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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

I'm thinking of getting guinea pigs. Please educate me!

90 replies

Smudggle · 16/04/2019 11:59

As title said, something I'd like to do. I've never had any pets before so I'm treading carefully here. I have multiple DC (who are all sensible and caring) aged between 8yrs to teenager.

I literally know nothing. Can someone enlighten me on living arrangements, potential vet bills, seasons (indoor or outdoor), vaccinations, food, costs etc.

I won't be buying any for another 6 months or so. I want to feel confident first!

We are a very loving family and any we get will be utterly worshipped, that I can guarantee

OP posts:

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KC225 · 16/04/2019 13:13

If you are on Facebook there is a brilliant group called Guinea Pig Support and Advice. Its lots a of Americans, British all over. The admins who run it are quick to answer questions.

I saw our two boys on Facebook ad where a teenager had grown bored. They are a bit more work and expense with the hay, specialised pellets and veg but they are so worth it. We keep our indoors in an ipen top C&C cage from Guinea Pig Cages. In the summer, they go outside and are excellent grass mowers.

They are gorgeous interactive creatures. Ours let us know when they want to go for a wee by gently nibbling your clothes. The range of squeaks, popcorning when they are happy. Love them

GhostsInSnow · 16/04/2019 13:21

Can't resist showing off my 'Grandpigs'. These gorgeous boys belong to my daughter. I cannot tell you how much they have improved her anxiety.
They live in a large C&C cage in DD's lounge and are generally spoiled rotted (she even has a pig cam on them in the day).
Lovely little things!

I'm thinking of getting guinea pigs. Please educate me!

Original poster

Smudggle · 16/04/2019 13:45

House wise, if absolutely necessary we could make space in one of the DCs bedrooms. Based on that, are they wiffy? Obviously they'd be cleaned out on a regular basis but in the meantime?

OP posts:

Original poster

Smudggle · 16/04/2019 13:46

Gorgeous grandpigs

OP posts:

Flicketyflack · 16/04/2019 13:49

I have two boars who are brothers & we clean them every two-three days. They are on newspapers & hay.

EastMidsGPs · 16/04/2019 13:51

Be warned!! You will become a Guinea Pig slave😃

Isthisafreename · 16/04/2019 13:56

are they wiffy

Provided you clean them out frequently, not particularly.

5foot5 · 16/04/2019 13:58

Based on that, are they wiffy?

If you clean them very regularly then no they are not wiffy.

We had two girl guinea pigs for several years. In the summer we kept them on the lawn in a hutch and covered run. In the colder months we kept them in a big cage in the spare bedroom. We tried keeping them in DDs room but they kept her awake.

We used to completely change the bedding every morning and once a week we emptied the cage and gave it a good scrub using a special pet-safe disinfectant.

They are the loveliest creatures - love looking at other people's photos.

Long haired are more difficult, we had one once and she used to get very tangled and if you even touched her with the brush she squealed like she was being skinned alive!

Cost us very little in vet bills. I used to take one of them to the vet to get her nails clipped but it only cost about £6 a time. All the others we ever had I clipped the nails myself but she was a nightmare and I was scared of hurting her hence the vet visits.

Agree about keeping pairs. We always did until the penultimate one died and then we thought that giving the age of the remaining one she probably wouldn't be around for long so kept her by herself. Blow me if she didn't totter on until she was 7 years old!

thetemptationofchocolate · 16/04/2019 14:03

They don't smell if their house is cleaned often :)
Please consider going to a guinea pig rescue rather than a pet shop. Pigs from a rescue will be the sex they tell you they are, so you will not end up with lots of baby guineas running about, they will also have been health checked, and you will get plenty of good advice and ongoing support should you need it.
They are great pets!

Popfan · 16/04/2019 14:22

They will be absolutely fine living outside all year round. My two have a big hutch with two tiers which has a thermal cover and I also cover it over with 2 horse rugs. They also have lots of bedding. They go out in their run all year round too unless it's particularly cold or very rainy. They have shelters in there too. They love their veg - kale, peppers, carrots etc although I'd have to say dandelions are their real favourite.
Definitely get more than one - in my opinion it's cruel to have one on their own. My two (boys) love each other and snuggle up together. They are about 4 or 5 now and very healthy.

EastMidsGPs · 16/04/2019 14:24

Oh and come over to Small Pets on MN

EngagedAgain · 16/04/2019 14:40

I don't know much about them but I did have a couple for my children and they had skin problems. Whereas the one I had as a child didn't. Maybe someone can or already has enlighten us on the skin problem. Sorry not rtft.

Whoateallthecheese · 17/04/2019 07:52

Watching as older son is trying to talk me into getting some...

Whoateallthecheese · 17/04/2019 08:27

Watching as ds is trying to convince me we need some!

musicposy · 17/04/2019 08:35

They poo.

That sounds obvious, but honestly, they poo like nothing else on the planet. It literally goes in one end and comes out the other, 24/7. The poo is solid and small and in pellets and not really at all disgusting, but did mean that when we had them indoors over winters I used to clean them out every other day or the cage just looked dirty.

They were the loveliest, sweetest animals and I miss having them (we kept them for many years when the DC were young), but I don't miss the cleaning out!

