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New to Guineas - advice please

  • Thread starter Thread starter em1986
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em1986

Hi There,

I have found this forum today and decided to post to get some info and a general opinion from people who know heaps about looking after piggies!

I currently own 12 rats, but they are getting quite old now and I plan on in the next 6 months to a year getting 2 guinea pigs. Ive never owned them before and so will be doing plenty of research.

The issue I have is we dont have a garden. So what I was hoping I could do is keep them indoors in a really wide cage (I have plenty of room) and then getting them out for freerange in a the playpen I built for my rats (half the size of my living room) with lots of tubes and huts to hide in. And then were going to build them an outdoor pen to put in my BFs parents house as they have a huge lawn so when the weathers nice we can take them with us and they can play outside (we go there lots anyway!)
Indoors when they cant go outside I will grow them grass in a tray (something ive done for my ratties) so they can still munch on it.

Does this sound like an ok setup or do you think ill be refused as I dont have a garden?
 
Welcome to the forum!

As most rescues are independently run, it depends on the individual rescue as to whether they would rehome to somewhere with no grazing or not - some will, others won't. Whereabouts are you?

I have happily rehomed pigs to an indoor home with no grazing, they get a great diet with lots of varieties of fruit and veg and grass grown in trays, and hay of course to keep their teeth down, and they're very happy.

Perhaps put a post in the 'rescues wanted' section?

Sophie
x
 
Whereabouts are you? I am unfortunately looking for a home for my gorgeous girls and yours sounds like the kind of set up that they have now.

this is my thread http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=35986

please PM me if you want to discuss further and we can see if this may be a possibility (although I have just seen that you were planning to do this in 6 months and my babies need to find a home as soon as poss so maybe not :-( ...still worth a try!)
 
Hi and welcome,you sound perfect for piggies apart from two little things,
I wouldnt think it would be wise or settling if your piggies were taken to you boyfriends mums as piggies usually dont like car trips it tends to stress them,also rats are quite scary to have with piggies in the same house as they love to attack piggies,12 is a big number to work with but if you are careful you can keep both safe,i have 2 ratties myself and they are kept 3 doors apart from the piggies with locks on each door as you can never be to careful with there safety,i hope you find all the information you need and hopefully some gorgeous piggies soon xxxxxxxxxx
 
Firstly thanks for all your replies, its nice having such a friendly reception!:))

Sophie I'm based in Basingstoke, Hampshire. We do have communal grass but I'm guessing if piggies are shy that wouldnt be ideal. As I said I grow grass trays for my rats and they love it, and could provide everything else they need. I am actually planning on getting a house with a garden over the next 3- 4 years so when we do they will have an outdoor run built.

Hi Dan, Unfortunately I'm not looking to get any guinea pigs just yet.
I have my hands full with my rats at the moment :))I currently have 12 in 2 groups and with their freeranges everynight and care I wouldnt have the time for any more animals right now. However a number of my ratties are getting old:( And so I just plan on not adding anymore rats to my groups and naturally reducing in numbers.

King Borris, I completely didnt realise guinea pigs were so scared, I take my rats pretty often to my OHs parents as they like the run outdoors when its hot! But If It would scare them then ofcourse I wouldnt do it,however I do think that I would take them out in the car sometimes, not ideal I know but I really think animals need to get used to travelling slightly as if they need to go to the vets it can make it even more stressful for them if theyve not travelled before.

In regards to keeping rats and guinea pigs I was thinking of keeping 3 rats and my 2 guinea pigs. My rats dont get to run around the floor and so I would keep them very seperate from each other.
I to agree that 12 rats and 2 piggies would be ALOT to work with, so I'm planning on waiting, :))

Do you think for first time guinea pig owners your better getting babies from breeders or rescues?
 
We're pro-rescue here, as there are so many unwanted piggies in rescues over the country waiting for homes. You'll also get lots of advice and after care from a good rescue

Sophie
x
 
Hi, welcome to the forum :)

I'll move your thread to the General Guinea Pig Chat Board so it's in a more beneficial place to be responded to :)

I would agree about the points about the rats, they are fantastic creatures but will attack pigs (there is a very sad thread in Health and Illness about one such occurance) but as long as they are firmly separated and there is no way they can ever get in to the pigs then it's definately worth looking at.

There are a couple of really good rescues in your area, check out here when you are ready to adopt http://www.guineapigrehome.org.uk/gp/centres.asp

At the moment my lawn is a no-go area for pigs as I've been in and out of hospital this this year and it's just not a safe or edible place for pigs or humans! We try and make up for it with good quality fresh foods and Timothy Hay/Orchard Grass and stuff like Readigrass, and currently have grass in pots, and give them run time in the house instead until we can get the garden sorted. As Sophie said, many rescues will be okay with a similar setup, but some are very strict and unrelenting in what they are looking for, so it's worth contacting several once you are ready to have a chat and see what they are looking for :)
 
Hi Again,
Thanks for the advice!
I do love having rescues aswell. Pretty much all of may rats were recues, 2 that were going to be fed to snakes:( 2 from an unwanted litter. 2 from a family that didnt want them anymore after a year. :( One was going to be pts for having chronic mycho (only 6weeks old) - she actually only had a resp infection which cleared up with 1 weeks of antibiotics and no health problems since!{:| a few that needed homes from a breeder who were being retired and needed pet homes and one from the pets at home adoption tank that had been in there 3 months all alone because she bit:( Poor thing!
So I'm VERY pro rescues! Just wasnt sure what was best.

Well I currently have a group of boys and a agroup of girls which can NEVER come into contact as they are not spayed / neutured and have been fine keeping them seperate since ive had them. you just have to be careful. Get them out at seperate times and like I said the rats are not allowed on the floor and so would not be near the guinea pigs cage.
Would the fact I had rats be a disadvantage aswell as not having a garden?:(
 
Good to have another happily pro-rescue member aboard ;)

Not sure about whether or not rats would be detrimental - again, it would probably depend on the rescues you contact and their own policies. I would imagine that if you can demonstrate that there is no way the ratties will ever get to the pigs then they may be okay with it.

Try to not worry too much about the garden thing. As Sophie pointed out in post 2, many rescues will rehome without a garden as long as you show you are clued up about providing alternatives and are able and willing to do so :)
 
Thats great news!
Well I'm hoping to get some guinea pigs next year probably first part of the year, so I have plenty of time to research!
What I would do is freerange the rats on the bed with mein the bedroom with their toys ( I used to do it this way but Holly learnt to jump off the bed and hide in my suitcase!xx>>> BUt I now have a taller bed so no such luck!
I would then in the meantime have the piggies out to play in their run in the living room, and after an hour put the rats back and handle the piggies on the sofa with me.
As I said its crucial my boys and girls NEVER meet as it takes seconds to breed and they never have done so! I think with 12 rats it may be more challenging;)
So I'm going to wait but will look forward to getting some.
 
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