Guineas inside or out?

[threecurrantbuns]

We have recently got two babies, I assumed they were an outdoor pet but it's seems a lot of people keep them indoors just been watching some you tube videos and they are just roaming around, and seem incredibly tame, but don't you then have a house full of poo.

Like the idea of them being very tame but can't say I really fancy them indoors.

So which is more common in or out ?

We have both .

My boars aren't babies though, we got them last October from rescue (so I neatly avoided all the teen arsieness but I missed the cute baby pig stage).
My DD wanted a pet (she was veering towards hamsters, I steered her towards hogs.She wanted a boy, so we phoned a rescue who had a pair of brothers.And so it was)

We have a wooden playhouse that is 5'5" x5'5" which is lovely and cosy.DH fitted a light and heater, a metal mesh with fine mesh inside one window (so I can take the window out, but they are safe from predators and flies)

Last winter they came in at night (in the dining room, we have a 4'x2' cage but they got a bit narky after a coriander feast so we seperated their night cage). They went out every day in their Pighouse with hotwater bottles, loads of hay and a fan heater for 15 minutes to take the chill off .
I was out at 6.30am to get the house ready before work. They got a bit lairey stuck indoors -no lie in past 8am for me

Boars don't tend to cuddle.Ours will sometimes sit snuggled. Or one will be under the hay ,the other on top of him .

They've been out night and day since Easter. They have a big run for grass.

At the moment I use a light hay bed that I change daily (cardboard, newspaper and hay). In winter they have a deep bed (their haybox is 3' x3') so takes half a XL bag of hay (about £3.60 from the Range).
I spotclean the deep hay bed daily and completely clean every 3 days .

Mine wouldn't tolerate being indoors 24/7 because they wouldn't have the room, but I couldn't leave them out all the time.

GP1 sits on my DD bed and is a perfect gentleman

typing 1 handed now-got guinea 2 on my lap.
you can't train a gp like a rabbit to use a litter tray but it's worth a try.
you could give them a shallow cardboard box with newspaper and see if they they cotton on.

my first gp when i was a child used a litter tray. all the others - my current boys are number 13 and 14 pig- don't.

Mine are indoors.

They certainly got used to us quickly. Cant help it with the noise of a 4yo stomping about

It also means that they can come out for cuddles on a whim for 10 mins rather than have to trek outside and do it. They are always getting spoken too/sung too.

Big pig was scared poo-less of loud noise when we first got him. 2 days was all it took to realise that a toy being thrown on the floor wasn't a eagle.

We have had Little pig for just over a month now and he was compleatly unhandled. Now he will trot over if you put your hand in and let you fuss him, and settle for a while on you lap for a cuddle. There is no way that he would be like this if he was kept outside in this family because it would be a evening job to get him in, cuddle, back out again. They always have evening cuddles but more often than not they are on the sofa at least 2 other times of the day :)

I have a playpen set up on the floor (c&c) and a cage for them to sleep in at night. I put some pics on my profile today ignore the monkeys . They do have the odd run around the living room but only at night once ds is in bed and I can shut the doors.

Tbh its the wee I worry about more than poo. Wee gets walked in and spread. At least poo is a little pellet you can just pick up and pop in the bin. Wee is a kitchen towel, dettol job asap to avoid wee pawprints!

I can see the benefits of having them inside as they are more likely to be tame and not so jumpy, but we have 4 children 6 and under one being a very noisy very clumsy two yr old and a dog so just don't think it's viable!

Just been watching some indoor ones on you tube so calm can't ever imagine our two being like that.

Ours are kind of neither in nor out

that is to say, we have a detached centrally heated outbuilding - set up as a home office but used more as a utility-come-storage-room where I hide all the plastic toddler tat - and our guineas have an indoor cage in there. So they are not in the actual house, but they are to all intents and purposes inside.

In the winter I have an indoor playpen (about 6x4ft) that I set up during the day for them (on a base of waterproof tarpaulin topped with a cheap fleece blanket) so they can come in and play in the lounge, but wee and poo is contained

In the summer they go out on the lawn in their run most days, I change the run's position daily partly so they get fresh grass each day and partly to keep the poos swept up and under control!

I must admit I wouldn't want mine in the house all the time but it is nice to have them around from time to time. And it does make them far more sociable and confident. We have a pretty small house and if both kids have friends round for a playdate it can get quite noisy and it's lovely to watch the piggies just wandering round their playpen, totally unfazed!

cross posted with you there three

I have a noisy clumsy 2 year old too and tbh he learnt pretty quickly to be sensible around the pigpen...but a dog fair enough would probably be a bit too risky. Unless said dog was like my childhood lab who was scared of guinea pigs.

