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This may sound like a stupid question...

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first_time_piggie_mum

first_time_piggie_mum

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When it warms up a bit, my boys will be out on the grass in the lovely HUGE metal run Ive bought for them :)) Cant wait to see them whizzing around and munching on the grass.

When I had Rodney, whenever he went outside it was on slabs as I had no grass in my garden. So, I used to pick grass for him from friends/parents gardens and give it to him. The good thing is that the house I am in now has a lot of grassy areas for the boys to enjoy.

With all these recent cavy deaths, I am now however, slightly paranoid about grazing them anywhere near where birds have been :...My house is surrounded by trees and there's birds everywhere. How can I protect them from picking up any illness through all these birds, apart from the obvious "dont graze them on areas heavily soiled with bird poop" The run is fully enclosed, so no threat of attacks from above.

Am I being paranoid? :x
 
I always go over the grass I'm about to put the piggies on ( usually on my hands and knees, the neighbour's must think I'm nuts!) checking for bird poo and weeds etc If there's only a few bits I dig them out, if there's loads I move the run somewhere else. :laluot_11:
 
Sorry to be ignorant but is bird poo dangerous to guinea pigs? I got my boys at the tail end of last summer so they haven't been out on the grass much, is this something I need to keep an eye on? Also, any thoughts on chemical free ways to get rid of red ants anyone? I have a totally chemical free garden as have frogs / toads etc but I'm sure red ants can't be good for pigs. Now I'm wondering if there is anything frog / toad related I need to worry about with regards to pigs too! God help me if I ever have children, if this is the level of paranoia and care I have for my pigs, I will be one uptight parent!
 
Would it be possible to give the grass a hose down each evening/early morning? That way it might help wash anything away and in the summer heat it should dry out in no time :)
 
I would remove anything I could see, but apart from that I pop the run down and they go in it. You can become totally paranoid if you're not careful.
 
bessiehen said:
Sorry to be ignorant but is bird poo dangerous to guinea pigs? I got my boys at the tail end of last summer so they haven't been out on the grass much, is this something I need to keep an eye on? Also, any thoughts on chemical free ways to get rid of red ants anyone? I have a totally chemical free garden as have frogs / toads etc but I'm sure red ants can't be good for pigs. Now I'm wondering if there is anything frog / toad related I need to worry about with regards to pigs too! God help me if I ever have children, if this is the level of paranoia and care I have for my pigs, I will be one uptight parent!
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The only way to get rid of ants that is chemical free would be to pour boiling water down their nest, it will kill the ants but leave a brown patch on your lawn!

To be honest I am very paranoid about lawns after losing our first piggies with possible neurological problems we had several ideas as to what could be lethal to piggies on grass:

1) Rat poison - people may put this down innocently several doors away but if the rats/mice wee on your grass, could that kill piggies?

2) Spraying of farm fields nearby - we live next door to farm land so this could have been the reason we lost our first pair :( the spray could have drifted in the wind into our garden.

3) Bird droppings/mice or rat droppings

4) Moss - apparently it is poisonous to piggies as are buttercups & daisies.

5) Ants, spreading ant poison laid down elsewhere, but tracking it through the grass.

I sound paranoid, but if you are aware of these dangers then you can obviously avoid them. Sadly we can't move our house away from where it is & our last pair weren't allowed on the grass as we thought it too risky. I would cut grass for them & wash it thoroughly instead.
 
Well after reading that I could be totally paranoid, as we have red ants, moss and daisies on our lawn. Obviously there are always birds around and mice, because we have chickens. A little wood mouse goes into their cage sometimes but I can't do anything about that.

As far as I know there are no rats around and the mice don't come down onto the lawn and we have no fields near us.

The options to me are to rehome my guinea pigs, as I can't bear the thought of them not having their huge run to play in. But of course I won't do that and after all who is to say the people that rehome them will look after them as well as I do?

Life is full of risks and it is all about weighing them up and making decisions as to what constitutes a full and happy life for them.
 
Guinea Fan said:
Well after reading that I could be totally paranoid, as we have red ants, moss and daisies on our lawn. Obviously there are always birds around and mice, because we have chickens. A little wood mouse goes into their cage sometimes but I can't do anything about that.

As far as I know there are no rats around and the mice don't come down onto the lawn and we have no fields near us.

The options to me are to rehome my guinea pigs, as I can't bear the thought of them not having their huge run to play in. But of course I won't do that and after all who is to say the people that rehome them will look after them as well as I do?

Life is full of risks and it is all about weighing them up and making decisions as to what constitutes a full and happy life for them.
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Exactly & if you have had no problems before then there shouldn't be any now :)
Sorry didn't mean to scare anyone :...

When you think about how some piggies are kept & those situations they are rescued from, then they are much tougher than we give them credit for really! I am in a much more risky situation I think though, given our proximity to obvious farming pesticides so out of choice & weighing up the risks I decided not to put them out to grass, unless it's once in a while & when I am sure they haven't been spraying etc. :)
 
You are not being paranoid at all. Just the simple question is where to draw the line?

I can completely understand the reasons for going over the grass before putting them out, i do a quick once over, but i dont get much bird poop etc or anything so I'm not too worried.

The problem is you could go on. I know wild animals walk across my garden, (foxes/hedgehogs/rodents etc) which carry diseases on their feet, on their fur etc, such as leptosperosis, mange, fleas, mites etc. I know slugs go across my garden, these carry lungworm and other parasites. Birds poop. I walk on it, carrying dirt and bacteria on the streets where cats/dogs and all kinds of things are. I could go on. I do worm my piggies for the above reason. But i try not to worry.

