GP Advice for a newbie please

[NoctisLucisCaelum]

Hi,
My nearly 10 year old is desperate for a pet and we have decided that guinea pigs are the way to go. I would quite like 3 of them (though maybe ought to start with 2) but I am worried about what to do with them in the winter. Will they be ok if we move them into the garage in the winter, wrap the hutch in blankets, etc, snuggle pads every night? My concern is that it could be fairly cold out there, and it is a bit dark. Will they mind? Unfortunately we just don't have room in the house. I should probably add that we do not keep a car in the garage - really it is more of a shed, but is not insulated.
Also for those of you with 3 pigs, what size hutch do they live in and can you recommend one? I have found this one

www.therabbithutchcompany.co.uk/rabbit-hutches/the-coach-house-6ft-rabbit-hutch-114.html

(The internet seems to think they should have more room rather than less.)
Thank you!

The more room the better. I had 3 sows in a 5foot hutch living indoors. Had a look at the hutch in your link. Great length but my worry is guinea pigs are bad at learning to use ramps and that ramp is too steep for a gp, plus it could plop over the side and injure itself in the fall.

Best combo is 3 sows or neutered boar plus 2 females. In most cases (there are exceptions) 3 boars together will fight. Two boars together works best when they are litter brothers. I am currently caring for 2 boars during their owners holiday. I have caught the dominate male biting the face of his 'friend' twice and he has drawn blood. They are not brothers and can smell my sow which has caused problems.

Baby guinea pigs are really fast, see my drunken post from last night. Once they are 18 months they should calm down. I got my last remaining piggy from a rescue when she was two and a half years. She is now in her twilight months at 6 years and 5 months and is a lovely pet.

Please don't keep them in a dark garage even just for winter. They do need light. It's good that you're considering everything and doing your research before getting a pet, so many people don't bother and that's why rescues are full.

If you can find a solution to your winter housing, then I'd definitely suggest going to a rescue. There are lots of lovely piggies in need of homes and adult piggies are much easier than babies. They're far more likely to settle down on knees for cuddles than wriggly youngsters and are generally very placid. Plus you can get a bonded pair or group and avoid the 'terrible teens' when they try to assert themselves to be the dominant pig.

That hutch looks fine, I have 2 in one similar. During winter mine mainly stay outside and come in to a small inside cage when it's close to freezing/snowing. My hutch is against the house. It has a weather cover, they get loads of hay and have fleece pockets they snuggle in and other boxes. We don't really get any wind through our garden so no extra chill from that. Mine our handled s for bit and bought in for cuddles lots.

Hello Noctus
Welcome to the world of guinea-pigs if you are planning to join us Pig Slaves

I have 3 at the moment, I've gone between 2 and 5 , at the moment I have 2 sows who don't want to co-habit with our neutered boar.

We have a Playhouse (its roughly 6'6" square) so we have two divided areas .I can take out two windows, the frames are re-inforced with mesh and bars+wire for light and ventilation. (There's a light inside for our benefit)
They have a rabbit hutch (on the floor with a door cut out) and a big plastic trunk (witth doors) as the sleeping quarters and floor space.

My piggies didn't like ramps (GP1/GP2) so we removed it (it went up to the top of the haybox)
The haybox is where they'll spend 99% of the time and the hutch has a fairly small haybox. You can maybe move the inner wall but you need to make sure they can use the ramp.

Are you planning putting it on grass? Or slabs? On grass you'll need to move it about. And it'll need to be secure so it doesn't get knocked over.
And secure the floor tray , there's a thread on here about a fox getting access.

You need to have access to the piggies regularly - inside they're accessible.
I think (personally) that my little ratbags like being outside , hearing everything going on. They are inside for winter nights though.

I've tried most beddings-mine like hay and lots of it
Inside though I either give fleece on newspaper and haycookies or hay in a box. Or it will get everywhere. Tarpaulin on the carpet and a hoover round.

Boars or sows ? Or a neutered boar+sow/s?

Boar + sows is the most natural set up but it involves surgery for a little rodent. Lots of Rescues will do this, you pay a bit more (I paid IIRC £50 for GP6 - £10 for him and £40 for the op. Best £50 ever according to GP6 )

Boars are lovely and snuggly - just be aware of issues with space and their pecking order.
My sows are more independant ( in GP5 case that reads stroppy ) and pee loads.

