Guinea pig life hacks?

[genenemethnn]

Help! Does anyone have any shortcuts for keeping guinea pigs? Our adorable 2 boars are quite a lot of work, and with working fulltime and a child I am exhausted.

I spend more than an hour per day hoovering up random straw strands, cleaning their indoor C&C run as they do so many poos/wees, disinfecting floors where I find random poos, usually due to child having taken them off to the couch for a cuddle. I sometimes (often) have to clean them out twice a day as they stand in/squash it everywhere (tmi). I go through reams of newspaper and am constantly scavenging more from work/family/neighbours. I even have a reminder daily in my work Outlook to nip out to the neighbouring cafe's to get their newspapers as they shut. Our piggies get chopped veg twice a day, fully cleaned at least once, put on the lawn daily whenever possible, talked to. They have hay, toys and nuggets. What tips could make things easier?

There are none, guinea pigs are walking wheeking shit machines.
The hay gets bloody everywhere.

But having said that, I love the very marrow in the bones of our piggies and the mess/time is a part of it all.

DD and I have a routine (well that's what we pretend it is)

I di wake up and breakfast , take out their windows if its nice.

DD puts them out after school.
She takes them up to the house while I clean the bedding, we cuddle them, do supper.
I collect newspaper from family, supermarket, underground station.
I buy bags of hay 3-4 at a time so I hopefully don't run out.
I have a collection of shallow metal dog bowls so they always have clean ones to use/others in the wash.

The only TimeHack I can think of for you is for your DC to cuddle them in a towel or cuddle sac to stop them soiling.

Could you not keep them outside? Then you wouldn't have to clean them out every day? Could DD do one if the feeds? Do you need to give them fresh veg twice a day? What about DD giving them dried guinea pig food once a day herself (and checking they have enough water).

Having them outside is even harder. They will still poop just as much. Cleaning a hutch after its been raining is grim, crouching down trying not to get wet yourself, just no. I had nearly 3 weeks of that when I looked after friends young boars. I cleaned them out almost daily, my poor wheelie bin overflowed.

My elderly piggy lives indoors. Mess is the way of life with a guinea pig. Just embrace the mess.

Good advice from PP, get your DC involved with topping up hay, changing the water bottle feeding nuggets. I would only feed veg once a day but Millie has treats throughout the day. For instance if I have fruit I share a bit with Millie.

I don't have a guinea pig but an indoor rabbit - when she had a cage we had the same problem with hay going everywhere so I got some x large (chew safe!) door mats (from ikea I think) to go under her crate. It was easier to bang the hay outside then.

I also don't know if guinea pigs can be litter trained? My bunny has a high sided litter tray with a removable rim (meant for cats) which helps contain her mess!

We get big 'industrial' sized wood/ hay / straw / food so no need for a mad search for newspaper!

And we leave the poo? They're cleaned out once a week, and if we see a pile we'll throw it away, but their poo is dry and they're perfectly fine dealing with a scattering during the week!

Chill out! And I say that in the nicest way possible. They're the most relaxed, easy going animals I have and I know you love them and want to do good for them, but I PROMISE they do not give a shit () if some poo drops are left for a few days, as long as they're dry, there's not an loads of flies and they're cleaned out weekly.

Yes, I had guinea pigs when younger and I'm sure I only cleaned them out once or twice a week. That's why I suggested keeping them outside so any smells aren't as strong. But totally get the not wanting to clean out in the rain!

I have been through several types of cage and bedding to find the easiest and cheapest way of keeping the mess under control with minimum effort and this is the best I can do:

indoor cage (I just use the tray part as my two are not climbers)

fleece liner. I made these to fit the cage with doubled-over polar fleece. I scoop the poo out two or three times a day using a scoop I made from a laundry liquid bottle - it takes seconds. Fleece is replaced every three days - I shake it out and bung it in the wash.

Small covered cat litter box - this is their bedroom. I cover the bottom with aubiose and put a load of hay on top of that. Since they pee in their bed more than anywhere else, it makes cleaning easier - I can just tip out the litter box without having to do a whole cage clean.

Google ziggies piggies. She have makes fleece cage liners to measure. They have a towel middle so soak up the wee and the fleece wicks it away. No need for newspaper. Blooming genius and cost effective. And better for their feet than straw

Oh I do recommend a horse blanket bag to put fleece liners into wash with as it contains the hair

I use puppy pads under cardboard in my piggies bedrooms - soaks all the wee up really well. I still clean them out every 2 or 3 days though...

Thanks for all the responses, they are interesting. We already use rubber lined doormats to line the floor with newspaper on top. Their hay is put into low level crates which they hop into when they want.

I am going to definitely start bulk buying hay and sawdust/megazorb. Will look into the fleece line, and the horse bag sounds a great idea. The hair in the washing machine from their bedding is horrendous. I have to run a second rinse wash after removing it. Dont think they could go outside as one is prone to URIs. They live in a main room in our house and def smell if I dont pickup their poo daily. Little feckers.

How do people lift poo off fleece without the whole fleece lifting up? Or do you just lift it and let the poo drop off?

I read this smiling (whilst making my own cage liners- will see how successful they are!) thinking what a wonderful home those little guineas have :)

I have no tips though beyond what's already been suggested, sorry!

I think mine would be horrified if I changed their whole cage to fleece though, they love the abundance of hay in there at the moment!

I put their hay into a wide mesh bird feeder (the ones that hold fat balls). Means they can eat easily but it's not wasted by them sitting/weeing on it. Also doesn't get everywhere.

Also like doing veg kebabs. Metal skrewer with hook on end. Stab the veg and use carrot as the stopper and then Hook onto top of cage. Keeps them interested and amused for longer.

When I had my piggies indoors, I had two cages next to each other on the floor, joined together with wooden arches (looked like sticks joined together with wire that can bend into a U shape), the back one would be used for sleeping and I used to put hay in this cage as a floor covering, no newspaper or shavings, just hay. You can use barley straw as it is softer than oat straw, but not all piggies get on with it. The hay soaks up the wee and doesn't smell or get saturated like it would if you used newspapers. I would just add a handful every morning and evening for fresh.

In the front cage, the floor was kept bare and this was where they had their food and water. They also had a hay rack attached to the bars to eat.

They would come into the front cage for feeding time and then retreat to the back cage during the day where there were tunnels to sleep in.

I would then clean out both cages once a week.

I tried newspaper for about 2 days before I couldn't stand it anymore. The wee just immediately soaks through (how creatures as small as them produce that volume of wee I just don't know). I use puppy pads, originally with fleece and then moved on to artificial grass.

I had a animal blanket wash bag to stop the hair going into my washer when I washed the fleece but I didn't feel the fleeces where getting that clean, so eventually changed onto artificial grass which I take and hose down.

I use 2 cat litter trays lined with puppy pads and filled with hay. This is where mine mainly wee so I change that every day, but the rest of the cage, gets a clean every other day ish
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