The key is to just take care and watch out but if we spend too long worrying about theses things then none of our piggies would ever get out. Its important to check but not to over worry.

x.
 
I have a bit of my garden that is just for them, it is fenced off with the sides of the run. I never really check the grass, crikey, never thought of bird poo being a problem!

no pesticides tho and wouldn't think cats would get on it or bother to get on it.

When they are in the run it is big enough for me to sit with them........guess I will be examining the grass rather then reading my book!

x
 
I'm glad to find some people even more paranoid than me! :)

I had the good fortune that my first piggies were incredibly sensible and when I gave them something they shouldnt have, they looked at me as if to say "Are you trying to poison us?". It was quite a lot later than I got online information, so take that into account, please!

I dig up any daisies, buttercups or ragwort that has overcome my efforts and invaded my grass. The rest of the weeds can stay as lots of them are tasty and beneficial wild food for them. But as far as I can see, most times I've spotted something too late, they've avoided it anyway. If moss has crept into a picking of grass they've left it.

I think the minor bird poop and other 'things' on the ground are just part of life's rich pattern, but don't put them where the bird feeder has been. On the other hand I do think you're wise to avoid drift from the farm spraying. Are they the sort of farmers you could ask what they are spraying and what it says on the instructions about grazing livestock?

If anyone is thinking of putting any chemicals on their lawn, dont use one that says 'safe for children and pets' as that implies its safe for them to run around on it, not eat it. In general, chemicals like weed or moss killer on grass need a six month period before grazing animals can be allowed on. I'd include fertiliser in that, but that's just me. If in doubt, you can email the chemical manufacturer.
 
I'm glad to find some people even more paranoid than me! :)

I had the good fortune that my first piggies were incredibly sensible and when I gave them something they shouldnt have, they looked at me as if to say "Are you trying to poison us?". It was quite a lot later than I got online information, so take that into account, please!

I dig up any daisies, buttercups or ragwort that has overcome my efforts and invaded my grass. The rest of the weeds can stay as lots of them are tasty and beneficial wild food for them. But as far as I can see, most times I've spotted something too late, they've avoided it anyway. If moss has crept into a picking of grass they've left it.

I think the minor bird poop and other 'things' on the ground are just part of life's rich pattern, but don't put them where the bird feeder has been. On the other hand I do think you're wise to avoid drift from the farm spraying. Are they the sort of farmers you could ask what they are spraying and what it says on the instructions about grazing livestock?

If anyone is thinking of putting any chemicals on their lawn, dont use one that says 'safe for children and pets' as that implies its safe for them to run around on it, not eat it. In general, chemicals like weed or moss killer on grass need a six month period before grazing animals can be allowed on. I'd include fertiliser in that, but that's just me. If in doubt, you can email the chemical manufacturer.
 
I live right next to a farmer's field. We also keep chickens. We also have two dogs.. And a hamster... And our two guinea pigs. We get mice, frogs, foxes and birds too. I usually groom the piggies after their time in the run and check for any insects etc.
I guess in a way, guinea pigs originally lived in the wild and some still do. Yes it is different terrain but they will be walking over loads of insects and nasties an don't have their hoomin helpers to clean them up. I know that after guinea pigs were discovered, people have bred them and they are probably much different to the piggies living in the wild- but it is something to keep in mind.

I would just be careful and make sure you are grooming them regularly and taking them for check ups often. If you haven't had any problems before, ou should be okay.
 
Thanks everyone, all taken on board! I never thought to wash the grass before I give it to them so will do that from now on.
 
I suppose I have never used anything chemical on my grass or garden because I have always had a tortoise too
 
I have an organic garden with overhanging trees so a fair amount of birds, we also have a field next to us. When I say I check for bird poo I'm talking about the big splodges that get stuck to blades of grass, I wouldn't want my piggies to eat them as birds DO carry a lot of diseases so I just pull them up.

Then there's the rabbits, foxes, badgers and local cats that wander through our garden, I'm obviously not going to put the pigs where I know there's been poo from other animals, I leave those areas for a bit after I've cleaned up the poo so that they can be rained on a good few times, have a few cuts and have fresh grass growing though.
We also have a serious buttercup and daisy problem, it's not just the odd one so I do need to pull those clumps up and of course any ragwort.
I'm not being paranoid, just using common sense, it would be a bit daft to plonk them on a piece of grass that I know could be problematic when it's just as easy to move the run somewhere else!
All of this checking etc may sound onerous but it doesn't take more than 5 minutes at the most for both runs so I don't see it as much of a chore. Whilst there are always invisible threats out there that have been tracked through on peoples and animals feet and coats that I can't deal with it would be a bit like not washing your vegetables if you don't address the threats to your piggies health that you CAN see and are easy to deal with.
The plus side of having mostly grazing grass in the garden is that there's also plenty of dandelions, vetches and plantains as well as a variety of grasses for the piggies to enjoy.
 
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Thanks for your replies everyone, nice to know I'm not being paranoid.

I havent had a summer here yet as Ive only been here 4 months, so I dont know how much moss/buttercups/ragwort etc theres going to be here.

The whole "wait 6 months" thing about the weed killer did concern me a bit, but I dont have perfectly green, patch free lawns so I doubt theres been any kind of chemical fertilizer used on it in the last 6 months. Its quite "rustic"grass I have here rolleyes

Just want the milder weather now :))
 
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