Newbie Questions

[Ares]

Hi,

Never hasd a guinea before.
But my daughter went to a zoo recently and there were some guineas.
She asked if we could get one, so here I am

A few questions:

For various reasons, the best option for me would be to keep the cage in my garage. It is attached to the house, but is not heated.
Would this be too cold over winter?

Looking on the net, there are cages, and also hutch type pens.
Which is better?
(The garage option for me also allows for more space)

I see on my welcome thread it has been suggested that I get more than one. To be honest, I don't want to get into breeding them.
Would it be ok to keep 2 of the same sex?
I take it 2 females would get on better?

Is a rescue centre the best place to get them from?

I am sure I will think of more questions as I go along

Thanks
Ares

 

[Ares]

Also

Can anyone suggest a good book on keeping guineas.

Thanks

 

[piggyfan]

Hi and welcome to the forum. Two guinea pigs of the same sex is perfect.if you get them from a rescue they will already be bonded so you will not have to worry about bonding them. There are so many piggies in rescue that need homes. The forum is against breeding by the way.

If you use the garage for a car then you could not keep piggies there. It would also need to be heated in winter. In my opinion, keeping them indoors is much easier and they get used to you quicker too. A c and c cage is wonderful as you can make a spacious cage so you will not need to worry about giving floor time.

When it comes to bedding I use vetbed. Fleece is also popular. Both are hypoallergenic so piggies will not get allergies. To use them you have to wash three times without fabric conditioner to make them wick away water.

There is so much I could say but I do not want to overwhelm you!

 

[hayleyface]

Welcome to the wonderful, super-magical world of piggies! To start off, it is generally advisable to get same-sex pairs anyway unless the pigs are spade/neutered for obvious breeding reasons and you need to get more than one piggie - they are very sociable creatures and are used to living in large groups in the wild so if you can manage it, three would be ideal, but if not a piggie pair will do just fine, just so your little guy or gal doesn't get depressed when you're not around to dote on them.

With regards to cages, mine started life in a hutch which, after a bit of research online, I found was much too small for my girls and upgraded to a C&C cage quite quickly. I would say if you have a reasonable sized garden and can afford a large run then a small to medium sized hutch is perfectly fine, your piggies need as much exercise as possible. If you plan on keeping them in an unused garage then a larger hut is probably best. If you decide to keep the pigs inside after all, I suggest you place the cage in the living room, or your daughters' room if she spends most of her time there - the more time you spend in a room, the quicker they will get used to you and will respond to you better.

My pigs came from Pets At Home and although the store does get a lot of bad rap, my particular local treats their animals with the deepest care and respect and my girls have never had a problem. My guinea pigs were bought as a gift so I never had a choice where they came from and to be honest, probably still would have gotten them from Pets At Home simply because I was completely new to this game before February this year and didn't have a dicky-bird about rescues and rehoming.

As for books.. I wouldn't bother personally. When I first started out I bought a book from Pets At Home, but I rarely use it as everything I need to know, I can easily find online. The guineapigforum is a great source of information, as is youtube. Youtube has been my saviour to be completely honest with you and I highly recommend scouting out a few vloggers to follow - Piggiepigpigs and MissCavyQueen in particular really helped me out when I first got started.

Sorry if I've blabbed on a bit, hopefully you can sift through all the rubbish and find some of that information useful

GOOD LUCK!

 

[Wiebke]

I would not recommend keeping guinea pigs in a garage if it is also used by a car. You will also have to arrange for heating/extra protection during the winter months. A hutch will be easier to insulate. Guinea pigs are not hardy. You will find that you have much more interaction and fun if they are in your house. You will always get only as much out of a pet as you put in in terms of time and care. In this case a C&C grid cage is much better. (You can find out more about hutches and cages in our housing section).
Guinea pigs live on average around 4-7 years; that is much longer than your daughter will be likely interested, so it is you that has to want them for that length of time. I have grown up with a succession of piggies, but I remember well the fights over who was due with the cage clean, and how often I had to chip in for my brother!

