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Original poster

where did you buy/get your guinea pigs from

60 replies

andrea315 · 20/01/2013 02:00

Hi we are looking at getting two little piggies and just wanted to know where people got them from and would you say boys or girls thanks

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Original poster
andrea315 · 20/01/2013 16:40

70isa are they still together ?

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BonkeyMollocks · 20/01/2013 16:44

LittlePig, who at the time of picking the fights with BigPig, was half his size!

Although now he is probably the same size but BigPig has a fair bit of beef in him.

Do you think Pigs get the 'little person - big attitude' thing? Grin

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 20/01/2013 16:50

Yes, they were a bit nightmarey last winter.
We have a 4'x2' indoor cage that they were in from Guy Fawkes till Easter at night-time. During the day they went out to their Pighouse with various heatpads /heater/tons of hay.
We had to put a grid to seperate them last year (only at night).

This year, they were in for Guy Fawkes in my DD room (no grid) and were little horrors. But TBH it was partly because DD kept getting up to chat to them Hmm

So now they're in the small bedroom. Away from the radiator, with a duvet over at night.
And (cross fingers) they've been fine.
I usually put them out in their shed with their heater but today they've stayed in (and Fri, heavy snow and all the chaos of school closure).

They tend to have their own corner of the haybox,(outside) and their own cardboard box inside.

Incidentally, I went through 1001 trials of bedding for boars. I've settled on wooden cat litter (fur baby friendly) newspaper and shedloads of hay.

Original poster
andrea315 · 20/01/2013 16:55

Do any of you use fleece as flooring indoors?

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BonkeyMollocks · 20/01/2013 16:59

I tried fleece and gave up!

My two love burrowing through hay too much and hay is a flipping nightmare to get off fleece!

i have a deep layer of woodshavings, then a thick layer of newspaper then a mahoosive pile of hay which they shove around the cage until they are happy.

LittlePig also has a pyrimiddy cat bed type thing to sleep in and BigPig has a cuddle cup!
The cat bed is kind of suedy (sp?) and its really easy to shake the hay off for a wash.

FrameyMcFrame · 20/01/2013 17:02

Garden Centre and we have 2 girls.
We LOVE them and I was anti the idea to start with. We have them in the living room now, they're so sociable and cute, almost like kittens :)

Original poster
andrea315 · 20/01/2013 17:06

What do you all use as indoor flooring for them ? Framey what do you use ? I have seen lots of c and c cages with fleece in them what else can be used apart from woodshavings indoors?

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BonkeyMollocks · 20/01/2013 17:09

Mine are currently larking around in the kitchen on newspaper. they spend about a hour a day in there when ds is off school and longer when I am home.

have you got the correx for the C&C?

Original poster
andrea315 · 20/01/2013 17:17

Not yet but I will get some that's the plan :)

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Original poster
andrea315 · 20/01/2013 17:18

Where do you keep your pigs what do they live in ?

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BonkeyMollocks · 20/01/2013 17:19

Make sure you by 4mm thick at least!

I got the 2mm and I had to double it up because it was too flimsy!

i think bedding is trial and error to find out what works for you.
I have tried most but this works well for me because I just roll up the newspaper everyday, clear any wet patches and replace. Nice quick and easy.

FrameyMcFrame · 20/01/2013 17:22

We have a layer of cardboard and then newspaper with loads of meadow hay on top which they like burrowing inside. We have ended up changing them every few days because they're in the living room so not nice if they get smelly. I've found they poo and wee in one corner mainly.
We're planning to get an outdoor run for them when the weather improves. We usually get them out on to some towels for a run around in the evenings.
Luigi pig does this amazing jumping, almost like spring lambs jumping and frolicking in the fields!! She is the dominant one. Sometimes she chases Ginger pig around but not fighting as such. Smile

BonkeyMollocks · 20/01/2013 17:22

One is in a c&c and the other is in a shop bought.

