Guinea pigs for beginners

[SliceOfCakeCupOfTea]

DS has expressed a desire for a pet for quite some time and after some consideration, I'm thinking guinea pigs.

Before I dig into researching them fully, I just wanted to get a rough understanding of the startup cost for the hutch, the run, the kit, the animals (you need 2 don't you?) Also running costs?

I would obviously do more research once I've figured out if they are actually a viable option for us.

Any advice is welcome

Google c and c cages. Or start here -

kaveecage.co.uk/

Really they should be indoors in the largest cage you can get. And you need 2 - 2 boys from the same litter or 2 girls will be okay. If you get more than 2 make sure they’re all girls or one neutered boy and the rest girls. More than 2 boys will fight. Often 2 boys will still fight but they’ll usually sort themselves out eventually.

I love Guinea pigs and have had many over the years. We now have 4 in a huge indoor cage that takes up half our kitchen diner. One is a boy that was left as a single from a 2 boy group (other one died) so we neutered him and then got him 3 girlfriends.

They are lovely animals but very timid and love their veggies! They will wheek (squeak) with excitement when they know they’re getting fed. Ours squeak every time the fridge opens!

Also be aware - running costs are cheap but they’re classed as exotic pets so vets bills are high. One of ours needed an eye removing and that was £650.

What is the general setup cost? I read that they can live outside, is that not right?

You’ll have a lot of people telling you that they can live outside but the common consensus is now that it’s better for them to be indoors. If you
MUST have them outside they should be brought inside during hot weather (they are at risk of heatstroke) and during the winter - they can die of being too cold. If you have them indoors you can get a run for them so they can eat the grass and have a run about outside in the spring / cool summer weather.

If you look on the kavee cage link I posted above you’ll see some good c and c set ups. More room is always better. The minimum I’d have for 2 pigs
is a 5 by 2. I think the largest ready made cage you can get is currently 160cm long and that’s really a minimum.

kaveecage.co.uk/collections/guinea-pig-c-c-cages-uk/products/5x2-guinea-pig-c-c-cage

I think you can probably get it cheaper than this if you buy the c and c grids separately elsewhere
and the plastic separately though.

Such lovely pets. We have had lots over the years. Such amazing little characters.
We have only ever had boy pairs. As PP wrote , they do have a bit of a power struggle but always sort it out.
Our last few only went out during the day. Always slept inside at night. Ours have the run of the garden when they want.
Ours are not timid now a days. And will come to us ( me & DD) when called - or we shake the food container !!

However much space you think they need, double it and double it again.

Yes they can live outside but they are better in. If outside they need to be in a shed or playhouse not just a hutch (hutches we're designed to house animals for the dinner plate) and you will need to insulate the shed and keep it warm in winter (I don't have external heating, I go out three times a night with snuggle pods that heat it the microwave) and then frozen pods in the summer.
They wee and poo everywhere so you do have to clean several times a week (especially when hot or cold where I do it daily)
They need hay not straw or sawdust.

They give so much back, the wheeks when you go out to them are just wonderful, sadly they are a much misunderstood and mistreatment pet. I'd suggest getting older pigs from a rescue as they are less skittish.

We have two in a large (5ft) outside hutch with a run at the moment.
In the autumn they are outside only in the day and come in at night - we have a 120cmx60cm (I think!) inside cage which is basically the minimum cage size for GPs. They also have an inside playpen.
In winter/when it's cold they are inside full time.

We keep them on sawdust and hay outside, inside we have a fabric cage liner plus sawdust and hay. It's really important to keep their feet dry and clean of urine.
They need cleaning out at least once a week. If you keep them on fleece instead of sawdust there's less mess but you will need to wash the fleece more frequently or it smells.

They need a constant supply of guinea pig pellets and fresh water. Loads of hay and fresh hay every day (this is the majority of their diet) but also fresh veg everyday - they need the vitamin C. We give peppers most days with a mix of other things like spinach and carrots every few days - too much calcium or sugar is bad for them. Also just give them whatever kitchen fruit/veg scraps we have.

Set up was expensive - £hundreds for hutch, run, cage etc. And there are considerable ongoing costs in terms of hay, sawdust, food, veg. That's without vet costs.
They are more expensive and more work than the cat.

ah yes…! Hay. Definitely hay and loads of it. Not straw. So many pet shops give their piggies straw - it’s completely useless to them, they need hay for their digestion. It’s a vital part of their diet. Do remove any hard twigs etc from the packet when you give them some though - I’ve had a few piggies get serious eye injuries from sticks hidden in hay etc. Oddly enough Tesco’s own brand meadow hay for £2/3 seems to be the best for softness and the pigs love it.

Also - they cannot make their own vitamin C so need lots of green leafy veg (kale, cabbage etc). Cucumber and carrots are okay given in smaller amounts but they have little nutritional value and the sugar in the carrots can be bad for their teeth if given too much. Same with fruit but it’s fine as an occasional treat.

