Nocturnal habits/smells!

[HannahB]

Hi folks,

I have a couple of questions to ask as I'm sure you'll all be able to give me good answers! As I mentioned in my intro I was a piggy owner a few years ago, but when I had my pigs I kept them outside, so I'm not really familiar with indoor Piggy keeping. If/when I get some new piggies I will need to keep them inside in my room (at least for the colder seasons.)

My 2 main questions are:

1. What are their nocturnal habits like? Do GPs sleep during the night or are they up and about sometimes? If they are awake how long for, and are they noisy i.e do they scuffle around/squeak a lot? If anyone keeps theirs in their rooms, do they ever disturb your sleep? (I do have a gerbil so am used to some noise at night but obviously gerbils don't squeak!)

2. How smelly can they be when kept indoors? Is there still a noticeable smell even if their house is cleaned often, soiled bedding changed every day e.t.c.? Again I have my gerbil in my room but they really don't smell at all, how different would a GP be?

Thank you in advance for your knowledgeable advice.

 

[Wiebke]

1. Guinea pigs sleep at night, but they will be up and about once or twice. They can be as noisy as during the day - especially popcorning youngsters! I would not recommend having them in a bedroom if there is another solution.

2. There is a certain amount of smell; usually more from boys (testosterone). Many of us indoorsy people keep our piggies on fleece; it is much less messy to change than conventional bedding. I keep my nine piggies in the living room and change them every two days, but with so many piggies there is an inevitable amount of smell however often you clean, especially if several sows are in season at the same time (and my neutered boar is responding) or somepig has cystitis (smelly pees).

Fleece needs to be washed at higher temperatures every now and then to get rid of the smell that can stick to it especially if you put in too much fabric for the amount of water that comes in during the washing cycle and the fleece doesn't get cleaned properly. For experiences with fleece and alternative cages please have a look in the housing section.

 

[Freela]

1. Our pigs mainly sleep at night. However, they do get up a few times. When we had a new piggie in quarantine I had to share my bedroom with her for a couple of weeks, and she did keep me up... not squeaking, but running around, and making that clicking drinking from the water bottle noise.

2. I really don't find a lot of odour from our pigs. I find them to be less smelly than other rodents I've owned, like mice and rats. We use Carefresh bedding that I spot clean daily and I scrub the cage out with vinegar once a week, and we really don't smell them... you wouldn't even know they were there.

 

[flintstones]

I have 6 pigs in my room, and theres lots of "Brrrrr", Eeek, Eeek. In the morning I'm woke by little eyes looking though me "Get up, get up, Come on get our veg" Thats no lie I always wake and my pig that doesn't squeak is staring across the room at me. I swear thats what he is saying besides that I sleep soundly.

As for the smell, No shouldn't be any problems if they are clean.