The cost of keeping piggies?

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Erinath

After reading on many sites that whilst the initial outlay for cages, bedding etc is expensive, that piggies are relatively cheap to keep I found one tonight that said the complete opposite. I was hoping someone might be able to give me a rough idea of how expensive keeping piggies would be, as I would hate to get a couple and then find I could not afford to look after them as well as they deserved. In particular, how often do they tend to need to see a vet & how much does that cost?

Thanks
 
I have 14 piggies, which cost me approx £25pw for food/bedding/hay.

A rough estimate for 2 piggies per week

Hay: A bag from the petshop £2
Bedding: Bale of Russel Rabbit short cropped straw, Wilkinsons - £2.09 which, depending on the size of your cage would prob last 2-3 cage cleans
Food: Depending on what you feed them between £2 - £4 a 2kg bag, would last a while
Veggies: Approx £5 (prob less)

From personal experience i've only had 2 piggies see my vet, 1st consultations at my vets are approx £14.50, subsequent visits with the same piggy £12 + the cost of meds.
 
My piggies, I don't even run the cost per week, more like per month and it's about a tenner and I have 2. Vets are ridiculous though. I remember ending up over a hundred pounds in debt over Acorah due to MAJOR health problems, but usually they're pretty cheap but with all pets there may be the occassion when you will need to spend a fair bit. Probably not likely out of the 13 in the family only 1 has needed major vet help.
 
i would say about £10 - i have 2 boars

i only have to buy pellets £3.50 and Hay £3 - these last me over a month

i dont need sawdust as i use newspaper, towels and fleece for flooring in my cage.

fresh veggies dont add too much extra onto my food bill as I eat lots of veggies and fruit, its nice that i have someone else to help me eat it all up as my partner doesnt ear much fruit or vet

i would say vets bills are the expensive part of keeping a guinea pig and of course the initial set up

good luck with your decision

Laura
 
The best advise really is to shop around for the best stuff, Market stalls are brilliant places and also farm shops i get my hay from there a massive bale lasts me about 6 weeks and is only £3.50, I dont use shaving just newspaper and hay and my mom and dad save me all their newspapers.

Find out when your local supermarket reduces the cost of their veg it will normally last an extra couple of days if stored in the fridge, I would say my biggest expense is the Muesli but again shop around, my local farm shop is now going to get me in 35kg of muesli for around £13

so personally i would say if i was buying everything there id spend between £25-40 per month

Sorry just to edit i have 12 Piggys
 
I really do need to work out exactly what it costs me so I'll have a go now. I have 11 of my own pigs & 2 fosters & 2 on holiday.

Depending on how flush I'm feeling I but my pig food in sacks of either 15k or 20k. The best one is the 15k one which costs me £15, or the 20k one costs a little under £10.
So I'll go with the £10 sack.

£10 Alan & Page carrot sack. - mixed with redigrass - lasts about 6 weeks (I think - one day I will work it out!)
£5 Redigrass (this goes a LONG WAY and lasts for months if you keep it sealed)
£5.60 Megazorb (depending on how many 'fosters' i have in a sack will prob last me 3 weeks)
£3.50 Bale of Hay - but bales vary. I use more hay in the winter for them to sleep in - but in the summer I will prob just give them hay racks or hay balls. Poss 1 bale 6 weeks.
£5 Veg per week - I get tons of veg for this becasue my local green grocers is brilliant.
Variable on hutches - but these are only one off payments & if you look after your hutch it will last for years. I got given my breeder blocks but payed a small fortune for a nice double decker hutch £80.
 
Well personally I think my pigs are a lot cheaper than my buns to keep as there are not vaccination costs and obviously no neuter costs as mine are both girls and touch wood I have not had health problems with either of my girls 0:) The most expensive thing for them is their fresh veg which costs around £5 per week.
 
My five get Supa guinea excel in a 10kg sack and it lasts around 4-6 weeks, it costs £14. Then the hay, a bale lasts about 3 months and I get it for free from a friend who has a field and horses, then the fresh fruit and veg- I trawl asda and tesco for anything that is reduced but in good condition, and ask for decent produce that the local greengrocer is going to throw out for immediate use. I also work weekends in a restaurant and we keep cauliflower leaves, broccoli stalks and carrot tops for the pigs and buns. It is worth seeing what you can blag, then you are reducing waste as well as saving money! 0:)
 
I guess it depends where you get supplies from and stuff. I have two piggies by the way :) I buy hay from a local feed shop, one bag is £1.25 or 4 are £4.50 - I usually by a 4 pack, this will last me about....2 months? It depends - on cold days they have more to keep them nice and cozy. Veg specially for the piggies probably costs me no more than about £3 a week - a lot of the veg I give them we have anyway like carrots, brocolli, cabbage etc. We grow a LOT ourselves - a the moment the only veg I'm buying is peppers really. Even in the winter I'd say no more than £5 a week for them. I don't use a bedding as such - in their hutch (for summer) I use newspaper and hay. In their cage (for winter) I use newspaper, towels then fleece - this doesn't cost anything except for them to be washed in the washing machine. Their food is £3.50 for 3kg of Burgess Supa Guinea Excel (pellets) - this lasts probably 6 weeks?

Then there's vet bills too...I havn't had to take mine yet but I *think* the consultation at the vet is £11.77 - well that's the price for a "small animal" which guineas would come under I assume. Then there's costs of meds and stuff.
 
i have 7 pigs and my monthly bill is approx

£12 for = hay and sawdust (i buy in bulk)

£19.99 = for science selective 20kg (sometimes lasts longer than a month)

£20-30 = Fresh Fruit & Veg, although i do pick them up some treats at the supermarket everytime i go lol

£10-30 = treats..i like to spoil my pigs and buy them lots of toys depending on how much money have :)

vet trips do skint me, and do cost a lot especially if surgery is needed for me its around £8 for a consultation, but ive paid £109 for a gucci to have a lump removed, and its cost me around £36 for lois and morgan to be seen and get some meds recently..if you save up each week you have a fund for if you need to take them.
 
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