Should I adopt them or not?

Panchito & Fisgon's Dad.

Panchito & Fisgon's Dad.

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Apr 1, 2021
Messages
52
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22
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195
Location
Colombia
Hello everyone, I am new here and I am in a serious dilemma. I recently adopted two guinea pigs because on my farm we have several of them. The problem is that I usually travel a lot between cities (I currently live in Colombia) and the trips usually last 4 hours by car. I wanted to know according to your knowledge what you would do, if you would adapt them to the trip or return them to the farm, I want them to be well before everything and not give them a stressful lifestyle.

I travel 3-4 times per year for holidays and that include 4-5h that can get to 7h depending on traffic. I would always drive slowly and carefully to not disrupt them, but I'm scared that they would die because of the changing environments and temperatures. I've done a lot of research but I'm still unsure on what to do.

Thanks.
 
My Bill and Ted took regular 6 hour each way trips and have always travelled very well. As long as they have plently of food and water in their carrier (get the biggest you can) and they have a cosy to hide in they will sleep and eat their travel time.
Better with you than wondering how they are at the farm
 
Bill & Ted said:
My Bill and Ted took regular 6 hour each way trips and have always travelled very well. As long as they have plently of food and water in their carrier (get the biggest you can) and they have a cosy to hide in they will sleep and eat their travel time.
Better with you than wondering how they are at the farm
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Thanks for your reply, well I was thinking on taking them inside their regular cage (I already bought a bigger one 1.5meters long) is about 1 meter long, give them watery veggies like lettuce or cocumber before the ride. Then after 2h stop and give them more veggies, also I wanted to know where is better to take them I was thinking on my feet so they can keep in a dark place with good temperature. Any tip you can give me I will be infinitely thankful to you.
 
Sarsu12 said:
Thanks for your reply, well I was thinking on taking them inside their regular cage (I already bought a bigger one 1.5meters long) is about 1 meter long, give them watery veggies like lettuce or cocumber before the ride. Then after 2h stop and give them more veggies, also I wanted to know where is better to take them I was thinking on my feet so they can keep in a dark place with good temperature. Any tip you can give me I will be infinitely thankful to you.
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make sure they have plently of hay to nibble on too. Temperatures will be fine in the car, if you are comfortable they will be. It’s only when the car stops that you have to consider heat exhaustion. Cold weather is not so much a problem as they will snuggle up
 
Bill & Ted said:
make sure they have plently of hay to nibble on too. Temperatures will be fine in the car, if you are comfortable they will be. It’s only when the car stops that you have to consider heat exhaustion. Cold weather is not so much a problem as they will snuggle up
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Well I will be travelling between hot to cold weather (right now we are a bit hot about 86 F but I always give them fresh air with a fan) where I'm going it's about 50-60F and I will always travel between this cities. So I will give them lot of hay, veggies before and between stops. What about where to put them and if I could use their regular cage, or that would harm them?
 
Sarsu12 said:
Well I will be travelling between hot to cold weather (right now we are a bit hot about 86 F but I always give them fresh air with a fan) where I'm going it's about 50-60F and I will always travel between this cities. So I will give them lot of hay, veggies before and between stops. What about where to put them and if I could use their regular cage, or that would harm them?
Click to expand...
I would secure the cage with a seat belt if you can on the back seat if possible x
 
Bill & Ted said:
I would secure the cage with a seat belt if you can on the back seat if possible x
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I will, thank you very much for taking your time to answer. They still are pretty nervous to me, what do you recommend me to do so they can eat peacefully while I am at the car. Would you recommend me to cover them so they can have privacy?
 
Only to take them to the vets when needed, so not as long a journey as you.

When I moved house a few years ago they had a 2.5 hour journey and had to be boxed up a while before leaving and then for a while at the other end until everything was unloaded and their cages set up. It was a very stressful day for me but they were fine. (Just to be clear, they travelled with me, not in the lorry with everything else!)
 
I take my pigs back and forth to the cottage in the summer... it's about a 2.5 hour drive. They do fine with it. They actually travel better than many other small pets I've had over the years... we had a hedgehog that used to throw up in the car and one of our past hamsters would chirp at me for half the drive because she was mad at being disrupted!
 
I used to also regularly travel my guys (almost 3 hours each way) to see our vet: as did @Bill & Ted
My guys always travelled really well. I kept the car at a constant temperature, made sure they had lots to nibble and covered part of the carriers with a blanket to make them feel safe.
they would roam around, eat and sleep as normal on the journey. I just made sure the carrier was big enough so that they weren’t crammed in a corner together
 
Thanks everyone for shearing your experiences, I will take the drive with them tomorrow and will update on any changes. Wish the best for my little two boys, I will take a picture of them as soon as we have everything organized at home! IMG_20210401_162427~2.webp
 
Is the carrier inside the cage? If so, then I’d just leave them to come out when they feel safe enough to do so. Cover the cage with a sheet so they feel more secue
 
Piggies&buns said:
Is the carrier inside the cage? If so, then I’d just leave them to come out when they feel safe enough to do so. Cover the cage with a sheet so they feel more secue
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Thanks for the advice, I left a bit of food and they devoured it. I will leave them alone for now until they get out. Btw the travel went pretty good, they didn't cry or made any strange noise, and they ate when we stopped, now is time for them to adapt to their new home.
 
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