Hello! New here looking for advice....

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Pigglywig

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I don't know whether it's feasible for me to have guinea pigs but I'd really like some. I thought I'd just state bluntly what I can provide for them and get your opinions. Wouldn't want to get piggies and realise they need more than I can provide for them.

I can give them an indoor cage between about 150cm long.
I can provide them with food etc,
I can give them free ranging time in the hall and kitchen every evening.
I can spot clean them every day and full clean once per week.
I can handle them for as long as they'll let me, in front of the TV at night.

I work full time and have two rabbits who need their free ranging first so piggies could be in cage until about 8.00 or so at night, unless they can free range with rabbits??

I'd llike to rescue a couple but in reality that's all I can provide and if that's not good enough then I'd not get any. Thought I'd ask in a forum as I've found the advice given in the Rabbit forum so helpful for looking after my bunnies.

Thanks:)
 
That's a pretty big cage, so I think they'd be ok until 8pm. It'd be good if you could attach a kinda playpen to the cage, or even put them in a run for the day if you have a garden, but if that's not possible then I'm sure your cage will be ok.

It sounds like you have nearly everything sorted for the pigs and I'm sure it'd be a great home for them :)

There's different opinions on whether or not to let them have playtime with the rabbits. They'd probably be ok, but it is possible the rabbits could injure them by accident. They'd probably be friendly to each other but you'd have to test them first to see. If you do let them free range together then make sure to have a few hidey houses (just cardboard boxes or something) for the guinea pigs to hide under if they get scared or the rabbits start running around and they have to hide.

And apparently rabbits have this bacteria that can harm guinea pigs, but I don't know much about that or how dangerous it is. I let my guinea pigs and rabbits be in runs next to each other and I often handle the rabbits and then the guinea pigs and don't wash my hands between them, and the guinea pigs have never gotten sick. But I don't know too much about it so hopefully someone else does?
 
Hello! Welcome to the piggy forum!

It sounds OK with me - except that I would not advise you to let the piggies free roam with the rabbits.

As long as you reserve some time every day to spend with your piggies and clean out regularly, they will be absolutely fine! Your cage sounds big enough; the minimum recommendation from the RSPCA is 2x4 ft (60 x 120 cm) for two guinea pigs - a bit more space never hurts! Not every rescue will rehome, however, if you haven't got access to a lawn.

Here is a useful link to a thread that lists all you need to think of when getting guinea pigs - most of it applies to any pet, so I'm sure that you have thought about it for your rabbits and are aware of it already.
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=36801

If you would consider rehoming from a rescue, that would be great.
Here is a list of guinea pig rescues, or you can post in the rescue - wanted section (please state your area) so that rescues active on here can contact you. http://www.guineapigrehome.org.uk/gp/centres.asp

Guinea pigs have different dietary requirements to rabbits; mainly because they cannot produce vitamin C in their bodies. That is why it is important that piggies get their own pellets.
 
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Sounds great to me, as long as they are never with the bunnies. :) In my experience, rabbits need much more running about space and time than piggies.
 
pelicano said:
Sounds great to me, as long as they are never with the bunnies. :) In my experience, rabbits need much more running about space and time than piggies.
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Yep! I just wanted to state the minimum I can give the piggies as Benson and Lola the bunnies do take up a lot of time. The last thing I want is to have too many animals demanding my attention and end up not meeting anyones needs! mallethead Rabbits are spoilt but they need it!
 
Most of us here have changed to cheap fleece with an under lay of newspaper and either towels or incontinence pads. The fleece needs daily spot cleaning (picking up poo and hay), but with the incontinence pads, you do need to change the whole cage only once a week.

It is a lot less messy than megazorb (wood shavings we do not recommend). Fleece wicks away any pee and leaves the surface always dry; hay is usually kept in a tray with a rack over it. The hay tray may need more regular changing, but this is quickly done.

Have a look at the top of our housing section.
 
Wiebke said:
Most of us here have changed to cheap fleece with an under lay of newspaper and either towels or incontinence pads. The fleece needs daily spot cleaning (picking up poo and hay), but with the incontinence pads, you do need to change the whole cage only once a week.

It is a lot less messy than megazorb (wood shavings we do not recommend). Fleece wicks away any pee and leaves the surface always dry; hay is usually kept in a tray with a rack over it. The hay tray may need more regular changing, but this is quickly done.

Have a look at the top of our housing section.
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Sorry for being so dense but how do you layer all that up ?
 
Me personally, I have the incontenance pads on the bottom of the cage - or the towels. Then lay the fleece on top of that and away you go.

There are some things to remember -

  • wash the fleece a couple of times before you use it
    never use softner ONLY washing powder
    take into account it may shrink on the first couple of washes so if you plan to cut it to size wait until its been washed and dried
    make sure you have adequate wadding underneath to soak up the wee - incontenance pads are brilliant for this but if you have 2 pigs towels will be good too.
    give them a good shake before you put them in the machine if they are covered in hay / hair when you take them out to clean. Maybe wash inside an old duvet cover to save your machine filter.

Does that help?
 
Thankyou everyone that was helpful. Wend to visit a little guy today in the rescue. He is called Max and I have fallen in love - very cuddly wee guy. He has to be neutered and then wait 4 weeks before I can have him so gives me time to really think hard. Don't know how I cant get him now though! Totally smitten. He is like a dutch rabbit but he's tan and white, and of course, not a rabbit but a little piggie!
 
Do you know why he is being neutered? The reason why you will have to wait 4 weeks is so he can recover from his operation. If he is neutered, you can pair him up with a girlie 6 weeks after the op x) xx
 
Claire W said:
Do you know why he is being neutered? The reason why you will have to wait 4 weeks is so he can recover from his operation. If he is neutered, you can pair him up with a girlie 6 weeks after the op x) xx
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I think it's just policy for the rescue. I want to get him a missus asap. Was thinking about getting her first and having her waiting for him, but is that not adviseable?
 
Pigglywig said:
I think it's just policy for the rescue. I want to get him a missus asap. Was thinking about getting her first and having her waiting for him, but is that not adviseable?
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That would be fine, but you'd have to keep them seperate until 6 weeks after he's neutered, because he could still get her pregnant.
 
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