Indoor set ups - where is the cage?

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SpiritoftheForest

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Hello everyone :)

I am a wannabe guinea pig owner and am currently researching all things guinea pig,

I have read that the cage shouldn't be in a draft, nor somewhere too cold or too hot.

I've heard conflicting advice about which room in the home, how much activity / noise would be OK for the guinea pigs.

I've seen people who have the cage set up under/in front of a window, or beside one, people who have the cage in the lounge, others who say a quiet room is better.
I'm confused!

Therefore thought I'd ask on here
a) Which room is your cage?
b) Where is it placed?

Would having the cage in the lounge (as far away from the TV as possible) be a no-no? I live alone and am a fairly quiet person if that makes a difference?

Sorry if this is a silly question, thank you in advance for answering.
 
My cages are in my living room. We are a quiet couple with no TV! We don't need TV we have piggies for all the soap opera we need. I love having them in the living room as they react to our coming and going and can hear the fridge open. I think it's different if you have a noisy family life.
No questions are silly, don't worry about that.
 
No such thing as a silly question if it is to benefit piggies lives. My boys used to be in the lounge before we moved house. They are now in the kitchen diner. They are where we can interact with them a lot. We are an older couple with no kids at home, we do get a fair amount of visitors and the boys are very curious and sociable with new people.
 
Our piggies lived in their own room by the front door.
Part of the cage was beside the radiator, under a window.
I just kept the radiator on its lowest setting and the window blinds partially closed.
 
My piggies live in my daughter’s bedroom (she’s moved out 🤣 ). Their cage is L shaped so part of it is under a window and in front of the radiator. It’s on a low setting. In summer I use a car windscreen sunshade in the window to keep the room cooler as it faces south. It’s very quiet as it’s upstairs but they’re old boys and snooze a lot.
 
My current pair are in my bedroom, because until recently I only had single glazed windows and really ineffective central heating so nowhere else was warm enough for them other than upstairs. While their cage is partly under a window that's also where the radiator is and that's been their preference when it was cold.

My last pair, I lived in a flat and they either stayed in the centre of the living room (which they loved) or if it was getting too warm they moved into my bedroom which was on the opposite side of the building and much cooler.

Windows, draughts, TV noise - none of it really comes into play. I find the room that suits my needs and theirs (like air temp) and I find a space in said room that fits.
 
My piggies have the street half of our lounge (we don't have children). They are used to the tv.

In cold winter nights, I peg a large fleece blanket on the window side of the downstairs cages to prevent cold overnight drafts from our bay window flooding the ground floor cages while the radiator is turned off but during heat waves I use through drafts in late evening and early morning to flush the hot air out of the lounge in order to cool down the room to prevent my piggies from overheating on the following day. The lounge is the coolest room in the house in summer despite being dual aspect thanks to my measures.

You want to keep your piggies in the coolest room of your place during heatwaves and heat spikes; in the age of climate change and rising temperatures, this is another aspect you may want to consider.
Please do not aim a fan directly onto a cage as it can cause a respiratory infection or place a cage right next to an air con unit. A drafty corridor or fireplace is also not a good place, nor is a conservatory that is not insulated.
Hot Weather Management, Heat Strokes and Fly Strike
 
My boys live in a bedroom. My two boys have a twin size day bed as their house. The other boy lives next to the day bed in his cage on his own. My Bear recently passed, so Finn is alone in the day bed, but Ben keeps him company nearby so they are not alone.
 
Mine are in the living room. My piggies are used to noise now. The noise of hoover, tv, me shouting during footy on tv 😂, etc. don't really bother them anymore. They only get startled when they don't expect the noise like me dropping something in the kitchen. Although in the past, I had a couple of piggies who hates the noise of door keys. Everytime they hear it when we turn the locks, they start teeth chattering. 😂😂
 
Our cage set-up is in the family room. The pigs have gotten pretty adjusted to the normal hustle and bustle and household sounds. The only sound they hate is the vacuum. That way we see them and interact with them all the time. It's nice having them there!
 
My piggies live in the living room. The c&c cage is against the wall under the stairs. We don't have a large living room, so there are a lot of noises and movements around their cage. I have 3 children, so it is not very quiet. I don't think this bothers them. They stroll around very calm, asking for attention or a treat and are not anxious. They have a 6x2 cage and lots of hiding options. They appear unperturbed by noise. Of course we do take them into account. I don't want shouting and fuss around their cage.

I really like that they live in the living room. This way we have a lot of interaction and they really belong with the family life. If they lived in a separate room, I don't think I would pay much attention to them because of the hustle and bustle of the day.
 
