New guinea pig owner with an odd situation....advice welcome!

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courtasaurus

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Hey everyone,

So I've recently become a guinea pig owner (kind of) through odd circumstances... I'm an elementary school teacher. Before Winter Break, one of the kindergarten teachers asked me if I could take care of her classroom pet for her over the Winter Break because she knows I love animals. I said yes of course, which is how I ended up with Donald the skinny pig for two weeks. I knew almost nothing about guinea pigs, but I've always loved little rodenty type pets and had pet rats in university that I ADORED, so I knew a little bit about guinea pigs from the obsessive amount of research that I did for my rats.

Now because I'm the kind of person who always wants to give the absolute best care to any animal I have in my home, I immediately researching guinea pigs. I very quickly realized that this kindergarten teacher, although well intentioned, knows nothing about guinea pig care. His cage is way too small, his diet is completely out of wack, and he lives alone. During Winter Break I cut back on his pellets (she was giving him unlimited pellets) and gave him LOTS of hay (she fed it to him 'as a treat'), plus nice fresh veggies everyday. I'd take him out of his cage almost everyday to hang out with me, and he really came out of his shell and became a super interactive, curious, chipper little guy. She had told me he was super shy and didn't like people, but he started coming to the cage door making little squeaking noises whenever he heard me talking to him.

Anyway, at the end of the break I was really sad to bring him back, and told her I'd take care of him anytime she wanted me to. The second day of school after the break, she found me while I was in the library with my students and starting raving to me about how happy Donald was! How he was out of his cage all the time now, he'd let people touch him, etc. And then she asked if I wanted him and I immediately said YES!

So now here's the weird part. She doesn't want to upset the kids in her class by having Donald disappear all of a sudden, she he's going to stay in the classroom during the week and then I take him home on weekends and Spring Break. When school ends at the end of June, he's mine for good! I know it's not ideal and I'd rather just have him at home full time, but at least I can take good care of him on the weekends, and I go and check on him in her classroom almost everyday after she's left and make sure he's got hay and take out most of the fruit she gives him (she feeds him wayyyyy too much fruit and also says that lettuce is bad for him? Super weird info she's got).

SO. I've got a couple of questions I'm hoping you guys can help me with.

1. Getting Donald a buddy - I kind of guessed this already due to my experience with rats, but it seems like it's really important that Donald have a friend. Now I've been told by his current owner he's about 5 years old, so he's a senior guy. Is it still a good idea to try and introduce him to another piggy? I don't know if he's ever lived with another guinea pig. Also, should I look for a boy who's around his age or is it better if I introduce him to a younger pig? I know with rats sometimes it's easier to introduce baby rats to adult rats (especially males) because adult rats see babies as less threatening. Is this the same with guinea pigs? Another issue is that I'd really like to avoid getting my second guinea pig from a pet store, however almost all of the guinea pigs on Kijiji (Canadian Craigslist) and at the SPCA right now are bonded pairs. The closest single male is at a shelter almost 4 hours away from me. What are the odds of getting a pair of males to successfully bond with my single guy? Is it likely to work or would it be better for me to make the road trip to get a single piggy? I'm not planning on getting a second pig until late May/early June so that I don't have to keep separating them bringing Donald back and forth to school each week, so I've got lots of time to search for the perfect buddy for him.

2. Getting Donald a better cage - So originally I was planning on getting him one of those Midwest cages that every website recommends, but aren't they a little small? Everything I've found online says they need a minimum of 7.5 sqft, but ideally 10.5 sqft which is what I'd prefer. There's some new guinea pig cages at PetSmart that I think might work. Generally I'm highly suspicious of pet store cages from owning rats where every cage marketed towards rats in pet stores were wildly too small. However PetSmart has this new brand called Full Cheeks, and their cages seem to be much more appropriately sized. I am a little confused on the sizing though.

For example this cage. On the website it says it's 7.5 sqft, but when I type the dimensions into a calculator it says it's 10 sqft? Do you think this cage will work? If not I'm probably going to go with this one that should definitely work. Please let me know if for any reason you think these cages aren't good for him!

If there's anything I mentioned here that set off alarm bells for you please tell me. I'm doing as much reading about guinea pigs as I can but I know I don't know anything yet. I won't be offended, absolutely any advice is very welcome!

