The reality of keeping guinea pigs: share yours!

Danielle Smith

Danielle Smith

Teenage Guinea Pig
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Jan 10, 2016
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Location
Whitehaven, Cumbria
I know that recently I've been feeling a bit down -- with all the piggy Youtubers and Instagram accounts I follow, I can feel that if my cages aren't perfect 100% of the time I'm a bad pig mum. With 11 pigs, I manage to poo-pick only once a day, and change them out completely once a week and can feel really guilty that I can't do both more often.

I just wanted to remind people that Youtube videos and Instagram posts are often carefully curated so we only see the very best of a particular owner's piggies, and that the reality is quite different! Don't forget to relax and enjoy your pigs, I know sadly I sometimes can't due to what feels like the treadmill of work, making sure the house is somewhat tidy, and poo picking!

To make people aware that life isn't all pristine bobble bathmats, please share your piggy reality pics :D

Here's my reality:

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Here's my perfectly tidy pig room after I spent all night changing the cages and doing a little rearranging, decluttering, and tidying.

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That's very true. I'm too embarrassed to show you you the back of my living room. It's a tip with mostly piggy stuff lol.
 
We don't judge here @Gem789 :cool:. Those drawers in my picture are crammed full to the brim of pig stuff... even draught excluders that we used to use to block off certain parts of the room (which are now useless as the layout has completely changed)! I actually changed from buying massive cheap bales from Hay and Straw to Hay Box, just so it was easier to store and deal with :doh:

I can guarantee that my pig room will be a complete tip two days from now (if I'm lucky).
 
You’re pulsing want to see my hay/pellet/blanket storage box... trust me! 😂
 
I have huge boxes that are filled with toys they didn't like or things I bought for them and then found out they were unsafe. What I brought to use as a shoe rack for humans is filled with fleece blankets and towels. And hay manages to get everywhere in the house within hours of the hoovering being done. With the amount of piggie related mess in my house no one would guess I only have two boys.

this is a great idea for a thread I am forever dealing with guilt and worry seeing how other people keep their pigs in huge cages with amazing hides and hours of floor time in a massive tidy house.
 
@Sweet Potato without a doubt the best thing I ever did was change the pig room flooring to vinyl when we decorated it. Hay still wanders about the house and into my clothes, but it is so much better than when we had carpet in there!

If changing the floor isn't an option, I found a rubber bristle broom (i.e. JMLs Wonder Broom, though B&M have them cheaper) to be brilliant at sweeping up hay into a pile which I could then just chuck in the bin. Easier on the hoover too!

@Rivervixen, thank you for sharing your photo. I just love Bruno's little front feeties all stuck out
 
Danielle Smith said:
@Sweet Potato without a doubt the best thing I ever did was change the pig room flooring to vinyl when we decorated it. Hay still wanders about the house and into my clothes, but it is so much better than when we had carpet in there!

If changing the floor isn't an option, I found a rubber bristle broom (i.e. JMLs Wonder Broom, though B&M have them cheaper) to be brilliant at sweeping up hay into a pile which I could then just chuck in the bin. Easier on the hoover too!

@Rivervixen, thank you for sharing your photo. I just love Bruno's little front feeties all stuck out
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He’s a cutie! It’s a shock for some people when they come in here and my already small bedroom has a floor that’s mostly piggies cage. I don’t regret it one bit :)
 
We live in a tiny house that would be difficult to keep tidy without 6 guinea pigs stacked in the living room. I have blanket boxes of fleece in the bedroom, a box of hay on top of the wardrobe, bags of hay under the bed, bags of hay under the kitchen cupboards, 2 kitchen cupboards full of piggie stuff, fleece under the stairs, boxes of spare plastic and wood houses in the green house, bags if hay in OH's workshop, the kitchen worktop has had medicine, recovery food and mugs of syringes all over it for the last 18 months (we've had one sick piggie after another). Our lives revolve completely around the piggies, veg shopping, vet visits etc, they have completely taken over. There's bits of hay and hair everywhere despite me cleaning everyday. I don't regret having them, but they are very hard work and I don't know how anyone with a job and family copes, good job I'm not house proud!
 
Hi Danielle- thankyou for your honest post it is good for people to read & see that not having everything 100% pristine does not mean that you are not taking care of your pigs. There was a similar thread not long ago about handling time too as some piggies live a more natural and wild life whereas others live indoors & may be handled more. Everyone has a different way of doing things. As long as welfare is maintained, it doesnt matter if your piggie stuff is messy....I have 6 and after bringing them in tonight I cannot believe how much poo they have created in a few hours and I did pick most of it out....however, when they are outside in their shed I never do that. They have a bigger space down there, and a tube to a big run but I clean fully once a week and apart from shaking the bath mats that are in there, thats all I do. They get can dirty being outside but they clean themselves and when they need grooming I do it along with a good inspection but I dont fuss over them.

Maybe when they are inside because you can see it, you naturally fuss more (as I have done tonight).

I dont watch piggie stuff on youtube or instagram but anyone that has a poo free run or cage is cleaning it up first to show something that is not realistic or maintainable....piggies poo & wee...ALOT!

