New accommodation

[Jen jobs]

Advice needed please! I had guinea pigs as a kid and now want to introduce my kids to the joy of pig ownership. I have a converted sideboard as an indoor hutch, but can you keep your piggies outside in the summer? I have a very large wire run and want to put a weather proof house in there for the piggies. There are a few guinea pig houses out there but most are the traditional bedroom/ wire front door variety. I thought a tortoise house from happy hutch would be suitable. http://www.happyhutch.co.uk/tortoises/51 Our piggies aren't here yet but I have just ordered the tortoise house :{ Can any experienced pig owners see a problem with this arrangement? Many thanks for your help. Jen

 

[piggyfan]

The tortoise house is small. You know the best you can do for piggies is to make a c and c cage. You can make them any size you want. My piggies live indoors all year round. On e you get them they are part of your family and you will miss them when they are outside.

 

[Hermes]

Really you need to provide the minimum space requirements of 4ft x 2ft as a sheltered area in addition to the run as the pigs would have to be in this area if it was wet. If you wanted an outdoor setup the best thing to do would be to attach a 2ftx4ft hutch to your run. On the other hand many people keep their pigs indoors and just put them in the run during the day (not always all day) in good weather, this way you would only need hideys such as the tortoise house in the run (one for each pig though I'd suggest something cheaper than the tortoise house for the other one) You would also need to make sure they had water, of course, and putting a sun shade, such as an old towel, over part of the run is also advisable. I think if you have the opportunity to allow your pigs to graze on grass then you should as they will definitely appreciate it!

 

[Jen jobs]

Thanks for your advice guys. It sounds like my gut feeling of wanting to bring the piggies in overnight is the best option, OH not keen. This has the advantage that the piggies will be available for family time in the morning after we've all had some breakfast of course ;-)

 

[twiams]

Make sure you have more than one hiding area, maybe two of these tortoise houses ? Guinea pigs can get moody with each other just like people and sometimes want there own space, so a separate inside area would allow them to stay dry/warm when out in their run without having to be very close to each other Good luck with your new piggies.

 

[MerryPip]

My boys live indoors but have two runs outside so they get the joy of running around on the grass too. I take them out whenever I am in the garden as the runs I have are not secure enough for me to leave them unsupervised.

They love their lawn time and running about in the out of doors but I get to bring them in at the end of the day and sit on the sofa for cuddles. You can have the best of both worlds!