Thanks for reading :)
 
Well done for giving him a better life.

You are right in that having him at school in the week and with you on weekends is not going to be great for him and changing environment constantly is likely to cause him some stress. Something to keep in mind.

Piggies are highly social animals and need to be kept in pairs.
Character compatibility is vital to a successful bond - the two piggies need to want to be together - and if he has never lived with another in all his life, bondng him may be trickier due to a potential lack of social knowledge.
However, that should not stop you from trying to find him a new friend, but if you cannot date him beforehand (which I know is not likely in Canada), then making sure you have a back up plan for a separate cage for another piggy to live in is so important. Living alongside another piggy but each in their cage, means they both get essential interaction through the bars but don’t need to share their territories.
Age is much less of a factor, character compatibility is vital!

You will not be able to bond him with an already bonded pair of boars. Boars need to be kept in pairs to be successful.
Three boars together is not likely to work out at all, and will most likely end with fights and separated piggies. Boar trios almost always fail. It would be a risk to the already bonded pair as well, trying to bond Donald with them could break their relationship and mean they also need to live separately (you could risk ending up with three single piggies).
Again, character compatibility being the biggest problem with a boar trio (mostly it ends up being two dominant piggies and one submissive piggy and the two dominant piggies will fight each other), space is another major factor as to why boar trios have problems. Their space requirements are much beyond normal cage sizing ‘rules’, and in a cage environment they simply don’t get enough space. Free roam of a room or an enclosure covering at least 300x100cm would be needed to provide a minimum amount of territory - most people can’t offer that!)

A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
Moody Guinea Pigs: Depression, Bullying, Aggression, Stress, Fear and Antisocial Behaviour

The cage - i cannot see the cages you have added links to. I’ve tried to look directly on the website but then can’t know which cage you are referring to. Please post a picture of them directly on this post (by pressing attach files), and ensure the measurements are clear.
However, generally from the size you mentioned in your post, the cage is fine for a single piggy but a bonded pair of boars need much larger. Piggies need a large single level cage, cages with multiple levels aren’t appropriate. While some piggies will be fine with a ramp connecting one another to another (cage to a playpen for example), in an older piggy you may do well to avoid anything which has any ramp.

For a single piggy the minimum cage size is 8 square feet (a cage of 120x60cm) but bigger is always better! (A midwest is around 120x60 so fine for him while single but not big enough if he has a friend).
A bonded pair of boars need 12 square feet (a cage of 180x60cm) but 10 square feet (150x60cm) as a minimum. Lack of space for a boar pair can cause fights.
So, if he is to have a friend then to save you maybe having to buy twice, you may do well to try to get as big as cage as you can tk cover the 12 square feet from the off. Unfortunately most commercial cages are too small for boar pairs and c&c cages tend to work better (a 5 grid by 2 grid cage being right for a boar pair).
If a bonding sadly does fail, ensure you can provide that second cage for the second piggy.

Cage Size Guide

New Owners' Essential Information and Practical Tips Starter Collection

Lots of green links to guides for you to read through! Take your time and do ask us questions, we are all here to help!
 
Thanks for your reply! Sorry You can't see the cages. I'll add them as pictures. Let me know if you still can't see them!

The first cage that claims to be 7.5sqft: 138 x 70 x 61 cm
The second cage that claims to be 10sqft: 152.4 x 89 x 76.4 cm

It seems like you're right and those would both be too small if I wanna give him a buddy. I've heard of C&C cages, I'm going to go look at prices right now!
 

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The second one, going on the measurements, would be fine even for two boys.
Those measurements come to 14 square feet. 152x89= Approx 13500sq cm which converts to approx 14 square feet. Of course that is external measurement so inside will be less but if those really are the measurements, then it should still be big enough inside.
(it meets size requirements because it is wider than 60cm)
However, if you were to get that one then i would remove that shelf and ramp completely. The ramp cuts into the space and upper levels are not how piggies prefer to live Anyway.

C&c can sometimes work out cheaper (not sure if that goes the same in Canada though!).

