Can Guinea Pigs Travel With Me Between Two Houses Often?

[shujuju]

so I used to own a guinea pig years ago and he was the sweetest little piggy, I loved him so much, but alas he lived at my moms house and I was not with him enough to take care of him and the burden was left on my mother. This lead to her giving away my piggy and I do miss him, but I have been thinking a lot lately about getting a couple new guinea pigs because I love spending time with my pets, I have 2 fish and a cat already, but fish dont do much (I still love them though! <3) and my cat lives at my moms house.

but, with my fish, they live at my dads house, so when I am at my moms, my dad has to feed them for me. I have of course done tons of research, and after already owning a piggy I know what I need to do (though I would touch up on my knowledge before even getting close to buying one).

But, my main question is, can my guinea pigs travel with my between my mothers house and my fathers house? I go to my moms every second weekend for 2-3 days, but I'm worried that if I was to bring them with me then they would get too stressed. I dont think I would be able to even get guinea pigs if I cant bring them between houses because I dont want to leave my pigs alone for 2-3 days, nor do I want my dad to have to feed them for me.

I'm honestly expecting the answer to be 'yes, they will be too stressed' but I'm asking here just in case. If I was to bring them between houses then I would either bring their C&C cage with me, or I would have a second one set up already. if I cant bring them between houses then I probably wont get piggies till I move out in a couple of years

 

[Wiebke]

Yes, guinea pigs can travel and can get used to regular trips. If you are doing this all the time, you may find that having to two cages and a spare set of bedding to leave clean when you go back much eaiser to manage.

If necessary, you can do what I did when we had to visit my elderly mother-in-law all the time and needed to take any piggies on medication with me, as my neighbour would only feed, but not medicate. I cable tied a set of grids to store accordion style in the box, so I only need to to tie together the two end grids to make a temporary pen in about 10 minutes with some plastic underlay, towels and a fleece on top.

Lots of travelling tips in here: Travelling with guinea pigs
Pictures of my storable solution on page one (I did use some spare grids for my growing crowd, plus some Ikea cupboard liner to protect the carpet), but you may find more ideas more suitable: Temporary Housing Solutions?

 

[Guinea Slave]

Mine go over to my parents regularly and have their own set up there if I am travelling. Every Sunday we go over there for Sunday roast and they all come with us ( at one point we had six travelling every Sunday!) They love it and I think the variety does them good and makes them more outgoing. Just make sure they have the same hay and hard food ..I honestly think they will love it.

 

[shujuju]

Yes, guinea pigs can travel and can get used to regular trips. If you are doing this all the time, you may find that having to two cages and a spare set of bedding to leave clean when you go back much easier to manage.

If necessary, you can do what I did when we had to visit my elderly mother-in-law all the time and needed to take any piggies on medication with me, as my neighbour would only feed, but not medicate. I cable tied a set of grids to store accordion style in the box, so I only need to to tie together the two end grids to make a temporary pen in about 10 minutes with some plastic underlay, towels and a fleece on top.

Lots of travelling tips in here: Travelling with guinea pigs
Pictures of my storable solution on page one (I did use some spare grids for my growing crowd, plus some Ikea cupboard liner to protect the carpet), but you may find more ideas more suitable: Temporary Housing Solutions?

awesome! I'm so happy to hear that I might be able to get a guinea pig that can come with me! Ill just set up a second cage at my moms house for them, Ill make sure to put a roof on it cause I have 2 curious cats and a large dog

I will have to be careful though, there is a 9 month old baby that shares a room with me so hopefully the piggies wont be too loud!

 

[Wiebke]

awesome! I'm so happy to hear that I might be able to get a guinea pig that can come with me! Ill just set up a second cage at my moms house for them, Ill make sure to put a roof on it cause I have 2 curious cats and a large dog

I will have to be careful though, there is a 9 month old baby that shares a room with me so hopefully the piggies wont be too loud!

Please make sure that any guinea pigs are safely away from predatory cats and barking dogs. If necessary, go for a traditional cage rather than a C&C. They are prey animals, after all!

Things have changed a lot over the last few years. You may find some of the information in here helpful: " Starter Kit" Of Information Threads For New Owners

 

[shujuju]

Please make sure that any guinea pigs are safely away from predatory cats and barking dogs. If necessary, go for a traditional cage rather than a C&C. They are prey animals, after all!

