New guinea pig owner! Some questions

[CarterBeatsTheDevil]

Getting slightly mixed messages on the Internet. We have a pair of piggies currently settling upstairs in their new cage, which we think is too small. Looking for advice on a decent indoor cage for 2.

Also, how much food do you give? I'm reading 1/8 cup of pellets and 1 cup leafy greens per day per piggie, is that right?

Already love these tiny ladies an awful lot!

Google RSPCA Keeping guinea pigs as pets. Lots of useful info there including cage size. The bigger the better!

Look up c&c cages (cubes and coroplast). They are great cages to build yourself.. what I always had for mine! Petstore cages aren't big enough. With pellets I always made sure it was full, the bowl should always be available with pellets. That sounds like enough greens. Don't forget lots of hay (not straw).

Thanks. That's literally the first site I looked at, but they don't give quantities for pellets or veg. Other sites give varying quantities. That's why I'm asking.

When it comes to food, your piggies will eat hay as 85% of their diet. Provide plenty as they like to play in it too!

Then a cup of veggies a day but you have to be careful which veggies. You can feed every day:

Cucumber, romaine lettuce, sweet peppers, coriander.

Nuggets: just a tablespoon per day per piggy of good quality ones.

I use nuggets: Supreme Petfoods Selective Naturals Grain Free Guinea Pig Food, Timothy Hay, 1.5KG

If you’re on Facebook I would really recommend joining a guinea pig group such as “Guinea pig care Uk” for advice.

Aww new piggies I’m so jealous, our indoor piggies had a double height cage and indoor run which took up about half a room, have a look at c&c cages if you have space we lined ours with fleece which was changed and washed weekly making it a lot cheaper than shavings. I think our cage came from zooplus and lasted years and several different piggies.
in terms of food hay is the most important they should never be without it, but they will pee, poop and sleep in it so it will need refreshing regularly, pellets not musli type food as per the manufactures instructions and a good dose of fresh fruit and veggies each day. I have never had as much fresh fruit and veg in the house as I had when I had piggies. Enjoy the wheeking every time they hear you open the fridge. I miss my piggies loads they really are the best pets.

Look up the guinea pig forum dot co dot uk.

Loads of good advice for beginners on there!

Those sweet little ladies will soon have you trained and turned into their own personal slave 😂

Thanks, everyone! The ladies have been coming out (evidence: scoffed veg) but have darted back in when I've come in. I have more questions!

(a) What do I do about getting them used to handling? They've been here about 24 hours now. Do I tempt them out with veg? Lifting up the hide feels a bit invasive

(b) Am very interested in the Kavee cages. Does one use wood shavings in the bottom? I hear they like to tunnel? Or do you just put a fleece liner down and then loads of hay?

(c) Any views on the cages being in a kid's bedroom? Very gentle and responsible 7 year old.

When we got ours I left them alone for about a week but I pottered around in their room sewing fleece liners. I could see them watching me out the corner of my eye and they gently got used to me and my voice.

I wouldn't lift up their hidey. In fact, you want as many hideys as you have piggies so they don't have to share.

It won't be long before they'll be tempted to take coriander out of your hand. Then the next stage is a little tickle while you're feeding them. It all takes time but is worth it. It took about 6 months but we are now at the stage where they will lift up their heads for a chin rub.

It's a good idea to weigh them once a week and keep a log of their weight to make sure there's no drastic changes.

I use a fleece liner, noodle mats on top and a large hay tray to catch most of the mess while they're eating hay. In the long run the liners are cheaper than bedding. You have to be careful with dust from loose bedding too. Mine love stretching out (pancaking) on top of their soft noodle mats. I've made them fleece tunnels to hide in too which they love.

If you change the hay box regularly you can get away with cleaning the fleeces once a week. I have an array of different houses, hideys and tunnels and change it up every time I clean and they get excited exploring their new layout and usually pancake with joy.

Definitely check out the guinea pig forum. It's where I learnt all the things to do and not to do!

Check out Squeak Dreams on YouTube for cage set up ideas.

Awesome - thank you!

Love this thread. Give them lots of cuddles. And follow masons cavees on Facebook

Hi @CarterBeatsTheDevil ! Guinea pigs are the best!

