Guinea Pigs Advice

[Spike2020]

Hi

Our 9yr old daughter is wanting two Guinea Pigs. We were thinking of getting her some for her birthday. Not owned guinea pigs before

Could anyone provide any advice, recommend any breeds or where to purchase / breeders in the South Yorkshire / West Yorkshire (Wakefield side)

We are not wanting to purchase from a pet shop ideally and understand it is difficult during lockdown, so will be looking to arrange as and when allowed to do so.

TIA

Hello Spike

9yo is a good age to get guineas , I was 9yo when I fell in love with the school piggie (and kept pigs till I was 22yo) then my own DD was 9yo when she wanted a pet and I steered her towards piggies . We had eight of them over the last eight years .

You will get into a cycle , one dies , you get another (and in our case ended up at one point with 5 )

You of course will be responsible and much as your DD says she will do all the cleaning and feeding -she won't . My DD was brilliant we shared PigCare but of course there were times she was ill, away , busy with homework or simply CBA .
The "Mum can you do the pigs" was always met by "Yes , half of them are mine but you do breakfast"

As the Adult YOU are responsible and YOU pick up the slack for the lifespan of these gorgeous little animals .

Get your DD to cuddle some pigs and handle hay . Allergies are very common. My DD was fine til we got GP3 who was a coarse coat and GP6 who was very allergenic (Rex and Teddy) . She wouldn't let me have GP6 and got red rashes when she cuddled him.

So for breeds - I like a nice lardy Smooth . Bog standard , no frills .
Abby are lovely (rossettes) but stubby little muzzles and more risk of cataracts .
Long haired are hard work , more grooming .

Breeder or Rescue ?

Rescue is more ethical. Our pigs were Rescues but all adults except GP3 (he was taken into Rescue from a Breeder at just 6 weeks old)

While your're planning:

Bars or Sows . If you get an adult rescue boar they often castrate them and bond them. A little herd is a delight .
Boars are soppy but you need to provide for them. Space (lots) understanding their relationships .
Sows are lovely , IME untidier

Where will they live ? You need a big space . Ignore those shit little cages that are nothing more than a litter tray .
If you want to keep them outside they'll need protected - heat, cold, damp, draughts, predators

Your DD will need to go out to clean the bedding , feed , check , cuddle .

Or indoors you need to keep on top of things , they are rodents ! Hat smells far more than they do but if you don't keep them clean the bedding can whiff
Hay will be the bane of your life .

Guinea-pigs are he gentlest , chattiest , greediest , most vunerable little animals . They don't **
kick
bite
jump
climb
** our GP3 kicked if you touched his side , nothing painful, he just reacted . He 'airsnapped' if one of his wives ignored the warning
GP5 was a gnawer , but not a bite
GP3 also jumped out his travel box which was mt knee height . He didn't wait to be lifted , as soon as he was on the floor and the lid lifted , he flew

They also get ill and die very quickly and they hide it . You can find a local vet that specialises in small exotics .
They don't need vaccines and most potter through life happily , but ilnesses are tricky , they don;t let on they're ill.

I'm going to find something from Guinea-Lynx and post it .
It's poignant

A Guinea Pig's 12 Pleas For Owners

Please save me. There are guinea pig shelters and rescues. Find me in one of them. Do not buy me from a pet store or a breeder.

Please do not keep me alone. I can and will feel lonely. I need a companion. Think of me. You want me, you must follow my needs.

Please bring me in your home. The outdoors is no place for a creature as small and vulnerable as I am. Keep me warm in the winters and cool in the summers. Keep me in a room where you and your family are most often in so you can see and remember me. Keep me in a room where I can know you are there, and be reassured.

Please provide me with a spacious cage. Keep me in a cage roomy enough for me to run and popcorn and rumblestrut in as much as I desire. In a small cage you will be bored with me because I cannot move. I cannot be happy in an inadequate space and will not get the exercise I require.

Please know what I need to eat. Feed me hay that is green and fragrant and soft. I need it to wear my teeth down and to aid my digestion. I need plenty of vegetables that are green and leafy and high in Vitamin C, which I, like you, cannot produce for myself. The pellets you feed me need to be plain and high quality. Make sure the water in my bottle is clean and change out my water bottle every morning so when I take a drink, the water will be cool and fresh.

Please do not leave me in my cage all day long or I will become bored and depressed. Take me out to play and explore and run around. Make sure the room you choose for me is secure from electrical wires and holes where I can disappear in. Make sure the room I play in is safe from your dogs and cats and any other pets you may have.

Please do not give me an exercise wheel or a roll-around ball. These toys can hurt my back and my feet. I am content with paper bags and folded-over newspaper. I enjoy towel tents. I like tunnels and hidey houses where I can get away from things that frighten me.

Please groom me. My nails need to be clipped and my fur, when dirty, needs to be shampooed with a product designed to clean my fur safely. If I have long hair, you need to trim and brush me to keep me clean.