Can you put the outdoor hutch /run right beside the back door so that they get loads of interaction?

We can chat to ours in the run when they romp about.They have a "hello" and a quick check in the morning, a cuddle at night and a chat at bedtime. When I'm not at work, they go in their run and I can talk to them in the garden.

If they are indoors make sure all your cables and wires are pig-safe.
They will also chew (from memory of my pigs from olden days):

wool carpet; books especially library books ;shoelaces; the contents of the vegetable rack that they broke into -including onion skins; the paperbags from flour in the pantry and we panicked that they had sore little eyes until we found what is was; my mum's houseplants -not a good move,some are poisonous, but they were selective ;the pullcord from curtains; brussell sprouts,raspberry canes and lettuce (they didn't read that it was bad for them) when they free ranged.

My boars are pretty angelic in comparison

Ours are outside all the time, rain or shine (or snow come to that). They are not allowed in the house.

The hutch is outside some double door that open onto a fenced off play area for the children which opens out to the garden. The hutch is on the play area, lots of noisy toys and bikes etc. Run is on the garden as the fenced play area is patio.

French are yours very tame being kept outdoors all year round?

Ours like their cuddle time - they have time apart in seperate rooms- but during the day ,when they are together they can play, sleep, eat, have Boar Time, chasing round, hiding (they have 3 'houses' and their hay box plus a ramp to go up on the top of the haybox).

In their Pighouse they can be as messy as they like, play 'Haunted Hay' and sprawl out in peace.

They love one-to-one time with us, but they have to have animal time. They like prowling through the long grass ,being tigers

I've always had mine indoors - partly because you can just get more enjoyment and companionship from then than if they are left outside, but also it's easier to spot if something is wrong if they are close at hand. Being bottom of the food chain, they are brilliant at hiding anything wrong, so if you only see them a bit when you feed them or occasional play time, it's easy to miss a problem and it may be too late by the time they start to "act" really ill.

You don't need a tv when you have pigs in the living room!

Yes ours are tame. The girls are on the terrace just outside the back door, and the boys are further down the garden. They get petted alot. We already have a dog in the house, I couldn't cope with any more animals inside.

French I'm with you the dog in the house is enough for me. War just worried about the guineas not becoming tame, they only arrived Monday and are babies so skittish atm.

But hopefully first being outside they will still became tame if held enough.

Can anyone recommend what is dough daily to make sure they grow up to be tame?

Hi , they need to get used to your voice and routine, they love to be included and involved especially where food is concerned. Ours were in a warm shed until November and then came in when it was arctic outside. They were like naughty kids escaping from their runs to explore.I put lots of little loo stops around , cardboard boxes with paper and hay and they got used to using them very quickly very few accidents. They do need cuddle time and we used to let ours .free range all the time after dinner for an hour or so in the garden with loads of igloos for them to hide in. We used to sit out with them and call them so they got used to our voices and would be very content to explore knowing we .were around. They are wonderfully sociable and great company, and real time wasters!

Well they get lots of talking/singing to, out house is very noisy :)

Our garden isn't secure enough for free roam plus we have a dog and a very clumsy two year old so best for them not to roam for their own safety.

That's amazing yours have poo areas. These two just poo for England leaving loads of the stuff wherever they go!

I LOVE having mine inside. I've had outdoor pigs before and its just not the same. They just aren't as tame or friendly.

The house is never quiet. They are great company.

We've had several that will actively step onto my hands to be picked up willingly. They often come up to the side of the cage for kisses!

At one point, we had a cage at the back of the sofa, which had an open side so we could feed them easily. They would always stay in their space... Well apart from one. He would jump out the cage, ran along the sofa up the arm and sit on 'his' cushion watching tv or come and run over to me for cuddles. We think he thought he was human and I was his bitch. He used to get very jealous of DH showing me affection!!!! He was a bit special...

I think if we only had one or two, we'd try and go completely free range.

Mine are indoors babies
So sweet when they squeak at the fridge door opening !
One of my lovely girls would sit on my cleavage and watch telly in the evening.

You are making me jealous!! Since we lost our last girl, after 8 continuous years of guineas, decided not to get any more as we are moving house. Hmmm, once moved, I suspect I the children, will want to get some more. At one time I used to have 3 perched on me, on my chest, and on my lap. They would get comfortable, and at the sound of The Archers theme tune, would all start squeaking, knowing it was nap time........they would then all sleep for 15 minutes and be impossible to wake up! R eading this back through, I am starting to think I should try and get a life!!!:O but I miss them alot.