New Setup Advice (please)

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groovyloopylou

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Hi there everyone!

Our family is looking to be first time piggie owners (myself and 2 adult "kids") and we are planning on applying for adopting from a rescue but not entirely sure on how many yet (2 boars or 2-3 sows). We will probably have a chat with rescue and let them guide us on that but I am open to advice from you experienced folks :)

The cage plan is:
5x2 c&c with correx tray (DIY)
2 full size home sewn liners to fit the c&c (using squeak dreams' liner tutorial)
additional high traffic area pee pads (will use offcuts from main liners to make this)
(I have all the above purchased but not assembled)

I am looking at what else I need and would like advice on how many of the following I should get to start out with, accounting for what will need washed and require a spare.
I am planning on using pads in/under any hides too.
I have bought a sewing machine but haven't touched one in years so ill build up to making my own items other than the initial liners at a later date.

(for 2-3 piggies)
1 twig tunnel
1 cardboard tunnel
1 wooden / solid house with 2 entrances
2 x snuggle sack / soft hide (one out at a time to be swapped when needing washed - would i need 2 out if i ended up with 3 piggies?)
2 x soft bed pads (again one out and one that can be swapped in)
plastic tray lined with newspaper for hay pile
possibly a freestanding hammock (darn you youtube/etsy for suggesting that one *shakes fist*)
2 water bottles (would love some recommendations if you found ones you like and they have an amazon or pets at home link)
2 pellet dishes

a few enrichment toys scattered about (natural / healthy if they are food based)

The other question is where do you typically get your hay from that is good quality/value? Any brands I should or shouldn't go for?

Thanks so much in advance for reading and (hopefully) offering some advice.
 
Welcome to the forum

Definitely let the rescue guide you. Sometimes trios can mean one gets left out but if you are rescuing then the rescue will know how stable their bond is.

I would also say to speak to the rescue before you invest too much in cages. While a 5x2 is ok for two boars or three sows, some rescues have their own specifications on cage size.

You need as many resources in the cage as you have piggies - so if you get three sows then you need three water bottles, three hides, three hay areas etc in the cage at any one time.
The dominant gets the pick of the best so you need similar alternatives so the others have somewhere to go. So two snuggle sacks on a one in one our basis won’t work - you will need six from the start.
Sometimes a particular hide is favoured and can cause issues - sometimes we have to advise owners to remove any one hide which causes issues so you need alternatives.

We do not recommend the use of any food bowls at all. Scatter all veg and pellets around the cage and in loose hay piles. This encourages foraging, mental stimulation and stops any food hogging.

Regarding hay, I personally get mine by the bale from a local farm for just £8. It’s considerably cheaper but does come with requiring a larger storage space! However I do have a lot of animals to feed so it is more cost effective to do that.
 
Welcome to the forum. Personally I would advise several smaller cage liners, especially if you get boars. The main reason being (especially useful with boars) you can do a half and half cage clean. Also much less stress on your washing machine. One of my boys pees everywhere so it helps me to be able to change one or two liners at a time instead of the entire thing. I have put two1x2 lids on my c&c to hang hammocks, of which I have several due to Mr swampy pants as he will always potty where he's sleeping and loads of pee pads that fit in the cuddle cups.
I buy Nature's Own hay and have never (yet) had any issues with quality or delivery.
My boys say hello, black and white dude is Dignified Sir George and glamorous blond is Mischievous Master Boris (swampy pants)IMG-20240606-WA0007.webp
 
Piggies&buns has given you excellent advice !
The only thing I’d add is 5x2 liner is always difficult to wash/ spin - I’ve made that mistake so I use 2x3 and 2x2 - easy to swap over and to wash
I’m sure your sewing skills will come back as soon as you start 😂
For water bottles I’d recommend the buttercup ones as it’s very easy to fix to a c&c set up
Bottles & Holders

I use kitten litter trays for hay as they’re shallow but allow hiding etc easily

Good luck and we’re looking forward to hear how you get on 🥰
 
Welcome to the forum and good for you doing research first.

