new to Guinea Pigs

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nixie1990

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Hi
I'm new :)
I'm going to look at some guinea pigs next week. The ones I am looking at are around a year old.
I have a few questions :)
Noise wise: I know when they squeak it can be quite loud/high pitched, but how much do they do that? Are they going to annoy my family/keep us awake? Do they squeak all the time, really loudly, or is it just at meal times?

Also, the 14 month old boar that I am most interested in (havent yet decided between that one or the bonded pair she has) hes on his own, is it possible to pair a 14 month old? Or is he better alone?

Also, I saw somewhere about using fleece for a bed? How does that work? Does it smell/need washing every day?
 
Hi

I will try and answer some of your questions for you but there are a lot more knowledgable people on here than me!

Firstly where are you planning on getting your guinea pigs from?
If it is a reputable rescue they wont home you just one piggy. Guinea pigs need company, they are social animals so you will be best with two boars or two sows.

If you are interested in the 14month old boar then there is no reason why he can't be bonded with a younger male. Do you know why he is on his own? As guinea pigs can live on average 6 years then it would be unfair for him to alone all that time. There is a lot of information on here about boar dating.

Where are you planning on keeping your guinea pigs? Ideally they need to be indoors this time of year or in a well protected, sheltered hutch. If you are planning on getting young guinea pigs they really need to be inside.

We have two boars coming up for a year old and they live indoors. They are in a C&C cage (look in housing for the gallery) in my daughters room. They wheek like mad if they here you going upstairs or call their names as they want attention or food (nearly always food!). However at night I refill their hay rack and once its dark I don't hear a peep out them, except for when they sometimes run up their ramp!

My cage is two tiers and in the bottom I have a cage liner, this is mattress topper sewn to fleece and fits over the tray. The fleece wicks away the pee and dries on the topper so it doesn't become wet and smelly. I pick all the poo out twice a day (there will be a lot!) and then once a week I brush all the hair off and pop it in the washing machine (there are lots of threads on here about using fleece).

In the top of their cage they have a small loft which i fill with absorbant bedding called megazorb. As they eat up here its where they go to the loo the most so the bedding soaks it up and I change it every day.

HTH

xx
 
Thanks for that :)
It is a friend of a friend that says she has rescued a few, a lady that owned them became ill and so she took them in. I will try to find a "boar dating place" then :)
Definitely keeping him/them indoors, either in my bedroom or the "study" Which is also upstairs. I might buy them a hutch for summer and obviously I will get a run for them to go in. :)
Thanks for the information about the fleece, that sounds good, and means I could have some nice looking bedding :D
 
Thanks for that :)
It is a friend of a friend that says she has rescued a few, a lady that owned them became ill and so she took them in. I will try to find a "boar dating place" then :)
Definitely keeping him/them indoors, either in my bedroom or the "study" Which is also upstairs. I might buy them a hutch for summer and obviously I will get a run for them to go in. :)
Thanks for the information about the fleece, that sounds good, and means I could have some nice looking bedding :D
 
This is my set up

P1010672.jpg


If you have two boys you may find that they become very pongy very quickly on fleece. I have managed to avoid this by placing all their food upstairs and having a litter tray up their filled with megazorb (absorbant bedding). They generally wee and poo where they eat so I can clean this out daily

hayrack is hung on the grids to keep it dry and stop them treading in it

2012-01-06112842.jpg


Please be aware that the minimum space a guinea needs is 4ftx2ft and two boys will need more space than this if possible. :)

Is there any reason you are planning on getting a single boy and not a pair, I am not being rude just curious

x
 
Thanks i didn't mean to have the thread posted twice. Oops

your set up looks good, Will try similar with mine.

Only reason for the single boar is that i don't really want baby ones, prefer Older ones. This particular boar is a himalayan which are a breed i like. I Will try find him a friend :) shame he's 14 months and as yet hasn't had a friend, its sad
 
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