Will it be okay to leave guinea pigs for 36 hours, or will I need to get the neighbour in?

[emkana]

I would, of course, provide a bowl of food, and water. And put some fresh stuff in just before we leave. But usually I give hay and more fresh stuff late afternoon/before I go to bed, so they'd miss out on that. Do you think that would be okay?

As long as you put plenty of hay and food in, I'm sure they'll be fine. I would give a bottle (or preferably two bottles) of water instead of a bowl, as it will get dirty and could tip up, leaving them with nothing to drink. I would also buy a hay rack to fill (as well as putting a large amount in their cage) to avoid their hay/grass getting soiled if you're not there to put more in (mine always scatters it on the floor and poos on it!). If you're feeling guilty you could also get them a few of those chewy sticks to keep them entertained (ours like the honey seed ones from PAH, and the dried corn on the cobs).

Also basic things really - remember to make sure they won't be in any draughts or direct sunlight before you leave, and keep your heating on it's regular timer. To be extra safe you could ask your neighbour just to look in and make sure they're ok, but at least if they have plenty of supplies it'll literally just be a case of looking at them, rather than having to refill everything (I'm always paranoid about someone leaving the cage open if they have to put food in!).

With regards to your exercise question on the other thread, if it's a mild sunny day they should be OK in their outside run as long as they're not out too long, otherwise they could get a chill (mine lives outside anyway, so she's hard as nails!). But they'll be equally as happy running about your kitchen or bathroom floor

Give them extra hay and dry food and they should be ok. We also hook up 3 bottles, in case they manage to dislodge one or two. Not that it's ever happened, but I'd rather be paranoid (We've left our GPs for 48 hours on two occasions and they've been ok, but I'd never leave them any longer than this.)

I´d be tempted to let the neighbour in or see if they would have the cage tbh.