Guinea pigs - advice please for a new owner

[march2november]

I am considering getting a few guinea pigs for my children. We have never had any pets before and I have read that guinea pigs are a great pet for little children.

The main worry I have is toilet training. How easy is this? I am worried that I am going to spend a lot of time cleaning my floors if the guinea pigs are roaming around. What about if the children have them up on the chairs/sofa? Is there just going to be a lot of cleaning and mess? This is mainly the reason why I have never wanted a dog or cat I'm the past.

Also, do they just roam around the house through the day or do they tend to be left in their cage and taken out occasionally? I am really clueless! My children (aged 9,8,6 and 4) will be at school and I'm not sure I will want the little guinea pigs roaming around my feet all day.

If anyone has any information for me to help me decide I would really appreciate it.
Thanks!

Welcome, this board has a lot of info on it if you scroll back through some previous threads. Consensus here is certainly that guinea pigs are amongst the nicest small pets for children, easier to handle and cuddlier than rats or hamsters (although they do need regular gentle/patient handling to get used to it, most are quite shy at first) and generally less high maintenance than rabbits. They have lovely cute little personalities, make a range of squeaky noises and can quite quickly become a part of the family!

However I am not sure it is at all possible to toilet train a guinea pig, they are not at all clever animals (in fact they are adorably stupid!) and they are absolute poo machines, they poo a lot. A lot a lot. So yes, you are going to have to get used to cleaning up poo, on the plus side they are herbivores so it's inoffensive, non smelly hard little pellets that look a bit like very compressed plant matter, not at all like dog or cat poo. Their wee does smell a bit though so you will need to be prepared to spot clean the cage at least every other day and full clean every week, and if you are sensitive to smells you might want to do it more often. TBH if you are very house proud or sensitive about poo/wee then I wouldn't get any kind of caged animal as it's an issue with all of them, although with the smaller rodents like hammies there is less volume of poo and wee so less to clean IYSWIM?

Most guineas do not roam the house, they are not very active animals and most are quite happy lazing about in their cage most of the day so long as it's big enough/well set up with plenty of hay to eat and hidey places, and they are taken out every day. Our pair have their cage door open most of the time during the day when someone is at home but they just aren't interested in coming out of their own accord and have to be gently encouraged pushed into doing any exercise at all. I wouldn't let them go entirely free range because they could quite easily chew electrics or get stuck behind furniture etc (told you they were stupid!).

So when they do come out of the cage inside the house it's either onto the hard floor of our lounge under supervision or onto our laps on the sofa- we use bits of old towel or blanket to contain any poo/wee. Then clean up after is either a quick sweep up or shake the towel off into the bin and pop into the dirty laundry. Cleaning the cage is more of a chore IMO particularly as most guineas like to kick their hay and bedding around the place so you need to be able to contain/tidy that too, could be an issue if you are planning to keep them in a carpeted area?

Other basics to consider are that you absolutely must get a pair, they should never live alone, and they need much much more space than you think, either a large cage (larger than pets at home say you need) or a medium cage and access to a secure run...

Thank you for your response and all the information. I need to think carefully about it all, I am quite house proud, and the cleaning up after them is worrying me a bit!!
Will weigh it all up. Thanks again!

I would agree with maxelly have a good read through all the piggie threads on here to start then decide if you want to share your life with these little rodents .

I love guinea-pigs . I had then from 9yo -22yo , then my DD wanted "A Pet" when she was 9yo, we got on the Guinea-PIg Carousel again.

Carousel because you end up in a ride you cannot get off
The hay -which they must have - gets everywhere . DD and I gave up wearing socks or slippers in the guinea-pigs' room (oh, did I mention they had their own bedroom ? Indoors they had cages and C&C runs in our small bedroom, there's no door on the room, we put the radiator off . They could have the window open an inch. We could store their hay, fleeces , newspaper up there)
DD could bring one or two into her room for a cuddle .

