want to get a guinea pig

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carl

straight forward then:

my name is Carl, hello everyone

i would like to get a guinea pig or 2 if they really do prefer company.
i usually advise to get pets from breeders or rescue centres and i like to stick by this, i am not particularly fond of pet shops.

if 2 is better then i would like a neutered male or two of the same sex if two males would get along.

I am in middlesbrough, North east........

I would probably be interested in a smaller breed than a larger one tbh....

all tips, advice, suggestions and contacts are welcome,

looking to purchase/adopt in about 1 month when i know hutch/run/house will be perfectly set up...

Thanks
 
Hi Carl,

Welcome to the forum. :) Well done on getting advice first, best thing to do I think. Guinea Pigs do prefer company. I would go for a bonded pair. People may say get girls as your first pigs but if they are a bonded pair of boys then it can work just as well although with boars do take into consideration that they may fall out at any moment and have to be seperated and for this you will need enough room to rehouse them. I've just had to do this with my two boars and they now live in seperate cages next to one another! A neutered male and a girlfriend for him would be a match made in heaven. I would certainly try for that pairing as your first choice.

You are right in saying that petshops aren't the place to get pigs from if you can help it. I wouldn't recommend breeders. This forum is rescue friendly and I personally feel by getting from a breeder you are helping them to continue there cycle of back to back breeding. Not all breeders are like this obviously but there are hundreds if not thousands of pigs needing homes I would go to a rescue.

When you say smaller breed, well the pigs are basically all the same size but obviously different breeds have different needs when it comes to grooming. You are better off with short haired pigs. Maybe smooths or rex. Peruvians and Shelties are harder work I had a Sheltie and he needed a lot of grooming.

Sokel on here has a rescue in Cumbria, I got my girls from him and he has some gorgeous pigs. If you do find pigs on here and can't get to them then we can set up a piggy train to get them to you. :)

Hope this helps in some way, good luck and any questions just post up there is always someone about.

Louise
:)
 
Welcome to the forum :)

Hutch should be 4 foot by 2 foot or larger.

Yes they do need company and most rescues will not rehome single pigs.

A castrated boar and his wife are a good option but if you have room to seperate 2 boars and let them live side by side should they fall out then the boar option might be better from a rescue point of view.

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thanks for the swift replies....

this appears to be a very friendly forum,

I have no problem rehoming healthy guinea pigs,

i would like to rehome 2 females or 1 neutered male and 1 female as i do not really wish to keep two seperate hutches and cages if it can be helped.....

as regards the hutch, This can be any size that is reccomneded, i am quite handy and i have built a few homes for my tortoises....

I plan to use a large indoor cage for winter months and i plan to convert my shed so that it is an outdoor shelter with a flap that leads into the run, for permanant access for the summer months... if that makes sense...
 
Yep, perfect sense. Are you putting it down to grass? I sell guinea pig friendly grass and herbage seeds (my other little hobby ::) ). Was thinking it might get a bit muddy in there though and you couldn't control what herbage they were eating.

Planet Guinea Seeds

Graham (Sokel) has some gorgeous guineas that are very deserving ;)

Piggy train = transport. Someone will take a pair of pigs part way then meet another person etc who takes them to you.
 
a piggy train is where is your pigie that you find stays quite a while away 2 help you people while take your piggie so far and someone else will pick it up where they decide to meet and bring it to you depends how far the distance is and how far people are willing to travel at a time.

if that makes any sense? ;D
 
yes that makes sense, very nice of people...

well Sokal like i say i will be interested in 1 months time once all housing is set up.

dont really want to be seperating so ideally a neutered male and female or 2 females or 3 females whatever you reccommend is best, although of course i will still seperate if 2 females were to fight...

i will check the distance but i should be able to travel 60 miles if it is for a good cause.

thanks for all the information :)
 
I could help with transport!

By the way I am a proud mummy to two of Sokels rescues Motor Mouth Sparky :smiley6600: and Prince Harry :smitten: and I pleased that you have chosen a rescues pig as there are some very needy pigs out there who really desrve a loving home
 
:D :D Hi and WELCOME :D :D

Hope you get your piggies what you want one day O0
 
Hiya Carl

Well done for choosing to Rescue, it really is the way to go.

I have five rescues three of them from Graham I am about 4 hrs away from Graham and thought i would never be able to rescue any of his piggies. But thanks to Auntie Wanda it was possible. So piggy trains do work.

Here are my gorgeous rescue babies from Graham

DSC00707.jpg

Jimmy the Rex

DSC00709.jpg

Joe with his red lips from munching red peppers

Ruby004.jpg


Baby Romey with her husband neutered boar Murphy who was rescued from the RSPCA

:smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:
 
I have a Sokel piggie too - all the way down here in Brum!

She is sister to Lindsays Romey and an absolute darling
 
starshine said:
I have a Sokel piggie too - all the way down here in Brum!

She is sister to Lindsays Romey and an absolute darling
Click to expand...

Romey is an absolute dream she is little miss confident strutting round the bungalow after Murphy. Would love to see a picture of Carla.

To show Romey :smitten:
 
those are beutiful animals.... :)

I'm sure i will offer some piggies a new home soon,

Any suggestions welcome to how i should adapt my shed to suit the piggies.... I will be gatting to work on building a run and doing the shed soon

The shed is 5ft by 4 ft brick,

what bedding/ substrate is suggested?

what Hides/toys should be added?

should i put a window in?

Thanks so far all O0
 
Definately put a window in i only found a pane in my shed had an opening window recently and its so good for ventilation on warm still days
as hutches or cages are good Bigger the floor space the better and don't be afraid of different levels just dont make the ramps too steep (30 degrees or less)
I use fleece and vet bed as its easier for me but loads of Hay is allways best the love it and eat it!
 
always have loadsa hay in for my tortoises anyway so i can use hay...

i may build another level then, not too high
 
Make sure its an opening window too :)

Bedding can be Medibed/Aubiose/Hay/etc are the ones I use, they come in equine size bales so would suit the shed.
To hide in- Paper bags/boxes/tubes (Chubesor carpet roll inners)/Plastic step ups are great to hide under/upturned plastic dog baskets etc etc!
 
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