Guinea Pig Saturation!?!

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daisyd

daisyd

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I was talking to a friend the other day who has 4 beautiful piggies (3 girls and a neutered boar in a group)- she was saying how did I cope with 9, as she feels 4 is her Guinea Pig saturation point with time etc... she has free to devote to each.

I think 9 is my perfect number - there are just enough that I can cuddle, feed, clip, bathe, properly house, play with and generally harass them all (not necessarily in that order...), but I think getting any more would be spreading my love too thinly and not very wise! (Not that I'm planning to take on any more but its always sooo tempting when you see those pretty/hansom rescues needing a new home! drool)

Which got me to thinking... Do other Guinea addicts have a Guinea Pig saturation point? If you're a rescue I guess that would apply to permanent piggies!?! Just would be interesting to see what other peoples thoughts are...
 
We have had 20 here at the most. At present we have 18. Some are those that we have taken in for people. I think 20 is the maximum but when they pass away I won't replace a pig with another. If it is a boar on his own I will put him so he can see other pigs but it depends on the circumstances.

Ideally I would like 4 in the future because I know that once my youngest goes to school I may work or go to college so I will have less free time. :)
 
i have to say mine is 2! i work full time and i love to cuddle mine before work in the morning,when i get in and they are out all night . if i had more i just wouldnt have that one on one time with them! esp living on your own on top of other chores its just too much work for more!
 
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I have 9 spread between 4 cages...to be 7 in about 5 or 6 weeks when the 2 babies go away and I will not be replacing any. If I have a particularly busy day I feel a little spread thin, but for the most part they are no bother, and thankfully my Mom enjoys helping me do the piggy "chores" so takes half the time to do everything.
 
My saturation point at the moment is four guinea pigs, I currently have three which is my "safe limit" before I hit out-right saturation. I think it's safer to sit just below your animal saturation point because circumstances can change and things happen that may mean you have to adopt an extra pig to try and even out fallouts, for example. That's where I'm currently at: when newPig is introduced to my current pair, I'm expecting a sudden shift in how they all interact with each other and I'm keeping myself prepared for the time when I may need to respond to a poor pairing.

If we remove space requirements (if I had girls, my saturation would be five) though I think my limit would be in the higher ranges, about 5 or 6, but absolutely no more. They'd have to be in one herd ideally and so my need to cuddle and socialise with them each day would be lesser than, say, with my small groups of two or the more demanding single pig.

I wouldn't have time, at the moment, for any more pigs, especially when I'm practically non-existent in the flat on a Saturday which is a big strain on my piggie care.
 
I've got four at the mo, but might eventually extend to one or two more girls, max. But then, I'm working from home, so I've got time during the day, so that helps.
 
my own personal limit for pigs staying permenantly is 10 which i currently have,we can take up to 32 guineas outside and have several indoor cages for emergencies(pregnancies,quaranteen etc)...the max we have had was my own ten plus 29 rspca animals so 39,,,all good fun...

at the moment we have 5 males and 2 females(adopted due out 06/06),five hamsters(one going saturday) and two degus that have had no interest at all in the 5 months of being here(we are bonding though)...

al
rspca suffolk.
 
Mine I have to say is 4, I have my two Disney and Paris, then I am fostering Keith and Kev for Sophie, I find this is plenty, I like to treat them all the same, so they have the same amount of kisses and cuddles !

One of my sons has Ethlers Danlos Syndrome so I need to spend time with him doing exercises, as well as working part-time but I love it :))

I would maybe have more when the kids are older !
 
I've discovered that my 'ok' number is 40 - which I have at the moment. Well, currently 43 here but 3 are not mine... and 2 in foster. I've had up to 60 or 70 but only just held on to my sanity during that time, having taken in 8 pregnant sows all at once! rolleyes

40 is a good number... my core number of my own piggies is about 28 at the moment and the rest are rescues. I have to get up early to get them all done before work, and it's easier in summer than winter. I physically have room for more, but not mentally !

