Hannah Boo
Junior Guinea Pig
I have two pigs - both just over a year old. In the past when I lived at my mums my pigs have always lived in a garage (with no car in) or shed. When I moved house there was no appropriate place to put my new piggies. So they've been outside in a double decker tongue and grove hutch with hutch hugger and extra hay in the winter.
My pigs however have had respiratory problems - just wet noses and sneezing which started pretty much around the time I got them. At the time they were with an older pig (2.5 yrs old) who also started to get wet nose which then turned to bad breathing and eventually she died (I did however go to the vets many times with all three pigs but to no avail, I had to syringe feed muffin when she was at her worst because she stopped eating and I tried my best to save her). Muffin died last february and the two pigs left now still occasionally get a slightly wet nose, but no other complications. They are very happy pigs apart from the occasional slightly wet nose (no sneezing or bad breathing). They both weigh over a kilo, so are to my knowledge healthy (and have big appetites and are very excitable and popcorn loads!).
I am however very worried about leaving them outside for the winter in the garden (especially if last winter is anything to go by with -6C temperatures and snow) - even though they have a hutch hugger. I'm scared that they might become ill like my older pig muffin did (that their occasional wet nose might turn into something more serious due to the cold weather).
Therefore I'm thinking about buying an indoor cage for the winter months. I want some reassurance that I'm doing the right thing, as I know G Pigs are sensitive creatures and I don't want to stress them out by changing their house around. Or have other people moved G Pigs indoors and they settle in quickly and successfully? I don't really have anywhere to put them other than the living room, and I'm worried that a quiet garden to a living room with TV might not be to their liking!
P.s I just want to say that the respiratory problems my pigs had was no fault of my own (to my knowledge), they are never kept in wet conditions - I clean them out once a week and they have the hutch hugger down if it rains or is windy. They have a good variety of veg everyday (usually three or four different veggies a day, and they have cereal which is made up by a guinea pig breeder who has been breeding G Pigs since I was very young). I look after them better than some people look after their children!
Any advice much appreciated
If people on the whole advise me that bringing G Pigs indoors is the best thing to do and that pigs deal well with the move, then I'll buy an indoor cage this weekend.
x
My pigs however have had respiratory problems - just wet noses and sneezing which started pretty much around the time I got them. At the time they were with an older pig (2.5 yrs old) who also started to get wet nose which then turned to bad breathing and eventually she died (I did however go to the vets many times with all three pigs but to no avail, I had to syringe feed muffin when she was at her worst because she stopped eating and I tried my best to save her). Muffin died last february and the two pigs left now still occasionally get a slightly wet nose, but no other complications. They are very happy pigs apart from the occasional slightly wet nose (no sneezing or bad breathing). They both weigh over a kilo, so are to my knowledge healthy (and have big appetites and are very excitable and popcorn loads!).
I am however very worried about leaving them outside for the winter in the garden (especially if last winter is anything to go by with -6C temperatures and snow) - even though they have a hutch hugger. I'm scared that they might become ill like my older pig muffin did (that their occasional wet nose might turn into something more serious due to the cold weather).
Therefore I'm thinking about buying an indoor cage for the winter months. I want some reassurance that I'm doing the right thing, as I know G Pigs are sensitive creatures and I don't want to stress them out by changing their house around. Or have other people moved G Pigs indoors and they settle in quickly and successfully? I don't really have anywhere to put them other than the living room, and I'm worried that a quiet garden to a living room with TV might not be to their liking!
P.s I just want to say that the respiratory problems my pigs had was no fault of my own (to my knowledge), they are never kept in wet conditions - I clean them out once a week and they have the hutch hugger down if it rains or is windy. They have a good variety of veg everyday (usually three or four different veggies a day, and they have cereal which is made up by a guinea pig breeder who has been breeding G Pigs since I was very young). I look after them better than some people look after their children!
Any advice much appreciated
If people on the whole advise me that bringing G Pigs indoors is the best thing to do and that pigs deal well with the move, then I'll buy an indoor cage this weekend.x
|) you get to know them and see their personalilties so much more inside, they will soon get used to the noise of the tv. I've got two in the living room and two in the kitchen, they adjusted very quickly and the noise doesn't bother them.