This is a strictly non-breeding forum; we only help people who have unintentionally ended up with pregnant piggies, be it from mis-sexing at the shop or breeder, by buying already pregnant sows from a shop and breeder (p@h piggies for instance are not gender separated during the several days long transport to the shop from rodent farms on the continent - that is how I have ended up with a pregnancy from my first adult piggies and why I have gone strictly rescue since) or by socialising males and females through ignorance or by accident.

If you go to a shop or a breeder to get some babies, you just can't be sure that your piggies will not be pregnant or, if they are boys, they will be character compatible when they hit teenage age and the big hormones. You also have no guarantee whether they aren't healthy; infectious diseases like bacterial respiratory infection, mange mites or fungal like ringworm can spread very quickly through a whole group of stressed out youngsters. Please be aware that pet shop and most breeders' piggies haven't had much in the way of human contact and are not used yet to be pets. They won't necessarily be cuddly animals right from the start and some can be quite traumatised by the experiences in their short life.

Whereas if you go to one of our recommended rescues you can be sure that any piggies are healthy, having undergone a full quarantine and having been given the all clear by a vet if they needed treatment before being put up for adoption. Any females over 4 weeks old have undergone a pregnancy watch and any boars have been carefully bonded and are stable partners; most boar pairs have an age gap to stabilise them further. A good rescue know the personalities and quirks of their piggies and they will support you during the settling in period with advice. No rescue worth their salt will rehome piggies into a single situation.
it is a sad fact the (growing) majority of piggies that end up in a rescue have started out in a pet shop one way or other (either being no longer wanted as the kids have gone off them, mismatched boars that didn't get on, or the result of mis-sexing). By rehoming from a rescue you will allow them to take in more unwanted piggies in need to expert care and a loving home, so you actually make double the number of piggies happy than you adopt!
Sadly, there is no regulation as to who can call themselves a rescue or breeder, so it is very much a buyers beware situation. However, we CAN guarantee that our recommended - and vetted - rescues are totally safe to use and that they employ good care at every stage of the rescue and rehoming process.
https://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?msid=209994852075231951564.0004b8fd9391b4257d8eb&msa=0

 

[Ares]

Thanks for all the advice

The garage is used for storage only. A car would certainly not fit!
The Mrs has catagorically stated that the piggie is not welcome in the house. To fair fair, I already have a massive tank with goldfish on the tv room. And I collect orchids so plants on just about every windowsill. So can't expect another of my "hobbies" in the house too.

If one adopts a piggie from one of the centres, do they have to check up on you first? As to suitability of your home/care etc?

 

[piggyfan]

Yes you will need a home visit so they can assess the living area.

 

[Abi_nurse]

Welcome. You've come to a great place for info. The garage should be fine as its unused, so long as its not too cold for you its not too cold for them is the usual theory with piggies. If the garage is connected to the house i would imagine it being warmer than a stand alone one. And you can always use extra bedding and heat pads in the coldest winter months.

Two of the same sex is the best way to go yes. Some say female get on better, but if the piggies have enough space two boys are generally not a problem and these are found to be hardest to be rehomed, but boars are just as affectionate as the sows.

Rehoming is the way to go. There are a huge amount of unwanted and abandoned piggies out there that need homes so have a look at the piggie bank map Wiebke has given you a link to and you should find a reputable place on there locally. Other rehoming organisations also have plenty of piggies up for rehoming all the time. Yes you will need a home check, but its not to pass judgement on your house just on the living space for your new pets and the suitability of the home.

As for cages, its all opinion. If taking on two piggies then you have a good variety of choice all with pros and cons. Lots of people here home make cages called C&C, worth having a look into, but certainly not for everyone. Just ensure that the size is adequate, needs to be a minimum of 4 feet for a pair of piggies and the bigger the better.

Good luck with it all.

x