EastMidsGPs · 17/04/2019 08:56

Just a thought check your children are not allergic to their fur (visit someone with piggies or a petting zoo).
Some fur is worse than others.
I have become increasingly allergic over the years of our keeping them. I get wheezy and have itchy eyes.
I think this maybe why schools have generally stopped keeping them indoors as school pets.
I do know someone who bought 2 sows, cage, the whole set up for his DC, only to find himself in hospital within 24 hrs after an out of the blue substantial allergic reaction.
Extreme I appreciate but would hate for you and your DC to become attached to a pair of furries to discover they have to be rehomed.

Laiste · 17/04/2019 09:14

OH GOD I LOVE GUINEA PIGS

We had 15 at one point. They were split between 6 big cages in the house at for night time and we'd put them out together free on the lawn by day. (unless it was v.cold) We made lawn edging and they had shelters to get out of the rain. They were lovely - all coming squeaking to see you when you went out to hang washing/do gardening/kids playing ect. Take out their carrots and call them to you ... they'd come from all corners of the garden

The story is that we rescued a neglected rabbit, complete with hutch, which turned out to have a guinea pig hiding at the back. We went from there. Separated rabbit and guinea pig. Bought a book about guineas the same day and went out and bought a companion for the piggy the same day. Then another. Then another plus another big cage because no. 3 piggy didn't get on with no.2 piggy. So that was 4.

Then we got given 2 rescue pigs. So 6. One was pregnant! We kept all 5 babies (all female) (lovely for the DCs to see this) so now 11 pigs.

We later decided to breed one of the (fancy breed) babies with a stud pig from a local guinea fancier. The litter was 4 strong and we kept all those as well. One was a male and we had him castrated so he could run with the 14 ladies They each lived to around 7 or 8 years old. My 3 DDs loved them dearly. We didn't buy or rescue any more and our last one passed away about 8 years ago.

I MISS THEM.

brizzlemint · 17/04/2019 09:17

I won't be buying any for another 6 months or so. I want to feel confident first!

That's a good idea to feel confident but I'd get them before the summer is over so they can enjoy the grass under their feet.

Laiste · 17/04/2019 09:25

Think of them like tiny dogs rather than hamster type pets. Lots of space, and the chance to exercise outdoors or at least out of the cage daily if poss. I think that's the way forward with piggies.

They will use all the space you give them. They each have their own clear personalities. When they have babies and they're out on the lawn the little ones run after their mums in a long line like ducklings !! So cute

Hopoindown31 · 17/04/2019 09:39

As others have said get a pair at least and get the sexed! 2 males can be fine as long as you get them young enough. If you are getting indoor reared pigs then make sure that it is warm enough outside before putting them out otherwise get outdoor pigs. Introducing adult pigs to each other is generally not recommended except for mating (don't do it!).

I would recommend getting a good quality nugget feed rather than the standard mixed food as pigs are notorious for picking out their favourite bits of the mixed feed and leaving the rest. You'll need to supplement this with fresh fruit and veg, but you can feed then this while grooming and spending time with them.

They are vocal so will give you much more feedback than rabbits which is great. They learn to squeak in a special way (usually louder or a different tone) to get attention from humans as they are associative learners. Our pigs squeak excitedly if indoors when they hear the fridge as that is where the veg comes from!

I'd strongly recommend starting with a standard short hair before moving to the longer haired breeds. If you don't know what you are doing then long hairs can suffer from horrible things like flystrike (look it up - grim).

As others have said they need plenty of exercise so a run is really recommended, but please always put some shelter in with them as their natural predators are birds of prey so they like to retreat to cover if they feel threatened.

vampirethriller · 17/04/2019 09:40

I love guinea pigs! I can't wait for my daughter to be old enough to have some me to get some and pretend they're hers
They love dandelions. They learn that food comes in bags that make a rustling and start to squeak every time they hear anything even remotely crinkly. I had a male one who would try to have sex with the dog, they're randy little buggers. (Dog didn't seem to mind)

brizzlemint · 17/04/2019 13:12

Ours are like that, any rustling bag or even just coming in the room has then standing up begging - we have a roofless cage for them when they aren't in the garden. They love kale (but can't have it too often because of vitamin A I think) and love you for ever if you have blueberries.

brizzlemint · 17/04/2019 13:31

I had a male one who would try to have sex with the dog, they're randy little buggers. (Dog didn't seem to mind)

How small was your dog?!

5foot5 · 17/04/2019 13:37

Our pigs squeak excitedly if indoors when they hear the fridge as that is where the veg comes from!

Oh yes I remember ours doing that! They also learned that DH was a softer touch than me and if they squeaked he would find a tasty tid-bit of cucumber or carrot to give them. It got so they could distinguish his footstep on the stairs - I went up silence, DH started up the stairs and there were excited shrieks from the spare room.

I remember once we had a young nephew and niece staying and I had done a sort of buffet tea that included some dips and sticks of carrot, peppers, cucumber etc. DD and DNiece went off to play and little DNephew kept following them and then coming downstairs for more veg sticks. For a while I thought "Aw bless him he does like his healthy food", then we found that actually the piggies had been feasting well that night!

5foot5 · 17/04/2019 13:38

always put some shelter in with them as their natural predators are birds of prey so they like to retreat to cover if they feel threatened.

We had a 2 foot long piece of plastic drainpipe that they liked to hide in

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