Need abit of advice

[rob86]

Hi,

I am new to the forum and am hoping to get a little advice on our piggies.

We got 2 Guinea pigs from a breeder for our daughter for Christmas, as it was obviously winter we decided to get a big cage and have them in my daughters room. Everything has been fine with them until we decided to move them into a new hutch ready for them to go into the garden due to the warmer weather. We built the new hutch yesterday but due to the rain we have kept them in the front room for now in the new hutch. The new hutch is longer but not as wide as their cage and we have noticed that they have started to squeal at each other when ever they get close. It seems like they are warning each other but when they were in the original cage they would always snuggle up together and we never heard this squeal before. Should i be worried? should i move them back into their old cage or is it them just getting used to new surroundings and asserting dominance?

Any advice would be great. Sorry if i have posted this in the wrong place.

Thanks
Rob

 

[Piggies&buns]

Any new environment can set off dominance. As long as they are well bonded and want to be together then they should sort themselves out.

How wide is the new hutch?

 

[rob86]

Any new environment can set off dominance. As long as they are well bonded and want to be together then they should sort themselves out.

How wide is the new hutch?

Its roughly 4ft in length and 1.5ft in width.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Its roughly 4ft in length and 1.5ft in width.

Ok, that is slightly below the minimum welfare requirement - the minimum size two female piggies should be kept in is 4ft x 2ft. Two males need 6ft x 2ft.

 

[rob86]

Ok, that is slightly below the minimum welfare requirement - the minimum size two female piggies should be kept in is 4ft x 2ft. Two males need 6ft x 2ft.

We were planning on having thr hutch open during the day so they wander around the back garden inside of a run and have them in the hutch for the night. That should be ok shouldn't it?

 

[Siikibam]

We were planning on having thr hutch open during the day so they wander around the back garden inside of a run and have them in the hutch for the night. That should be ok shouldn't it?

They need their housing to be the minimum space required whether or not they’re roaming during the day. Also bear in mind if it’s too cool for you to stand in bare feet and a t shirt then it will be too cool for them as well. Are they sows or boars?