Guinea pig - indoor dwelling

[EmotionalFlood]

Hi all! I had a quick search but couldn't find quite what I was looking for.

We were given a poorly guinea pig 9 months ago, nursed her back to health, got her comfortable with people and she's quite a social little lady now. We agreed we'd add herd mates once she was healthy.

We've added two baby girls to the mix, she's popcorning all over the place and it's nice to hear her chatter and see her play! (We did the gradual introduction correctly, quarantined etc). My concern now is that her hutch won't be big enough once the babies grow. What indoor set ups would people recommend? I don't want to move them outside as our first guinea has always been an indoor guinea pig and she chatters away to me while I'm home and would miss them also!

It ideally needs to be secure as we have two dogs, one who will sleep next to our first guinea pig and isn't aware she isn't a dog, the other is a 'hunting breed' whom I do not trust with small mammals (she is a worker).

Sorry for the long post, any suggestions would be appreciated! x

We bought a playpen for our rabbit off eBay. The floor of it was just a sheet but it was useless and it had a mesh top cover for it when it was in a 50p piece. OH turned it into a square shape and bought plastic sheeting for it for the floor and the sides and left the cover off. She now lives in the sunroom and is very happy. We also have 4 dogs. We got a corner litter tray for her too which she uses and just throw straw and hay in the bottom rather than shavings. The kids play in the sunroom so she always has company. If I can get a pic up I'll send you one. Hope this helps.

@EmotionalFlood hopefully the pic uploads.

I built a home from c & c grids with a waterproof table cloth towels and fleece on the ground. I think you can make secure tops for these type of cages but we didn't need to as our dog didn't go upstairs and that's were the piggies were.

C and c cage. If you google it loads of companies will come up. You can essentially make them as large as you like. We have a 6 x 4 in the kitchen diner with 4 piggies happily there.

C and c cage, you can get packs with enough grids to add a lid. With 3 piggies, you would need a 5x2. Most of them come with a correx liner For the base, which you then add your choice of bedding (we use Washable, absorbent fleece).

Thanks for all the replies! My DP is quite handy with these things but wondered what was already out there to buy. Our guineas are in the living room, I would like to keep them there if possible but I could give them more space in the spare bedroom!

With the C&Cs I notice some are two storey but the ramps seem quite steep, has anyone had issues with this? Our current ramp is very shallow and they manage happily with this one.

Also we use wood chippings at the moment would people recommend the fleece/fabric bases instead? I realise it would be more environmentally friendly

Steep ramps can cause back issues, or they will just refuse to go up them. You could add something under the base of the ramp to lessen the slope?
We prefer the washable fleeces are we are limited on rubbish collection so having additional bags of soiled chippings etc was a concern for us. If you do use fleece, you’ll need at least two so you can have one on and one in the wash. You’ll also need a wash bag To put the bedding in before it goes in the washing machine otherwise the pet hair gets everywhere and ruins your washing machine. Can get these on amazon/eBay cheaply enough though.

The fleece works well and is cosy, brushing the cage us easy if the fleece is nice and flat. I didn't make two storeys but the ones I've seen look fab.

Sorry I posted too quick there! I meant to include pics. In the Xmas one you can see I cable tied another grid halfway up the cage and I then out another folded towel and fleece, they liked to hip up onto it and hide underneath it.

@daisychain1620 I love the Christmas set up!!

I'm all on board for changing to fleece if that's better for the piggies. Might be less messy too when we get them out for exercise and socialising. C&C looks like the way to go for larger indoor space... I haven't had a guinea pig herd for 15 years and they were always outdoor pets so feeling like I don't know what's best for them at the moment

Do people buy the C&C cages or just the panels and make their own space? (I've watched a few YouTube videos and found a few sites that sell them). What did we do before the Internet? 🤣

I bought the grids from Amazon, which come with connectors but I also used some cable ties to make it more secure. For the flooring I used a waterproof table cloth, puppy pads, then a couple of layers of towels then the fleece. I used bulldog clips to pull the fleece tight then clip it on the grid. I tried clipping the fleece both inside of the grids ( the camo fleece pic)which keeps the cage free from pee, etc and outside of the grids (the Xmas pic)which i found better to keep the fleece tight which is easier to brush out.

Hello-

I don't have pigs now but when mine were indoors we had a C&C set up and a standard 4x2 plastic base with the wire bar lid ( for two pigs ) they were mainly just bedtime cages - they went out to their Pighouse by day until we got to the last winter with three older pigs who stayed indoors .

C&C is good , adjustable , airy .
You can make a lid - I did when my DBro cat visited . Just need to make it overlap the grids , bit of a lip round the edge . I put a sturdy box inside to balance it on. Few cable ties to secure .
I didn't do ramps or top floors , my pigs were far too lazy for that malarky

Only problems - the hay gets everywhere !
The plastic based cage was tidier .

You need a good base - piggies feet are delicate .
I used cardboard boxes , if I was clever I could use them to make a side wall too (keep the hay in) for the sleeping area . Piggies like a hiding area .
I put a few puppy pads , newspaper then a flat fleece .
Hay in the sleeping area to cuddle in.
Cleaning was shaking out the fleece , put into a wash bag , roll up the newspaper . If the puppy pads were dry then they did another day . Soiled we took them out .

The fleece wash bags are a Lifesaver ! (Look on Amazon )
You put the detergent in, wash them , hang outside . Your washing machine doesn't get clogged with hay and debris .

I liked the Ikea rough fleeces . Soft fleecy ones don't wick .
(I think I bought 10 they were £2 each or something )

You need bland detergent ( pigs are respiratory sensitive . I used Ecover) No conditioner (it stops the fleeces wicking ) And ........No Zoflora ! I know MN has a thing for Zoflora but not near little rodents .

If I gave my pigs the choice between a fleece or a box of hay - they'd choose hay .
I tried those hay cookies (solid disc) but in the end , hay made them happy (even though it drives you daft )

My pigs had the small bedroom upstairs (theres no door on it) .I put a big tarpaulin on the floor , every so often we took everything out and swept .
But it was the Guinea-Pigs Room (still called this even though we have no pigs but 2 cats )