# wanting a bit of info



## k4r4 (Sep 20, 2009)

This is my first post in this section.

I am considering getting Guinea pigs my OH used to have some when he was younger and grew up with them.

I have been looking online for info about how they live eat and such like so that I know what I would have to do for them but thought I would ask on here too get some first hand experienced people to tell me 

I really want to know about costs and what would be the best set up for them how much time they would need per day and how many i.e just get one or get 2 

I have had hamsters in the past (i know not the same) so I know bits and bobs about small critters.

Thanks for any advice in advance 

*Kara* xx


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## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

Jazzy is a bit of a guinea pig expert, she might be a good person to pm as she doesnt always come on the small animals section. Dont forget we need piccies when you get them.


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## k4r4 (Sep 20, 2009)

thedogsmother said:


> Jazzy is a bit of a guinea pig expert, she might be a good person to pm as she doesnt always come on the small animals section. Dont forget we need piccies when you get them.


Thanks will pm Jazzy and when I get them I will deff be putting pics up


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## Jazzy (Apr 15, 2009)

k4r4 said:


> This is my first post in this section.
> 
> I am considering getting Guinea pigs my OH used to have some when he was younger and grew up with them.
> 
> ...


Would they be indoor or outdoor guinea pigs? If outdoor then I would wait until next May to purchase them as it would be too cold to put them outside now as they have to get used to the weather. I have 9 of mine in a large shed in hutches and four of them live inside but in separate cages. If you have two inside then you will need quite a big cage for them. I have mine in Nero 3 cages but they are really only big enough for one piggy. A Nero 4 cage should be okay for two if you can get hold of one or one of similar size.

If you get a male then I would personally just get one as they can fight when mature or one of them starts bullying the other. I know some people do keep males together but mine have always started fighting so I keep males on their own now but they can see the other piggies. If you are getting two then two females might be best.

I used to feed mine on Gerty guinea pig but it has got so expensive and with 13 to feed I've had to get something a bit less expensive - they always leave half of it anyhow. I make sure they have some good quality hay though as hay is very very important in a guinea pigs diet - think it's around 80% of their dietary needs. I now buy Tesco guinea pig food that is £3.29 for 3kg. I also sometimes give them Excel super guinea which is a complete pellet food but some of them don't like it and won't eat it.

They are fairly easy to look after I think but when they get ill they usually die pretty quickly unfortunately. I had one with a respiratory infection and it was touch and go whether she would survive or not - I didn't think she would but she had two lots of antibiotics from the vets and she got better.

They love veggies and I feed mine some daily which can consist of carrots, cucumber, green cabbage, tomato, celery and also some lettuce - they love lettuce best although it's not good for them in large quantities and not iceberg lettuce. There are loads more things they can have too - there will be a list online somewhere if you google.:thumbup:


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## David C (Sep 6, 2010)

I breed and show cavies and would say that if you are going to be buying pigs now at this time of year you deffinitely want to be keeping them indoors , one of the nero cages as Jazzi has suggested would be fone for them and as for bedding , with them being in the house i would use a think layer of newspaper and then vet bed ontop of it rather than shavings , so you dont have all the mess being kicked out of the cage .
All my cavies live in purpus built blocks of cages in my shed which is also heated during the winter , but if i have any that have to come indoor at anytime i use the vet bed in the cage , change it twice a week , get a good stiff brush and brush all the poops and hay of it into a bag pop the wet newspaper in and throw the rubbish away , the just put the piece of vet bed into a pillow case and throw it into the washer .

Feeding wise i feed my cavies on Burgess super guinea exel , now with 40 + pigs it does work out very expensive but with just 2 you shouldnt have a problem affording it , i love this food as the pellets are fibre and keep condition on the pigs very well , i also dont like feeding mixes with all the grain in and flaked maize and peas as these can be rather heating and cause skin and coat breaks .
Veggies my cavies get carrots , spring greens , celery and raw beetroot and always have plenty of good quality hay for them to eat all the time , again i dont buy bales of hay as it can be very hit and miss , i buy the large vacume packed bags of bob martin hay from asda , £ 5.98 per bag , again it costs me a fortune with the amount of pigs iu have but one of these bags should last you around 3 weeks and its lovely soft and green and the pigs love it .