With boars it’s important to provide two of all resources - two bottles, two hay piles, two hides (and hides must have two exits) - so a big cage is also need to fit everything in!
 
Thanks for your kindness everyone :)

So I looked into the C&C cages. The 2x5 grid cage costs $99. To ship it here would cost another $99, and when you convert it to Canadian dollars it comes to almost $275. If that second cage is big enough I think I'll get it as I could go and pick it up tomorrow and it's only $240. I'm going to actually measure it though to make sure those measurements are accurate because I'm a little suspicious (although the box in the store is HUGE).

I posted pictures of Donnie boy in the photos and videos section if you guys wanna go see my scruffy little guy :)

Thanks for telling me that they need 2 of everything! I knew they needed at least 2 hides but didn't know about the 2 exits or that they needed 2 bottles, hay racks, etc. What do you recommend for a hide? Is there any material I should avoid? Like those ones made out of hay or woven twigs that he could chew up or are those safe for them?
 
Two exits means no piggy can trap the other inside it, particularly in a new bonding. You don’t want any risk of defensive injuries
You also don’t want them to risk bickering over resources hence the two of every item. I don’t use food bowls and instead scatter feed veg and pellets amongst hay piles. It gives boys in pairs equal chance to find food, no risk of food hogging plus it is excellent enrichment and keeps them occupied.

I use wooden hides for my boys with no floors (although most don’t have floors) (as they live in a shed) but you may prefer fleece tunnels.

Hay or woven twig items are fine but I would consider them more toys than hides because they tend to be more temporary! They will get chewed (which is perfectly safe) and urinated on and if they’ve got bottoms on them they’ll soon be ruined!
 
Good on you for giving poor Donald a better life, roll on June or perhaps the teacher could tell the kids he has gone on an extended holiday to find a friend. Kids if that age soon forget. perhaps you could encourage her to swap pets with say a couple of prickly stick insects or giant land snails, something which requires less care and attention?

Guinea pigs really aren’t suitable classroom pets, you are doing great researching his care, there is lots of accurate info in our guides, good luck x
 
Sounds like you're doing your research :nod: if you like the idea of cc cages & they're suitable for you (open topped, not recommended if you have other pets that might stress Donald out :( )

I think this is a link to Canadian amazon. Save on delivery costs. Cc grids can be replaced with searching for 'wire grid storage cubes'.
Just make sure that they have 9x9 holes in them, as the larger holes in the 7x7 holed grids for example could be a risk of him getting trapped in the holes.

https://www.amazon.ca/AmazonBasics-...words=Wire+Cube+Storage&qid=1673715355&sr=8-3

If you were planning to getting cc grids shipped from the UK these should be cheaper & would offer more space & flexibility than designated cages.

Congratulations on your new baby 🐹 xx
 
courtasaurus said:
Thanks for your kindness everyone :)

So I looked into the C&C cages. The 2x5 grid cage costs $99. To ship it here would cost another $99, and when you convert it to Canadian dollars it comes to almost $275. If that second cage is big enough I think I'll get it as I could go and pick it up tomorrow and it's only $240. I'm going to actually measure it though to make sure those measurements are accurate because I'm a little suspicious (although the box in the store is HUGE).

I posted pictures of Donnie boy in the photos and videos section if you guys wanna go see my scruffy little guy :)

Thanks for telling me that they need 2 of everything! I knew they needed at least 2 hides but didn't know about the 2 exits or that they needed 2 bottles, hay racks, etc. What do you recommend for a hide? Is there any material I should avoid? Like those ones made out of hay or woven twigs that he could chew up or are those safe for them?
Click to expand...
Check any hidden hay or twig hides for the wiring, which can be dangerous.
Log tunnels, open sided children's stools (if you have an open cage) are great of providing cover and plenty of exits...
Stools you can easily find in places like Walmart. You can drape some fabric across and turn a stool into a tent.

Most plastic pet hides only have one opening and they can become a real heat trap during hot weather. Which province are you in?
 
At his age, a baby boy might be a good option. Guinea pigs of either sex are excellent parents and love to have a baby to look after, and as you said, he will not see the baby as a threat. By the time the baby is coming into adulthood, Donald may have come to the end of his life anyway.

What does anyone else think about this idea?
 
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