them and just used to go out to give them food or clean the hutch so weren't getting much out if having a pet. We've moved them inside now and is much better.

Have you considered rats instead? They are easy to litter train and don't poop constantly. We have 3 females and they are really clean, only sometimes drop a little wee on our hands to mark us

Our kids love them too (5 & 2).

Easy to clean the cage and they are active whenever you want them to come out!

We have had guinea pigs for our girls since they were very little
Very friendly, talk to you through little squeeks, love cuddles (ours watch the TV with us) and you can train them.

I have a friend who has 6 indoor guinea pigs, all girls. The spare room is entirely theirs, she spot cleans poo as she finds it (endlessly, it seems!) and does a 'deep clean' with complete change of bedding etc once a week. Lots of hides and ramps and toys, I'll have to ask her if I can share some photos she has and come back later. They're all very friendly, at least from what I can tell when I've visited! Their room has a slight smell but I wouldn't say they're particularly bad smelling, you don't notice it anywhere else in the house.

Guinea pigs are great pets. They are incredibly friendly and will come when you call etc. The one I had when I was younger used to love having her chin tickled! I currently have 2 who are 6 years old. They live outside year round in a double storey 6ft hutch with plenty of hay and heat pads in winter (although I've brought them inside this winter due to age). They are perfectly fine left all day. If space allows get 3-4 as they are a social animal. It is perfectly fine to bring them inside for an hour a night to play with them then pop them back outside. They need hay & veggies everyday. Personally I think they are quite low maintenance. Just be prepared for unexpected vet bills! I originally had 4 females, one female turned out to actually be Male so had lots of babies (9 in total!)! Had to get him neutered and get a temporary separate cage for him & the boy babies. Then he jumped off the sofa and fractured his leg so had to pay for that, then one of them got an ulcer in their eye so another vet bill, then the Male one stopped eating so had to syringe feed every 2 hours etc which was more expense! Oh, and get short haired ones, long hair requires a lot of grooming!

Lovely little animals and they never bite, unlike rats, hamsters and gerbils. (Ps rats smell AWFUL!)
Ours have the run of our conservatory all year round - it has a stone floor, so the odd puddle can easily be mopped up. We cuddle them on our laps, but they need a thick towel to sit on as they will eventually pee (small creatures, even smaller bladders).
They are not very clever and they think all humans are terrifying eagles - they nearly always run for cover when you want to have a sneaky cuddle, but it helps if you move slowly and talk to them gently -"and once you have them they usually settle down and enjoy a scratch under the chin. Good luck!