1st holiday with piggies

ThatPurpleB

ThatPurpleB

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Mar 2, 2021
Messages
457
Reaction score
766
Points
505
Location
Sheffield
Now I've finally passed my driving test I'm taking the piggies on holiday with us! We've booked an apartment that allows pets. It's about a 2 hour drive and we're staying 3 nights. We're going in February so still winter weather.

Any tips on things to take that would be of use? I've read the holiday guide already on this section if the forum.

So I know to take
Hot snugglesafes in insulating bag (inches we break down)
With blankets, and spare water.

I'm picking up a cage tomorrow to take with us (similar size to their home cage) but it sounds better to keep them in a cat carrier in the car? Do the fur plastic cages collapse down for easier loading in the car? They have a C&C at home so I wasn't taking it to bits and put it back together again. I'll let them spend a few days in the new cage so they know its home.

I'll take spares of their fleece hides and pee pads incase stuff gets mucky and take a bin bag with some hay in. I have a small dustpan and brush I sweep them up with that I'll take.

Anything I've forgotten? Making a list over the next few weeks, this is just my start.
Thanks!
 
If you mean a ferplast cage then that does collapse down. I have one that I'm going to take my piggies on holiday with when we go in the away in the caravan for a weekend.
 
The Ferplast base is solid but the bars do fold down flat for ease of transport. If you do a trial run with the cage set up at home you can see all the things you need to take with you - bowls, bottles, pellets, veggies, liners, hay etc…. It’s like holidaying with toddlers - their stuff takes over the car and you end up with just enough room for an overnight bag with a toothbrush & change of undies! I always take a plastic tub with prepped veggies in the car- you can offer some as a snack en route and to keep them going while you set up their cage on arrival.
 
Betsy said:
If you mean a ferplast cage then that does collapse down. I have one that I'm going to take my piggies on holiday with when we go in the away in the caravan for a weekend.
Click to expand...
Ahaha. Yeah, good old autocorrect! Yes I did mean ferplast.
 
ThatPurpleB said:
Ahaha. Yeah, good old autocorrect! Yes I did mean ferplast.
Click to expand...
VickiA said:
The Ferplast base is solid but the bars do fold down flat for ease of transport. If you do a trial run with the cage set up at home you can see all the things you need to take with you - bowls, bottles, pellets, veggies, liners, hay etc…. It’s like holidaying with toddlers - their stuff takes over the car and you end up with just enough room for an overnight bag with a toothbrush & change of undies! I always take a plastic tub with prepped veggies in the car- you can offer some as a snack en route and to keep them going while you set up their cage on arrival.
Click to expand...
Pellets! Thanks. Will add to the list.
I purposely bought a car with a big boot for holidays as I knew my travelling companions (be them piggies or people) do not pack light!
 
Last edited:
I agree with VickiA we have space issues when travelling with Piggies- Hooman stuff just about squeezes in!
Along with the other bits you have mentioned, I like to pack a thermometer, just to keep an eye on temperature.
Also a bag to put used hay in. If we are visiting family we empty it on their compost, alternatively find bigger refuse bin or take it home.

I have found that the emergency snugglesafe travels well in 2 covers & then tucked into our 2 fleece bags that we use for catching the piggies.

I would recommend plenty of semi used bedding to make you guinea pigs feel at home.

We strap the carrier(cat size!) in the car & cover with a fleece blanket. Piggies do not like to watch.
Lights flashing past especially when it gets dark are upsetting for them.
The blanket is also useful on arrival to cover part of the cage to make everyone feel a bit more secure. We use C&C grids & I pack pegs too.

We are away travelling now, 2nd Christmas, and you have made me realise I have forgotten the mini dustpan & brush.
 
AidaB said:
I agree with VickiA we have space issues when travelling with Piggies- Hooman stuff just about squeezes in!
Along with the other bits you have mentioned, I like to pack a thermometer, just to keep an eye on temperature.
Also a bag to put used hay in. If we are visiting family we empty it on their compost, alternatively find bigger refuse bin or take it home.

I have found that the emergency snugglesafe travels well in 2 covers & then tucked into our 2 fleece bags that we use for catching the piggies.

I would recommend plenty of semi used bedding to make you guinea pigs feel at home.

We strap the carrier(cat size!) in the car & cover with a fleece blanket. Piggies do not like to watch.
Lights flashing past especially when it gets dark are upsetting for them.
The blanket is also useful on arrival to cover part of the cage to make everyone feel a bit more secure. We use C&C grids & I pack pegs too.

We are away travelling now, 2nd Christmas, and you have made me realise I have forgotten the mini dustpan & brush.
Click to expand...
If you take C&C grids what do you put on the floor? I cable tie my C&C cage at home so didnt think of using the grids to make a tempory cage with the million bulldog clips I have. Great idea!
 
Our piggies have been all over the place with us!

We use C&C grids so that we can change the shape of the cage depending on how much space we have or what furniture we have to work round.

We have a sheet of tarpaulin, then a thick fleece liner, then we use pee pads. I've also bought hay keepers from Cozi Creations on Facebook - they fold flat and clip to the C&C so they're great for travelling as well as permanent hay areas.

Then I pack hides, the meds my piggies have, pellets, veggies, lots of hay, some F10 disinfectant, water bottles and I use cardboard as tunnels so it packs flat and I can throw that away at the end. Winter additions include an extra blanket to lay over the top of the cage too.

