Guinea pigs inside or outside?

[ReallySpicyCurry]

So we're thinking of getting some guinea pigs this Spring. I have two DDS, 13 and 2. They will technically have one each, but obviously the toddler is far too young for any unsupervised handling, so big DD is going to be Queen of the Guineas. She is a really good kid and is already looking up plants she could grow for them in the veg patch.

So here's my dilemma. I had guineas as a child, they were in a good sized hutch by the back door, so easily accessible, but very much outdoor animals. They lived happily for years. From what I gather now, though, most guineas seem to be kept indoors.

We live on the coast in NI so can get some nasty gales, but rarely a really hard frost

So option 1- full time inside
DD1 sleeps on the floor above us, and any guineas would have to stay in her room. We have a cat who would be unlikely to bother them, but would probably like to sit and stare at them a bit. Not so much of a problem as we could keep the door shut, but still. Also we'd be a bit pushed for room - I'm not sure what size of cage would be considered big enough for them,but we could fit one in to a point, it would mean a lot of reshuffling though, possibly DD getting rid of one or two items of furniture which tbh she doesn't use anyway, and beyond a certain size of cage we simply couldn't manage it. On the upside they're right on hand to DD and could get loads of interaction. Would they smell though? I've also seen those little pet playpens you can set around on grass - so we could take them out with us when we're outside during the day?

Option 2- full time garden
This would be my preferred option, but I'm conscious of a few things. Our garden is huge but weirdly set up, on different levels/a bit of a slope- so you can only see the whole garden from DD's skylight,and a bit of it from my bedroom. Otherwise you basically can't see the garden at all and there are steps and a gate to get up it. I am a keen gardener and we are outside a lot for most of the year, and the area I have in mind for the guineas would be the closest bit to the house, past the steps and gate and just about in view of the windows, however it would be on a play area which is currently woodchipped
Like I said though, the garden is massive and there'd be loads of room to move them around but I'm just conscious that it's not an easily accessible back garden where you can just pop out the back door from the kitchen to feed them etc. On a dark winter afternoon, with DD2 being so little, it's an absolute trek to get coats and wellies on and just to get up the ancient old stone steps to get the washing in- however that wouldn't last for long and can be planned for

Option 3- outside 3/4 of the year but overwinter inside from end of October to end of Feb.
I don't know what to think of this idea, it seems to make sense, and in some ways seems the best of both worlds, but would require a greater initial outlay on both a hutch and a cage, which isn't a big deal really, but is it a needless faff/unfair on the piggies to switch them about like this? Could they cope with being inside for a few months after the freedom of outside?

Sorry for the massive post, but I'm very conscious of doing right by any animals we choose to have, and I won't get an animal if I feel we can't meet all its needs.

Any recommendations of cages/hutches would be great too- looking online it's quite hard to get an idea of what's suitable these days or not. The hutch I had for mine as a child was very simple, but a decent size, handmade and solid as a rock - we took the run off after the guineas died and it ended up as a kennel for our Cairn terrier for years. But looking online I can't find anything in the least similar, they all seem high/multilevel/flimsy and just not what I'm looking for, plus I know there has been a big kickback about hutch sizes for rabbits - not sure if the same applies to piggies

Hi, ours are indoors because we had a rat problem in our shed just before we got them and I didn’t want to offer them up as bait. However as a child ours lived in the garage in the winter and outdoors in the summer. This site is really helpful about cage sizes, food, behaviour etc: www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/

My guinea pigs were inside at night, in a cage in the garage and outside during the day in an ark. Makes it easier to clean them out when they are not in the hutch.

Ours has an indoor and outdoor hutch, and they go between the two depending on the weather (although we started bringing them in at night as we had an interested fox). It doesn't seem to bother them as we give them food at the point of arrival.

Guineas love to eat grass so I don't think the wood chip part of the garden would suit them.

When we got ours the breeder (who bred show guinepigs and was very fussy about vetting us, and seemed to really care/ know what she was doing) said not to move them between inside and outside sleeping (fine to put indoor pigs in a garden run in the day in fine weather) but to settle on one or the other permanently.

