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How/can I make my 2x6 work for 5 pigs?

Hannah_xx

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Hi everyone,
I have a 2x6 C&c with a 2x2 loft (I know that doesn’t count as floor area). With 3 females in.
On the RSPCA website there is a pair of squeaks I’m interested in homing, however there status is currently ‘adoption pending’.
There is also 2 female textels on gumtree looking for good home..
I feel I’m too late to home the rspca ones, So I’m tempted by the gumtree girls.
Ideally I only want to rescue one more pig but can only seem to find suitable ones who come in pairs.
I have 4 spare girds so could possibly extend slightly, or would this still make it too small? What size is correct for 5 females?

Of course there is the risk (again!) of them not getting along with my 3 girls, which is a problem getting off gumtree. I’m fortunate it worked well with Spike.. but of course sadly he’s not around anymore.

Here are the gumtree girls,
BE058A26-76C4-49FC-9C82-3415C3EFB886.png47F8345C-4146-4749-96D6-7BA7C5FDD708.png
Can you see my predicament!

Or I should wait for the perfect single pig to come up for adoption...
 
Unfortunately, according to the cage size guide on here a 2x5 is recommended for 3 piggies which means a 2x6 would be recommended for 4 not 5. I suspect (as is the case with the other sizes listed) the minimum requirement from the RSPCA would mean you could have 5 in there but you may be adding tensions to the bondings by not giving them more space. Personally I feel there's too much that can go wrong with buying through sites like gumtree but then rescues are more readily available in the UK so we have more luxury with that decision. What would happen with the Gumtree girls if it didn't work out with your current trio?
 
I think you should get this pair of adorable fuzzies, as long as you can keep them separately if they wouldnt bond with the others. And of course if you are also realistic about hidden health issues that often lurk in free ads piggies- 4 of my main herd came from the free ads, a little boar in perfect health, but also 2 ladies who were obese (one of them with an untreated broken leg, the other with long term bad feet) and my last free ads piggy Blod came free needing £350 worth of emergency vet treatment for ringworm, 6 overgrown back teeth and a misaligned jaw!
Can you take down your loft and add it on the side at floor level to make an L-shape? That would be 8x2 and plenty big enough for 5, we had a 5x2 with a 3x2 added on the side for 4 ladies and a husboar until our 6th herd member Blod joined them and we had to expand again :)
 
Thank you both for your quick responses!
Lady Kelly..
Yes that is my worry! I would hate for them to feel cramped and cause conflicts. I’d never want to put that pressure on them. With 2 bonded pigs that possibly wouldn’t get along with my girls I feel I could happily house them separately my problem with the piggie, Pippin who recently adopted and had to return because she didn’t like my girls was the risk of getting her a friend and then them to not getting along, meaning I’d have to have 3 separate herds! I can persuade my partner to me having 2 cages but not 3 haha!
But of course, like you said it is a huge risk getting them off gumtree! My heart is torn!

Piggie puggle, I’d feel bad taking the loft away as my girls LOVE it. But I could attach a 2x2 on the side making a larger L-shaped cage. Would just have to convince the partner lol!
Wow that’s a lot of vet bills. I feel I can pay for vet bills as that’s my main reason for my job lol, however we are meant to be saving hard to move house. So ideally, I should be sensible and not get potential sick pigs.

But my gosh, I love fuzzy pigs!
 
Also yes I’m finding it very difficult to get hold of rescue centres! The lady I got Pippin from isn’t actively rescuing at this moment in time due to personal stuff, so she hasn’t anymore that are suitable.
The big rescue in Melbourne which a few hours away seems impossible to contact, despite them online saying they have lots of piggies in need of homes.

I am worried about introducing another girl or 2, maybe that’s too many females to get a long?
I feel Mary is missing having a husboar, Ideally I’d like to find a male (No one could ever replace my perfect spike :( !). As the dynamic worked well before.
 
Bringing up my old thread as I’m sort of considering the same predicament..
So, I now have 3 girls 1 boy. And my cage is slightly bigger as I have a 2x2 square added onto the 6x2. If I made the square into a 3x2 on the side would that be big enough for an extra female to join the herd of 4. So 5 piggies?
Don’t want to cause tensions and problems so I won’t if it’s not do-able :)
Just considering things..

This is my cage at the moment:
91F7167B-B511-4E00-B831-370D5A68CE77.jpeg
 
I think 8x2 floor space is actually ok for 5 piggies, using the formula of a 4x2 for two then add an extra 1x2 for each extra piggy... we had 5 piggies living in 8x2 for a while (it was a 5x2 with a 3x2 on the side) but bigger is always better, when we added a 6th piggy we added on an extra 3x2 to make 11x2 :)
 
I think 8x2 floor space is actually ok for 5 piggies, using the formula of a 4x2 for two then add an extra 1x2 for each extra piggy... we had 5 piggies living in 8x2 for a while (it was a 5x2 with a 3x2 on the side) but bigger is always better, when we added a 6th piggy we added on an extra 3x2 to make 11x2 :)
Thank you!
 
I’m sure you will figure the housing out, you are a very caring and considerate slave. They look gorgeous girlies, I’d say go for it!
 
What about a stacked C&c ? 2 on top and 2 on bottom? x
 
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