How many piggies?

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Poppy'sMum

Poppy'sMum

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Dear old Blighty UK
Just wondering how people manage with so many piggies? I comfortably managed 2 when I had them, would like a trio but wondered how much more work would be involved, apart from at least twice the amount lol! I mean, if they were all females, would it be possible to have more than 2? I mean if I had 4 or 5, but housed in pairs or a trio & a pair, what problems am I likely to encounter? Would I be able to handle them one after the other, or would they smell the others & get upset? Would they be able to have run time all together or would they fight?

They would all be housed indoors btw.

I am a tad confused now lol :))
 
I have five and there really is not much more work at all. It takes longer to hold them all each day but that is all really. They all live in a c and c cage together. They have become much happier as a herd although they are not as close to me but that is the way it has to be. Once they bond it is no problem if you want to handle them one after another as they all smell the same.
 
I have six and find it quite easy looking after them!
My mum helps me feed them so in the morning she will feed them then in the evening I will feed them!
 
I have 13 piggies at the moment. I have a group of 5 sows, a group of 3 sows, a neutered male/female combo, a pair of males and a single male (he can see the other two males but not get at them because he's too enthusiastic!).

I do think it's quite a lot of work. Cleaning them is quite a lengthy process, bedding and food can get expensive and obviously you have to take time out to handle them all individually. Plus most of mine need a lot of grooming!

If you had a big enough area you could have 4 or 5 sows all together, depending on how they were to get along. Or you could get 3/4 sows and a neutered male. My neutered boy is lovely, the male/female pairing is really sweet. You might be able to get an already bonded groups from a rescue or babies from the same litter which would make it slightly easier.

If you decided they were better in pairs/trios they wouldn't get upset smelling each other or being handled one after another. My sows are mostly totally not bothered by each other at all. It's only Pickle who is a little madam and only has eyes for her husboar.

Say I have a sow out though then a male and the male smells 'lady scents' they do get a little excited and start licking (eww!) but nothing major. In pairs/trios they might be able to have run time together, it totally depends on the temperament as to whether they'd accept each other or not. If you got a little madam like mine you might have some trouble. Pickle literally would go for any other sow I put with her but she had no problems being put with the neutered male at all. I had another sow a good few years ago now who was the same, very sweet natured towards me, but quite aggressive towards other pigs!
 
Well I have the fleece now lol :))

Problem is I have a very strange shape to fit my C & C into, so am sitting here plotting how to move all the furniture around the room so OH won't notice rolleyes

Was thinking if I did a 9 square for 3 piggles in the bottom & 9 square for the other 2 at the top as I cannot do a 5 x 2 simply don't have enough room :( would that be big enough for them all?

And what about sunlight? If I do it this way there is no sunlight at that end of the room, sometimes it gets a little dark there, would that be okay?

Thanks!
 
They do need sunlight but they do not want to be in direct sunlight either. By nine do you mean three by three? That is way to small. I have six by three for my five. I moved my furniture about. My girls have most of the room and my bunny has an area. I just have a tiny space. lol!
 
Woah 13 would be very hard work @) ! No I would only have the 4-5 max, I have seen some rescue, but also seen some elsewhere (not pet shop) which I am definitely going to have as I have fallen for them big time x)

The problem is we do not live near any rescues, so it would mean a very long trip in the hope the piggies would like us & we would like them so it could be quite difficult to actually do. This is our problem we have done the research & rescue may not be the easiest option at all, so we have to get it right first time :)
 
piggyfan said:
They do need sunlight but they do not want to be in direct sunlight either. By nine do you mean three by three? That is way to small. I have six by three for my five. I moved my furniture about. My girls have most of the room and my bunny has an area. I just have a tiny space. lol!
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I mean 9 squares, ie a 4x2 but with grids on the end to make an extension of an extra cube, nota 3 x 3 that won't work rolleyes Then another level above with the same again for another pair of piggies. Wouldn't a double decker be big enough?
 
Well many piggies do not even go upstairs. I think the bottom space alone needs to be enough room. It sounds like you only have space for two piggies. If you really want more why dont you get rid of some furniture? I think that is the only way you could do it.
 
The guinea pig cages website says 4 x 2 is enough for 2 pigs?

http://www.guineapigcages.com/

So wouldn't a 4 x 2 with an extra cube ( 4 x 2 + 1) be enough on the ground floor & the same on a second floor be enough? That's a total of 1.1 square metres on each level, that's 2.2 overall?

It recommends a minimum of 1 square metre per 3 pigs, so I would of thought that was enough?/
 
When you make a c and c cage you cannot have the same number upstairs as where will you put the ramp?
 