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## k4r4 (Sep 20, 2009)

I would be keeping them inside and after reading both your post would most likely only get one for the moment till I am confident enough in myself (if that makes sense).

I know some of the basic caring for them and they don't seem that they would be very costly for me if I do only get one.

I will look at the cages and will look at the sizes, right now I have a spare bedroom so a lot of space I will be moving in February but I will still have a spare bedroom and would consider making it safe for them to have a big play area when I move house.

Thanks for your information  (away to look at cages now)

*Kara* xx


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## David C (Sep 6, 2010)

i would suggest you get 2 because cavies do like company of their own kind and dont like to be on their own .


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## k4r4 (Sep 20, 2009)

David C said:


> i would suggest you get 2 because cavies do like company of their own kind and dont like to be on their own .


Ok so 2 females then??


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## David C (Sep 6, 2010)

two sows or two boars , bors will live very happily together providing they are bought together at around the same age , if you get boars i would suggest a pair of 8 week old boars . I quite often pair boars up together for rehoming if they are not going to be used for breeding or showing .


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## k4r4 (Sep 20, 2009)

OK thanks for that  i'm learning


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## Leah84 (Jun 22, 2009)

i`ve got 2 girly pinny wigs and they`re amazing!! got them in february and they`re thriving

i have mine in a haagen large zoozone (not ideal but they get loads of time out of the cage too), i would defo say get 2 if you`re going for females as they`re rerally sociable. i feed mine on burgess excell pig food and it`s complete so they can`t leave the bits they don`t like, they also get fresh fruit and veg daily....in fact if they hear me cutting in the kitchen they start squealing their heads off as they associate the noise with food time lol it`s so cute! i have a friend who has 2 and she just leaves the base of the cage in the bathroom so they have free roam of that room at all times, just needs to make sure everyone closes the door behind them

oh i also feed my girls burgess super excell forage too, they love it loads!! like has been said before, don`t feed iceberg lettuce at all, i give mine either spring greens, romaine lettuce or curly kale (that`s their fav)


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## catloveralicia (Oct 22, 2009)

I've got 6 guinea-pigs and they are great pets  I have 3 boys and 3 girls. The girls all live together, because, as others have already said, girls normally get along well and introductions are normally quite easy. Also, girls can live together in a group whereas normally you can only keep boys in a maximum of pairs (although some people have managed to have groups of boys) I don't know if this is just my guinea-pigs but I have found boys to be more friendly with people than the girls. 
I personally think a pellet food is better for guinea-pigs then a mix, because mixes often contain a lot of sugar and other things they just don't need. I feed mine on burgess excel guinea-pig nuggets. 

If you're going to house them inside, and you can't find a cage big enough you could make a C&C cage, which you basically make yourself out of grids and correx. They need vegetables daily because they cannot make their own vitamin c and have to get it from their food.


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## catloveralicia (Oct 22, 2009)

I'm not sure why the winking face came up on the last post, it wasn't meant too sorry!


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## wind1 (Oct 24, 2010)

You really should get 2 as I on it's own would be lonely. I would get 2 females as a 1st time piggie owner. Boys can live together very happily but quite often this is not the case even if they have been together from a very young age. I had 6 boys and only 2 of them lived as a pair. 2 others I had together until they reached puberty then they fell out so I seperated them. They lived next to each other with a mesh divider so could see each other but not be together. My other 2 lived like this also. At the moment I have 11, 8 girls and 3 boys. They eat PAH nuggets and veg. I also give them readigrass (when there is no fresh grass) which they love and plenty of hay.


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