Things have changed a lot over the last few years. You may find some of the information in here helpful: " Starter Kit" Of Information Threads For New Owners

yeah Ill be careful, I think I'm still going to build a second C&C cage though, Ill just put a plastic top on it and secure the plastic, the custom cages are just so much bigger and nicer than the pet store cages, and Ill keep them in a rather quiet room and keep the door closed to keep them calmer

 

[Tinka]

I agree, traveling won't stress them too much if you go about it the right way. I used to travel often with my girls because I was still in college when I adopted my pigs, so they went with me whenever I'd visit home for holidays and some weekends, they also went with me when I would visit my girlfriend in another city. Just make the transition as comfortable as possible, and keep them away from the other animals, because sometimes just the presence of a cat will stress them out.

Also, a plastic top is probably too flimsy and doesn't have enough air flow for guinea pigs. I would just use more grids on the top, and then for one grid instead of using the plastic connectors, use some clips so you can open and close it. If you don't understand what I mean, I can probably find pictures. I used to do the same thing on my C&C, but now I just have a really big store bought cage that's 4ft by 2 ft because the plastic most people use in the bottom of C&C cages is actually really hard to come by in the US. I had to go straight to a plastic supplier to the warehouse and buy at least $50 (which is like 65 Canadian dollars I think) of it because they only sold it in bulk. And then plastic cage bottoms that big were really hard to transport! So I would put the most effort in the cage they will be in most of the time. The cage at your Mom's house that will only be used a couple of days out the month can afford to be a little smaller.

As for noise, mine can get loud and I can see a sleeping baby being woken up by wheeking. Normally mine only wheek when prompted to (like a bag rustling or it being close to meal time) but other than that are pretty quiet.

 

[Wiebke]

yeah Ill be careful, I think I'm still going to build a second C&C cage though, Ill just put a plastic top on it and secure the plastic, the custom cages are just so much bigger and nicer than the pet store cages, and Ill keep them in a rather quiet room and keep the door closed to keep them calmer

I would not recommend plastic for the top and would not use C&C if you have cats that are likely to put their paws into the cage - then you are better off with a traditional cage that cats can't open, but you need to seriously think about whether this is the right time for guinea pigs. It is very stressful for them if you have an active hunter.

 

[shujuju]

I would not recommend plastic for the top and would not use C&C if you have cats that are likely to put their paws into the cage - then you are better off with a traditional cage that cats can't open, but you need to seriously think about whether this is the right time for guinea pigs. It is very stressful for them if you have an active hunter.

I will definitely think about my living conditions before getting any piggies, Ill likely put them in the basement when I'm at my moms instead if they are going to be loud and the cats might be a problem, and we have one half of the basement the other animals are not allowed in, so I can keep them there, we are thinking about moving to a new house though so I will definitely wait until we know exactly whats going on, and Ill need to wait till I get more money, and then I will figure out whether to get them or not. My cat is young so he will definitely be curious, but if I put the piggies in the basement they will be behind two doors which the cats and dog arent allowed through, so they will be safe and will be in a good environment, seeing as keeping them in my bedroom wouldnt be a good idea, Ill just need to stay in the basement with them and give them plenty of floor time/keep a check on the temperature and such, etc. but for now Ill just wait till we know if we are moving or not and Ill slowly start building a C&C cage at my dads after Christmas when I have a little more money. when that time comes then Ill definitely be back for more advice
worst case Ill have to wait till I move to my own apartment during college

 

[Freela]

My pigs travel pretty often and have always handled it well. We have a cottage and constantly go up and back in the summer. It's a two-hour car ride. They don't seem overly bothered by it. One of mine used to actually walk around and just do her normal thing in the car (she would always be perturbed that the water bottle was taken out so it didn't leak!) The two I have now hide in the pigloo for the trip, but are right back out after we get there.

There are several ways to travel, depending on cage setup, etc. My pigs are in a cage that will fit in the back of my van (they have the run of the hallway at home besides the cage to give them more room.) So I generally take the entire thing along with me. I also could collapse the cage and put them in a pet carrier if for the cage didn't fit. I try not to do that because one of my pigs has medical issues and has had a lot of vet visits and I use the carrier to go to the vet, so she gets really stressed when I put her in there, so I don't want her in there for 2 hours panicking!