All the advice for future owner please :)

Status
Not open for further replies.
G

Glasgowgps

Joined
Dec 24, 2011
Messages
13
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Hi all, for a while now I've been interested in owning 2 little pigs for our family, we have a 4 year old son who adores them when we visit petcentres. I am not wishing to rush into buying 2 without first doing all my research therefore I have a few questions which I'd be grateful if someone could help me answer?

1- I am looking at the cages being sold on eBay, quite large and double tired (indoor cages) will this be any good, not keen on the small petshop ones!

2- best bedding etc to use to minimise smell, ie towels/fleece or hay etc, how so you section the cage, sleeping area etc.

3-preventative treatments to buy to prevent mites etc.

4-do long haired gps cast alot?

5-how much time do you give them out their cage? Can you just leave the cage door open and allow them to wander freely or give them specific time?
Will they return to their cage for the toilet or dp it in the house?

6-how often to feed them? Best food etc?

7- we had a cat which did smell! With being in a 2 bedroom flat his litter box still stank even with daily cleaning of poo and complete emptying of the box every 3rd day (my hubby hated the smell!)
there what is the beat cleaning routine to stop the piggies smelling?
I have been thinking - daily spot cleaning of poo and then complete cage clean every 3-5 days? Plus bathing of gps monthly?

8-where to buy them? I'm in Glasgow do I get petstore ones or look on gumtree for baby ones being sold?

Lastly! For those who have gps that use litter trays, do you use the little corner trays? And what do you put in it?

I apologise for all the questions however as you can see I would like to be fully prepared to look after them properly.

If you can think of anything else I haven't please add :)

thankyou.
 
have a look at the home made set ups
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=53210
and the shop brought ones for some ideas
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=53211
you are correct at looking for the biggest size possible

I use fleece, towels and newspaper for mine, they did pong for the first few days until they settled in so dont panic if this happens, they only smell after 4 days which is when they get cleaned out. I did put litter trays underneath with absorbant paper (megazorb and such you might be able to get) to take the majority of the wees while they eat which is changed every other day and this I personally have found works in reducing any odors. I spot clean daily, twice a day on my days off (only as at 10pm I would wake them all up on work days)

I buy pet shop spot on for lice and preventative treatments, belphar I think is the kind I get but as long as it has ivormectin in you cant go wrong

I only have short haired piggies and they do shed a fair bit, long haired will require brushing daily.

Mine are in a very big cage so dont get floor time but this is because I have a dog that would not be nice to them, when they are outside during the summer they have grass time for several hours about 3 days a week weather dependant so not very helpful for that question.

Have a look around for local rescues, please dont get them from a pet shop http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=65363 Several members on here run rescues or volunteer so you never know a piggie train may be organised to you if there are none local to you.
 
Hi There,

Well done on doing your research and a fellow glaswegian :). I wouldn't buy a pig from a Pet Shop or breeder as the SPCA will have plenty of bonded piggies seeking out there forever home, I also know of 3 guinea pig rescues (Falkirk,Oban and Paws in Edinburgh).

I can tell from your post, you understand that it will be yourself taking on the animals I have my guinea pigs in a C&C cage and the bedding I have settled on these days is hay and newspaper with some fleecy toys for them to lie on, I clean them everyday and don't find they stink at all. Regular baths are not necessary they only need bathed once everything 6 months if that but of course it does depend on the pigs and some are smellier than others.

Long Haired guinea pig's can be a lot more work, so maybe to start off with short haired piggies, they also do cast a lot of fur.

As for the cage, I would go with a single storey as it allows the pigs to run, ferplast 120cm is a good cage. I wouldn't want anything smaller than 120cm if I was starting out with a cage.

I wouldn't routine treat for mites, I Would just treat when and if symptoms are present.

Glasgow have two pairs of Guinea pigs at present,

http://www.scottishspca.org/rehoming/category/small_pets/breed/guinea_pig/centre/3_glasgow

Welcome to the forum, anymore questions don't hesitate to ask!

:)
 
Hello - I've nothing really to add to the great advice already given but just wanted to say well done on doing your research before getting your piggies and a warm welcome to the forum :)
x
 
Hello and welcome. Hope you have checked out those gorgeous piggies at Glasgow GSPCA. A 'rescue' piggy will have had any illness or health issues sorted whereas a shop bought baby is very likely to have unknown health issues that can be a problem or even missed initially by a new owner, this is where most rescue piggies come from.
I applaud your responsibilty to your future piggies by joining this forum and asking lots of relevent questions. Please keep us all up to date.
 
Thankyou all so much! I'm very excited now! Think the piggies are actually more me than my son :) spoke all night last night on nightshift with a cillegue who used to have them and she's persuaded me even more :)

Thankyou again for all the input and I will be sure to update when I find the perfect piggies for our home!

