Is this set up okay?

[Charllou]

Iv had my Guinea pigs 3 months now and still learning everything about them. They have had a bigger cage for 2/3 weeks now, does it look okay or do they need more hides or tunnels? Sorry if it’s a silly question just want them happy also if anyone knows is this amount of veg okay?

 

[Roselina]

Hello Charllou it’s always a learning curve when you have 2 piggies
The green hideys are not really suitable as there is only one entrance/exit and a piggy could be blocked inside - always important to have a hidey with 2 exits - wooden tunnels are good
It looks like you’re feeding too many pellets - pellets should be 1 tablespoon per pig per day and can be scattered about the cage as it’s fun for them to go looking for them
It also looks like you’re feeding too many veggies - 1 cup of veggies per pig per day
I’m sorry if it seems I’m being negative ….it’s just what I’ve learnt since owning my piggies
What are you doing re water ? It’s recommended to use filtered water to reduce the risk calcium/ bladder stones
Enjoy those piggies

 

[Roselina]

Just an idea

 

[Charllou]

Hello Charllou it’s always a learning curve when you have 2 piggies
The green hideys are not really suitable as there is only one entrance/exit and a piggy could be blocked inside - always important to have a hidey with 2 exits - wooden tunnels are good
It looks like you’re feeding too many pellets - pellets should be 1 tablespoon per pig per day and can be scattered about the cage as it’s fun for them to go looking for them
It also looks like you’re feeding too many veggies - 1 cup of veggies per pig per day
I’m sorry if it seems I’m being negative ….it’s just what I’ve learnt since owning my piggies
What are you doing re water ? It’s recommended to use filtered water to reduce the risk calcium/ bladder stones
Enjoy those piggies

Thankyou! Any advice is welcome Thankyou! I didn’t know they could get stuck. I’ll look at getting them something else Thankyou. I’m definitely over feeding them then the pallet bag says 40g per Guinea pig and I thought that was too much so I only put 40g in I get confused how do you measure a cup? I usually give them a little cucumber, a couple slices of pepper and then a handful or two of whatever lettuce I have, sorry if that sounds silly just want to make sure I’m doing it all right and the pet shop is just useless. I only use tap water for them is that not safe? I’ll look at using filtered water Thankyou so much for the advice

 

[PiggyPoo]

I agree with everything Roselina has said! It’s always a learning curve when you first get them! I’ve learned so much from this forum!

Only thing I would add is our cardboard tunnel got dirty very quickly with wee and poo’s (I’ve just thrown ours out). I bought a plastic one that can be washed. So far my piggies arnt chewing it.

Your piggies are beautiful by the way!

 

[Charllou]

I agree with everything Roselina has said! It’s always a learning curve when you first get them! I’ve learned so much from this forum!

Only thing I would add is our cardboard tunnel got dirty very quickly with wee and poo’s (I’ve just thrown ours out). I bought a plastic one that can be washed. So far my piggies arnt chewing it.

Your piggies are beautiful by the way!

It definitely is, the pet shop just gave us a cage and said give them hay and pallets then the more I researched made me feel so guilty not feeding them right and then the small space for months! This site has helped me make sure they have the best life! We brought them for our little girl but we all have fell for them! Thankyou the tunnel I wanted was out of stock as soon as it’s back in I’ll get it, so far it’s clean

Thankyou! They are both polar opposite’s ones so fast and just runs around the other just jumps and sleep

 

[PiggyPoo]

It definitely is, the pet shop just gave us a cage and said give them hay and pallets then the more I researched made me feel so guilty not feeding them right and then the small space for months! This site has helped me make sure they have the best life! We brought them for our little girl but we all have fell for them! Thankyou the tunnel I wanted was out of stock as soon as it’s back in I’ll get it, so far it’s clean

Thankyou! They are both polar opposite’s ones so fast and just runs around the other just jumps and sleep

Shows how much you care and love them with all the research you’ve done for them.

They do steal your heart quickly!

Aww they sound adorable xx

 

[Piggies&buns]

I agree with the things others have said.

40g of pellets is far far too much. Don’t go by what the packaging says - it’s frankly wrong!
They should have just one tablespoon of pellets per pig per day. It usually weights around 10g each and probably amounting to around 10 pellets per pig only.

Veg is one cup per pig per day. Literally use a cup measure if that helps you. The guide below has a sample plate which will give you an idea of the amounts for each item. The safe daily veg is lettuce, cucumber, pepper and coriander.

Tap water is fine but it needs to go through a filter first - ie a brita filter.

Personally I’d get rid of the hay bag altogether and just throw the hay loose in a big pile on the cage floor. Hay is as much fun and enrichment as it is food, and using bags and racks mean the piggies cannot forage through the hay, snuggle into piles, hide inside it, or run through it.
Yes it’s messy to have it like that but it provides hours of fun and allows the piggies to do what they are designed to do - spend hours foraging freely.
It also get rid of all the food bowls and put the veg and pellet portion into the hay pile so they have to forage through the hay to find the veg and pellets. It keeps them entertained and means they have to use their brains and foragIng abilities to find the food.

Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
Enrichment Ideas for Guinea Pigs

 

[Tigermoth]

Aw, lucky piggies! I’ve just lost my last one but the most very best thing in the world ever was to have big pile of hay. You can sleep in it, burrow in it, eat it, poo on it, eat it, pee on it, eat it . The wooden log bridge was good, Timmy would stand on top of it and shout. It’s a good option to sprint through during zoomies too. I got a new carpet once and sawed down the tube to make a tunnel that we replaced every few weeks until it was all gone (small piggies though, word of caution). A loo roll tube stuffed with hay was good then they ate the tube too…

I never put nuggets in the cage, I hand fed as bribery for them to like me. It worked!

I also never filtered the water but there is a certain genetic disposition for stones and we were lucky.

Oh and a rubber brush and a horse wash bag if you go down the pile of hay route.

 

[Sweet Potato]

Filtering the water is more important if you're in a hard water area but it's a good idea anyway if you can. I also recommend a hay tray instead of a rack it's just more fun for them and gets them eating more hay which is good for their digestion. Cardboard tunnels are fine but don't last very long and the shop bought ones are expensive for what they are. I get tunnels/ cardboard tubes from my local carpet shop for free and just cut them up into smaller tunnels. Do you have boys or girls? If they're boars you need at least 2 of everything, sleeping spots, food dish, water bottle, etc so they don't get territorial.

Sorry if it's a lot to take in. You're doing great, it's a good size, nice bedding, good choice of pellet and it's nice to see you're doing your research. I have some of those hides and they're not my favourite but I'm not too worried about piggies getting cornered in them because they're big enough inside that one can chase the other out without blocking the doorway with their butt. I just take them out if our boys are having a day/week when they're finding it harder to get along than usual just to be on the safe side. 2 entrance hides are preferable but these can be expensive or hard to come by

 

[Roselina]

Lots of advice Charllou - easy to make a few adjustments
Btw your piggies are beautiful - what are they called ? How old are they ?
This forum is very friendly and knowledgeable and never judgmental

 

[Charllou]

Thankyou for all the advice! I’ll definitely follow it all, specially the hay, they have stared to jump inside the hanging hay bag so best to just give them a big pile haha!

They originally where called Anna and Elsa (frozen from our 3 year old ) then we found out they where boys (shop told us girls ) so now she’s called them Olaf and Sven age wise I’m not sure the shop just said they didn’t know, when we took them the vet for a check up she said they are around 9-12 months old. It really is friendly and very helpful

 

[Roselina]

Ah that’s lovely Olaf and Sven
Thank goodness you got 2 boys and not a boy and a girl…….

 

[Sweet Potato]

Thankyou for all the advice! I’ll definitely follow it all, specially the hay, they have stared to jump inside the hanging hay bag so best to just give them a big pile haha!

They originally where called Anna and Elsa (frozen from our 3 year old ) then we found out they where boys (shop told us girls ) so now she’s called them Olaf and Sven age wise I’m not sure the shop just said they didn’t know, when we took them the vet for a check up she said they are around 9-12 months old. It really is friendly and very helpful

Lovely! My sister is a massive frozen fan so she'd definitely approve of the names. I'm a fellow boar owner mine are just coming up to 8 months. 6-12 months is the teenage months for piggies so prepare for stinky piggies that rumble and chase each other for the next little while. I assure you they will settle into being nice calm piggies eventually...well maybe.

 

[Charllou]

Ah that’s lovely Olaf and Sven
Thank goodness you got 2 boys and not a boy and a girl…….

We panicked at first because one you could tell was a boy the other you couldn’t then a few weeks later as he got older you could tell he was a boy we was thinking they would be baby piggies running around

 

[Charllou]

Lovely! My sister is a massive frozen fan so she'd definitely approve of the names. I'm a fellow boar owner mine are just coming up to 8 months. 6-12 months is the teenage months for piggies so prepare for stinky piggies that rumble and chase each other for the next little while. I assure you they will settle into being nice calm piggies eventually...well maybe.

Haha! My daughters frozen mad! Well they had a small cage (I didn’t know they need bigger pet shop sold me a small one) and they where getting very grumpy with eachother, but in their bigger cage they was chasing eachother non stop now it’s just the odd growls it’s cute though considering boars are like that mine are glued to eachother never leave one’s side and if they do they call for eachother

 

[PoptartShop]

They are so cute, first of all!

Secondly, lots of good advice has already been given, but I personally think the hideys you have are just fine.
Mine all have '1' exit (large doorways tho, I get the plastic extra large/jumbo igloos) and they can actually move them around haha (at least 2 of mine do, they like to rearrange!) and nobody's ever gotten trapped lol but probably because the doorways are wide enough, if you wanted to get ones that have a wider doorway that may be better, but don't sweat it.

For hay, you can definitely just toss it on the cage floor. That's what I do, but I've also used a cardboard box and filled it with hay (opened of course, not anything that can be closed, I remove the top of the box and 1 of its sides. I should have an old photo somewhere of it, but it made less mess & they didn't tend to pee in it.

But nowadays I just toss the hay in piles. & clean up daily anything underneath that's soiled.

The cage will NOT stay that clean though, maybe even a few mins after you just cleaned it - LOL, piggies poop a TON!