Best hutch for guinea pigs

[Whatthechicken]

I took on two dumped Guinea pigs last November, it was freezing and they were underweight with injuries, so they have been inside since. I bought the biggest indoor hutch I could find with a run at the time, but even that feels too small really. I would like them to be outside for the warmer months but have been quite shocked at the small size of hutches and runs on offer.

I have a large garden with lots of wildlife, so hutch would need to be secure. Can any Guinea pig experts on here suggest where to get a lovely new home for them? Don’t really have a budget in mind, I’d rather spend appropriately and make them as happy as they can be.

Also, if anyone has any suggestions for suitable indoor living when the weather gets colder again, please suggest away.

Thank you for rescuing your Guinea Pigs and wanting the absolute best for them. It's shocking that people still leave them outside in freezing (or boiling hot conditions) or keep them in tiny hutches. I've only fostered Guinea Pigs for a rescue briefly, so I'm not up to date on the best housing, but this thread has a few suggestions, before some Guinea Pig experts come along ... www.mumsnet.com/talk/super_furry_animals/4644935-guinea-pig-hutches

Thank you @SilentHedges , that thread looks full of great information. Going to have a good read through. They are very cute piggies - out of all of my pets though they probably take the most looking after - they constantly poo! I had a poorly chicken I had to bring inside for 2 weeks and she was next to the pigs, they were very curious about her and I think they kept her company!

Google Kavee cage. Basically c and c cages with a plastic floor. You can add a roof on to it if you need to or make it double height. You can make them as large as you like. Ideally they should be indoors all year round really, they don’t like the extremes of weather and the dip in temperature overnight even in warmer months. I have 4 Guinea pigs in a huge 8x6 c and c cage in my kitchen diner and they have a large outdoor run for a few hours in the spring etc so they can eat grass.

I have one similar to this
www.amazon.co.uk/Pet-Supplies-Vital-Rabbit-Cage/dp/B08DBZT9TT/ref=sr_1_49?crid=4OPMJRAU8SVA&keywords=2+tier+cage&qid=1678378760&sprefix=2+tier+cage%2Caps%2C84&sr=8-49
that stays indoors and an outside run i put them in on nice days. I bring them in at bedtime.

We have a C+C cage for ours in one side of my office so they can sit and wheek abuse at me when the veggie supply runs out while I'm working. We do have a huge indoor cage for if the one who likes to parkour her way around the cage takes things too far but mostly she gets up on the roof of their little house and then sits chatting to me.

Thanks for all of the advice. I have put all my money into an indoor cage. 6’ x 2’. I’m going to purchase a safe run for outside for fine days. So they are going to be inside animals mostly, not what my husband imagined - he thinks they take over a room in the house and hay ends up everywhere. So as a compromise I’ve also bought a stand and wheels so it can be moved around and it’s detachable from the base so will be easier to clean (without making a mess).

A tip for cleaning - line the cage with bed incontinence pads. They’re better for them than sawdust which can affect their breathing. It doesn’t matter if they chew the pads as they’re just paper - mine have been chewing them for years 🙄😆 Or you can use fleece and wash it but I can’t be bothered with all that.

These are the ones I get - the vet we have also advised these are very good -

Omnitex 60 x 90cm Incontinence Bed Pads - 1400ml - 2000ml Disposable Absorbing Sheets (25x Pads - Premium (1400ml)) amzn.eu/d/a5wQgUk

Well done for rescuing these little beasties. Guinea pigs are an absolute joy. I'd really recommend joining the FB group Guinea Pigs UK - They've done a whole load of infographics on looking after Guinea pigs properly.

We use the reusable guinea pig cage liners - they're like huge sized flat rectangular reusable period pads and don't grab onto the hay in the same way fleece does.

Still haven't fully mastered making clean up as painless as possible cos for tiny arses -they don't half like to shit.

Coffee, one of my pigs was on my lap for just 10 minutes yesterday and managed to produce 32 little pellets. Thirtyfeckingtwo!!!!

You DO kind of wonder about the evolutionary Dragons Den pitch for these creatures...

Well what are they?
They're like a big chunky rodent thing - but not a mouse or rat
So they look all rat-like?
Nope - more like a truncated draught excluder your nan would have
What do they do?
Well they eat hay and veggies all day... and shit
Don't they do anything more interactive?
Well they wheek
So you're pitching a stomach on legs, with a face - that exists to turn vegetables into shit? And the point for this is?!

When we had Guinea pigs we had part of the garden sectioned off with trellis and they used to run free in that part of the garden. You just need to make sure that you have some boxes and things for them to hide in. They would go in the hutch at night.

Yep they are poop machines! 😆❤️

You need to make sure there’s a roof / mesh cover that cats and birds can’t get past - birds of prey and cats will attack a Guinea pig if they can get to them (had this happen unfortunately to one of ours when I was a child).

I am left wondering two things about Guinea pigs:

1. how did they ever survive in the wild.
2. how did they survive the 80s, when people left them out all year (often on their own) in severely lacking hutches and filled them full of leafy greens all day, my neighbours never fed them hay…thank goodness we’ve learnt more now! N.B. In the 80s, we used to let the dog out to roam around the estate everyday and our Friday night entertainment was feeding him Rolos - the chewing was relentless.

Education is everything, thanks all for your input. I’m determined to give them the best possible life.