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Original poster

Dd2 wants some guinea pigs - good idea / any advice?

413 replies

ElectraInExcelsis · 23/12/2008 23:10

The only thing I know about them is that you should get two because they otherwise get very lonely...

Anyone have them? I had hamsters as a child but don't know about humane ways to keep guinea pigs, etc which is important to me. Dd2 is 5. I don't mind cleaning them out for her etc.

Any advice? TIA...

OP posts:
whispywhisp · 10/01/2009 10:49

Sad as this may sound but I actually enjoy cleaning ours out...all 4 indoor cages! Always have done, even when they were in hutches out in the shed, in the freezing cold...cup of tea, shut the door, put the light on and enjoy! Its lovely to watch them go hopping around in their nice clean cages, enjoying their fresh hay....yes, I must be one very sad person........

NomDePlume · 10/01/2009 10:54

I think you have to enjoy it tbh, given that it is done relatively frequently (compared to other small pets) and they live for so long. If you hate doing it in the early days then 5yrs down the line you'll hate it and probably not do it so often.

I do it when ours come out to play so when they go back they can settle in a nice cosy clean cage.

I need to go back to the pet shop today and buy them a hidey house each as they currently have big shared one and they get a bit bolshy and fight every now and again. I think they both need a bit of space to call their own.

whispywhisp · 10/01/2009 10:57

Our girls that share have a log cabin and an igloo so if they get fed up with each other they can go off to their own space. Bit like my kids having their own rooms!

NomDePlume · 10/01/2009 11:00

JUX Have you been able to implement any of the ideas on this thread yet ?

whispywhisp · 10/01/2009 11:53

Just given mine some cucumber peel....gone within seconds. I've got to go and brave the cold in a minute to sort out a bag of hay - I get it delivered in big bales and obviously can't drag a bale indoors so I go out and bag it up into bin liners and keep one in the cupboard so, late at night, I can top them up before I go to bed. I'll have to go and get my thermals on...I hope these pigs of mine know how lucky they are!

NomDePlume · 10/01/2009 15:18

Bought log cabins for them today but Moony, the shy one, doesn't seem to have grasped that they now have one each as she keeps trying to squeeze into the same one as Hattie. They are big enough for one a half pigs but 2 is a bit of a squeeze! Hattie gets cross and climbs out through the window into the other house and Moon the spoon just follows her

They had a couple of left over baby carrots, some left over spinach/watercress/rocket salad leaves, a couple of leftover baby corns & a bit of broccoli.

whispywhisp · 10/01/2009 18:38

NDP...I've got one of the larger log cabins for my girls - I think its supposed to be for a rabbit. Anyway it has a door and a window on the front and two side windows which have slats in...is that the same as yours?

If it is you may think about taking the small window out at the front because I had the exact same problem - one of the pigs would go thru the window which was fine but she kept leaving her feet behind and that's a classic way to break bones.

In the end DH not only took out the window but also made the whole of the front of the cabin fully open.

I can take a photo of it if that helps. Atleast then if the two want to go in together they can because there is plenty of room to get in and out.

Hugo broke a toe with jumping thru a hole in his hutch when we kept him outside. Because their toes on their back feet are quite long they can get easily caught.

whispywhisp · 10/01/2009 18:39

In fact you can see the log cabin in the photo on my profile with the two girls munching on cabbage stood in front of it. You can just about see what I mean!

NomDePlume · 10/01/2009 19:22

Oh I see, whisp. Yes, it is the same sort of thing. PAH do 3 sizes, one for hamsters, one for guineas and one for rabbits. Mine are the middle ones. The girls have just been out for a cuddle, when I went to getthem out they were each in their own cabins, so hopefully they've got the message now, but I'll bear the modifications in mind if I notice anything dodgy

whispywhisp · 10/01/2009 20:08

NDP - its fairly soft wood so very easy to modify!

whispywhisp · 11/01/2009 11:16

NDP - hows the log cabin going? Are they getting used to it?

sphil - hows those babies doing? Runty ok?

smurfgirl · 11/01/2009 16:23

We went away this weekend and when we got back this afternoon the pigs were wheeking and wheeking for us! (we did have a friend pop in to feed them btw) Cute cute.

I think cleaning out indoor cages is mega easy, how often do you do it NDP?

Ours have a pigloo and a log tunnel thing to hide in. The little log cabin looks cute.

I am tempted by those willow balls but I don't want to waste my money. Hmmm.

whispywhisp · 11/01/2009 17:46

smurf - cat me your address...I can send you some willow sticks cos my lot don't touch them, not even a nibble....

Alambil · 11/01/2009 19:16

do piggies need toys?

whispywhisp · 11/01/2009 19:22

Not as far as I'm aware Lewis although they do like things to run around and jump over!

smurfgirl · 11/01/2009 19:46

I have cat-ed you

Lewis ours do like to dismantle willow sticks and they carry them round the cage other than that everything is a quest for food.

Fiddle sticks and hay racks are good for them though.

Alambil · 11/01/2009 19:51

They've got some willow things in the cage and a igloo thingy... that's it (well, food too!)

Should I get them anything else? We only bought them yesterday and they've literally only just ventured out of the igloo so I'm unsure what they like yet!

smurfgirl · 11/01/2009 20:02

Thats fine, a log cabin or fiddle sticks might be an idea later on.

Ours do heart the hay rack they have a little cardboard tube thingy as well that they mostly seem to wee on, but sometimes push it round.

NomDePlume · 11/01/2009 20:10

The log cabins seem to be a hit. The girls are used to the fact that they have one each now.

smurf I clean mine out every 2/3 days properly and I change the bedding in their toilet corner every day.

Re toys, DD and I went a bit mad in PAH so they have...

bundle of willow sticks
Cosy cuddle up bed
A wicker ball with a bell inside
Nut knot nibbler
A machine washable play/hide tunnel

They don't have all of those things all of the time. They have the wicker bell ball in their cage along with a few loo roll tubes and 2x log cabins but the rest is kept for play time when they are out of the cage and in their pen downstairs (and in the garden when the weather warms up).

NomDePlume · 11/01/2009 20:13

whisp - I went back into the store today and the 2 adoption himmy boys I mentioned were much cleaner . I was seriously tempted to bring one home as they also had the right sized cages on offer but neither are neutered and he'd have to play apart from the girls which would be v tricky and not very fair to him.

NomDePlume · 11/01/2009 20:14

Plus I'm not sure I could have taken one and left the other, even though they are not housed together and would almost def fight anyway . I am too soft for my own good sometimes

whispywhisp · 11/01/2009 20:17

Each of ours have the cardboard tube too and they love to run in and out of it, sometimes meeting up half way and colliding! Only problem with them is that if they wee/poo in them they're hard to keep clean but its worth it for the fun they have.

whispywhisp · 11/01/2009 20:18

NDP...I'd love to have come up and got both the boys but it was too far for us to travel. Atleast they were cleaner when you saw them. Lets hope they get homes soon.

whispywhisp · 11/01/2009 20:22

smurf - replied!

NomDePlume · 11/01/2009 20:35

whisp, I should think someone will claim them soon, they are lovely looking. I just feel that we are too inexperienced to take on another 1 or 2 pigs, especially as they will have to be housed/exercised seperately.