I wouldn't need a ramp if I kept the pair & trio separate would I? Lol! If I wanted to let them have the run of both top & bottom I could make the top layer a 4 x 2 in that case & put a ramp in. Unless they have invented a piggie Stannah stairlift, now there's a thought lol! :))
 
I have two piggies. They came in a package deal from the shelter because they are sisters. But they do not resemble sisters lol!
DSC04295.jpg
 
I keep 4 girls together, they play out happily together, and I find them no more difficult than two, Treacle has handed over the crown to Bon Bon (Seems Liquorice decided it wasn't for her), and Humbug would love the crown, but Bon Bon says "NO IT'S MINE!"
In hind sight though, if I'd not found Humbug still looking for a home 8 weeks after I first met her, I'd have stuck to 3, but with her I guess it was meant to be, her coming home with me;)
Bonbon2015.jpg

Humbug is the piggie behind Liquorice :))

Humbug - She had an abscess about the time of this photo, hence lack of fur under chin
 
Aw they are gorgeous! What sort of housing are they in if you don't mind me asking? If indoors, how many grids etc do you use? I need some help here lol :))
 
I don't use grids, but i'm sure some one will tell you;) I found out tonight, via Biscuit, that running about doesn't beat sleeping in his pad:))
 
I have 5 piggies. 2 girls and 3 boys. girls live separate from the boys. So i have 2 large cages to clean out daily and lots of cuddles daily. but they love company from each other.
 
Poppy'sMum said:
Woah 13 would be very hard work @) ! No I would only have the 4-5 max, I have seen some rescue, but also seen some elsewhere (not pet shop) which I am definitely going to have as I have fallen for them big time x)

The problem is we do not live near any rescues, so it would mean a very long trip in the hope the piggies would like us & we would like them so it could be quite difficult to actually do. This is our problem we have done the research & rescue may not be the easiest option at all, so we have to get it right first time :)
Click to expand...

There is no rescues near me on one occasion I travelled to SuzyGPR in Wales and was able to adopt from her.

On another occasion I adopted from Tracy at Rugby Guinea Pig Rescue the forum members where able to help with a Piggy train, I know numerous members who live nowhere near a rescue and are able to adopt from various rescues.

Rescuing takes a bit more time but you are giving a rescue piggy a 2nd chance, not to mention the fact you are guaranteed a healthy Guinea Pig, and if you are looking to adopt more than two most rescues will help bond them. Most rescue's have a lot more than 2 Guinea Pig's so finding ones that you like and like you shouldn't be a problem as rescue piggies are never in short supply.

Doey another member on here did a 400 mile round trip for her sow to find a friend and ended up with a herd. The members of this forum often help transport Rescue piggies all around the country.

As for my Guinea Pig's I have 6, 3 separate cages Boy:Girl pairings, my pairs can only come out one pair at a time, cage cleaning is a pain and vet bills are awful. Perhaps I have really ill pigs but I notice a huge difference when I just had 3 I had a lot less vet Bills and you have to remember they all get old around the same time with old age comes illness.
 
I at one point had 10 piggies, the girls lived outside (when we put the boys out they all got colds and had to move back in) and we had boys in the dinning room.

We had 4 houses for all the boys, 2 in 2 and 3 in one and Harry lived on his own next to another house, he didn't get on with any of the other piggies but would talk to Bob through the bars.

Cleaning them out was a big job, we tended to do the boys on one day and the girls on another. The girls were considerably easier in their hutch outside.

You couldn't walk past the boys with a cucumber sandwich, they'd shout the house down, and if you rustled a bag ahh the shouting.

Now that I'm older my limit would be 4....at the moment :p Yes definitely four, mainly because of all the looking after they require and the amount of attention I'd be able to give them.

With all the other pigs I've had, my mum would look after them as well so I didn't have whole responsibility for them. Where as the two I have now I do everything for them and I don't think I could cope with 10 or more again.
 
I have 19 piggies at the moment with the view to adding the 20th (and last, for now at least!) next month. They really don't take as much extra time to look after as you'd imagine. At the moment I have a herd of 9, a herd of 4 and three pairs. The cleaning out is a fiasco every week, but eventually we will have 16 (the 9, 4 and a pair will be bonded in the next few weeks and hopefully with a neutered male will form one big herd) in my new shed, so they will all get fed, watered, cleaned and checked all at once making it that much easier.

Honestly, I have to remind myself that I have that many at times; you really wouldn't think there were 19 looking around my garden. My OH was expecting it to be a ridiculous situation but was actually pleasantly surprised that it wasn't quite as insane as he thought it would be! :)
 
I started with 2 girls who lived in a shop bought two storey cage which was a nightmare to clean as I had to take it all apart. When I jumped to 5 girls I didn't notice much difference in the amount of time they take to care for. Having a large open topped C&C helped and is actually quicker to clean than the shop bought cage. More time is needed for cuddletime but thats it really. I would suggest having all one group though as having more than one herd will take more time as they have to be dealt with separately.
 
I would like to go down the rescue route but have set my heart on a pair of cuties at the moment rolleyes Unfortunately you can't help but fall in love :)

However all things being well I would like to add a rescue pair at some point in the future, it would be a long trek though as we don't have any rescues very close to us & not many have babies either. OH will only contemplate youngsters, that's the condition of having any more as he really does not like the bit where they pass away, he refuses to dig any more holes in the garden :(
 
i have 8, 6 living together and two on their own as they dont get along but the 6 consists of 2 twin sisters, two that have been together since a month old and a neutered male and poppy, another girl, the others are all female but it works well:))
 
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