Baby Guinea Pigs- When Can They Go Out On Grass?

[gillydaydream]

Good morning all. I'm a newbie here but would like some advice please.

We have 5 beautiful 4 day old baby piggies, plus their mum and another pregnant sow.
2 of the babies are considerably smaller than the other 3 but they are all happy, healthy, bouncing round and eating loads. We are monitoring their weight daily and all are gaining well.

I just wondered how long to wait before introducing them to their outdoor run?
Normally our 2 girls live outside at this time of year but as soon as we realised they were expecting we brought them back indoors as the outdoor hutch is on 2 levels and we didn't want to risk any accidents. They usually go out on the lawn in a secure run every day when the weather is nice and as it's such a beautiful day it has got me thinking about when it will be ok for them to play out again with the babies.

We are pretty new to this baby guinea pig thing- the pregnancies are completely accidental...my friend looked after them while we were on holiday, put them in the run with hers who she assured me were all girls! I am so disappointed in her as she breeds guinea pigs and really should know better!

We have taken advice from the vet and I have been googling for England so I feel pretty well clued up on most aspects...I just want to get things right!

 

[Wiebke]

Good morning all. I'm a newbie here but would like some advice please.

We have 5 beautiful 4 day old baby piggies, plus their mum and another pregnant sow.
2 of the babies are considerably smaller than the other 3 but they are all happy, healthy, bouncing round and eating loads. We are monitoring their weight daily and all are gaining well.

I just wondered how long to wait before introducing them to their outdoor run?
Normally our 2 girls live outside at this time of year but as soon as we realised they were expecting we brought them back indoors as the outdoor hutch is on 2 levels and we didn't want to risk any accidents. They usually go out on the lawn in a secure run every day when the weather is nice and as it's such a beautiful day it has got me thinking about when it will be ok for them to play out again with the babies.

We are pretty new to this baby guinea pig thing- the pregnancies are completely accidental...my friend looked after them while we were on holiday, put them in the run with hers who she assured me were all girls! I am so disappointed in her as she breeds guinea pigs and really should know better!

We have taken advice from the vet and I have been googling for England so I feel pretty well clued up on most aspects...I just want to get things right!

I would wait until the babies are at least 400g (about 6-8 weeks), so they have the body mass and a better developed immune system. Do the transfer during a phase with several warmer nights; don't do it when a cold night is in the offing. Make sure that the temperatures are not too hot during the day and keep the hutch ideally out of full sun and a heat trap in hot weather. The young and the old are even more prone to a heat stroke.

You can acclimatise your babies to the outdoors when temperatures are between 15-25 C, ideally always with plenty of shade and only if the ground is still dry and warm to your bare feet after 5 minutes. make sure that the babies cannot wiggle out. They are even less able to adjust their body temperature to quickly changing surroundings.

We recommend to treat guinea pigs like tender plants when it comes to outdoor housing - bring them out after night frosts are over and bring them back under cover in autumn when you get cold nights again.
Here are plenty more tips for acclimatising guinea pigs to the lawn. We also have detailed guides for new owners dealing with an unplanned pregnancy that cover the whole period at the top of our pregnancy section, which is only visible when you register with the forum.
Feeding Grass And Preparing Your Piggies For Lawn Time
Hot Weather Management And Heat Strokes

 

[gillydaydream]

Ah apologies I just re-read my initial post and I wasn't very clear. I was wondering about them going out in the run on the lawn rather than in the outdoor hutch. It would just be for short periods during the day, and then back to their indoor hutch for the rest of the time.

My lawn is old grass, not treated, not freshly mown. I wouldn't hesitate to put the 2 older girls on it but just wondering when it's ok for the babies to try out a bigger run with grass underfoot!

Thanks for your advice.