If they ever get back together then they go in one big c&c on the floor.

Both have taken up any spare space we had in the living room Grin .

Original poster
andrea315 · 20/01/2013 17:50

Next question is do you get your hay and shavings from pet shops or buy in bulk ?

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70isaLimitNotaTarget · 20/01/2013 17:51

I'll put fleece in the 'houses' where they don't have hay.
Lakeland Limited BuddyBrush has rubber bristles so good for brushing fleece.

They have a little fleecey petbed (sort of doughnut shaped with a cushion that lifts out) They can both fit in (but that would mean sharing nicely wouldn't it boys)
Wash them in a pillowcase to stop any stray bits getting in your filter.And make sure they are rinsed really well (I use that Ecover wash for the boys' fleeces. Buy it when it's on special offer)

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 20/01/2013 17:55

I get hay from The Range (I can park right outside) usually 4kg bags (about £3.99). Or Jolleys if I CBA trying to park in the town centre.
I buy 3 hay and a barley straw at a time. Mine are stored in the garage.
I use the straw (it's lovely and soft) to keep the bed springey - just at the back and sides. Then fill the haybox right up with hay.

Alot of people buy equine hay -ok if you've got storage.
Hay is really coarse this year. I've found twigs, thistles. I got some in my finger and it was flipping painful

BonkeyMollocks · 20/01/2013 18:04

I don't have the room to buy in bulk so I buy a bag of hay a week . I have recently discovered hay sold buy the bag that has been pulled off a big bale rather than the stuff that vacum packed. stuff.
Its lovely and its cheaper. That lasts me a week easily and my boys have one third of each cage filled as high as I can!

breatheslowly · 20/01/2013 18:04

You could try this website.

derekthehamster · 20/01/2013 18:06

Our females came from the rspca. There might be a rehoming centre near you.

Original poster
andrea315 · 20/01/2013 18:41

Fab thank you all and that site is great our hunting is underway :)

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coldinthesun · 20/01/2013 18:57

We do it in bulk. In part because its much cheaper and in part because we were overrun with gps and just got used to doing it that way. (Sadly most have died in the last 12 months from old age).

Horse hay and sawdust from Decathlon. WAYYYYYY cheaper than petshops and easy to get hold of. We've had a few that don't get on with sawdust so use shredded paper instead. And that all goes on newspaper. We use old cardboard boxes for flooring with the C&C cages.

We buy food in bulk from www.vetuk.co.uk - £15kg bags of Wagg Guinea Pig Crunch at £14.48 each plus £1.99 carriage. Orders over £28 are delivered free. (The fools do not charge postage by weight! They are bloody brilliant). Our lot are fussy about which brands they like. groans They like this blackcurrant and oregano feed as a treat too.

We've used vetbed before. But they peed on it all the time and it got disgusting. We also tried cat cushions. Which they also LOVED and sat on like Kings and Queens. Some of them were good with those and didn't poo or wee on them. But not all of them. We gave up in the end with all but one piggy, as he was just a spoilt brat who had us wrapped around his claw.

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 20/01/2013 19:05

I use shredded paper in summer (my GPs have their own shredder Hmm ). Any guinea-safe paper goes in the confetti cut shredder. Everything else in the long strip shredder.
They can indulge their need to scuttle about digging with the paper and enough hay for that day, Then it all gets dumped.
I do daily change in summer outside (when they are out 24/7)
Daily change indoors in winter.
Outdoor in winter has a deep bed which will last 3 days (if I pick out the unsavoury bits)

Coldin being "overrun with guinea-pigs" could be Heaven or Hell. I'm convincing myself it was Heavenly Grin

FrameyMcFrame · 20/01/2013 19:12

Can I ask, what is a C&C cage?
New to this Guinea pig lark!

BonkeyMollocks · 20/01/2013 19:18

C&C

Have a look round, loads you can do with them!

Original poster
andrea315 · 20/01/2013 19:35

What is safe to shred?

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