Is my cage big enough?

Nattzzz

Nattzzz

Junior Guinea Pig
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I recently got a Midwest guinea pig cage, I believe it’s big enough for two Guinea pigs, but I have three. (One of them is at the vet rn) It took my mom A LOT of convincing to buy this cage. I begged her for about a month. My mom does love the guinea pigs and talked about getting a bigger cage because she wanted a fourth guinea pig, she then said she was joking. I'm 16 and currently looking for a part time job so I can buy the guinea pigs all sorts of things myself. I’m just wondering if it’s an okay TEMPORARY home for my three guinea pigs?
 

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Is there any way to get rid of the divider in the middle? That would give them more space
 
HeatherRose said:
Is there any way to get rid of the divider in the middle? That would give them more space
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Yes I had been questioning if I should get rid of the divider, I hope my mom won’t mind. I will remove it.
 
I don't know the exact dimensions of the cage but I believe the Midwest only fulfills the minimum size requirements for two pigs
 
I think that will be better so they can run the whole length of the cage. I’m not sure about the size, I know there is a cage size guide on the forum that you could look at. You might be able to add c & c grids to this one to make it bigger if you need to. If you do eventually go bigger with the cage, I would try using fleece as it will cost a lot to keep loose bedding in that big of a cage.
 
Just one thought. What sexes are all 3 guinea pigs? Just wondering why you have it divided in to 2 in the first place?
 
SkyPipDotBernie said:
Just one thought. What sexes are all 3 guinea pigs? Just wondering why you have it divided in to 2 in the first place?
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All of them are male. I kindve added the ramp because it came with it and my mom wanted to separate the living space and the food and water area. That obviously didn’t work out anyways since I moved a pigloo into the “eating space”
 
Nattzzz said:
All of them are male. I kindve added the ramp because it came with it and my mom wanted to separate the living space and the food and water area. That obviously didn’t work out anyways since I moved a pigloo into the “eating space”
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Three males definitely need more space. Have they been together long? Usually 3 males do not work together
 
Nattzzz said:
All of them are male. I kindve added the ramp because it came with it and my mom wanted to separate the living space and the food and water area. That obviously didn’t work out anyways since I moved a pigloo into the “eating space”
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There is a high chance of three male guinea pigs living together causing a serious fight, even with two you could get a fight, because of the cage size. It isnt a bad size, but the widwest is only reccomended for either two sows, or a neutered boar and sow. Three boys ie pushing it for space aswell as the chance of a fight
 
HeatherRose said:
Three males definitely need more space. Have they been together long? Usually 3 males do not work together
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They’ve been together for about a month and have been good together so far, one of them is about 0-3 months, the other is about 3-6 and my other is unknown but I would guess about more than a year old.
 
SkyPipDotBernie said:
There is a high chance of three male guinea pigs living together causing a serious fight, even with two you could get a fight, because of the cage size. It isnt a bad size, but the widwest is only reccomended for either two sows, or a neutered boar and sow. Three boys ie pushing it for space aswell as the chance of a fight
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How could I avoid this? Should I add another boy to a bigger cage? How should I alter the groups?
 
S
Nattzzz said:
They’ve been together for about a month and have been good together so far, one of them is about 0-3 months, the other is about 3-6 and my other is unknown but I would guess about more than a year old.
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Sorry i thought the cage was totally split in 2 halfs without a ramp. Sorry i missed it. Best thing would be to add on another midwest cage so you have 240cm length, or even do a d.i.y extension. Its not cruel what you have but its just under the reccomendes minimum living space for 3 pigs
 
SkyPipDotBernie said:
S

Sorry i thought the cage was totally split in 2 halfs without a ramp. Sorry i missed it. Best thing would be to add on another midwest cage so you have 240cm length, or even do a d.i.y extension. Its not cruel what you have but its just under the reccomendes minimum living space for 3 pigs
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I will definitely do a diy extension in the next two months or so, my main worry is if this is okay for a temporary time. I asked my mother what she thought about neutering one of the boys and getting a female then seperating so two boys would live in one area and a boy and girl on the other and she said as soon as they’re al healthy and my other piggie Jinx has his URI settled we’ll get started on that. :)
 
You may find that as your younger boys hit their teenage hormones things get a bit more tense. 120cm x 60cm is the minimum size for two pigs and for boars we always recommend going bigger as more space can help to diffuse tensions and help them get away from each other when needed.