I agree with using 2 smaller fleece liners rather than 1 big one.
It does make laundry easier.
I have 2 horse wash bags to put piggy laundry in, it saves the washing machine from getting clogged with hay.

I also use noodle mats on top of the fleece liners.
This means I can change the mats roughly every 4 days but the big liners last up to a couple of weeks.

I have a 6x2 cage for a boar and sow pair.
At the moment they have a large corner fleece tunnel, 2 wooden bridge tunnels, a pyramid fleece house with 2 doors.
There is also a paper bag filled with hay and the remnants of a forage filled hay cube, plus a mountain of hay to wee in, make tunnels in, sleep in, poop in and eat.

Mine love a big paper bag stuffed with hay, although that would be better if you waited until the piggies were settled as it only has 1 entrance.
They will soon create a back door and a side door.

I buy my hay from Hay & Straw, a Yorkshire based company.
The hay is good quality, delivery is prompt and free.
 
I also get my hay (ings) from Hay and Straw in Yorkshire.

I have half the cage with a large wooden magazine as a hay rack with two newspaper and hay lined litter trays and some extra hay and the other half with an ikea dolls bed which they like to go on and under with fleece pads under it and on it and around it.

I stopped using big liners cos they were a bit much to wash. I use a horse wash bag to zip my fleecy pads into for washing.

I clean the cage out every few days. It is amazing how much mess they can make.

PXL_20250911_144203940.webp20250818_114851.webp
 
I also use the squeak dreams tutorials to sew my piggie items ☺️ they’re very good! I was brand new to sewing and find them quite easy to follow, even the more complicated beds (I did modify the patterns slightly so I could have two exits to everything)

Agree with what everyone above has said - I did have big 5x2 liners originally and managed, but they are a bit of a pain to wash. Now I have two 2x3 liners as I upgraded to a 6x2 cage and it makes cage cleans easier

I have two boars and have to have two of everything because chances are they’ll want the same kind of hidey. Once you get to know what yours like, you have a bit more freedom, but it is a good idea to have enough of everything for each piggie to have their own

Mine now have two fleece corner hideys, two cuddle cups, and one tunnel - along with two hay areas (usually cardboard boxes or paper bags). I have multiples of all these so I can wash some while others are in the cage

Also: you can never have too many pee pads! I’ve got a bunch more sitting to sew up when I have some time

Looking forward to meeting your future piggies!
 
Thanks so much everyone for the warm welcome and replies.

I have edited my shopping lists to include more of each item I plan on buying, bookmarked the hay suggestions too!

Over the weekend I managed to test built the cage to get internal measurements (and dismantled it), washed the fleece (needed to wick) and setup sewing machine. Will do 3x2 and 2x2 liners (ty for that advice everyone).

I cant wait to meet my future piggies either. I'm so impatient but need to be sensible (sigh) and paint the living room before we get them to minimize disruption (just noting I'm sure the piggies wont be judging me on my current decor - we actually do need to repaint 🤣).

All your piggies are adorable and I'm looking forward to seeing more of their antics as I explore the forums more :love:
 
groovyloopylou said:
Thanks so much everyone for the warm welcome and replies.

I have edited my shopping lists to include more of each item I plan on buying, bookmarked the hay suggestions too!

Over the weekend I managed to test built the cage to get internal measurements (and dismantled it), washed the fleece (needed to wick) and setup sewing machine. Will do 3x2 and 2x2 liners (ty for that advice everyone).

I cant wait to meet my future piggies either. I'm so impatient but need to be sensible (sigh) and paint the living room before we get them to minimize disruption (just noting I'm sure the piggies wont be judging me on my current decor - we actually do need to repaint 🤣).