Please do not leave my care to a child. I cannot be taken care of by a child. I am not a play thing. I am not a toy you take home on a child's whim. I am not a gift or a reward. It is your responsibility to take care of me, to feed me, to clean my cage. Let your child hold me on his or her lap and pet me under supervision only. I have fragile bones and teeth that easily break. Though I am small, I need strong hands to hold me.

Please love me. Be patient with me. I am a fearful prey animal. With time and love, I will gradually open up, and once I do, there is no looking back. All I require are gentleness and patience. I am not like a dog who shows affection freely and obviously. I show you my recognition and gratitude in ways so small and subtle that you may miss them if you don't look closely.

Please know me and my ways. Like any other living, breathing being, I can get ill. But unlike predators, I hide my illness and weakness in order to survive. It is your responsibility to keep track of my weight and to notice when I am cold and when I am overheated. Know my body and the feel of my fur. Know my eyes' brightness and my ears' sensitivity. Notice when my health is failing me. For my sake, know me.

Please make my aging years as comfortable as possible. Though I am old, a health problem does not mean it is the end for me. Take me to a vet, just as you would if I were a couple years younger. The age I am is no excuse to miss a trip to the vet. Perhaps five to seven years is just a blink to you but it is my whole lifetime. I am grateful for all the years you cared enough to want the best for me.

Written by Sabrina Speranza

To inspire you , this is Gp3 and GP1

GP3 (on the left) young adult Rex boar , we got him as a tiny piglet .
He was bonded with GP1 (on the right) middle aged Smooth boar .( He originally arrived with his brother)

They were uncastrated when we kept two boars but had a nice Pighouse ( old playhouse) and in winter we put a C&c run in the small bedroom. Needed a load of space .
When GP1 died we got GP3 neutered and got him 2 wives

Once a year we took advantage of them and had a Traditional Christmas Eve Photo. It took a whole load of vegetable offcuts to win them round

We got ours from a nearby rescue, both sows and roughly two years old. So gentle, but scatty stomachs with eyes
There are so many rescues out there, have a look at www.guineapiggles.co.uk/guinea-pig-rescue-search-results to find one in your area.

We rescued our pair. I have to admit, I am totally in love with them. They are shy and nervous but so interested and bright, they tolerate being cuddled but they most enjoy playing on the grass in their run.
Be prepared for them having to move into the house over the winter.
They are such interesting little animals, loads of pleasure to be had from them.

Thankyou. Will look at the rescues aswell.

Do you find that when you let them out and about to play in the house they go to the loo on the floor?

I recall looking after a friend's once- loved dandelions...

OP, please read 70’s posts and take them in. She knows her stuff when it comes to guinea pigs.

Though I would add, please don’t get a 9-year-old a living animal as a birthday present. If she loses interest in caring for them, as she surely will, they will become yours.

And as 70’ says, children should not be solely responsible for pets.

As ever the wonderful 70 has said exactly what you need to know.

We love our guinea pigs (as you can see from my username ;0) )

I'd disagree that they need to be inside.
Ours are outside pigs; we live in a temperate climate where it doesn't snow. If they have a warm hutch with lots of hay they'll be fine in Winter as long as they have a polar fleece blanket to snuggle under (regularly washed). Guineas do not cope well with changes of temperature so the worst thing you can do for them is bring them inside into a warm room if they've been outside on a cold day; or vice versa. So keep their environment consisent.

They are lovely little pets. Ours love warm baths and being brushed.

We got three for DD as a birthday present. Three apparently is a bad number and DD quickly discovered that real guinea pigs are not the same as fictional ones...
Luckily I have had GP's myself (although I am allergic) and DH is very experienced with rodents.
They are charming and sweet animals. Much easier than rabbits, but don't underestimate that they will need quite a lot of care every day.
We're down to 2 now. One is my favourite and is friendly and tame, happily comes out for a fuss and a chat.
They do need a decent amount of space, a good diet and regular cleaning.

Thankyou

We are responsible and understand that ultimately it will be us caring for them, overseeing our daughter. We are also wanting to promote her taking some personal responsibility as she is getting older now.

It sounds from the advice that gunnies pigs seem like a good choice, Thankyou.

Another recommendation for rescuing here. We rescued 2 boars last year and they’re now 3 years old. They are ridiculously cute and chatty (wheek and get excited at any bag being opened in hearing range).
Ours live inside in the dining room in a 160cm cage which sounds huge but really is minimum size for the 2 of them. We’re planning an extension for them when we got our extension built.

They are great pets for children (with all above caveats that obviously an adult remains ultimately responsible) and my 2 girls (6 and almost 2) love them so much. The littlest regularly pokes her fingers through the bars to say hi when no ones looking and only ever gets sniffed.

We’ve just bought an outdoor run for warmer days and it’s lovely seeing them running around enjoying the outside world/ stuffing their tiny faces with grass

These are our boys getting some dandelion leaves from the youngest who they’ve trained well as their snack slave

Love piggies had loads in the past. Husband very allergic and new puppy on the way so no more currently.