Aranea In answer to your earlier post about gps :
Do guinea pigs need to come out for exercise then?
You won't find a book that says they need x amount of exercise a day but obviously it helps if they are not cooped up in a cage all the time (for their mental and physical health). In the summer, ours go out for the majority of the day but you must provide shelter for them in a shady place with plenty of water as they cannot perspire and are prone to heat stroke if they get too hot.
If you don't have a walled garden then, for security, it's best to a wooden hutch with a fairly large wire run attached and you can just keep repositioning that around the lawn for them to graze.
In the winter, ours are indoors for the majority of the time, but you could house them in an outdoor shed or a hutch on a terrace that is lifted up off the damp floor and - in very cold weather - is covered with a warm tarpaulin or bit of carpet to keep out the worst of the weather.
However they are housed, they need as much light and fresh air as possible. But they are quite susceptible to drafts so they musn't be in a windy spot.
The benefits of keeping them indoors in the winter is that you don't have to keep going out in the freezing cold to feed and clean them out! Also, they don't go "feral" if they are in constant contact with their human family.
What are their needs?
Their needs are pretty basic. Good housing. (Mine live on "Cat's best cat litter" - which is like compressed straw pellets - it keeps down any smell (they don't smell much at all if cleaned out regularly - just a nice, sweet, hay-type smell!) and they seem happy with it - but I live abroad and don't know what brands are available in the UK) You can also put them on hay or straw (put newspaper under all of the bedding) They need clean fresh water at all times, plus fresh food once a day and dry food once a day. They also need a constant supply of fresh hay (readily available in easily transportable bags from pet shops) in a hay bale. They need to eat constantly and can never over-eat hay.
Every so often - I do it three or four times a year, I give them a bit of a bath and a pedicure! All approp. equip available in pet shops.
GPs quite like a nice routine so I give mine fresh food in the evening, hard food in the morning and they actually have a set bedtime of 11.30pm!! Mine also squeak if I am late with their breakfast or they hear the fridge door opening!
Are they going to be harder work for me than gerbils/hamster when dd gets past her initial flush of enthusiasm?
No, I've kept all three and gps are by far the easiest to keep. They do eat and poo a lot but they more or less keep themselves clean and don't require much other maintenance. We handle ours regularly and they lift their heads up and squeak when they need to be put back in their cage for a bathroom break!! When they were young, they did pee a bit on the floor but don't now. (You can clean up any pee with vinegar and water.) Obviously, don't get a sow and a boar together or you will have lots of babies to look after!! Generally, they are very sweet and passive and good to have around. Most owners become very attached to them!
Once they were fully grown, we did leave ours unattended for 2.5 days over a weekend (we put two hay bales and two drinking bottles on cage and provided loads of hay and dried food, and although I wouldn't normally risk it, tbh, I think they would have been fine for another day). However, if you go away for longer than that, you need someone to check on them and top up feed etc.
They live between 5 and 7 years. They can grow quite big! Two sows together are a good combination. We chose two sows that seemed happy together in the cage in the pet shop and although they sometimes get a little stroppy with one another, they seem to get on fine!
A good book such as this will tell you all you need to know.
I wouldn't recommend buying them at Christmas - get them at a time when they can settle in gently and when it's calm and quiet in the house.
HTH! (As you can tell, I am totally besotted with mine!)