They came indoors for winter nights and outside to their (heated) pighouse by day . You need to make sure they don't go from cold-hot or hot-cold . Damp can kill them. They need checked several times a day , fed, cuddled , cleaned They can get ill very quickly . I've noticed one of mine was ill just because they sat differently . Or sat away from their cagemate . It is that subtle . Usually by the time they show you they are ill, it is too late )

So . They hay . They hay smells (guinea-pigs don't smell if you keep them clean)
It is quite allergenic .
The guinea-pig fur can be (my DD was allergic to our 3rd pig and our 6th pig . )

They need protected from everything . They will chew . They're rodents . So wires , fabrics, paper , they don't mind . They will get into any space and squawk when you try to rescue them .

Our boars were always 'tidier' with their pooh, the sows just poohed as they walked along. They aren't litter trainable like rats or rabbits .
They will (usually) give you a 'sign' that they want to pee when you cuddle them. Stamping about or moving their bottom to the edge (so if you miss it , they pee down your leg )

They are noisy and have a great vocal range . Purring, wheeking, chattering, and singing (like a little chirruping bird which is weird but quite rare )

They are lovely, gentle , friendly little animals . Loads in Rescue (and there will be loads more after this bloody Frozen 2 film that will generate a lot of Here are Anna and Elsa / Olaf and Sven. Kids got bored Gumtree adverts

We had eight guinea-pigs over 8 years , at one point we had 5 (neutered boar+2 wives and another group of 2 sows) .
They need to be in a pair or group and of course there's no guarantee they'll get on (my GP8 only got on with her cagemate) .
Until you get to the end of your guinea-pig spiral. We had our last old girl on her own after GP6 died . She had DD for company , survived an aye ulcer , then died in her sleep peacefully .

And they rip a bit out of your heart when they die those pesky varmints .

If you are houseproud don't get guinea pigs. They need lots of hay to eat and sit in. Hay gets everywhere.

Try and find out if you have a guinea pig rescue nearby, they can provide lots of support and advice if you adopt a pair, much better than shops like pets at home.

I have 2 guinea pigs. We keep ours in a cage all day and occasionally pet them. Guinea pigs take a while to warm up to people so it'll take some time before they are open to your kids just picking them up and playing with them.
Another thing to note about guinea pigs
They have very very fragile backs
There is a certain way they have to be picked up and held.
It honestly might not be a safe idea to have them free roam around your house 1) because of their size and 2) they are messy animals. We have to deep clean their cage once a week and do spot treatments daily.
All in all guinea pigs are great and if in a cage are fairly easy to care for. If you're kids are in school I would recommend getting 2 so they can keep each other occupied during the day.

OP if you are in any doubt about getting them look at these two little darlings. They are the best pets you can have. Yes to hay getting everywhere but we have a carpet sweeper just like grandma used to have and it works a treat on hay and takes minutes to do each day or even two or three times.

They're beautiful but they smell and the hair gets EVERYWHERE. you will find poop in places you shouldn't find poop.
I now have a small dog and shes mich less work than guinea pigs.
They're small and cute, but dont be deceived. They are hard work.

They don't smell but the cage does if you don't clean them out often enough. They are much easier than rabbits, dogs and cats.

twin your piggies are gorgeous

Though I've never kept rabbits - I used to think they might be easier because they can choose themselves if they want to go out in their run, whereas guineas need to go out when it's nice . I know they're vunerable to illness and hide it . Not as cuddly as pigs .

Our 2 cats (we got them after our last pig died . DH always said he wanted cats again ) are so much easier than the pigs .
Ok they need careful watching and I know they're more fragile as they get older . They need their litter cleaned several times a day and we have to cat proof . And they are armed with sharps

Guinea-pigs don't smell . It's the hay and bad cage management that smells . But they are so untidy .

I have decided against getting guinea pigs at least for the time being. My kids keep me busy as it is without little animals to look after too. Also, we go away regularly throughout the year and would have nobody to look after them. I contacted a few local kennels that keep cats and dogs but there doesn't seem to be a place that looks after small pets short term. Weighing it all up it's not the right decision for us at the minute. They are very cute though. Thank you everyone for all the advice and the pictures twinguineapigs