Our downstairs space is quite open plan.
We have 2 boars living side by side, raised up, with storage underneath. They are near the table we eat at & the piggies have a view out to our sofa on the other side.
We also currently have a bonded pair of foster pigs whose home is raised up a little in our bay window area.
This is next to the sofa & tv. (Our original pair also lived here).
Both guinea pig homes have fleece round the sides next to wall/window in the winter, to help minimise drafts.

None of the guinea pigs are fussed by our day to day noises, we are generally a quiet household. All of them have plenty of hiding lolaces for when the human noises get too overwhelming.(keys/hoover!)

In the hot summer weather, everything gets rearranged and the CC cages made up on the floor where it’s coolest.

We love having them in our main living space, and the interactions we all have.
 
Mine are in the dining room… it’s south facing so in the heat of Summer I have thermal blackout curtains and keep the curtains and windows closed to keep the worst of the heat out for them. They are near the radiator that is kept on a low setting. My son used to work from home in their with a bank of PCs and screens, and they got used to his zoom calls (not sure he got used to them deciding to make an appearance at the least opportune moment)
 
Thank you everyone :)

I'm pleased to hear that the lounge would be fine.

I currently have a hamster, and previously have had gerbils and they all live/lived in my open plan lounge/kitchen, I love having them there, once used to me moving around and the noises nothing bothered them, in fact one pair of gerbils, Tomsk and Wellington, seemed to have great fun sitting on their platforms watching the happenings.

My concern would be that this place gets very hot in summer, can't get a through breeze and even with curtains and blinds closed, while that does help, it still gets very hot, thankfully none of my little ones have suffered in the heat, but from what I've read guinea pigs struggle more / have a lower high temp they are OK with?
Last year this placed reached 28 maybe 29C during the heatwave, Pippin (Syrian hamster) was probably the coolest as he had his ceramic hideaway to sleep away the heat of the day in.
 
VickiA said:
Mine are in the dining room… it’s south facing so in the heat of Summer I have thermal blackout curtains and keep the curtains and windows closed to keep the worst of the heat out for them. They are near the radiator that is kept on a low setting. My son used to work from home in their with a bank of PCs and screens, and they got used to his zoom calls (not sure he got used to them deciding to make an appearance at the least opportune moment)
Click to expand...

I love the sound of the guinea pigs making an appearance in the zoom calls :lol:
 
There are stickers for advice on keeping our little darlings cool during the summer. I personally have a small (but mighty) portable air con machine but I know the advice works for others.
 
SpiritoftheForest said:
Thank you everyone :)

I'm pleased to hear that the lounge would be fine.

I currently have a hamster, and previously have had gerbils and they all live/lived in my open plan lounge/kitchen, I love having them there, once used to me moving around and the noises nothing bothered them, in fact one pair of gerbils, Tomsk and Wellington, seemed to have great fun sitting on their platforms watching the happenings.

My concern would be that this place gets very hot in summer, can't get a through breeze and even with curtains and blinds closed, while that does help, it still gets very hot, thankfully none of my little ones have suffered in the heat, but from what I've read guinea pigs struggle more / have a lower high temp they are OK with?
Last year this placed reached 28 maybe 29C during the heatwave, Pippin (Syrian hamster) was probably the coolest as he had his ceramic hideaway to sleep away the heat of the day in.
Click to expand...
You might want to move pigs to a cooler room if you can during heatwaves.

My two are in my bedroom and I love it. It's not for everyone as obviously they are wandering around the night. But it means I can keep a close eye on them. I've found when they've been ill it's been most obvious overnight. I also love hearing them wandering around as I go to sleep
 
fluffysal said:
There are stickers for advice on keeping our little darlings cool during the summer. I personally have a small (but mighty) portable air con machine but I know the advice works for others.
Click to expand...
I've looked at air con machines but its all so confusing, which one do you have please? Be good to have a recommendation.
Piggies2023 said:
You might want to move pigs to a cooler room if you can during heatwaves.

My two are in my bedroom and I love it. It's not for everyone as obviously they are wandering around the night. But it means I can keep a close eye on them. I've found when they've been ill it's been most obvious overnight. I also love hearing them wandering around as I go to sleep
Click to expand...
Not doable unfortuantly, my place is tiny and all on the one floor, there is no escape,
I am currently in the process of looking to move home though, so if I'm lucky the new place might be cooler anyway.
 
SpiritoftheForest said:
I've looked at air con machines but its all so confusing, which one do you have please? Be good to have a recommendation.

Not doable unfortuantly, my place is tiny and all on the one floor, there is no escape,
I am currently in the process of looking to move home though, so if I'm lucky the new place might be cooler anyway.
Click to expand...
I've got heat reflective film on my window that is south facing which helps. I've got the kind you put on the outside of your window as then the heat doesn't have to bounce back through the glass.