We have 2 boys living indoors, I had them as a teen but outside so this is quite new for me too - we got them in August so I'm in a bit of a rhythm now!

I use fleece, again not something I've done before but it is easier to spot clean and cheaper overall than shavings. I sweep the poo (so much poo) out with a dustpan and brush each day and do a full clean each week - newspapers underneath the fleece. Use a pet wash bag to stop your machine getting clogged and sweep the fleece with a rubber brush before washing.

Mine hate pepper 🤣 But love cucumber, lettuce, carrots, broccoli (occasionally) and sprouts. Also watermelon and chunks of corn on the cob as a treat! Lots of hay and some pellets in a bowl.

Mine are in a Ferplast 160 - it's just about big enough but they do have a run around for a couple of hours in our secure hall each day too and have an outdoor run for the summer. We're looking into an L shape c&c cage 6x2 which will be loads more space so they won't need the floor time, but need to check it will be secure/sturdy enough! I like how sturdy the Ferplast is and it's really easy to clean.

Start offering food from tomorrow I'd say - they often become tame quite quickly if they're exposed to you regularly and have lots of chances to get used to being held I find.

We have a L shaped enclosure, 8x2 equivalent size, the bottom of the L is 2x2 and us the kitchen area.
They live on fleece with a bathmat in the kitchen.
They are half biscuits, half fresh veg by weight.

For those who use fleece, how does that work with the hay? Do you have to pick it all out before washing etc?

Ours had an indoor hutch for nighttime, but a run for daytime. In winter the run was inside, in summer we often put it outside so they could graze on the grass. If you put the run outside, you need to ensure it’s both fox and cat proof.

Re fleece.
We brush the hay up.
Then shake fleece outside.
Then put into a zip up bag in the washing machine.
Bathmat changed 2x weekly and each fleece once weekly.

@TeenToTwenties that set up is amazing!

I'm really tempted by c&c for more space for them, but I do worry it's not as sturdy - we have a 5 year old and he's very gentle with the animals themselves but sometimes leans on the cage when feeding etc. We also have a cat and although he's never in the hall, even when they're secure in the cage, I like to play it safe!

Our C&C is pretty sturdy but it doesn't have a lid and we don't have a cat....

Ahh, we had two guinea pigs for 6 years. They are lovely creatures. Regarding the taming. Go slowly. Yes as PP said, get them used to your voice first and household sounds. Ours were very timid for about first three months, I sat with them on a daily basis and outside in their run in the summer until they would happily run up to me after about three months to get veggies or herbs. Although they refused to you, they are prey animals so there is always a part of them that's wary in my opinion. Enjoy. such cute little squeaks!!
As big as enclosure as you can. Ours was about 6 foot by 3 foot for two males.

Just checking back in! Excellent advice here - thanks everyone. We now have a 4 x 2 c and c cage which is all we have room for but they also get a daily scamper round a pen and the bathroom which is the most secure room for them.

We went with a fleece liner in the end topped with absolutely tons of hay from end to end; they have a water bowl and a bottle and use both; two hides each with two exits and a couple of willow toys. They love pepper, carrot, cucumber, lettuce and kale but hate coriander and rocket and will find very creative ways to eat round them. One of them is slightly bolshy and the other is quieter but they are both very sweet affectionate little ladies if still slightly jumpy. I would say that their main hobby is actually hay - they tunnel in it, nestle themselves under it to sleep and for warmth, munch it and popcorn out of it without warning.

We are completely and utterly in love with them as a family. Just gorgeous little things though they may not have forgiven me for clipping their claws yet despite me going nowhere near the quick and plying them with broccoli

@CarterBeatsTheDevil ahhhh that's lovely! So glad they're doing well. They're such lovely animals aren't they!

We've had to get a bit creative with ours in terms of cuddle time etc - our old cat has been quite under the weather recently so he's been mostly indoors and keeping to the living room rather than going out and about or even upstairs. Obviously I don't want to have the pigs on our laps with the cat in the room, so they're still having floor time in the (secured) hall but we've also been taking them upstairs to cuddle and potter around in our bedroom some evenings.

They hit that veggie jackpot over Christmas though 🤣