Ours are indoors in a run the size of a larfe single bed. We have a fence which can be set up as an indoor or outdoors day-run and they go out in the garden if someone is outside on dry, warm days and also move to the living room during the day at weekends/ school holidays.

We wanted to have them in the middle of things and they're thriving and very vocal. The kids call the the ewoks. They are our only pets except for two aquariums of fish.

Ours are in a guinea pig shed with a heater in winter.

They need much more space than you’d think. The majority of pet shop cages are not suitable. Bare mini for 2 females is 4ft x 2ft and males need a lot more space.

Oof. Lots to think about.

I did think that about settling on one environment and sticking to it- did she give any particular reason as to why it's preferable to stick to one?

A single bed sized cage wouldn't be doable though. I'll have to check what the minimum acceptable size is. We could manage toddler bed size!

If they were kept indoors in a smaller cage - I would say that for 3/4 of the year, we could take indoor piggies outside with us, into those portable runs, for at least few hours a day, about 5/6 days out of 7- we basically live in the garden as much as possible apart from in the depths of winter. They'd be doing me a favour keeping the grass down too.

I could grass a chunk of the woodchip with very little issue if needs be.

I do feel that I'd like them to be at the centre of things - it would be nicer for DD for a start, it would be good for her to be able to have them in her room and to be able to interact with them closely, but not if it means them being in a cage that is too small obviously

She said they'd be more prone to illness if moved between overnighting indoors and outdoors. She actually had them in larger groups of 6-8 Guinea pigs in huge outdoor enclosures - you couldn't call them cages, they were high enough to stand in and each one was about five meters square, with various surfaces and hide aways. We got them in August and she said it'd be ok to move them indoors but they shouldn't then move back to sleeping outdoors due to changes in temperature being bad for their immune systems and general health.
I don't completely know whether its true but she seemed very clued up!

We had two lovely guineas who lived permanently outside. In their hutch at night and in a run on the grass during the day. The run had a couple of tubes for shelter and they were in their hutch during the very coldest days. In the winter I would top up with warm hay every night and cover the hutch with a couple of blankets. They were friendly, healthy and lived to around age 8.

That does make sense actually. I think that happens with people too. I always got sicker in winter when I worked somewhere that was roasting inside, compared to my current workplace which is freezing

I'm veering more towards the idea of keeping them indoors to be honest. I think I'd worry about them being outside without us around! Plus better for DD

I'll need to chat to DD though, take some measurements, and work out the reshuffle. Looking online at the smallest recommended cages, we could definitely get one of those in if we reshuffled, but I'd like to get a larger one if possible.

Then a little outdoor portable run for days pottering in the garden

Looking online, I can see fleece blankets are used for the indoor cages- is that really OK?

Fleece with a layer underneath of something to absorb the pee which wicks through, some people use puppy pads. I got human incontinence bed pads and cut them to size. Then one load in the wash while the second load is on (my boars need a full clean out every 3-4 days or the smell gets too much).

I forgot to say we do have a run for them in summer, with a hutch at one end, held down with tent pegs for the foxes.

I think they like to be between 15-24 ‘C (those are the extremes), so for us this meant we couldn’t pick a South-facing room. They started in one room but stayed jittery because there wasn’t enough happening around them, now they are more in the midst of family life (despite my misgivings about the hay, smell etc) and they are much happier and tamer.

Unlike the olden days, you will find out that they need a diet of 80% hay plus veggies and usually pellets (for the correct vitamins). You need to be able to store a lot of hay!

Thanks, this is really helpful.

15-24 is perfect, the room they'll be in is an attic room, house is dark and old, it never gets over 21 and usually sits around 18!

When you say plenty of room for hay... Are we talking bales of the stuff? I just had a quick look on pets at home and saw a 10kg bag of nuggets for £20 - how long would that do two piggies? I like to bulk buy when I can, but again, factoring in storage...

Out Guineas can eat their own body weight in hay in a day so you do get through a lot!

The lady we got them from said they shouldn't need pellets if fed properly especially in summer - she gave us a long list of vegetables and said in summer they should be eating mostly grass, dandylions and hay and in winter hay and vegetables. We give them a small amount of pellets every few days and they often don't eat them straight away - unlike hay and vegetables which they go mad for.

