Yearly Cost Of Owning A Guinea Pig

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Whisper

Whisper

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Hello! *waves*

I am a wannabe owner of a guinea pig. I have been doing a lot of research for the past few months on guinea pigs to prepare myself; I am hoping to get a couple piggies this summer.

I will be saving up my money for awhile, for both everyday items and emergency vet care, if the need be.

My question is: what is (roughly) the yearly cost of owning a guinea pig?

I know that's a broad question. Not including buying cages or vet visits, what is the total price of food, bedding, etc. yearly?

Thank you in advance :)
 
This is roughly. :) I noticed you live in the USA, so I thought I may be of help.
Bedding (paper/wood shavings): Depending on where you get it from, about $48 (I get mine from Walmart for now)
Bedding (Fleece): About $20-$30. Again, depending on where you get it from.
Food (Pellets): Let's see... at least $20 a year.
Cage cleaning supplies as a whole (Including bedding): Around $50
Hay: Probably $30
Toys and other accessories: This varies greatly on the person getting them. :) I probably spend about $30.
Total (Fleece, including $10 worth of toys): ROUGHLY $105
Total (Paper/wood shavings): ROUGHLY $130
I could be very off about some of these things, but this is just based off of me.
For veggies, well, it depends on how much you get for yourself.
Hope this helped. :) If I missed anything, please remind me.
 
1GuineaPig1 said:
This is roughly. :) I noticed you live in the USA, so I thought I may be of help.
Bedding (paper/wood shavings): Depending on where you get it from, about $48 (I get mine from Walmart for now)
Bedding (Fleece): About $20-$30. Again, depending on where you get it from.
Food (Pellets): Let's see... at least $20 a year.
Cage cleaning supplies as a whole (Including bedding): Around $50
Hay: Probably $30
Toys and other accessories: This varies greatly on the person getting them. :) I probably spend about $30.
Total (Fleece, including $10 worth of toys): ROUGHLY $105
Total (Paper/wood shavings): ROUGHLY $130
I could be very off about some of these things, but this is just based off of me.
For veggies, well, it depends on how much you get for yourself.
Hope this helped. :) If I missed anything, please remind me.
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Thank you! That was very informative. :D
 
I'd say $30 a year for hay is a bit cheap! They need a lot of hay and it obviously depends on the price of hay where you are but a rough estimate for me is about $9 - $15 a month so over $100 for a year! A 2.5kg bag of meadow hay lasts about 6 weeks and costs about $5. I bought a 9kg bag of timothy hay online which was about $19 and will last about 4/5 months as they have it as well as the meadow hay. I sometimes buy oxbow timothy hay which is about $15 a bag and a bag of burgess timothy hay with dandelion is about $10 a bag, these 2 bags last 2 pigs about a month each.

The pellets I use cost about $8 a bag and a bag lasts 4-5 weeks, so again at least $80 a year.

These are UK prices converted to $, so you will have to look at hay and pellet prices where you are.
 
Lolly said:
I'd say $30 a year for hay is a bit cheap! They need a lot of hay and it obviously depends on the price of hay where you are but a rough estimate for me is about $9 - $15 a month so over $100 for a year! A 2.5kg bag of meadow hay lasts about 6 weeks and costs about $5. I bought a 9kg bag of timothy hay online which was about $19 and will last about 4/5 months as they have it as well as the meadow hay. I sometimes buy oxbow timothy hay which is about $15 a bag and a bag of burgess timothy hay with dandelion is about $10 a bag, these 2 bags last 2 pigs about a month each.

The pellets I use cost about $8 a bag and a bag lasts 4-5 weeks, so again at least $80 a year.

These are UK prices converted to $, so you will have to look at hay and pellet prices where you are.
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Thank you for the reply! :D I will check the hay prices at my local pet store next time I go. :)
 
Well done for getting prepared. we'll look forward to hearing more about your guinea pigs when you get them.
 
Thats really good that you are preparing and finding out how much things cost and how much it would cost to keep guinea pigs over a year before you buy any, i hope all goes well and that you are able to get some and enjoy them, well done and if you do get some please take plenty of photos of them as we all love looking at guinea piggies x
 
PiggieOwner said:
Well done for getting prepared. we'll look forward to hearing more about your guinea pigs when you get them.
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joandjim said:
Thats really good that you are preparing and finding out how much things cost and how much it would cost to keep guinea pigs over a year before you buy any, i hope all goes well and that you are able to get some and enjoy them, well done and if you do get some please take plenty of photos of them as we all love looking at guinea piggies x
Click to expand...

