Come and tell me about Guinea Pigs...

[MrsFruitcake]

We bought two today, they are outside in the large new hutch which we also got today (and called Derek and Clive!) We've not kept them before so are totally new to this.

They seem happy, have put lots of hay in the 'bed' end and they have something to hide in and fresh food and water. But my big question is are they going to be warm enough out there? The lady at the pet shop said they will be fine as long as there is plenty of hay for them to snuggle in, is this the case?

Any other advice for the novice would be helpful too please.

First-Congratulations on Derek and Clive (are you are a fan of Pete and Dudley?)

There are loads of threads on here with advice about guinea-pigs especially outdoors.
We got 2 boys (1 year old from rescue) in October- they are my DC pets but of course I do the animal husbandry . Are yours babies. Are they brothers?
I've had loads of GPs as a child (14 over the years) but these are my first adult boys.

Make sure they have enough room. Especially as they get older. They reach their 'terrible teens' about 6 months (I missed that Thank Goodness). There is a website that gives minimum sizes for GP houses. Mine have a wooden playhouse 5'5" X 5'5" with a large 3'X3' wooden box inside .There's a ramp to take them on top of the box (carpeted). Some of the cages have really steep ramps. A baby GP could climb it, an adult would struggle.

Give them some cardboard boxes to play in (you can change when they get dirty).It gives them a bit of private space if they get fed up with each other. 1 box per GP + 1 spare.

Bedding-I use rubber car mats to insulate and keep it dry. (not the carpet ones) Then newspaper, cardboard, Megazorb (horse bedding).
Hay does flatten down and it gets wet/dirty. They eat the bedding too.Mine have never fathomed walk to the hay rack.
Their box will take half an XL bag of Pets at Home hay. I've got Readi-Grass (again horse product) dried grass, They eat it, it's short pieces so not cosy like hay.

I give mine 2 hotwater bottles with fleece covers and a SnugglePad in the hay box (not the past few days though) but when it has been really cold. TBH I don't find the SnugglePad much cop. It's not as warm, and it's hard. I usually find the GPs sitting on the covered hotwater bottles when I bring them in.They are in at night, go out in the playhouse 6am.
They've got a light and a heater(one of those tubular garage heaters) with the plug in the garage.

The advice on here is no straw, no sawdust, no shavings.(Lots of GP bedding threads)

Mine have an indoor cage (about 4'x2'x 18"). We had to separate with a grid because they were scrapping. They are fine outside. (That's why you need the space with boars). I use Catsan with fleece on top. (Control the 'aroma')

Food wise- Excell pellets (orange bag) water-which they don't drink-, the hay and fresh veg am and pm.

Healthwise they are robust.You need to protect them from cold and damp.They don't like wind. They can very quickly get respiratory problems.Most of my GPs I had as a child had a 24 hour cold at the end which finished them.They mainly had good long lives.

Boars tend to be a bit more fragrent IMHO, some would disagree.One of ours 'marks'.As soon as he goes into the clean cage he plants his bum down and leaves a few drops of cloudy wee. He tours round the pighouse, purrs,stiff body, marking. Then he's fine. The other boar doesn't mark.
They can get anal inpaction (stuck poo) when they are older. Nice !

Remember to handle them loads and loads if you want them to be tame. This is a bit harder to remember when they are outside. Bring them in regularly and let them run-around and give them loads of treats.

Ran out of space- wouldn't let me add more.

There's lots of food threads too.
They need Vit C. The pellets have it. The museli stuff isn't so good because the pick their favourite bits and it gets wasted.Also not as balanced as pellets.
No ice-berg lettuce .Go easy on spinach and watercress.
Apples need to be cut little and rationed (they can irritate the mouth)
Greens like cabbage, brocilli,celery (ours like the leaves) in moderation.

I give 3-4 veg in morning and try to change the selection.
At night they have parsley- GP1 would sell his own mother for parsley- carrot and a hay cookie (compressed hay biscuit)

Phew- that was an essay!

If you plan to keep them outside, there is advice on the RSPCA site about temp (I think it's 14C) they should be kept at. Our heater just keeps the chill off but ours definately appreciate the hot water bottles. I check their ears and noses for temperature. Mine don't cuddle up together but are in the wooden box together so they've got warmth from that.

And they eat and pooh constantly!

Agree with Lord of the Flies posts except I don't agree that they are robust little creatures.

I would not keep GPs outside at all and especially not in the winter....but if you do follow Lord of the Flies advice about bedding getting wet, water bottles etc. Boars will not cuddle together to keep warm either

Hmmm maybe robust was the wrong word.
But when I had my childhood GPs the only ones who saw the vet was my original boar (sad case, bullied by wifey and ending up with stress excema) and an elderly sow, last of 4.She had to have her teeth trimmed.
The do need looking after, I know, but I suppose it's the luck of the draw.You can get an animal that's never out of the vets or one that's rude with health.
That's why our chaps are in at night. They need a cuddle and a check.But they have to go out in the pighouse or they'd go stir crazy.

But they are nice pick-up-and-hug size. Smaller than rabbits, bigger than hamsters and (important for me) not as clever as rats. My DD has now got used to her GP, the large male) and carries him round wrapped in a towel.And he seems to tolerate like it.

I have three that are outside in all weathers, but they do have loads of straw (had pigs all my life, always used it) and I cover the front of the hutch with bubble wrap at night.

You need to avoid draughts and they mustn't get wet.

Lots of good advice from Lord of the Flies. I keep my boars indoors as they're much more accessible for cuddling :) and easier to spot quickly if anything is wrong. If you're able to put in the extra effort to make sure they are warm and dry outside with heavy insulation on the hutch, hot water bottles, regular changes of wet bedding, etc., it might be okay. It's been flipping cold and windy here today though and not fit for man, woman nor beast to be outdoors without plenty of protection. Our fence blew over last night, as did the next door neighbours, on to the top of their rabbit hutch. Thank heavens they took Charlie indoors for the winter or he'd have got a bad fright or worse.

Guinea Pig and Guinea Lynx are good sites for info about pig care. Best of luck with your two young men!