When I chop vegetables for dinnner the kids hover to take them the cut offs, they get every slightly bruised bit of fruit, and they also get perfectly good whole ones. They shouldn't eat iceberg lettice, but can eat banana very occassionally!

Yes yes to grass and veggies. Ours loved carrot peelings best. They absolutely adore grass and will devour any at an astonishing speed. Try to let them onto a grassy area as often as possible even if they are mainly indoor pigs. Ours would be waiting to be picked up in the morning to be transferred to their grassy run. It had to be moved every day as they would consume every blade of greenery! They really are lovely creatures. My dc would bring them inside on their laps and the pigs would be mesmerised by the TV whilst having a nice stroke!

You will need to do a lot of cleaning out if you keep then indoors, particularly in the summer.

I do think they benefit from it though...mine lived outside for the first 3 years, then moved into the garage, and finally our remaining piggy moved indoors and lived another 2 years to the grand old age of 6.5.

If you were still considering outside, some friends of ours converted their kids old wooden playhouse - made sure there were no escape routes and built in a cosy area for sleeping, then added a large run, which worked really well.

Ours are cleaned out every Saturday (the kids do it all together without adult involvement - ages 15, 13, 9). The pigs have old bath towels under fleece, no sawdustbut you have to shake the hay and poos out very energetically in the garden before washing!

Once per week seems enough but probably because they aren't in the run all the time - in the living room they're on another fleece blanket on old towels which are washed every second day (we have tiled floors).

We have a castrated male and two females. Castrated males are bigger and bolder than females but no more work and not smelly.

Ours were born indoors to the best of my knowledge so I've kept them living indoors, I was concerned that moving in to out might kill them with the temp drop. They do go out on mild/ dry days for a run round on grass. I think I'll keep to this even in the summer, just leaving them out longer in the warmer months.

The hay situation was a massive pain in the arse - it was getting everywhere, so I bought to two liners of Vetfleece; its was for whelping dogs but people use it for piggies now too. Then they get their eating hay in a rack on the side of the cage.

I wish I'd bought a much bigger cage - they live in DDs room, so get company and garden outings in a run that can be moved about, but I massively underestimated on the cage size.

If they will be kept in a smaller cage, then it is better to get adult guinea pigs (an established pair from preloved or a refuge). Young guinea pigs have a stronger need to run around. Ours have been out in the run all day, indoors at night, up until christmas day when they went on strike and are refusing to eat grass when I put them out, its obviously got a bit cold for them!

We got our piggies in the spring and they lived outside by our french windows till October. Now they are in the playroom and it is fab! They are so tame and we are all smitten, they spend lots of time watching tv on the dcs laps. We have an outdoor folding run with fleece under it (floor is tiled) as the cages available seem too small but we needed a roof, and some of those big black garden trays for standing pots in with sawdust in - they have never done a wee on the fleece and do nearly all the (very many) poos in one corner. Guineas are great!

Our 2 are outside in the spring and summer and inside from October to Feb.

Inside they have a 2 x 4 c&c which is connected to a ferplast 120 cage with a little ramp. They're lined with fleece liner and puppy pads respectively, the fleece is changed every 3 days and the puppy pads daily. It's so much easier than wood or paper shavings as no mess and no smell as it's done so frequently.

Outside they had a wooden hutch and huge wire run on the lawn, but I've just ordered an omlet eglu with a 2m run and full cover which I am very excited about. It's got wheels which should make it really easy to move to new spots, as they really get through the grass at a lightening speed. Better than any lawnmower!

Thank you so much all for your help!

DD has just ordered a cage with her Christmas money and we're making enquiries into rescues. So we might have guinea pigs sooner than we think. I've just decided to go for it. DD is now off school until February. She is a very, very hardworking and studious kid, but with not properly seeing her friends, DH and I both working, and her only sibling being 2,I'm concerned she's getting more lonely and inward with all this time away from school, and I feel the guinea pigs will be a welcome distraction now rather than in a few months.