Sophie
x
 
Ryli said:
One of my sons has Ethlers Danlos Syndrome so I need to spend time with him doing exercises, as well as working part-time but I love it :))

I would maybe have more when the kids are older !
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you know,i've got that too,the hypermobility type,i completely forgot what it was even called! it causes my joints to dislocate and caused my early onset arthritis. my god,small world
 
stargrrlclaire said:
you know,i've got that too,the hypermobility type,i completely forgot what it was even called! it causes my joints to dislocate and caused my early onset arthritis. my god,small world
Click to expand...

Oh god, yes he has the hypermobility type but is also having probs with the tubes from his kidneys to his bladder and has really bad eye sight, he is 8 and has now only just been diagnosed (4 months ago), I had never heard of it before ..... so nice to know that there are other people out there (if you know what I mean
 
i have 13...hmmmm let me just say that if it was up to me there would still be 12!

No thats cruel I love the new baby dearly, we have a perfect 11 and were happy with that, then we got given Noodle, he had been abused and he is the sweetest pig ever, I love him to pieces, he really is a smoodly noodly poos...lol

Well the males decided to break fort knox and got the females pregnant, unfortunatly a certain young child fell in love with the brilliantly named Melon, so whilst all others went to loving homes, Melon stayed with us, hence the 13.

Its a good number, although the boys are driving me crazy, two in particular JD (my boyfriends who lives at ours to avoid a certain Sheepdog) and Smokey are really aggressive (and I mean really).

Smokey for example escaped and attacked a 4 year old male when he was just 7 weeks blinding him, I wanted to get rid of Smokey, but no one wanted him so we kept him, turns out he has numourous health problems, hates other guinea pigs (unless they happen to be of the female variety lol) but loves cuddles...so well I cant let him go, i love him too much..

Anyway when we move house we have a plan, our new house has a stream :p with land either side, so we are going to put females one side and males the other.

This should help curb the aggression.

All that said I say NO MORE MALES PLEASE! lol i can cope with more females, they just seem to occasionally have tiffs, but never seem to fight. But males NO! NO NO NO! 8 is enough lol...
 
Oh forget my idea of 4 in the future! If they free range I'd have a shed full! :(|)

I don't think I'll ever be without pigs or rabbits now! I'm never going to be allowed a dog but I have a puppy in Twinkle (the I'm not a guinea pig but a playful puppy type) :(|)
 
I have six guinea pigs in two hutches. We have four together in a large hutch/run house and the two boys are together in a large hutch as well. I like to have just the two hutches so six is my max even though i have room/spare hutches for another 10. I handle each one of the piggies daily and check them over as well as cuddles so i think six is a nice managable amount for us.

We look after so many of our friends guineas a few times a year per pair so i normally always have lodgers.

We have 2 Rabbits as well that live in a 7x5 shed and free range.

I work full time and OH works shifts, which is great as the piggies and buns are only ever on their own for a few hours at a time.
 
we have two piggies, would like to rescue a neutered boar, when i was a child we had 35.x)x)
 
i have 5 but would love to take on lots more,just waiting for needy piggies to pop up,i find that with each piggy i get i just adjust my routine so i have a little more piggy time,but truthfully five feels the same amount of work as one does to me,i have structured my daily piggy routine so well that it feels like a breeze:)
 
I have 3 guineas and 1 rabbit and thats my limit due to working full time, if I'm away at the weekend then Mum looks after them and dont think she would want more.

When we go away then we book pet boarding Its hard to get this arranged so I book it before I book our hols!

As I dont drive I rely on my Dad to drive me and the gang to the boarding so think 3 boxes is enough. Ive been lucky to get a spot at my old boarding place which is only 15 mins drive away, last one was an hour but they did bring them back (trouble is there we had to supply a hutch for the guineas ands now Ive 2 more cant fit more than one hutch in the car)

Id love more but I'm out 8am - 5.30 daily so dont think Its an option.
 
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