Aurorapiggies
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Just wondering to estimate the costs of owning a piggy. Around how much hay (in weight) does an average adult piggy go through per month? Thanks 
About how much hay does an adult piggy go through a month?
- Thread starter Aurorapiggies
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PigglePuggle
Senior Guinea Pig
Piggies are social animals, so you can't just have one, you need at least 2- a pair of girls, a pair of boys, or a neutered boy with a girl.
I have 8 piggies and they go through 20kg of hay a month, sometimes more, so you are looking at 5kg of hay minimum for a pair.
But the main costs with piggies are the vet bills, you should always have a vet fund saved up, and get any new piggies registered with a vet and having a full health check in their first couple of weeks with you. I always have £200 per piggy easily available for vet costs, a minor routine illness or injury like a haypoke to the eye, a urinary infection or mild respiratory illness, can all cost about £100 to diagnose and treat even at a cheaper vet in the UK. For anything needing anaesthesia or surgery, costs might be £300 to £400 or even more.
Piggies are really not cheap pets at all, so always best to be prepared and be realistic about what you can afford to spend on them! Sadly we see many people here who cannot afford essential vet care when they need it as they hadnt factored this into their household budget when they first got their pets
I have 8 piggies and they go through 20kg of hay a month, sometimes more, so you are looking at 5kg of hay minimum for a pair.
But the main costs with piggies are the vet bills, you should always have a vet fund saved up, and get any new piggies registered with a vet and having a full health check in their first couple of weeks with you. I always have £200 per piggy easily available for vet costs, a minor routine illness or injury like a haypoke to the eye, a urinary infection or mild respiratory illness, can all cost about £100 to diagnose and treat even at a cheaper vet in the UK. For anything needing anaesthesia or surgery, costs might be £300 to £400 or even more.
Piggies are really not cheap pets at all, so always best to be prepared and be realistic about what you can afford to spend on them! Sadly we see many people here who cannot afford essential vet care when they need it as they hadnt factored this into their household budget when they first got their pets
With everything above.Aurorapiggies
New Born Pup
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Piggies are social animals, so you can't just have one, you need at least 2- a pair of girls, a pair of boys, or a neutered boy with a girl.
I have 8 piggies and they go through 20kg of hay a month, sometimes more, so you are looking at 5kg of hay minimum for a pair.
But the main costs with piggies are the vet bills, you should always have a vet fund saved up, and get any new piggies registered with a vet and having a full health check in their first couple of weeks with you. I always have £200 per piggy easily available for vet costs, a minor routine illness or injury like a haypoke to the eye, a urinary infection or mild respiratory illness, can all cost about £100 to diagnose and treat even at a cheaper vet in the UK. For anything needing anaesthesia or surgery, costs might be £300 to £400 or even more.
Piggies are really not cheap pets at all, so always best to be prepared and be realistic about what you can afford to spend on them! Sadly we see many people here who cannot afford essential vet care when they need it as they hadnt factored this into their household budget when they first got their pets
Ok thanks! I know piggies are social animals. I was going to multiply by two. But thanks! Are there any pretty common illnesses which require to go to a vet for? (other than cysts, mites, parasites, and ringworm)
Siikibam
Forum Donator 2022/23
There are other things such as hay poke, URI, UTI, bloat etc. But I don’t know that I’d call them common. They can happen though. The advise we give here is to be better safe than sorry. It’s better you take tour piggy/piggies if you’re worried, and it be nothing.
My piggies are bedded on hay as well as eating it and I go through about 15kg of hay per month between two piggies and one rabbit (the piggies definitely get through more than the rabbit does though!). I like their living space to have thick layers of hay as they love to run through it, burrow into it and obviously eat loads.
Bladder or dental issues is another thing we see a lot of on the forum. You are best to save up a vet fund to be able to cover any eventuality. at worst, vets bills can run into many hundreds of pounds.
You say multiply by two. Just to have all the information in place, if you have females you can keep as many together as they will allow in their group and as you have space for. But with boys, you can only have two Male piggies together. Any more than two males living together and they will be highly likely to fight and need separating. Cage Size Guide
Bladder or dental issues is another thing we see a lot of on the forum. You are best to save up a vet fund to be able to cover any eventuality. at worst, vets bills can run into many hundreds of pounds.
You say multiply by two. Just to have all the information in place, if you have females you can keep as many together as they will allow in their group and as you have space for. But with boys, you can only have two Male piggies together. Any more than two males living together and they will be highly likely to fight and need separating. Cage Size Guide