I do also have air con for very hot weather, I have a meaco. They are quite noisy though, but think they all are from my research.
 
fluffysal said:
There are stickers for advice on keeping our little darlings cool during the summer. I personally have a small (but mighty) portable air con machine but I know the advice works for others.
Click to expand...
We also have a portable aircon. We bought in 2015/2016 when my past piggy Bunny (a Teddy breed) struggled during the heatwave that summer. It has been used ever since. It might be a bit noisy but the piggies were not bothered with it after a few days of using it. My piggies are free roaming and the portable aircon is placed near their play area and they are fine with it.
 
Piggies2023 said:
I've got heat reflective film on my window that is south facing which helps. I've got the kind you put on the outside of your window as then the heat doesn't have to bounce back through the glass.

I do also have air con for very hot weather, I have a meaco. They are quite noisy though, but think they all are from my research.
Click to expand...
I like the sound of the heat reflective film, it would be a relief to get this place cooler in the summer.

I've heard of meaco, I'll look at their air cons too.

Thank you.

And thank you for the link piggieminder.
 
I lived in a one-room flat with piggies in the boiling hot summer and no air con too - it was a challenge keeping them cool enough but doable. I set them up in the living/kitchen area which had the most space for air flow, kept their bottles filled with water from the fridge, used fans with damp towels over them (not pointing directly at the cage) and generally followed the advice in the hot weather guide you've already been linked, which is amazing

I did use frozen water bottles in the cage for them to lie on, but ended up investing in some scratch & newton ice pods (frozen overnight, then put under a fleece pad in the cage) and the boys love them, so those are my go-to now. I also kept the cage out of direct sunlight, and where it was totally unavoidable (due to a truly tiny flat) I closed the blinds until the sun moved on - it can get very hot in the cage in the sun, especially under hideys. I avoided any plastic hideys and stuck to fleece. I also had a thermometer to keep track of how hot it was in there, and followed their behaviour - if they were wandering about ignoring the ice pods, I knew it was cool enough

In terms of rooms, I found when I lived alone in a flat the boys were happiest in the middle of the living/dining area - they liked watching me go about my business, I could interact a lot, and they had a great view of the fridge! I've since moved twice, first into a bigger flat with a partner and a dog so they had their own room there as things were a bit busier. They adjusted really well, and now we've just moved into a house they are back in the living room awaiting a cage upgrade. My boys are also happy with the TV on and lots of chatter - I think it partly depends on the temperament of your piggies whether they prefer a quieter space. Good luck on your new arrivals!
 
JaseChase said:
I lived in a one-room flat with piggies in the boiling hot summer and no air con too - it was a challenge keeping them cool enough but doable. I set them up in the living/kitchen area which had the most space for air flow, kept their bottles filled with water from the fridge, used fans with damp towels over them (not pointing directly at the cage) and generally followed the advice in the hot weather guide you've already been linked, which is amazing

I did use frozen water bottles in the cage for them to lie on, but ended up investing in some scratch & newton ice pods (frozen overnight, then put under a fleece pad in the cage) and the boys love them, so those are my go-to now. I also kept the cage out of direct sunlight, and where it was totally unavoidable (due to a truly tiny flat) I closed the blinds until the sun moved on - it can get very hot in the cage in the sun, especially under hideys. I avoided any plastic hideys and stuck to fleece. I also had a thermometer to keep track of how hot it was in there, and followed their behaviour - if they were wandering about ignoring the ice pods, I knew it was cool enough

In terms of rooms, I found when I lived alone in a flat the boys were happiest in the middle of the living/dining area - they liked watching me go about my business, I could interact a lot, and they had a great view of the fridge! I've since moved twice, first into a bigger flat with a partner and a dog so they had their own room there as things were a bit busier. They adjusted really well, and now we've just moved into a house they are back in the living room awaiting a cage upgrade. My boys are also happy with the TV on and lots of chatter - I think it partly depends on the temperament of your piggies whether they prefer a quieter space. Good luck on your new arrivals!
Click to expand...
Thank you for sharing your experiences, that was really helpful.

I like the sound of the ice pods, I'm going to look into those.

That's good to hear about the different room set ups you've had and your guineas have been fine with them all.

The excitement is growing the more research I'm doing, I hope I'll make a good human for some guinea pigs.
 
As an alternative to icepacks or similar, BTW, I freeze water in food storage containers (microwave safe, dishwasher safe, freezer safe - that kind of thing) and wrap them in teatowels. As a bonus it'll defrost my dinner too, lol.

My pair at the moment are skinnies, so I keep them warmer than I would for furry ones. I still had to move them into a massive tent in the living room last September when we had that heatwave because they were struggling with it upstairs.
 
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