Welcome to the new guineas when they arrive
You'll know from keeping them before that they are basically little eating/poohing.peeing machines . Seriously the amount of mess these animals can create !
And , if you keep them indoors , the hay smells worse than the piggies and it gets everywhere .

They can cope with cooler temperatures but they cannot do hot-cold or cold-hot
They absolutely cannot cope with damp . Or draughts .

I had a wooden playhouse for mine . ( About 6'6" x 6'6" ) The original pair had a big wooden haybox with a lid (my DH made it out of a cupboard about 3x3) with all the floorspace for foodbowls, toys , tunnels .
At one point we had a M+F+F on one side and a F+F on the other so half the shed each and two hutches on floor level for sleeping in but open so they could get out on the floor .

This gave them shelter , shade, protection from predators, it was airy , they weren't stuck in the sleeping area of a hutch . Guinea-pigs do like to hide away they are wary .
DH customised it like FortKnox with removeable windows that had mesh/bars.chicken wire in the space .
We had a light , a fan and a little heater .

In winter I brought them in at night to our small bedroom. No door on it , radiator off . They had indoor runs set up .
Then we'd put fresh bedding out put the little heater on for a blast ,( about 30 minutes) SnugglePads and they went out in the shed (unless it was vile weather ) . I put rubber mats on the floor under cardboard and newspaper and EcoBale in winter (chopped card) .
Big sheeets of cardboard , polystyrene or insulator roll behind the hutches , out of chewing reach .

They're not the most active but they do need a lot of space to just pootle about .

The shed made it much nicer when we did the clean feed chat .
I owned half the pigs so sometimes DD took 3 to the house to cuddle , I cleaned the shed , took the other 2 up .
DD made supper then we'd take them back after cuddling them all.

I know some people clean weekly but I used to replace the hay and paper in their hutches every day . ( I told you they're messy )

Your older DD might say she'll do it , and I hope she does but there wil be times she's ill, busy , away and it;ll be you that does ,
And as the adult legally it's your responsibility .
If neither DD or I could do it , DH took over (bit grudgingly but he did it) and he'd always buy them veg .

You need somewhere to store the hay (lots of hay) and newspapers .

I liked having them inside in winter - I knew they'd be fine if we did keep them in their shed (had to do when DBro cat visited ) .
When we got to the last 3 oldies we kept them in all winter day/night

You might need to rethink having them in her room, they are noisy at night , chewing cardboard , drinking at 3am, the odd tussel. And if they think they'll get away with it , they do a very good line in we're starving can you get us some parsley

I used to throw a duvet cover over GP1/GP2 cage , like they were a parrot .

Thank you, that's all really helpful!

I was actually considering throwing a blanket over their cage at night, as I was up in DD's room early this morning, and when the temperature drops into the minuses it can get nippy quite quickly at night (attic room, otherwise a pretty stable temperature of about 18-21 the rest of the year, rain or shine, but when there's ice on the roof... ) so I think a blanket over the top of the cage on really cold nights might be the way to go?

We all are weird and love the smell of hay (country folk and I had a horse years ago!) so no worries there. Heaps of room to store hay and food - we're in a tiny old cottage, but we have a massive garden with shed etc. In fact we have a huge newspaper and cardboard stash for lighting the fire already

DD is very responsible, but I'm absolutely aware that the final responsibility lies with me- she's had hamsters before, and over the years we've kept many pets, from cats and chickens to African land snails, and I've absolutely drummed it into her that an animal is for life and not something you buy on a whim then abandon, but of course at the same time have overseen and supervised her interactions with all our animals, encouraged her responsibility as far as possible whilst quietly ensuring that the animals are cared for to the standards they should be.

What did you use to transport them from inside to outside? DD and I were just talking about this today

We had a big plastic crates/boxes with the locking lid , DH drilled airholes in them

The bigger box was just level with my knee when it was on the floor .....and our GP3 (big Rex boar) would jump out if we were too slow

So it was a case of carry them in the box , put it on the floor , lift the lid and try to get our hands round his ample middle before he launched himself like Pegasus

We have an omelet guinea pig run. They spend every night indoors and may to August outside during the day