And you'll get into The Neverending Spiral of when one dies, you get a new piggie... and so it goes on.

Read up on their food requirements.
Their potential illnesses.
Seek a Guinea-Savvy Vet . You might not need them , but it's good to know where they ate.

Three guinea-pigs would need at least 5'x2' in theory. In reality , it's not enough. They like lots of houses and space to get out of each others faces (especially boars)
Then they'll cram their massives rumps into a tiny box of hay and look gormless at ya.

Can you tell we love our piggies

Can I jump on as we're also about to get GPs?

Playing on this board I've read about people putting fleece down as bedding and washing it once a week. Is it proper fleece or fleecy blanket like you'd buy in ikea? Do you get pet fleece?

I also worry about the winter thing and have had conflicting advice - the rescue we went to was adamant they don't need to be kept inside during the winter as long as you insulate their hutches and give them lots of warm bedding but the pet shop said they should come inside in Sept and not go out till May!

Seven - couple of answers (then I'm off to bed )

Fleece - you can get VetBed which is ££ , cheaper online.
I'm not a huge fan of fleece but I do use it in the Winter indoor cages. I buy the rougher Ikea or Primark ones , the very soft fleece doesnt wick so they get wet bellies.

I used a bathmat under their newspaper with puppy pads so it stayed clean (my pigs don't eat the paper/puupypads thankfully)

I change my bedding daily (so if their in/out in winter thats two changes a day , mine pee copiously) . I've never got more than two days use of bedding with my sows, boars were a bit tidier.
I buy them cheap and don't re-use , my washing machine wouldn't thank me. They get 1/6 of a blanket so it lasts a while.

Mine come in for Guy Fawkes then probably Dec til March at night , but they have a covered playhouse not an open hutch.

The most important thing with pigs is damp . They can cope with cold if they're insulated . I put cardboard and those rolls of insulating silver/white material (for radiators) where they can't chew it , behind the hutches in the playhouse . Cardboard on the floor under the newspaper. Cardboard shredded equine bedding on the floor.
If they're not warm they'll simply sit in the hay and not move which isn't good for them . And they will pee/pooh and eat that hay .

If you have indoor/outdoor you need to keep the temperature constant.
Ours have the small bedroom unheated and we put covers over their cages at night.(Mainly to stop them prattling all night )
30 minutes before they go out , I put their fresh bedding (kept in the house) , Snugglepads and a little heater to waft the chill off for 30 minutes.

It also depends on the age of the pigs (baby pigs and elderly ones are frailer) and if they snuggle up.
And where you are in the UK, what the winter temperatues are.

I personally find summer high temperatures harder work to keep little fur covered rodents cool.

If they're out all the time you do miss out alot .
In Summer , we can chat to ours when they're in their runs.
In winter, I often get a guinea-pig dumped on my bed to give me a wake-up

Once we get from 3 to 1 , that piggie will be inside all the time, probably in the dining room where its busy .
Ours are all 3yo now so hopefully it will be a few years off but I'm determined this will be the last lot of guineas .

Honest !

DSD has 3. They live outside permanently- no other choice as we have 2 dogs and 3 cats and they simply wouldn't survive indoors. DSD rescued them otherwise we wouldn't of let her have them.

DH built a big nestingbox with a ramp down into a long run which we move every 2 3 days. They get closed into the nestbox of a night in the winter with a snuggle pad, plenty of straw and shavings bedding and it's very cosy in there for them.

They hated using the ramp at first but we brought a play tunnel from pets at home at put in over the ramp and they happily ran up and down within 10 minutes of putting it there.

Nestbox is poo picked every 2/3 days and fully changed every week. We line it with a couple layers of newspapers, thick layer of shavings and 3 generous handfuls of straw. Big bowl of fresh food everyday, fresh water everyday a handful each of hay and a bowl of veggie scraps everyday if we have them or we will cut them some carrot etc up.

They have a area in the run that is shaded by the nest box if it's warm and plenty of toys. They have lasted 4 years so can't of come to much harm living outdoors!

We also do have a small hutch so if we happened to get extreme weather then they would have to be brought indoors. But permanently it can't happen

Thanks, everyone!