Oh one last thing I'm worried about, we only moved to this house 6 months ago and the previous owners weren't too clean and the place was full of cats fleas! (our cat had died before we moved here) now I have had the flat fumigated twice by proffesionals and the last issue I had was about a month ago and haven't saw any since but I'm worried if only one is still lurking could it be attracted to the piggies? If I treat them with advantage as soon as I get them home should that cover them?

Thanks again everyone!
 
Cat fleas are just cat fleas, they can't live on anythink else. You could spray along the skirting board/carpet edge with a can of flea killer if you want to be sure. Many of us on here have dogs an cats etc as well as Piggies and never had a problem.
 
would take the opportunity before your piggies are in to spray along the skirting boards, all furniture and soft furnishings with household flea killer just to make sure, but would have thought by now you would have seen evidence on you of flea bites if the proffessionals hadnt already managed to kill them all.

they can live dormant for a few years and if no cats around will feast on the nearest warm thing but before you become alarmed by this, most pest control people will have effectively got rid of them so like I say if you just wanted to make sure it wouldnt hurt before they come into the house.
 
Hello there , I have just rehomed 2 guinea pigs , they are 7 months old, they were initially bought for two young children under the age of 5 ... they didnt bother with them after a while , they had cats who just harrased them and they were becoming hard work , so the owner did the right thing by rehoming them and they came to me .

I have only had them a week, and if you want a total honest opinion , they need lots of looking after BUT already I have become very attached to mine .

I have been considering rehoming for a number of months, I went on line and did research etc, but unless you actually have them, I found that all the information I had read, I was like a fish out of water, untill I found this web forum .

I get rid of poo and wet patches twice a day, and I think you will find that this is really necesssary as they poo alot ! my son does it one shift and I do it the other, if you think they will poo nicely in a corner, forget it ! they poo lots, and all over the place ( well mine do ) , my son has already had one lecture that he has to do his shift because his piggies cant do it for themselves , and I have been strict on this and will remain so .

I was naive with cages, both of mine are in a 120 ferplas cage, and it initialy seemed very big on first look, but it became very very apparent, that these cages are no way big enough ( in my opinion ) and I'm going to sort out something bigger as soon as poss for them .... if you have a small house, this is a serious thing to consider, the cages take up alot of space. .. mine are in my lounge and they have taken over it since i became a piggy slave :)

We have been out tonight, and have had to come back earlier than we wanted because they needed feeding ...... I dont mind at all, but its something to consider .

I was told by various people that a full clean out once a week would be ok, but we have only managed to get to five days ( just ) and they deffo need a full clean, poo and wet spot sweeping twice a day just was not enough for them to get through a full week .... but maybe thats just me

I dont find that they smell at all if you keep their cage clean , you can smell sawdust, but their isnt the animal smell that I got with hamsters ? ... unless mine are just smell free ha ha !

I hope my experience of seeing things as a newby myself to guinea pigs in my first week will help you ........ it definately wasnt the doddle I thought it was, its been hard , much harder ...... but I wouldnt change it, or give them back ( even though they are scared stiff of me, and are a pretty big challenge for me to get them to love me lol ) .

I would say deffo rehome if you can, the convo I had in pets at home with a sales assistant who openly told me that their guineas and rabbits are bred in big warehouses as big as the store knocked me sick to be honest .

Good luck x x
 
Just thought id add that id recomend looking on gumtree or preloved.com for ones needing rehoming, I got my older boar from an ad and he is so healthy and lovely. Or go to a breeder but be careful no matter how good they may seem fully check the guinea before leaving as I have had the problem of getting one thats ill and the breeder has been no help with advice or even seemed to care so just be careful but breeders tend to be much better than pet shops :) Good luck and merry christmas :)
 
kay_xx said:
Just thought id add that id recomend looking on gumtree or preloved.com for ones needing rehoming, I got my older boar from an ad and he is so healthy and lovely. Or go to a breeder but be careful no matter how good they may seem fully check the guinea before leaving as I have had the problem of getting one thats ill and the breeder has been no help with advice or even seemed to care so just be careful but breeders tend to be much better than pet shops :) Good luck and merry christmas :)
Click to expand...

You are always best going to a rescue, as the animal will have been quarantined you will also have rescue back up. x
 
Aggree that rescues are good but double check the piggy and check reviews of the rescue, one near me has had people saying that its animals are infested with mites but thats just 1 rescue just do research of where you get them from :)
 
kay_xx said:
Aggree that rescues are good but double check the piggy and check reviews of the rescue, one near me has had people saying that its animals are infested with mites but thats just 1 rescue just do research of where you get them from :)
Click to expand...

Yes homing from a reputable rescue is always a good idea.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top