Moving Pigs Outside

Status
Not open for further replies.
V

Valerie O'Hara

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
May 13, 2014
Messages
37
Reaction score
12
Points
75
Location
Irvine, North Ayrshire
Hello all, I've just joined the group and looking for some advice please. I'm trying to move my male pigs who are about 2yrs old now outside for the first time just throughout the better weather. The plan is to bring them back in in poorer weather.

Anyway, I tried them outside earlier for a few hours as I'm trying to gradually build up to the big move but they didn't move the whole time they were there. I gave them in their fave veggies and they didn't even touch them. Is this normal and should they adjust to their new home?

Many thanks for any advice.

Valerie xx
 
Guinea pigs don't like big changes & will take time to adjust. Have you just had them outside in a run or have they been in a cage. If it was just a run you probably need to put a cover over the top otherwise they could be scared of the big wide open with birds flying overhead etc.
 
I moved my boys outside two weeks ago, but have brought them back in now as they seemed unhappy and i was worrying about the weather having turned colder again. So sorry, no help i am afraid! But my boys are popcorning and wheeking again :)
 
They have been indoors in a cage. The one they have outdoors is a hutch and a run
Stewybus said:
Guinea pigs don't like big changes & will take time to adjust. Have you just had them outside in a run or have they been in a cage. If it was just a run you probably need to put a cover over the top otherwise they could be scared of the big wide open with birds flying overhead etc.
Click to expand...
Goth Mummy said:
I moved my boys outside two weeks ago, but have brought them back in now as they seemed unhappy and i was worrying about the weather having turned colder again. So sorry, no help i am afraid! But my boys are popcorning and wheeking again :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply, I'm hoping they will finally get used to it. Was just worried about them when they looked so scared :( x
 
My girls have been outside day and night for about 6 weeks now and they love being able to run around popcorning in the garden. My boys only go out during the day so I won't get any surprise babies.
 
@Valerie O'Hara I'm sure your piggies will get used to it. I probably would have persisted with mine (especially as I just renovated a new 5ft hutch for them, grrrr) except that Pumpkin got mites and I wanted to be able to observe him carefully during his recovery as well, another reason for bringing them back inside.
 
That will be so frustrating after doing that! Think will just need to keep at it and hopefully they will get used to it xx

Goth Mummy said:
@Valerie O'Hara I'm sure your piggies will get used to it. I probably would have persisted with mine (especially as I just renovated a new 5ft hutch for them, grrrr) except that Pumpkin got mites and I wanted to be able to observe him carefully during his recovery as well, another reason for bringing them back inside.
Click to expand...
so feud
 
As long as you don't have predators stalking their hutch, and they are nice and warm and dry with lots of hay to burrow in, and sheltered, I'm sure they will get used to it.
I personally think that having the guinea pigs outside in hutches is a lot more work (for me) as I have to keep going out to check, in the dark, in pajamas, in the wind/rain/ etc and fretting about covering hutches with insulation/waterproof covers etc. But I have a husband who clings to the illusion that at least some of the guinea pigs live outside LOL so I have to keep up the pretence. I'm not sure he has noticed that Jack, Pumpkin and Boo are back inside yet ;)

I also have teddy girls who live inside permanently.
 
Thanks, it's good to hear they
Amyspiggies said:
My girls have been outside day and night for about 6 weeks now and they love being able to run around popcorning in the garden. My boys only go out during the day so I won't get any surprise babies.
Click to expand...
Goth Mummy said:
As long as you don't have predators stalking their hutch, and they are nice and warm and dry with lots of hay to burrow in, and sheltered, I'm sure they will get used to it.
I personally think that having the guinea pigs outside in hutches is a lot more work (for me) as I have to keep going out to check, in the dark, in pajamas, in the wind/rain/ etc and fretting about covering hutches with insulation/waterproof covers etc. But I have a husband who clings to the illusion that at least some of the guinea pigs live outside LOL so I have to keep up the pretence. I'm not sure he has noticed that Jack, Pumpkin and Boo are back inside yet ;)

I also have teddy girls who live inside permanently.
Click to expand...

Thanks! Ha, totally oblivious!

We are only planning on having them outdoors in better weather and inside during wintry weather. We are free from predators plus have a high fence and gate is always locked. I'm quite apprehensive about them being out overnight. Will take me some time to get used to it as well lol x
 
Valerie O'Hara said:
Thanks, it's good to hear they



Thanks! Ha, totally oblivious!

