Holiday With Pigs, Or Get Pig Sitter?

[Hannah Boyd]

Hi everyone, last year I moved me and my 4 piggies from north east Scotland to Leeds, around a 7 and a half hour journey without stops, although we did stop several times so perhaps closer to 9 hours. The pigs were fine. We take them on 'holiday' with us to Ipswich every so often (they've been 3 times since September) and they stay in their indoor cages.

They seem to travel fine, they travel in pairs in cat boxes, with a small amount of hay, veggies, grass topped up throughout the journey. Usually when I go back to Scotland, I go on my own and the other half looks after piggies but we're hoping to go together at the end of July. Now I'm not sure whether to take them back or not - when we get there, the older two can stay indoors in their indoor cage but the younger (and fat) two may have to stay outdoors in a hutch (we had 10 piggies previously there and still got two so got all the kit). I am a student and poor and spending upwards of £80 on a pet sitter is not ideal, especially since it could only be once a day and I'd rather care for them myself. What do you all think?

Will outdoors for a week or so during the summer be an issue? They would be well wrapped up, I could perhaps put the hutch in the garage, also they were outdoor pigs until December and our house is unheated at this time of year so they aren't used to a very warm house. If the lovely Scottish weather took a turn for the worse they could definitely come in but it wouldn't be ideal for them space wise.

And also, is the journey too much? The tamer two seem to actually enjoy it... The other two tolerate it I think. Sorry, long post.

 

[niklovesrats]

Do you have any friends or relatives that could help you? I don't know how much it would stress them to travel and live in a different environment, I wouldn't want to do it myself and it does worry me that I am leaving their care to my relatives when I go away but at least they are all in their own house and environment and they might not get fed at the same time every day in the same way that I do it myself but staying put is preferable to me

 

[Swissgreys]

As you are a student have you considered putting a notice up at Uni asking if someone will do it for you.
I know from my student days that I quite often had a visiting pet or two while other students were away, and it was usually done as a favor or for a token gesture amount of money (ok - a crate of beer), as opposed to the sort of rates you would pay a pet sitter.
Or do you have friends with kids who might want to trial owning guinea pigs for a week or so?

 

[Hannah Boyd]

Unfortunately we don't have many friends or any relatives here. We have to be super careful about who we let in the house because of people burgling etc, not necessarily the person looking after pigs but whether they remember to lock the door etc. I am at uni but we live a bit further out and out of any student zones, I also don't think I'd trust someone I hadn't known for a while. Only one of my friends drives and she lives on the other side of Leeds and its so busy I'd feel bad asking her to drive over each day. I have only got one indoor cage so I couldn't leave all of them at someone else's house/flat. It's really not much hassle for us to take them home when I think about it, I just would rather they could stay somewhere they know! But then its weighing up against who a potential sitter could be or how well they would look after piggies... hmm