Noise indoors - Last Question!

[Jemima]

OK - last question for a bit!

But my children have just been running around our bungalow being noisy, and it made me think about the noise level and if we have the GPs in our office, they might get stressed from noise?

Mostly, under normal circumstances, they are at school Mon-Fri, and it is blissful with just me working from home. :-)

Then obviously weekends, holidays... after school. They aren't super ridiculously overly loud - but love playing together (ages 6 and 8).

What do you think? Do GPs get used to noises like that?

 

[Piggies&buns]

It’s going to scare them at first, but they do get used to noises. Mine used to be petrified of the sound of the lawnmower but now it doesn’t bother them

 

[Swissgreys]

When we got our guinea pigs my girls were 8 and 10. One plays the cello and one plays the trumpet.
They are noisy and as we live on a street filled with similar age kids we would often have extras over.
The guinea pigs quickly got used to the noise and never had a problem with it.
We did have rules about the kids approaching the cage etc, but the piggies quickly learnt that kids will bring them fresh grass as a treat and more often than not would be quite happy with the extra attention

 

[SusieW]

Hi!

I definitely think they get used to noises and think it can make them more confident too... think the more they are exposed to of everything makes them more confident in the long run.

I have five of mine in the same room as a TV, and none of them are bothered by it, or by my dog moving about and trying to eat any stray bits of poo! Or the hoover. The door to their room is quite noisy, when I first got them they all hid when the door opened, now they are very loud and all come running over! Think it's just a matter of food associations as mine associate the door opening with food! If they associate your children with good things I'm sure they'd be fine with a bit of noise and actually, the five in the room with the TV are a lot more confident than the three in my bedroom which is much quieter and less used (although the ones in my bedroom are younger so that makes a difference too.)

Good luck!

 

[Jemima]

When we got our guinea pigs my girls were 8 and 10. One plays the cello and one plays the trumpet.
They are noisy and as we live on a street filled with similar age kids we would often have extras over.
The guinea pigs quickly got used to the noise and never had a problem with it.
We did have rules about the kids approaching the cage etc, but the piggies quickly learnt that kids will bring them fresh grass as a treat and more often than not would be quite happy with the extra attention

Amazing - this is great to hear! Thank you! X

 

[Jemima]

It’s going to scare them at first, but they do get used to noises. Mine used to be petrified of the sound of the lawnmower but now it doesn’t bother them

Thanks - of course, I forgot about outside noises, too! That's great to hear they can become used to it. :-)

 

[RedLoredAmazon]

I have an 8, 5, and 2 year old. The piggies are used to the kids noises and don't flinch anymore when there is crying or screaming. Cocoa and Oreo sleep right through all the noise now.

 

[Jemima]

Thanks everyone for your replies - super reassuring! Now all I need to do is reconfigure my office and get my C&C set up! Then wait for the rescue centre to get in touch. I am intrigued and excited to welcome the piggies into our family.

 

[Hath]

They do settle. Just adopt piggies which rescue assessed as able to cope with the noise.

My boys don't mind me hoovering next to their cage, but run for their lives of I sneeze
Tbh, pigs are the noisy creatures! The amount of noise they make

 

[Jemima]

They do settle. Just adopt piggies which rescue assessed as able to cope with the noise.

My boys don't mind me hoovering next to their cage, but run for their lives of I sneeze
Tbh, pigs are the noisy creatures! The amount of noise they make

I was planning to get babies! :-/ Athough I will also mention to the rescue that we will be happy to have an established pair or herd. Oh my goodness, you should have seen my husband's face when I referred to a 'her'd of Guinea Pigs!

I've read on here that trio's aren't the best in terms of bonding and getting on. I know there's no ideal - but how many do you have? Boars are best in pairs, aren't they? Perhaps we could get a boar and two sows...

 

[Piggies&buns]

I was planning to get babies! :-/ Athough I will also mention to the rescue that we will be happy to have an established pair or herd. Oh my goodness, you should have seen my husband's face when I referred to a 'her'd of Guinea Pigs!

I've read on here that trio's aren't the best in terms of bonding and getting on. I know there's no ideal - but how many do you have? Boars are best in pairs, aren't they? Perhaps we could get a boar and two sows...

Trios can be absolutely fine, but there are times when a trio can mean one piggy is left as an outsider. This is of course the benefit of rescuing - you’ll only be bringing home happily bonded piggies.

Boars must be pairs only. Any more than two boars together and It more often than not fails - fights will occur. A reputable rescue won’t rehome a boar trio anyway. Plus, the space needed to attempt a boar trio is considerably larger - they need a square metre of space per piggy (that means going from a 12 sq ft cage for a boar pair to a 32 sq ft cage if you’re brave enough to attempt a trio (which is not recommended at all!))

