3 new piggies....your advice please :)

[Kirjava]

hello,

I have two piggies living indoors at the moment, one neutered boar and a sow.

My friend has just decided she would like to rehome her three piggies as she can't devote enough time to them. I was thinking of taking them on, but would like to hear from someone who has a few pigs. I just dont want to take them home and then them be in the same position.

They're 3 beautiful long haired girls, maybe around a year old. They have been in a hutch outside but have come inside during the cold weather. I'd rather keep them insiderolleyes and have been making plans to build a large stacked cage to house both groups separately...not sure if I'm getting carried away already and I haven't visited them yet :0

 

[piggyfan]

Hi. Welcome to the forum. How kind of you to want to take on these three girls. How lovely that they will be housed indoors were it is nice and warm. It is possible to bond all five guinea pigs. I did that with mine and now have five. I had two to begin with. You have to ensure you do it on neutral ground. I really recommend making a c and c cage for them. Mine is six by three and is great for five guinea pigs.

 

[Wiebke]

Go on! Perhaps you can even merge them into one big group... At that age, the girls will usually accept a boar without problems. Just give both groups time to get used to each other being next door; that makes things a lot easier if they have been allowed to suss each other out and the newbies have had a chance to get used to their new home first!

However, you will notice the changes quite a bit at first as you are doubling the numbers - double as many poos, food, hay etc... And as long as you keep them separate, double the time for cage cleaning!

Long haired piggies need more regular care; however, if you keep sides and bum ends trimmed, it is usually not as bad!

Make sure that you put money aside regularly to cover for additional vet cost as you are more likely to get two unrelated health problems cropping up at the same time. You will have to treat all piggies for mites or fungal problems which cannot only impact on cost, but also time. You will also need think about weekend/holiday arrangements.

On the other side, watching group dynamics is never boring! x) And the other good thing is that you don;t have to deal with a pining bereaved piggy - groups mourn, but there is no pining.

 

[Mummylind]

I managed to introduce two new girls to my already happy threesome of two girls and a neutered boar. I did it very carefully over a space of a fortnight. Just getting them to be aware of each other and then putting them together for a limited time on neutral ground. Now they are a happy tribe. There will always be a 'boss pig', but as long as there is not serious fighting, they sort themselves out! Good luck.

 

[Guinea pig slave]

We have 16 piggies and have a great routine morning and evening for them, we both work full time but our piggies get lots of care, attention and love x)
Commitment is the answer - if you're not too sure...think you'd cope fine with 5 and as piggyfan said, bonding them should be fairly straight forward
You'll find the best bedding etc. that suits you and them and probably surprise yourself

 

[Kirjava]

Thanks everyone for the fast replies!

I'm a little short on floor space, I'd love to have them all in a massive group, my boy would love it, however I'm not sure there would be enough space. I have mine in the living room and love watching them. Is 6 x 3 the minimum space for 5 pigs?

I have a 2 x 4 C&C cage at the moment, obviously this would need making bigger or another cage adding to the top. I've been browsing some of the amazing home made cages on the members cages thread and would really like to try making one, quite excited about it!

My two at the moment aren't too messy, I tend to sweep up every day. I think I could handle a bit more sweeping. The vets cost worries me slightly, although I always save so there's something there if it's required.

Thanks again everyone

 

[Kym]

I have four piggies and they live in here:

Its changed a bit now though, I now have fleece that goes over the corex so they don't chew it Its really easy to clean/manage etc...

x

 

[Wiebke]

You can have 5 piggies in a double story 2x4 C&C cage without bad conscience - there is plenty of space on both floors; if you can extend it on the ground floor, all to the better! 5 guinea pigs need a minimum ground space of 2x7 ft with is about a 2x6 or 3x4 grid cage if your grids are 12in wide.

I have done so and was fine with the rescue I rehomed from (that cage had a ramp running outside the C&C prettymuch along the whole length of it).

 

[Kirjava]

Thanks for all the advice

I've actually realised I have a whole bedroom that isn't used, so it could be a piggy room! All space troubles gone, I can lock the door if I need to look after my dog and my sister can visit without sneeizing!

Before I get carried away, I'm going to have a good think over the next few days...I will let you all know how it goes