Confused about GP Hutches

[WoodenOwl]

Doing lots and lots of research at the moment in advance of hopefully getting guinea pigs at some stage. I understand that you need to get more than one GP but am totally confused as to the correct hutch and run to get. So many of the hutches i have seen seem to be double storey with a ramp down to the lower level- is this recommended or is single storey better? What size hutch is best? Should the run be attached to the hutch or separate?

In case it makes a difference, we have a lawn and also a concrete area in our garden- where would you recommend the hutch went?

I know ideally, the GP would need a separate cage inside for the colder weather which is fine, but it is more the outside options I am confused about.

Thank you!

It's a minefield , I agree. I bet if we did a survey of all the SFA guinea pig owners the variety of set ups would be huge.

Personally I have a 5 foot long hutch housing 3 sows in my living room. They also have a huge outdoor run with a little (3ft x 1ft) summer house attached for naps in hay with a window for keeping a look out in case I come along with extra treats .

In your run you will also need tunnels and hidey houses to keep them entertained.

General rules, buy the biggest hutch you have space for. Don't put a run over concrete, guinea pigs have very delicate paws. Remember guinea pigs can be a bit thick, not all of them get the hang of using a ramp. A ramp should not be too steep and you should protect piggies from falling over the sides.

HTH

Thank you fortified. Yes it does appear to be a minefield... Your setup sounds fab though. How do you use your outdoor run? i.e. do you put the GP out there for a little while each day? Is this when you are at home to keep an eye on them? Are there circumstances when it is not ok for the GP to use the grass, e.g. can they go on wet grass?

Sorry for all the questions!

Weather permitting they go out for awhile every day. I let the morning dew dry up first. Wet grass is bad for their tums. They can't vomit and wet grass can ferment and cause Bloat, often fatal.

They don't go out in rain but getting caught in a light shower is ok I think, they run for shelter in their 'summer house'. In a real down pour I bring them in.

My sows are lucky I'm a SAHM. We don't have foxes round here anymore, they seem to have moved on. I do risk popping out to local shops a few minutes away but wouldn't leave them for hours shopping. We do have cats who occasionally come into our garden and stare at them.

I can not trust my current girls to freerange in the garden without getting lost. I did have a couple of lovely boars who did have the whole run of the garden and seemed to give themselves invisible barriers of no go areas. But I would never leave them unattended.

Recently a Sparrow Hawk has moved into our area. Its taken Wood Pigeons so I'm sure it would like a guinea

Sadly too many SFA owners have lost pets to evil foxes so hutches must have secure bolts on all doors. Swivel blocks of wood are useless

My piggies have an old wooden playhouse (AKA The Pighouse )
When DD and I got the original pigs I was going to put a hutch inside the playhouse with the floor for excercise. Then I thought "Why not give them the entire floor" so they have boxes, hidey spaces and a haybox.
DH made all the adjustments with household things. The haybox was a bookcase carcass with a wooden 'lid' that is carpeted on the top. He put carpet between the walls and the haybox to insulate.
Two windows can be removed and are fox-proofed with wood,metal and flymesh.
I have a bolt on the door and a bucket of cement in front

They never used the ramp that was carefully manufactured and carpeted to go up on the haybox roof. Mine don't do two level living

We have 2 sows and a neutered boar in the Pighouse (it is in excess of 70"x70") so nice and roomy.

They have a rabbit run (84"x24") which we peg to the ground with tent pegs . I don't leave them alone (fox central here) but DD puts them out after school and they'll have 3-4 hours at the moment (though not for much longer )

With guineas , they will appreciate all the space you can give them , especially important with boars.
My Pighouse would in theory fit 12. GP3 and GP4 position their ample arses to take up maximum space no more pigs here thank you they trill.
My piggie GP5 is tiny and non-lardy .

We have a 2 level hutch with a hinged lid that we have covered the hole to the ramp - they - or rather she now - lives on the top level - PURELY for my comfort when cleaning them out - I don't need to bend down.

We have two sets of pigs (two neutered boars each with a wifey) who live indoors. They have single storey indoor hutches, 4ftx2ft each. Each pair also has access to a heavy duty covered 6ftx4ft run in the garden; at the moment they go out around lunchtime once the dew has dried (am also SAHM) and come in about 7pm. I'll leave them in the runs if I have to go out for short periods (ie school run) but wouldn't for hours in end.

I have a 5ftx3ft indoor fabric playpen for the winter months (although each pair have to take it in the indoor pen because I don't have room for two pens).

You are right, there's so much available on the market and it is confusing. Personally I would avoid the two storey hutches for reasons others have mentioned...get the biggest you have room for and if possible consider keeping them in a shed, or indoors. Have to admit I do really like having our pigs indoors. Too many urban foxes around here -you don't tend to see them much during the day, but night is one big fox-fest!-for me to feel confident with outdoor hutches. Guineas like it too as they are within direct sight of the parsley dispenser (otherwise known as the fridge)

Take it in turns in the indoor playpen that should read!

