Should I get a Guinea Pig?

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danafscott

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Hi everyone,

I have recently heard about two girl guinea pigs that need to be adopted near where I live. My fiance and I have been discussing adopting them, but we wanted outside opinions before making a decision. We are in a house, with two cats, a fish, and an elderly hamster. We do both work part-time (at home uni the other half). We holiday once or twice a year (usually). There is a room where the guinea pigs could go but we've been getting lots of conflicting information regarding hutches, cages, indoor vs outdoor. It's at the point where we're not even entirely sure what a good guinea pig hutch looks like! Can anyone give us some ideas? Also needing ideas on how much time a day guinea pigs need to 'free-roam' and how long they can be left.

I'd so appreciate any honest opinions or advice. I love animals and would only want the guinea pigs to go to a good home.

Thank you.
 
Just to say it is perfectly possible to have guinea pigs with cats in the same house - just make a secure lid for your cage and remember to close it!


My cat takes little interest in the pigs - unless they are zooming about and then she does look over!

My pigs dont free roam and this isnt essential though might be nice to do. C&c indoor cages can be built to a design that suits you. I have mine in my kitchen so the pigs are right in the hub of the house and dont disturb us at nights.


Some summers i keep them in an outdoor hutch, but always indoors over the cold months.

They will be fine whilst you are out during the day (be sure to cat proof!) Holidays i get a neighbour to look after my pigs so that could be an option - or there are holiday boarding places.


For hutches, it is often better to look at rabbit hutches as you want something roomy - 5ft x 2ft for 2 sows. Be sure to adopt the pair - not just one (saw your thread title!)


Good luck!
 
tabelmabel said:
Just to say it is perfectly possible to have guinea pigs with cats in the same house - just make a secure lid for your cage and remember to close it!


My cat takes little interest in the pigs - unless they are zooming about and then she does look over!

My pigs dont free roam and this isnt essential though might be nice to do. C&c indoor cages can be built to a design that suits you. I have mine in my kitchen so the pigs are right in the hub of the house and dont disturb us at nights.


Some summers i keep them in an outdoor hutch, but always indoors over the cold months.

They will be fine whilst you are out during the day (be sure to cat proof!) Holidays i get a neighbour to look after my pigs so that could be an option - or there are holiday boarding places.


For hutches, it is often better to look at rabbit hutches as you want something roomy - 5ft x 2ft for 2 sows. Be sure to adopt the pair - not just one (saw your thread title!)


Good luck!
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Hi, I think I would keep the pigs either in the kitchen or dining room as the cats don't get in the kitchen. I'll have a wee look at c&c cages as that sounds excellent. I'll deffo adopt 2, everything says they're generally social animals and you need at least 2, so I wouldn't separate them! Thank you so much for the info :)
 
I have the 160 ferplast which i tend to use if i have any poorly piggies and i wouldnt want to go smaller (but it was 2 boars i had when i bought the 160)

I think the 140 is ok for 2 sows but I'm not sure about the 120.


Honestly though, id recommend making your own c&c cage. There are places online now where you can buy a ready made kit and that contains all you need to build it up - or you can do what we did and just buy the panels, correx and cable ties and make your own design.

The nice thing about a big c&c is that the pigs have so much space to express their natural behaviours so you will see far more running about and activity if you build a c&c.


(Though maybe i see a big contrast as i only tend to put poorly pigs in my ferplast!)


Is there no mention of the ferplast in the guides - it is a good cage. I m just unsure about the 120 size.

Id save it for poorly pigs and temporary holiday care if you put your pigs to a friend.


But other posters might use the 120 - I'm away to see what i can turn up about it in the guides!
 
That’s unfortunately just below the minimum space of 120x60cm. Also bear in mind that the sides are sloped so the base won’t be those measurements. I would go higher if you can.

Another thing you have to bear in mind is the costs. Guinea pigs aren’t cheap, especially when it comes to their falling ill. They’re considered exotic vets and can also hide illness till they’re really unwell. So if you do decide to go ahead then start up a vet fund now. Save into it monthly. There is insurance for them - with some limitations - but I would put the money away rather than get the insurance.

Well done on thinking about their welfare before anything. I think you would be good piggy slaves if you did go ahead.
 
Thank you both for letting me know! I kinda thought the cage would be a bit small but I've now looked on c&c and found one with 8sq ft of living area that seems much better! If they do fall ill does it tend to be really expensive? My other pets are all insured and are (thankfully) in good health, so I'm actually a bit unsure of vet costs. How much should we aim to have saved away?


(also my fiance and I thought the piggy slaves comment was hilarious)
 
My piggy sleeps in a outdoor hutch at night and roams all day in a large 1.8 meter pen on the grass. I tell you, he couldn't be happier!
All the other info I get from a very helpful YouTube channel. Here is a link....https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDd21vf-O4Ay6A3X7WPPvEw
That is where I get like 77% of my info from. 😊 She does videos from guinea pig behaviour, guinea pig boredom breakers, to what you should feed your guinea pigs! I hope you find her videos helpful and decide to keep guinea pigs! Probably the most satisfying part of keeping guinea pigs is watching their behaviour with other guinea pigs and spending time to cuddle them!
 
It’s the vet bills that you should keep in mind. Everything else to do with piggies is positive. I can’t think of any negatives apart from vets costs.
 
It is the vet bills that I find a bit terrifying. I've read about people paying into the thousands dor their pigs vet bills over the course of 2 weeks. Have you guys had serious issues with health for your pigs? How much on average does medical bills come to? How often do your pigs need the vets?
 
You really can’t say. I had a piggy that got poorly at 4 months. The cost was only about £100 but sadly he passed away before we could treat him. Because the other thing to bear in mind is that most vets don’t know how to treat piggies so you have to take them to expensive exotics vets. Then my two piggies got mites and that cost £100 for treatment.
 
Vets bills can be a worry for sure but, as with any pet, you need to weigh up how far to proceed with treatment depending on your means. I could not afford to spend thousands on my pigs to i would need to opt for euthanasia if very expensive treatment were needed.

I have paid for a couple of nighttime vet visits for chest infections at about £100 a time - very well worth it as it saved the life in both cases.


I had a £300 bill for an elderly pig, only to find he had something very wrong with his liver. I didnt take the ops any further - he never had a biopsy, had palliative care and was pts a couple of months later. He was close to 7yrs old so that was a decision i was comfortable with.


It must be very hard if you start down a treatment route and then need to call a halt due to finances.

Most piggies stay robust and healthy until they get older. It is very difficult ethically though to know when to go all out with treatment and when to call a halt.

Sometimes made more difficult when you HAVE the funds.

Id say most things can be sorted for under 100 though.
 
Welcome to the forum and it’s great you are doing so much research first.
Please keep asking questions, folk here are always happy to answer.
Vet bills can be expensive but in normal circumstances not necessarily extortionate.
I’ve just spent a bit over £200 on one of my girls for a spay after she was diagnosed with ovarian cysts. She’s probably about 3.5 years old and it’s the first time she’s needed to see a vet.

If you decide that guinea pigs are right for you we will look forward to pictures
 
Welcome to the forum! Great that you‘re doing your research before getting piggies.

I agree with what @Merab's Slave said, vets can certainly be very expensive with serious or prolonged health issues but I‘d say that’s generally not the norm. We had a few vet trips with our 4 in the last year - £150 to get both boys neutered, £80 for a hay poke, £250 for x ray & scan with sedation, check up, and medication for one of our girls. We put at least £50 per month into a vet pot, more if we can so, except for the neutering, I never really had to touch my bank account to pay for vet bills. Definitely takes the edge off!
 
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