All that matters is that everyone is healthy and happy ❤

I hope you are not feeling down anymore x
 
I have 2 wardrobes where all their fleece are just on top of each other, although folded, but I can't just figure out yet how to store in a nice way. 😂 Also, the top and side of their hutch is where some of their hay and pellets are. I haven't have the time to build the small storage draws that hubby bought. And in our walk-in cupboard/storage, their bags of hay and pellets are not properly arranged, hence I can't order a meadow hay from haybox coz I don't know the size of the boxes ( the 2.5 kg and the 5kg boxes) and if it will fit in there. A couple of bale of shredded eggbox bedding are in the greenhouse. Plus all the syringes (different types!), meds, critical care, and bowls are in a couple of kitchen cupboards! 😂 If any of them are sick and needed CC feeding too, you'd think our kitchen counters are like a drugs den. 🤣🤣

@Danielle Smith may I know the size of your haybox box? Is it a 2.5kg or 5kg?
 
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The 5kg boxes are quite big. 3 of them stacked on top of each other reaches just to the bottom of my nose. And I'm 5ft 5
The ones in Danielle's pic look like 5kg ones.
 
anyar.dris said:
I have 2 wardrobes where all their fleece are just on top of each other, although folded, but I can't just figure out yet how to store in a nice way. 😂 Also, the top and side of their hutch is where some of their hay and pellets are. I haven't have the time to build the small storage draws that hubby bought. And in our walk-in cupboards, their bags of hay and pellets are not properly arranged, hence I can't order a meadow hay from haybox coz I don't know the size of the boxes ( the 2.5 kg and the 5kg boxes) and if it will fit in there. A couple of bale of shredded eggbox bedding are in the greenhouse. Plus all the syringes (different types!), meds, critical care, and bowls are in a couple of kitchen cupboards! 😂 If any of them are sick and needed CC feeding too, you'd think our kitchen counters are like a drugs den. 🤣🤣

@Danielle Smith may I know the size of your haybox box? Is it a 2.5kg or 5kg?
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Each 5kg haybox box of hay (!) is 62cm x 45cm and 40cm high.
 
Piggies&buns said:
Each 5kg haybox box of hay (!) is 62cm x 45cm and 40cm high.
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Thank you! Do you know the size of the 2.5 kg boxes? I'm not sure which between the 2.5 or the 5kg would fit in the storage room. I have to measure it properly so I don't have to put it in the shed and go out all the time to get hay. 🙄
 
This is my garage where the piggies live. The chair is in the Sun Room next to the garage. I don't poop pick. I brush up the fleece in the run 2-3 times a week and change it completely once a week. The hutch gets cleaned out once a week and a deep clean every 4-6 weeks. IMG_6516.webpIMG_6517.webpIMG_6518.webpIMG_6519.webpIMG_6520.webpIMG_6521.webpIMG_6522.webpIMG_6523.webp
 
Betsy said:
This is my garage where the piggies live. The chair is in the Sun Room next to the garage. I don't poop pick. I brush up the fleece in the run 2-3 times a week and change it completely once a week. The hutch gets cleaned out once a week and a deep clean every 4-6 weeks. View attachment 133295View attachment 133296View attachment 133297View attachment 133298View attachment 133299View attachment 133300View attachment 133301View attachment 133302
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This shows that you care immensely about your piggies as they have so much stuff to hand! If it was totally pristine that would mean you spend more time tidying than enjoying your piggies. Love it 🥰 x
 
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This is the view into my garage today. Cage cleaning last night produced a small mountain of fleece washing that is currently drying in there. Bottom right you can see a large box with supplies of cage cleaning products, puppy pads and pellets. Beyond that is the HayBox Delivery plus some Timothy Hay. Bottom left it’s a pile of clean fleece and Vet Bed.
out of view on the left is my emergency double hutch which tends to store piggy runs and outside toys and tunnels.
Inside the piggy room I have more of the same (with the exception of the wet fleece!)
The piggies have taken over!
 
anyar.dris said:
Thank you! Do you know the size of the 2.5 kg boxes? I'm not sure which between the 2.5 or the 5kg would fit in the storage room. I have to measure it properly so I don't have to put it in the shed and go out all the time to get hay. 🙄
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I’ve only had one 2.5kg box and it was many months ago, but from memory, it’s just half the length - soabout 30cm x 45cm (height is the same). I bought a 2.5kg of Timothy first time to gauge how much I’d use...it was gone within two weeks so it’s worked out more cost effective to buy the 5kg.
Could you maybe get a storage box that will fit in your space indoors, buy the 5kg and keep it in the shed but take out some of it into the indoor storage box for use and then just top up your indoors storage box as needed?
 
Piggies&buns said:
I’ve only had one 2.5kg box and it was many months ago, but from memory, it’s just half the length - soabout 30cm x 45cm (height is the same). I bought a 2.5kg of Timothy first time to gauge how much I’d use...it was gone within two weeks so it’s worked out more cost effective to buy the 5kg.
Could you maybe get a storage box that will fit in your space indoors, buy the 5kg and keep it in the shed but take out some of it into the indoor storage box for use and then just top up your indoors storage box as needed?
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Thank you for that. I do have an extra plastic box that I can refill everytime, not very big though. I'll ask if I can probably order a 5kg hay but separate in 2 2.5kg box (?). Not sure if it's possible but when I requested for a sample hay, they accommodated it.
 
Darcey15 said:
This shows that you care immensely about your piggies as they have so much stuff to hand! If it was totally pristine that would mean you spend more time tidying than enjoying your piggies. Love it 🥰 x
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Forgot to mention the shed! That has 2 runs in it and old duvets to go over the reins on the summer.
 
I am loving everyone's descriptions and photos, it just shows how much a part of our lives our guinea pigs are. I also find it interesting seeing how people store things, I've been looking for an example of what those hay bale bags look like when full!

I can confirm I have the 5kg Haybox boxes, if you have the storage space it's much cheaper to buy in bulk.
 
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