WRT placing the hutch - if you put it in a sheltered place - bear in mind, wind, rain and full sun aren't good for pigs. Make sure your hutch is off the ground and stable.
If you put it on concrete you'll find it easier to sweep round and won't need to worry about wet grass damaging the wood.
I know alot of owners like the run on the base/ hutch on the upper level ones but you really need to be able to move the grass run.
So one with a run base you could put on concrete but they might need some newspaper or similar to walk on (my pigs won;t walk on a tiled floor at all ) but you can sweep or hose the concrete , let it dry and it'll stay clean.
A separate run is much easier to find fresh grazing for.

For indoors you can get loads of ideas from C&C cages. Or there are some pretty good indoor cages with the plastic base (easy to clean) and bars on top.
They had some huge ones in Jolleys Pet Shop, I was having Cage Envy, but I can't think where I'd store it.
Our indoor cage is a 4'x2' from The Range. The boars didn't like it. We use it when needed, when we had a lone bereaved pig they were sleeping in DD room.
When the sows quarentined we put them in the cage inside the Pighouse.

This year for winter, I am going to try to get some more of the cube shelving from Costco or I'll have to lend them the set that is currantly used to hold towels and toiletries, it's similar to C&C, I need to get some lino to make a base with.

Paddling pool with deep sides can be used as an indoor run. Fill with newspaper or an old towel, some Primark paper bags (handles cut off), hay, boxes .

No water though

Wow thank you all for the ideas. Feel a lot clearer now- paddling pool for indoor run is a very clever solution! With regards to male/female are there any important factors I have to consider? I know two females can live together (usually ok??) but with males it's more tricky (sometimes ok if been together since young??neutered??) What behaviour differences are there?

We have been looking into getting some. I then have seen some ideas on Pinterest where people have built homemade indoor runs under their coffee table. Is this a mad idea?
I'm actually liking it as would like the guinea pigs to be indoors but wouldn't have excess space. However we do have a large coffee table ( about 1.5m metres squared). And fairly tall

Would guinea pigs be happy with this? Would also get the run of being outside on roof terrace

I'm not sure if this helps much, but the RSPCA reccomends 120cm x 60cm x 45cm for two guinea pigs. So you'd be looking for a hutch at least that size, but generally, the bigger the better. So if you can get an even bigger one then it would be even better.

I also wouldn't reccomend ramps for guinea pigs. A single storey hutch is best as most guinea pigs don't seem to use them or even figure out how to use them.

Two males should get along fine (but more than two could cause trouble) and if you can get two from the same litter and when they are still babies then even better. They don't need neutering and in fact it does not change their behaviour.

Males are lovely but need more space and their own 'privacy'. Our boars (Brothers) were a year when we got them , so past their Terrible Teens. In the haybox , they had their 'own' corner.
GP1 got very fretful if GP2 was out of his sight (even if I took them from the run to the house one by one)

We matched our GP3 with GP1 when one of the brothers died. GP3 was a very young piglet so he was accepted by the older boar (I think GP1 would have accepted a rolled up sock, he was so lonely )

We have neutered GP3 only because he's with females now after GP1 died. It hasn't changed him one iota except ( huge plus) his bum isn't hampered by his boar bollocks so , in theory, he won't get impaction .

Sows can be easier. But they can be territorial and a bit meh in season.

Our guinea pigs are happy with the ramp. We did make modifications though - changed the angle so it is nowhere near as steep, and added a bannister in case they fell off
I like how they can run around more even when in the hutch. We close off the bottom if it's wet so they don't get cold.

How do you cope with the smell if they are in your living room? We keep the indoor cage clean but even so there's always a certain whiff?!

Our indoor hutch does whiff if if hasn't had a spray of P@H Pets disinfectant at cleaning out time. It also has an odour neutralising quality. I don't used it if I have to clean the hutch whilst piggies are insitu, it happens when they are blissfully unaware in the ran.

Also uneaten cabbage or worse cauliflower leaves makes an evil smell. Hay has its own smell.

The least smelly things are the guineas themselves and they can have a a little bath in either special guinea pig shampoo or as I do a very small drop of Johnsons Baby Bath.

All my girls had a full beauty treatment this week. Claw clipping, Bath, blow dry and Mite Lotion from vet applied. It took a lot of cucumber to be forgiven

I have indoor pigs. A boar pair who live in DD's bedroom is an enormous, single storey cage. Hang on, I'll try to find it and link it. They also have a big, square covered run/pen for outside when the weather is dry and fine.

indoor cage. It is huge. 1.5m long and 75cm wide, we didn't install the little mezzanine shelf bit.

This is what we have for outside

in an enormous. Not is an enormous. Eejit

Have been looking at so many hutches over the last few days- very exciting! Think we've definitely decided to go with a single storey hutch, separate run (so can move around) and would also get a large cage for indoors when weather bad. I gather the hutch shouldn't be directly on the ground which is fine- but Ive seen hutches on small struts (not much above ground level but a small gap) and also ones on longer legs. Which would be best out of these? Only thing I wondered about the ones on longer legs would be the stability?

Any thoughts on short struts vs longer legs on hutch?