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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:
electra · 17/01/2009 15:39

The guinea pig has been a hit with dd1 too - she loves him. He seems to have settled down very well.

SpongeBrainedHalfWit · 17/01/2009 20:58

awwww. Did you only get the one, electra ? Where did he come from in the end?

electra · 18/01/2009 20:42

We got him from an evil pet store, I'm afraid. I did like the ones our local breeder had - but they grow very, very big. The person at the store would only sell him by himself because apparently he had to be separarted from his brothers because of fighting. He was only a few months old when we got him. He seems very happy and the children have been lovely with him. But I will review whether he needs another guinea-pig to live with him as he gets older. Perhaps when he's a bit older it would work to get another baby male who has a relatively subservient personality. But I will see how he is and seek advice.

sphil · 18/01/2009 20:53

I don't know how true this is, but the eccentric gp breeder I bought Horris from said that male gps are much more likely to fight once they've had sex. So two male gp virgins should (in theory) live together happily

electra · 18/01/2009 22:12

How are your babies doing sphil?

sphil · 18/01/2009 22:37

Eating us out of house and home . I swear they start squeaking when they hear me slice a cucumber from the next room.

electra · 18/01/2009 23:21

LOL - ours likes cucumber too! He also eats a lot. He is now tame enough to eat something we have given him while he's out of his cage.

ThumbBurns · 19/01/2009 03:00

lol sphil - my first g'pig used to start shrieking the second he heard the fridge door open - he knew it meant food! Even when I was just making dinner...

SpongeBrainedHalfWit · 19/01/2009 08:26

electra was he from PAH ? What colour is he ?

GrinnyPig · 19/01/2009 08:46

Our Guinea Pigs wheek loudly when they think there is even a remote possibility of food.

They go mad when they hear the fridge opening. They also beg at the side of the cage every time DD1 eats an apple - she always slices it so they recognise the sound of the knife hitting the plate .

We're now on week 2 of using fleece blankets in their cage instead of wood shavings. I have also bought some carefresh which we have been using for a few days in their toilet corners.

For those who use fleece blankets, how do you cope with the washing? I asked dds to put the worst of the poo etc in the bin and then shake them outside before putting them in the washing, but they obviously didn't do a very good job as I spent most of Saturday morning unblocking the washing machine and drain - it was mostly hay which was stuck to the blankets. I have now put carefresh under their hay manger in the hope that the blankets won't be covered in quite so much hay.

Any other advice?

sphil · 19/01/2009 11:22

He's got tame very quickly - that's great . I'm pleased DD1 likes him too.

smurfgirl · 19/01/2009 11:59

I found that brushing the poo/hay off worked best. I bought a cheap mini dust pan and brush set.

You need to put towels under the fleece as well, and then the fleece is less wet so less sticks to it.

GrinnyPig · 19/01/2009 12:50

Thanks smurfgirl.

I will suggest the dust pan and brush to the DDs!

We have put a double layer of fleece in their sleeping area as they like to burrow under it and the wee corners are now carefresh which I hope will keep the blanket drier.

smurfgirl · 19/01/2009 18:16

Have you washed the fleece a few times? I found stuff sticks to ours more when it is wet and washing it breaks the water seal on it. Sorry if you have.

We are debating getting a little girl and splitting them. Chester fights with the others, its ok and managable but if removing him gave them more room and he stopped fighting its all good.

smurfgirl · 19/01/2009 18:18

Towels are also good to use instead of fleece (we use a mix).
I do find ours will avoid the carefresh to wee on the towel/fleece though and though.

Jux · 19/01/2009 18:35

My guinea pigs got grapes today. I stuck them onto the mesh and they came out and got excited, wheeked a lot and ate the grapes off the mesh.

ThumbBurns · 20/01/2009 00:16

6/7 of mine LOVED grapes - one didn't and wouldn't touch them at any price - they are funny little things!

Jux, I can feel that you are getting sucked further into g'pig worship - hurrah!

smurfgirl · 20/01/2009 14:04

I just looked over at my pigs. One is in the hayrack. One is lugging willow sticks around the cage and one is munching on the log tunnel thing

Alambil · 20/01/2009 14:23

help!

tootiredtothink · 20/01/2009 22:55

I bought meadow hay for my pigs and have just done the daily change (I haven't yet worked out how to change just one part of cage as there is poo everywhere).

What a difference. It's so much greener and softer. Unfortunately I appear to be allergic to it! Has brought out all my lovely hay fever symptoms. Yet I wasn't allergic to other cheaper sort?

I shall persevere.

Dc's didn't even ask to hold them today , so looks as if they are going to be mine, all mine I say!

sphil · 21/01/2009 16:53

Yep - DS1 lost interest in about a week, I would say. Gets bursts of enthusiasm from time to time, but most of the tlc comes from me.

Jux · 21/01/2009 18:39

Um ah, worship might be a little strong, but I am going in that direction.

Today we took delivery of the gp playpen. They have sent us about 25yards of net to go over the top, but it's not quite wide enough to stretch across. We have a load of little popper things to fix it in place and have so far FAILED!!!!

Er, what do I put on the floor to stop us having to clean wee off the carpet?

smurfgirl · 21/01/2009 23:44

We have a waterproof table cloth we put on the floor when they are in the run indoors.

Yurtgirl · 22/01/2009 20:15

Grinnypig - Ours are on fleece too! Have you got a Cavy Cage as well - Ive got two big boys in a 2 by 4 grid cage

After a week of woodshaving chaos I switched, so much easier

I put one layer of towels, two where they sleep. One blanket on top
Every day I brush all hay and poo into a dustpan and ditch that into a washing up bowl (until I get round to taking it to the compost)
After a couple of days I put a clean blanket on top of the other one just to make it a bit fresher!
I change the whole lot every four days - I shake the blankets into our huge compost bin and then wash

I do find bits of fur and hay get stuck but this mostly comes off if I tumble dry them

HTH

Yurtgirl · 22/01/2009 20:20

Jux - I cant picture your gp playpen - Is that for indoors or outdoors?

I have found that by using the spare grids left over from my cage I can section off the house to provide the hall for them to charge about in

grids

They have got tunnels in Tescos atm £3 (£10 in pets at home) - I am going to show it to mine now as they havent seen it yet

like this