Weekly Piggy travels?

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MommaPiggy

MommaPiggy

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I was wondering...

Well, since the weather is so nice, I'll be visiting my mums house every sunday. Usually we visit my Grans house and have dinner there but my Gran doesn't have her own garden.
I don't have any grass here at my house, either...

So anyway. Yeah, we'll be taking my Gran and having dinner at my mums once a week on a sunday and I was wondering if it would be mean to transport the piggies there and back once a week.
It is literally a 5 minute drive from my house.

I guess it would depend on the piggies? Mine don't really "do" stress and they don't seem to care when I have put them in the car.

But I just wanted to know what you guys thought?
I was thinking it's brilliant because they get to enjoy some lovely grass but then it hit me that maybe it's not such a great idea?

I wanted to know what you guys thought.
 
I don't see why not, as long as you have a suitable carrier and can keep it dark to not stress them. I do my routine vet appointments/check ups on a tuesday and it's a 45 minute (depending on roads) trip each week. Some animals have to go for a few weeks in a row, then I go and visit my parents unless the animals really need to go home as they're a couple of streets away and the animals then go in the runs there while I'm at my parents.
 
5 mins sounds fine as long as there in a suitable carrier and there is a suitable run at your moms. i think they will love the grass.
I'd check with your mom first though as she might not want her grass being munched away and covered in extra fertiliser!
 
I would think it'll be fine - just check that your Mum hasn't put any chemicals on her grass before you take the piggies.
 
Thanks guys.

I just wanted to see what you all thought. It sounds like a plan then!

I did check with her earlier and she said that she never uses any chemicals or anything in her garden. She's also been too busy to do any gardening lately so she quite liked the idea of the piggies helping her trim the grass :))
 
I think its a good idea but I'm going to say that if piggies aren't too used to grass dont let them have too much at once. It can cause gut/ stomach problems which can be quite dangerous if not fatal. This happened to Maisie about a month ago, she had garden time and her stomach couldn't digest all the new spring grass. She had an emergency sunday visit to the vets resulting in an operation to remove part of her intestine and lots of other problems resulting from the G.A. Fortunatly £350 later she is back to normal but she has to have limited grass intake for the rest of her life so please take care with your little ones.
 
hi next weekend i shall start taking my piggies to my mum's which is a 20 min drive away so they can enjoy a few hours sunshine and grass and i did the same last year :)
 
Some of my guinea pigs HATE travelling, others love love LOVE It!
It does depend on the piggie, I'm afraid!
You could of course try a 'trial' journey, and visit your mum for a very brief visit, with a piggie, and see if they like it?!


For your first journey, make sure their transport is safe, ie, a proper sturdy box that they cant escape from, or a special carrier that is made to hold small animals.
Ensure that they like this transportation and it's comfy!

Secondly, ensure that they dont get OVERHEATED! If like you say it's a short journey that should be no problmem, but over 30 minutes would be cruel and they might get too hot, or car sick.

Thirdly, make sure that there's somewhere safe for them to go once they get there!
I'm sure you wouldnt : ) but make sure that when you get to your destination you dont just dump the piggies in a run and forget about them! You'll need to keep an eye on them, because of factors like, sunlight/shelter, potential predators, chemicals in the grass, or even damnness or dry grass!
A guinea pig with a wet tummy is a MAD guinea pig, in my experience, so make sure they're comfy..




Last time I took a piggie visiting, it turned out that my friends gardener had used some sort of pesticide on the grass, so we had to set the piggie loose in her bathroom! Fortunately, the piggie loved scampering around and then making a nest in a towel in the corner..
Just make sure you've got a backup plan when visiting to make sure your pig has *somewhere* safe and comfy to chill out..!
 
I've never known any of my piggies to get stressed and they have visited various places, they have been in cars, buses, trains and Ferry's. We have been travelling for upto 7hrs, so 5 minutes sounds like a walk in the park.

Even my vet is over an hour away, Funnily enough last time I picked Fred and Wilma up in there box I sat in the car and told the taxi driver I was going to the train station and all I heard was this little excited squeak and it was Wilma she ran upto the door of the carrier for a chin rub I guess she recognised my voice! Certainly didn't give the impression of a stressed piggy! :)).

I have 6 piggies and all have travelled a minimum of 5 hours in a carrier, I've never had a problem with any of them.
 
I'm so happy I got so many helpful replies to what I thought was me asking a silly question. :)

You guys are great. I love how everyone's willing to help, no matter what the problem is. You've all made me smile.

And I have yet to figure out an indoor arrangement for them when I'm at my mums house, just in case it gets cold or rains so I won't be doing anything until I have that sorted.

Maybe one of those foldup runs?
I do have the ELC ball pit, too. That's easy enough and light enough to take with me every week. xx>>>
I just wish the darn thing would fold better! Once you have it out, it never seems to fit back in the box :))
 
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