All your piggies are adorable and I'm looking forward to seeing more of their antics as I explore the forums more :love:
Click to expand...
Well done - it’s lovely to be excited and have something special to look forward to 🥰
If you can, go for safe paint no odours etc - I use Frenchic paint or Little Knights
Some paints can leave a smell weeks after and piggies have very sensitive smell sensors
Both have lots of colours to choose from
 
groovyloopylou said:
Just a wee update
Cage is built and ready
pre adoption application has been submitted and approved
We are going in at the weekend to meet some piggies and bring some home - excited doesn't even come close to how I'm feeling right now :yahoo:
Click to expand...
How exciting 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
 
So we went in today to get the new fur babies
we have
Zoey (formerly cleo) - age 5 (mostly back with a little tan on her back end)
Honey (formerly ginger) - age 4 (ginger)
Raya (formerly baby) - age 3 (gray and white)
we grabbed their much more professional photo from the rescue site earlier :eek:
image0.webp
(don't worry - we have topped up the hay and will add another tray for them and our photo skills will improve ;))
IMG20251004120504.webp

They are very confidant girls and were happy chomping on hay and cucumber on the way home.
They have been out and about the cage plenty and not been nervous of us hovering nearby.
We have had wheeks when the hay packet was bought out with mad dashes to the tray.
They were hand fed some veggies this evening.

We went into the rescue and were shown this trio first and really that's all we needed to see :love:
From what we know they were surrendered due to owners declining health and they have been calling regularly to see if they had been rehomed so I hope they call again so they can be told that the girls have their new forever home now and will be loved and cherished and adored.
 
Congratulations on your new family members.
They are stunning 🤩.
Looking forward to more photos when they’re settled
 
What a gorgeous trio! Can’t wait to see more of them as they settle in 😍

Sounds like they have really landed on their paws with you
 
Ah they are lovely girls and have a 5* new home 🥰
I’m sure their previous owners will be delighted to know that
Can’t wait to see more of them ❤️
 
Small update now we have had some time to settle in.

Raya
raya

Raya is the most skittish of the trio so trying to work with her the most. She's probs the biggest drama queen out of the bunch too, when you lift her she acts as if she's been murdered (she does stop after a few seconds). She is also the loudest with the wheeks when I'm prepping their dinner.
She will happily take food of me in the cage and comes up and puts paws up at the front of the cage when there's a possibility of snacks but no interest in food during lap time yet. Not even a pea flake will tempt her. Ill try and work with her during floor time a bit more on climbing on me to eat with the other 2 showing her its okay.
She will follow the other two during floor time as long we are generally ignoring her.
She initially lost about 30g from her last weigh in at rescue (8 days before we got her) but we switched hay as she wasn't as interested as the other 2 and happy to said she's gained it back and is a few grams over what she was (we did re-check on her after a few days of being on pillow wad -the same hay they had at rescue) .
I think she wants to be boss piggie but the other 2 put her firmly back in her place.


Honey
honey

Honey is a pretty chill lady and although she wont allow us to pet her in the cage, she potters about no matter what we are up to. We even have to shuffle her along when She's too comfy during cage sweepings.
She has gained a few grams since being with us too and seems will eat most things we give her.
She happily accepts snuggles and food during lap time although she does tend to want to get back to the cage fairly quickly.


Zoe
20251014_174902.webp
Zoe is the oldest of our ladies and (honey decided she just HAD to be in this photo too). She's probably the most confidant out of the 3 and leads the piggie train during floor time.
Like honey, Zoe will happily get snuggles on laps and take food from us there.

I can't tell who is boss between Honey and Zoey as they rarely squabble between each other.
To be fair, Raya is chill with them most of the time and its only usually because Raya wants the hidey or tunnel that there's an issue or she gets too excited and tried to climb on the others to reach food.

One question for you all - what enrichment do you like to add to the cage?
We have a willow ball that we stuff with hay thats a hit and we have one of the balls from haypigs that we put forage in for them to roll about and spill out goodies but looking for other suitable options. (links if you have any would be appreciated)
 
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