Adding another boar would not be a good idea. Boar groupings don't become more stable until you hit around 10 piggies and with that you would need tons of space. If you want to minimise the risk of fall out then you would get an additional piggy and have two pairs of males but all this does is minimised the risk and not remove it completely. Boars and sows always have a way of surprising us and can fall out at any time (highly unlikely means that's it's extremely rare but has happened in the past)
 
HeatherRose said:
Here are some options for adding on to your cage. I think the c and c would be cheaper if you are good at doing it yourself.View attachment 108655View attachment 108656
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These are some great ideas, Thank you! I’m going to find one where I can completely separate two areas but have enough space in each area for two piggies and take your guys advice get my older one neutered and get a sow :)
 
If you are going for two pairs you could go for a table set up with one cage underneath and one on top that way it uses the same amount of space as your current set up. Personally I would be inclined to try boar dating at a reputable rescue first to try pairing up with another male before going down the route of looking at neutering. The operation if carried out by an experienced vet is fairly routine but obviously any general anaesthetic and operation is always going to carry some risk
 
Lady Kelly said:
You may find that as your younger boys hit their teenage hormones things get a bit more tense. 12cm x 60cm is the minimum size for two pigs and for boars we always recommend going bigger as more space can help to diffuse tensions and help them get away from each other when needed.

Adding another boar would not be a good idea. Boar groupings don't become more stable until you hit around 10 piggies and with that you would need tons of space. If you want to minimise the risk of fall out then you would get an additional piggy and have two pairs of males but all this does is minimised the risk and not remove it completely. Boars and sows always have a way of surprising us and can fall out at any time (highly unlikely means that's it's extremely rare but has happened in the past)
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So would extending the cage but creating a block off so two boars live together and then the other part a neutered boar and a sow live together be okay?
 
Lady Kelly said:
If you are going for two pairs you could go for a table set up with one cage underneath and one on top that way it uses the same amount of space as your current set up. Personally I would be inclined to try boar dating at a reputable rescue first to try pairing up with another male before going down the route of looking at neutering. The operation if carried out by an experienced vet is fairly routine but obviously any general anaesthetic and operation is always going to carry some risk
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Hearing that it’s a risk to my piggies does make me a little nervous, I’m going to do some research on boar dating, the table set up is also very helpful if I do decide to do the neutering.
 
Lady Kelly said:
Sorry I don't understand what you mean.

Just noticed my typo too it should have said 120cm not 12cm
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Sorry I worded it strangely, you helped by explaining the table method for basically two separate cages. One cage holds two boars, and another a sow and a neutered boar. I do want to research this boar dating though.
 
Nattzzz said:
Hearing that it’s a risk to my piggies does make me a little nervous, I’m going to do some research on boar dating, the table set up is also very helpful if I do decide to do the neutering.
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It's worth researching all options thoroughly including talking to local vets about their experiences with guinea pigs and how often they see them etc. Very experienced vets can get almost 100% success rate. Age and overall health of the piggy in question is vital to the outcome too
 
Nattzzz said:
Sorry I worded it strangely, you helped by explaining the table method for basically two separate cages. One cage holds two boars, and another a sow and a neutered boar. I do want to research this boar dating though.
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My update after reading the thread on boar dating, my mother made the mistake of purchasing my boar Marble the day after purchasing my baby boar jinx. Cinnamon had been alone and I couldn’t just reject the guinea pig she had already bought. I was so stressed with school work and other things I hadn’t researched how three boars would act. They seem to be fine atm but you did mention how they’d act after the younger ones reach teenage years. I think my only option is within these couple months to get a part time job, get my older one Cinnamon neutered, create a table method living for the 4. And just separate. :(
 
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