We are only planning on having them outdoors in better weather and inside during wintry weather. We are free from predators plus have a high fence and gate is always locked. I'm quite apprehensive about them being out overnight. Will take me some time to get used to it as well lol x
Click to expand...
Mine live outside with some predators around, but they are in an open area so none are game enough to approach them. :-D
 
@Cavyhappy I bet you get more exciting predators than neighbourhood cats and foxes in Australia? !
I have foxes who come through my garden *grumble* I chased one out of my daughter's play house one day!
@Valerie O'Hara it does take some getting used to, and I missed their wheeking for veggies when I walked downstairs. Once Pumpkin is better I'm sure the boys will go back outside for the best of the summer months. Husband is sure to notice them, sooner or later ;)
 
Goth Mummy said:
@Cavyhappy I bet you get more exciting predators than neighbourhood cats and foxes in Australia? !
I have foxes who come through my garden *grumble* I chased one out of my daughter's play house one day!
@Valerie O'Hara it does take some getting used to, and I missed their wheeking for veggies when I walked downstairs. Once Pumpkin is better I'm sure the boys will go back outside for the best of the summer months. Husband is sure to notice them, sooner or later ;)
Click to expand...
Haha sounds like they're bad over there! We get the occasional cat or fox but mainly lots of wildlife like bush turkeys which I have to chase away because they life to eat left-over guinea pig food on the grass and the birds like to take some hay (I presume for their nests) which I'm fine with; but the most frustrating and scary is the snake! I had to make the hutch COMPLETELY snake proof with chicken wire and making sure that there are no ditches/holes underneath the bottom so none can slither under.
A friend told me (she lives on a farm) that they had a red-bellied black snake in the bottom floor and the piggies were upstairs squeeling their little hearts out, the poor things. We took the piggies down to our farm at Easter and the dog seemed to protect them (she treats them as her children :wub:) although we did see a dingo but it stayed far away, and surprisingly the horse was VERY interested in the cavys and couldn't stop smelling them it was soo cute but I had to take them away because they were getting scared because she's 100 times bigger than them.
Sounds like wild animals are alike to the domesticated!
 
I would be terrified of snakes but would love to see a dingo.
Its a whole different world keeping piggies in Australia to the UK I think!
 
Definitely! I had a snake in my bed once, was so grateful it wasn't the piggies'!
 
Yes, it's an odd situation but it's more the calves we're worried about because the dingos live In packs in the forest (which is part of the farm) and they eat the calves and leave nothing but bones which is sad but now there are steers instead so none get eaten :-)
It's good the cavys only stay there once or twice a year at when no one can look after them so they come and when they do I put them in a tent with me outside even though there are beds in the house !
 
It's ok though it's only in Australia ! Mine love outside and have never had any problems touch wood!
 
We were actually all set to emigrate to Australia 2 yrs ago and my husband took ill a month before we were due to fly out. Don't know if would have got guineas if we were out there. Think I would panic too much. But then I suppose you know the area and the risks, which is fab! Good on you camping out with them...couldn't do that as much here with our weather lol xx
 
Haha yeah, and an INXS party down the road (even though its on a farm, you can still hear parties cos it's so quiet!). I think if you lived in a suburbian area like most people it's quite good because you can keep them either inside or outside or both and if you live in a city, there's not many predators.
 
I haven't been, we just decided we wanted to move. Got ours visas and were all ready to go. My husband though came out for a few days before that to sort things but then when he took ill we couldn't go. My husband has family though in Adelaide. Which part are you from? It was Perth we were moving to xx
 
That's unfortunate. Is the sickness gone?
I've never been to Adelaide but by the looks of it, it's pretty nice although probably hot. I was born in Perth and lived there for a couple of years until I moved over here to the East Coast. I go there twice year the beaches are amazing (despite the sharks) although they're pretty good because they'll play the shark alarm when the sharks are 10s of kilometers out and they have helicopters constantly flying up and down the coast. Perth is really good! Which area in Perth were you going to move to?
 
Yes he's fine now thanks, he came down with a viral infection that attacked his nerve disorder and wasn't able to walk for months. Wasn't much good given he was the main visa holder and would have been the main breadwinner. Our temp accommodation for arriving was in Rockingham but we were planning on looking into areas further once we had arrived. The sharks was one thing I was worried about but as you say they give you plenty of warning xx
 
That's great that he's better, it sounds pretty bad. Never been to Rockingham either but it seems quite a nice area, close to the beach. It's interesting how life can turn a one happening!
 
I know but we are happy which is the main thing. Since I had gave up my job to leave and it didn't happen I thought that I might as well do something else I really wanted so I'm now 2 yrs into studying to become a primary teacher and loving it! Only 3 yrs to go lol xx
 
My husband is a fully qualified joiner and that was what our visa was granted from. I always worked in offices and thought I would look for work in that field once my youngest started school but the plan at first was for me to stay home with the kids. All changed since then though lol. Whereabouts in Australia are you? Xx
 
That's interesting. I live just south of the Gold Coast, on the south-east coast in Queensland. What about you?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top