Thank you both :hug:I will make sure to take plenty of photos.
 
I would like to start keeping a record of how much my two boys cost me because I literally have no idea. I think it would have been good if I had done more research into the cost side of things before I got them, I must admit. I think it is likely they are costing me and my partner significantly more than we anticipated but we do have the money for them thankfully which is the main thing and we make sure they have everything they need. I have only had them for almost a year now and already I have paid for 3 vet visits plus 3 lots of antibiotics and a hibiscrub from the vets so that's something else to think of separately too. Also whether you will need to neuter them or not. My rescue neutered both our boars but one of them got an abcess as a result and they treated that before we got them, but it musn't have healed properly because it came back and being new to guinea pigs we didn't notice it was unusual until it was really big - though it popped and we sorted it out with the vet's guidance and it seems that it finally went away completely that time, phew.

Hay prices drastically vary depending on the brand and where you get it from, so look around on that front. Same with fresh veg - I have a market not far away which is much cheaper than if I'm super lazy and go to the local supermarket and pay way more for less. If you use puppy pads in the cage again the prices vary a lot depending on where you get them from so look around for a good deal. I do live in the UK though not the US. With toys, you don't reallyy need to buy any if you don't want to because it's easy to make them things out of stuff that you have at home that entertain them. At the moment mine are playing with a paper bag :D
 
1GuineaPig1 said:
This is roughly. :) I noticed you live in the USA, so I thought I may be of help.
Bedding (paper/wood shavings): Depending on where you get it from, about $48 (I get mine from Walmart for now)
Bedding (Fleece): About $20-$30. Again, depending on where you get it from.
Food (Pellets): Let's see... at least $20 a year.
Cage cleaning supplies as a whole (Including bedding): Around $50
Hay: Probably $30
Toys and other accessories: This varies greatly on the person getting them. :) I probably spend about $30.
Total (Fleece, including $10 worth of toys): ROUGHLY $105
Total (Paper/wood shavings): ROUGHLY $130
I could be very off about some of these things, but this is just based off of me.
For veggies, well, it depends on how much you get for yourself.
Hope this helped. :) If I missed anything, please remind me.
Click to expand...

I wish mine were as cheap!

my costs per annum:-
shavings (Snowflake): £288
rabbit food: £72
GP: £120
fresh fruit/veg: £520
Vets (nails/check ups etc): £200
hay: £72
accessories: £100
Total: £1372!
 
Hmm, let's see if I can work mine out!

Mine are on fleece, initial outlay was around £100 for the fleece and towels for 7 pigs.
Aubiose woodchip (used in their food areas): £14 (a bale a month)
Pellets: £10
Hay: £12 a month
Treats: £10 a month (I have a few that have to watch their wastline!)
Vets checkups etc: £100
Toys and replacement fleece: £10 a month
Total in a year: £604.

This is a very much approximation. I have spend nearly £150 this week alone on redoing fleece and C&C grids etc so there are costs like that which will come up. Fleece is a good option, this is my second try with fleece and I'm finding it a lot easier this time! My hand held hoover is my best friend!
 
i've read that for a pair or piggies, or pair of rabbits, £1000 per year is the approx basic cost. i personally think that is the minimum! they're alot more expensive to keep than people realise. but worth every penny of course :luv:
 
Wow. I must be really skimping on mine's upkeep then! I have 7!
 
I'm lucky in that I buy my hay and snowflake in breeder packs so I save money that way otherwise my bill could be a lot higher, my vet bill is the bare minimum, thankfully, I've had no expensive treatments or the bill could be a lot higher. That said, Rebels neutering and subsequent abscess 3 years ago cost over £100, Ronnie's ear cost nearly £60 to stitch up and Rebel and Angels euthanasia and cremation cost £40, it all builds up!
 
yep add vets bills and you're stuffed money wise! :)) aslong as the piggies are ok though. i mean we don't need food or anything... :))
 
It certainly does! I'm not worried about how much it costs, they get what they need and vet treatment when required. It doesnt matter if i spend £500 a year or over £1000 as long as they are cared for properly.
 
I'm the same, don't drink or smoke or have children. My pets are my kids and me and the hubby work hard to make sure we are never short of money to do everything we need to do and make sure the critters have everything they need too.
 
I also keep a teenage son that costs more per quarter than my animals do all year! :eek:
 
In 10 months, mine has cost me over £2000, mainly due to vet bills and due to my boy having a permanent disability these bills will be ongoing.
 
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