New Guinea pigs-advice needed!

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Evie Newman

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I have a pair of bonded male Guinea pigs (age 1 and 2) which are very happy together. On Tuesday we are getting a bonded pair of 6 month old female guinea pigs and we’re unsure how to house both pairs. We definitely aren’t going to put them in the same cage and so we ordered a double decker rabbit cage so that they could live separately without taking up any more space. I’m now thinking that they may have to live completely separately so the boys don’t get upset about the female scent, so it might be better to house the females in an outside cage (they have been outside Guineas with previous owner). Any advice welcome!
 
Adding sows into a boars only room can cause problems for the boars relationship.
Sow pheromones do need to be kept well away from boars and that means ideally keeping them in separate rooms. If they must be in the same room, then in a stacked cage with the sows at the bottom. This means the cage would need to meet boar cage size requirements which is 180x60cm.

If the sows are used to being outside and you can house them outside, then that would be a good idea to preserve the boars relationship, but you would still need a plan to bring the girls indoors should outside temperatures get too low.

Even with the sows outside you would still need to ensure you always deal with the boars first so you don’t accidentally transfer sow smells onto the boars

A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
 
Thank you. We are now planning on an outside cage for the females, a new cage for them in the living room for when it gets cold, and keeping the males in their normal cage in the kitchen. Would handling them on alternate days be enough (when we get them out we tend to cuddle them for about an hour, as they normally get fed up by then)? I am now just wondering if the cage set up needs to be any different due to it being outside, e.g. extra hay for warmth? Thank you again for your help!
 
Evie Newman said:
Thank you. We are now planning on an outside cage for the females, a new cage for them in the living room for when it gets cold, and keeping the males in their normal cage in the kitchen. Would handling them on alternate days be enough (when we get them out we tend to cuddle them for about an hour, as they normally get fed up by then)? I am now just wondering if the cage set up needs to be any different due to it being outside, e.g. extra hay for warmth? Thank you again for your help!
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Handling on alternate days is fine but you must still ensure you always deal with the boars first even for feeding if you are likely to touch them etc so that you don’t accidentally touch the sows and then go to the boars.
Do bear in mind though that piggies that live outdoors should not be brought into the house for cuddle/playtime during the colder months (including autumn if there is any difference between the indoor and outdoor temperatures - today would be ok, approx 20 degrees but, for example, a 10 degree autumn day and a 18/20 degree house would be too much of a change for them). If they do get brought indoors, then they should remain indoors for the rest of winter and not go back out until late spring time

Yes it does need to be different. Keeping piggies warm outside does take work. You will want a good sturdy hutch kept in a sheltered position. They will need thermal and waterproof hutch covers, loads of hay and snugglesafe heat pads. A thermometer on the hutch is also a good idea. You cannot use any fleece outside. Remembering that below 15 degrees is too cold for piggies.

Mine live outside in my shed, they have a hutch in the shed. The shed helps hugely in keeping them out of damp and draughts as well as helping to keep the temperature up (the shed stays roughly 5-10 degrees warmer than outside). Then they have the hutch stuffed full with hay (refreshed daily), plus four snugglesafe heatpads between the two piggies. On the hutch (even though it is in the shed) is a thermal hutch cover, then two blankets, then a normal hutch cover and then a duvet thrown over all of it. This helps hold the warmth inside the hutch and has meant they stay above 12 degrees all winter. I have been able to keep them in the shed in all but one winter (it got to -9 here and I just couldn’t keep them warm enough)
 
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Hi, our garden isn’t particularly sheltered so we’ve decided that the girls can live in a separate cage in the living room instead and we will be extra careful to make sure we feed the boys first etc. Thank you so much for your help! Just hoping we can return the double decker cage 😬
 
Evie Newman said:
Hi, our garden isn’t particularly sheltered so we’ve decided that the girls can live in a separate cage in the living room instead and we will be extra careful to make sure we feed the boys first etc. Thank you so much for your help! Just hoping we can return the double decker cage 😬
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This sounds like a great solution and congratulations on the new additions.
We are always very pleased to see photos of piggies too - hint, hint.
 
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