Miss our GPs so much

They are wonderful pets but needs lots of care and company

Better indoors near the fridge😀

We have had Guinea pigs for over 12 years and keep them on the landing so we see them a lot and get attention but they also have houses to hide in.

Small animals do not equal small vet bills. We have piggies, and a straightforward abscess removal recently cost £350. No sensible options for pet insurance either.

If you're anywhere in the midlands, can recommend an excellent Leicester-based rescue.

Guinea pigs are much happier living indoors and that is the best way to get them friendly . That said the best small pets for children are rats as they actually like human company.

Don't do it. I bought two for my daughter after she begged and begged, and after about a week I was Googling the life span of Guinea pigs! Ours live in a hutch outside, in a sheltered shady spot with a thick cover in the winter. The first winter they were in our conservatory but they bloody stink so outside they went (more expense!). No one bothers with them now, except me who does all the feeding and cleaning. They are very well cared for but I can't wait for them to fucking die!

😳

How sad.

Why not contact a local animal rescue and try and rehome them? Would be far nicer for them
and for you…,

They do need a lot of looking after. I clean ours out every 3/4 days. I keep them on incontinence pads I order from Amazon - I did use puppy pads but the incontinence ones come in larger sizes (120x90) which makes it quicker to clean them out and stops the smell. (They have houses and tons of hay etc).

@Newfluff
i had to google snuggle pods …..how adorable ❤️

Guinea pigs are great pets. The set up cost is fairly high, we bought an indoor c&c run and an outdoor run, which they're in during the day when it's dry outside. Ongoing costs aren't huge - hay, wood shavings and nuggets aren't too expensive. I probably spend about 50p a week on specific herbs and vegetables for them but otherwise they just get scraps and peelings from what we are eating. Mine love broccoli stem, basil and strawberry tops. The toys, tunnels etc are expensive for what they are and they don't last long!

We started off with fleece liners but one of my guineas is very sheddy and the hair got everywhere in the washing machine, so everything else I washed got hairy!

@NotPennysBoat - if you feel like that, why don't you rehome them? There's loads of Guinea pig rescues.

My guineas live in a c&c cage 4 x 4 in my dining room. I've got 2 boys. They have large incontinence pads (double bed size) under vet bed. It's all washable and I was it in large pet bags to minimise hay in my washing machine. Lots of hay, tunnels and snuggly beds. Eat nuggets and have various fresh veg every day.

They need cleaning out regularly - spot cleaning AND a full clean put once a week.

They're really sweet and are good fun to sit and watch. They go MAD when they hear the fridge door open or crinkly packets.

We've currently got 3 girls in the sitting room being looked after for a friend. They smell more than the boys do but fine if they're cleaned out every few days.

I paid £200 for the Guineas and the cage, vet bed and tunnels but swapped to the c&c set up about a year later.

Mine never sit in them looking all cute though, they push them around, sit on the top and wee all over them so they're just stinky and covered in hay, hair and urine 🙄

@Newfluff
haha ! that’s probably photoshopped then 😭

@Newfluff
ive just noticed the matching cushion 🥰

Ohhhhh Guinea pigs are WONDERFUL!

I grew up with them, initially they lived outside in a hutch however Dad insulated the hutch (two floors, the bottom was mostly closed off - no drafts etc. top was open. Walls downstairs ended up about 2 inch thick… it was quite warm over winter when I stuck my hand in). Dad also made the hutch from scratch.. it was like a palace!

Over time one died and so we moved the other inside and eventually got him a friend (both boys but we spent a lot of time matching them and introducing them so they didn’t fight). After living with them indoors and seeing their little ways we never went back to outdoor Guinea pigs. They even had their little house left open… Guinea Pigs can be house trained (they would ‘tell us’ if they needed to ‘go’ and only wee’d on the carpet when very young and new).

From that point on we had several pigs… one loved watching neighbours! When the theme tune started he would wander out and come sit in front of the TV! … same pig also won second place in a show for his ‘character’ (didn’t get 1st because he got a bit frisky and tried to romance a lady Pig!)

To this day…. I love seeing pigs popcorn-ing!

We bought the largest plastic and metal cage we could get from a chain pet shop plus water bottles, a few toys, an outdoor run and food/hay. Initial set up was approx £150.

They live inside, we tried fleece liners but I hated washing them (bought those plus washing machine bags so probably wasted £50 on top of set up costs). We pick up the free papers from outside the tube to line their cage and add straw bedding. Change twice a week. They’re super easy to care for and are a little less skittish once they get more familiar with their surroundings.

I love them and have had lots over the years but I won’t be doing it again. As other posters have said, they are so much work, the mess gets everywhere (hay is impossible to control) and they are expensive. In all honesty a cat is a lot less work - I have three cats now and spend a lot less time looking after them than I ever did with Guinea pigs! If you’ve got your heart set on pigs, go for it - but sometimes people get small pets thinking they’re easier than a cat or a dog. Dog, yes, but cats are basically the easiest pets out there.