We've got it down to a reasonable amount of stuff but they still have more than us! 😂🤦
 
ThatPurpleB said:
If you take C&C grids what do you put on the floor? I cable tie my C&C cage at home so didnt think of using the grids to make a tempory cage with the million bulldog clips I have. Great idea!
Click to expand...

I don’t travel with my pigs, but as they live out in the shed I use c&c grids to make temporary cages to bring them indoors during extreme weather. The grids are cable tied together (except the end grids so that it concertinas up for storage) and I use shower curtains and plastic sheeting to cover the floor
 
CV26 said:
Our piggies have been all over the place with us!

We use C&C grids so that we can change the shape of the cage depending on how much space we have or what furniture we have to work round.

We have a sheet of tarpaulin, then a thick fleece liner, then we use pee pads. I've also bought hay keepers from Cozi Creations on Facebook - they fold flat and clip to the C&C so they're great for travelling as well as permanent hay areas.

Then I pack hides, the meds my piggies have, pellets, veggies, lots of hay, some F10 disinfectant, water bottles and I use cardboard as tunnels so it packs flat and I can throw that away at the end. Winter additions include an extra blanket to lay over the top of the cage too.

We've got it down to a reasonable amount of stuff but they still have more than us! 😂🤦
Click to expand...
Cardboard for hides/ tunnels is a great idea!
 
We use a large bit of plastic sheeting to protect the floor. Newspaper and fleece blanket then fleece (zorb) pads on top. The colder the floor the more newspaper we add!

We have 2 sets of CC grids. One for playpen/ holiday & one for permanent home. Connected with connectors in the corners & reusable cable ties elsewhere.
I like the fact we can adapt the grids to the space we are using.

Cardboard houses are a win for being able to bin after, when you realise you packed the car a different way & things don’t fit right!

I will try & take a picture of this weekends set up tomorrow in daylight for you.
 
VickiA said:
Puppy pads and a fleece liner work just fine
Click to expand...


I got loads of free puppy pads and was offered so many I had to turn them down! I'm on a couple of local free to you reduce, reuse, recycle groups on Facebook where people give away stuff that would otherwise go to landfill. You're not allowed to sell on excess stuff you've collected otherwise you get banned. You have to gift it on to somebody else. I've given away quite a bit of my own stuff that was surplus to requirements and in the spirit of the group you have to give as well as take. It might be worth joining a group if there are any in your area and asking for puppy pads. They are quite expensive and people often have half a pack left over that they are happy to get out of a cupboard.
 
A couple of large bin liners for waste hay and poops! A Cheap PVC shower curtain is great to use as a temporary base if you are taking C&C grids with you. I have a Ferplast Plaza 160 and the two bases slot together, thry are very solid although I would say it’s a two man job (or one very strong man) to take them apart so C&C grids might be actually easier
A huge bag of hay!
Whenever we travel with piggies most of the luggage is there’s our is just a tiny case wedged in one corner 😆
Have a great time!
 
92D59585-7C15-44DC-9615-8B22419059D4.webp
H&H enjoying their luxury holiday accommodation!
The blue fleece with leaf pattern is just a long length of fleece fabric, not a pee pad.
Hay in all houses & by the fabric cubes.
Hope this helps you, with ideas.
 
eileen said:
ive taken 8 piggies to cornwall before now.i use fabric puppy pens,medium size,have a plastic base thats zips off,so can be placed in washer.puppy pads and fleece on the base.i agree with all the above.there stuff takes most of the car.
Click to expand...
I have one of those they are great that’s what I used for Bill and Ted. Not taken my current four away, trickier as they are in two pairs
 
AidaB said:
View attachment 217949
H&H enjoying their luxury holiday accommodation!
The blue fleece with leaf pattern is just a long length of fleece fabric, not a pee pad.
Hay in all houses & by the fabric cubes.
Hope this helps you, with ideas.
Click to expand...
They’ve definitely got the 5* accommodation there!
 
I have a dog paddling pool at home that I use for floor time. It's waterproof, quite big and folds down quite small.

In theory I could have used that. Was worried they'd get out though as there's nothing holding up the sides it just stands up by itself. If they get out in my house I'm not overly bothered but them escaping onto someone else's house felt different. They never have escaped or even tried to though.Screenshot_20230114_151303_Amazon Shopping.webpScreenshot_20230114_151311_Amazon Shopping.webp
 
Originally we were due to stay in a smaller flat than the one we've ended up with so I got ferplast cage as it has a solid base. I could move it to the bedroom during the day and livingspace at night. We've got a bigger flat now so they don't need to move.
 
How many of these corner pieces should my ferplast 120 have? 2 or 4? I only have 1 so I'm definitely missing some lol.
20230115_155019.webp
 
I didn't bother with the corner pieces on mine. I found them so fiddly. It's a bit more difficult to put up but that's all.
 
I've put it up fine without them. I'm currently pushing on it to find any places that might be lose that they could get out. They're not known escape artists though.
 
Took the piggies on holiday. Wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Didn't take too much stuff. This is my car on the way home. The brown bag in the middle is mine, the 2 black bags on the right are my partner's and the bags for life on the left are the piggie's stuff with a bit of kitchen stuff. Piggies and their ferplast cage are on my back seats. 20230216_111513.webp
 
Hope you and piggies, all enjoyed yourselves. Very impressed with the packing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top