Could I Give A Guinea Pig A Good Home?

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SeaSeaBreeze

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Hello everyone.

I have joined up today to ask some Guinea Pig experts some advice before I get Guinea Pigs. I need to know exactly what these little darlings need to make them as happy as possible. I am not sure that I am the perfect home for piggies, and I would never adopt any animal that I couldn't give a wonderful home to. I have enough space to give them a home that is around 4ft by 2ft, is that big enough for 2 guinea pigs?

I have read up about their dietary needs, and see that they need a constant access to grass (amongst a lot of other food), that won't be a problem at all as I will pick it for them several times daily.

Now for the big question - I am not in a position to do is allow the piggies to be outside to run and play. I do have a big garden, but I also have a very excitable and playful dog who loves the garden very much (she's always running about like a loon), so the piggies wouldn't be able to be out in the garden.

To me, it doesn't seem fair on the piggies for them to never go outside, so I suspect I already know the answer here.......But I thought I'd just check with the experts if piggies can happily live indoors?

I hope this makes sense and that I haven't rambled too much. :tu:
 
Hi could you fence off a bit for a guinea pig run to go in? Think some pigs do always live indoors as not everybody as a garden
 
Welcome :D

My pigs can rarely go out in the garden as the next door neighbours dog just runs wherever it wants...:doh: But I pick grass for them every now and again. Although grass is important, it doesn't need to be constant. It's hay that needs to be in constant supply.

You would need to leave a window open during the day to circulate the room with fresh air though to help prevent respiratory problems.

Although they can't go outside, they would need space to have floor time as 4ft by 2ft is the minimum space they need, so they'd need to be able to have access to more space than this to run about for a couple hours a day. Would that be doable with your dog? X
 
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what kind of dog have you got - is it one of the hunting breeds? If it's just a playful excitable dog, you might well find that a secure sturdy run with lid and some general supervision will allow your new pigs out.
I have a tibetan terrier (not a true terrier so not one bred to seek out little furries!) However as a puppy he took great delight running circuits round the run and yapping - which was weird as he never paid them any attention when they were inside the house.

Every time he did that, i was consistent in bringing him in immediately and he got the message within a few days. Now he doesn't bother with them at all.


I suppose what I'm saying is that dogs and pigs can live in the same environment as long as you have put the training (of the dog ) in and exercise a bit of caution and common sense. Obviously if you have a breed that is hard wired to dig determindley and seek out rats and rodents, it might be a no go!

But, as others have said, pigs can be happy inside at all times. And you know your dog best.
 
When I had pigs when I was younger, we also had two large breed mongrels who had *very* high prey drives. But they learned that the pigs were pretty boring and enclosed so they just ignored them. The boy did start playing with one of them from the other side of the run, it was very cute - Gem used to pop and squeak so loud when he play-bowed at her! We did already have the pigs when the dogs arrived as pups, which may have helped, but having lively dog certainly isn't a deal breaker by itself! It also meant we never had to worry about cats and foxes in the garden! As long as the run is sturdy and secure and you are able to offer supervisor for the dog ( and a distraction?) I can't see why it may not work. I never fenced off a no-dog area in my garden I know it is advised here but we never did.
 
I live in a flat so mine have no outside space, we do sometimes grow grass for them in pots.
 
I'm in Canada, and it's too cold for piggies to go outside for much of the year. I also tend not to let them outside to graze even in the spring in the city because although I don't use pesticides or weedkiller on my lawn, some of my neighbors do and I worry about run-off from their lawns onto mine (a cousin of mine lost two pigs after they were accidentally poisoned by lawn products, so this worries me more than it should, probably!) So mine really only get outside regularly two months a year when we are at the cottage, and it doesn't seem to have affected them. They like it out there, but realistically it's just not the climate we live in. When my pigs are outside, they are actually completely covered, I just take the top half of a rabbit cage and put it over time of them. They do very little running out there, they just eat the lawn and intermittently sleep. Because it's at the cottage, I want them covered from above because of birds of prey like hawks and osprey that are common in the area. That might be enough protection from a small dog that you were supervising (or you could just put the dog in for the time that the pigs were outside.)
 
I saw where someone took an old kitty litter box and grew a bunch of grass in it. The piggies didn't seem to know the difference. :P

Just be careful about the dog. I actually got my piggie from someone who had two dogs and didn't have any time for it, she also said one dog kept trying to eat it. They are VERY skittish animals and you wouldn't want pigs who always lived in fear.
 
If you do decide to get Guinea pigs,Only advice I would give is to possibly rescue a bonded pair of females or a neutered male and female. As male pairs need a lot more room I feel. Good luck and well done for doing your research.
 
well done for doing your research and not jumping in with both feet. I took on my first two on instinct and it was an expensive learning curve about cages etc. I am lucky in that I have a spare room downstairs for my gang.It does have a baby gate on but my dogs are constantly supervised and locked in the kitchen at night. They don't get outside because of the dogs fouling the garden and there are lots of cats in my area two. They do however live in an eighteen foot c&c cage so have loads of space to run around in.Hope this helps
 
I don't think piggies need constant grass access, as long as they have play time in a run it doesn't matter if it's indoors or out. As a few people have said you can grow grass for them in trays and rotate them between growing time and eating time! If not, mine are happy with normal veg and beside themselves when the see dandelion leaves and picked grass! They're outside now but before they were I brought the garden to them XD

The cage size is the about same as mine atm, a good size for zoomies! Really, the bigger the better (I'm hoping to expand their territory) so if you can add a few inches they'd appreciate it but if not that's an adequate size providing they get out the cage for play time as well as cuddles :)

I can't see that the dog will be a problem, animals have to get used to one another and training might be needed as someone else mentioned. I have a cat who, in her younger days, was a serious hunter so I was a bit worried too. Turns out she's a bit scared of the unknown, wheeky fluff balls! She likes to watch them from a distance like TV but if one wheeks she runs away haha. We also have two barky sausage dogs next door and they've got used to them now and take no notice. As long as the cage is strong and preferably off the ground (so the dog can't stare in all the time and frighten them as they're prey animals and the dog's a predatory animal) or you keep them apart when you're not there or at night, it should be fine :)
 
I would recommend a pair of sows if the space is 4ft x 2ft. A pair of boars need at least 5ft x 2ft, ideally more in my experience (I have 2 pairs of boars, one pair in 5ft x 2ft cage, the other pair in 7ft x 2ft cage.)

Guinea pigs need a constant supply of hay. Mine don't get grass, but get a variety of hays, including meadow and Timothy hay.

Mine get occasional time in the garden, only when it's dry and warm outside on a patio. One pair loves this time outside, but my other pair much prefer to be inside for floor time.
 
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