 

[anyar.dris]

I have one neutered boar and 2 sows. I can see sometimes that Sierra and Rocky are more bonded than with Vegas. But I'm guessing it's because they have been together longer (both are around 2.5 to 3 yrs old) and Vegas is much younger than them (she's around 1 to 1.5 year old) and she's very much more active than them. Plus since Sierra and Rocky have been together, they were like long lost twins. Although I see them all get on very well (eat together, sleeping together, chasing each other, etc.), unless Vegas became very annoying for them especially during bed time at night.

Here's my thread about my piggies if you don't mind looking through them. Pigging Out

 

[Jemima]

I have one neutered boar and 2 sows. I can see sometimes that Sierra and Rocky are more bonded than with Vegas. But I'm guessing it's because they have been together longer (both are around 2.5 to 3 yrs old) and Vegas is much younger than them (she's around 1 to 1.5 year old) and she's very much more active than them. Plus since Sierra and Rocky have been together, they were like long lost twins. Although I see them all get on very well (eat together, sleeping together, chasing each other, etc.), unless Vegas became very annoying for them especially during bed time at night.

Here's my thread about my piggies if you don't mind looking through them. Pigging Out

Aw gorgeous! I just looked at your piggies - such a lovely life with you. It's great to hear you have a working trio. Did you rescue Sierra and Rocky as babies, and then later introduce Vegas?

 

[Tara95]

I have a herd of 7 guinea pigs and recently added 2 babies which my neutered boar Winston loves to pieces and is highly protective over telling the other sows off if they try and bully the new arrivals. I would say go for a herd if you can. I find them so much more interesting to watch and they are so much more confident in a herd. When I had two they were always hiding but since I've added more all of the guinea pigs are always out exploring. As I've always bonded sows I've been successful every time as bonding is so much easier with sows although you do get the exceptional difficult female as you do in real life occasionally! It can be more challenging to bond boars and that's why it is best done in a rescue situation. Good luck!

 

[anyar.dris]

Aw gorgeous! I just looked at your piggies - such a lovely life with you. It's great to hear you have a working trio. Did you rescue Sierra and Rocky as babies, and then later introduce Vegas?

Sierra was recued as a baby to be with my older neutered boar (Prince) and sow (Cookie). When Prince passed away unexpectedly, we adopted Rocky after a couple of months, but he was around 6-12months by that time according to RSPCA, so we guessed he was the same age as Sierra by that time. Then, Cookie passed away too (she got sick for a long time) and we adopted Vegas at around 4/5 months old after a couple of months.

 

[Jemima]

I have a herd of 7 guinea pigs and recently added 2 babies which my neutered boar Winston loves to pieces and is highly protective over telling the other sows off if they try and bully the new arrivals. I would say go for a herd if you can. I find them so much more interesting to watch and they are so much more confident in a herd. When I had two they were always hiding but since I've added more all of the guinea pigs are always out exploring. As I've always bonded sows I've been successful every time as bonding is so much easier with sows although you do get the exceptional difficult female as you do in real life occasionally! It can be more challenging to bond boars and that's why it is best done in a rescue situation. Good luck!

Love the name Winston! So do you only have one boar amongst the seven? How many constitutes as a herd?! Would a trio count? I think we will start of with three, and perhaps we could adopt and add more at a later date!

 

[Piggies&buns]

you can only have one boar amongst any number of sows. If you try to put any more than one boar in with sows you’ll cause fights between the boars
don’t forget you need to add another two square feet to the cage for each additional piggy!

 

[Tara95]

Love the name Winston! So do you only have one boar amongst the seven? How many constitutes as a herd?! Would a trio count? I think we will start of with three, and perhaps we could adopt and add more at a later date!

Thank you he's he's the only boar and you can only have one nuetered boar amongst sows as they'll fight over them. You can have one boar to any number of sows! He's a very lucky man with 6 ladies! That's how they live in the wild in groups of 5-10 I think! And 3 counts as a herd I think! Anything more than 2! I originally just wanted three. If you're going to get three I'd get three at the same time. I originally had 2 happily bonded sows and I had the idea of just adding one but the forum convinced me it's better to add another two so there's not an outsider situation e.g one newbie and 2 best friends! That's why I've always added two sows at a time with the exception of Winston! Another thing all breeds are lovely but I have found the absysisian breed to be much more confident. Online it says they're confident and friendly as I always used to have one absysisian and she's the most confident and just presumed it was a coincidence. The two babies are also absysisian and I've never known guinea pigs to be so confident; the most confident of all of my herd by far, jumping on me all the time, letting me give her long strokes, playing with my toes, they literally won't leave me alone like puppies. I'm mainly interested in watching them rather than handling as the rest of my herd are very timid. I love all my guinea pigs equally regardless of how confident they are and I'm sure alot of it is down to the individual guinea pig but If I had children I think I'd prefer to let them handle an abyssinian guinea pig rather than one of the others who are very frightened. That's just my opinion and I'm sure lots of others have different opinions. All breeds are lovely with different characteristics

 

[Jemima]

Thank you he's he's the only boar and you can only have one nuetered boar amongst sows as they'll fight over them. You can have one boar to any number of sows! He's a very lucky man with 6 ladies! That's how they live in the wild in groups of 5-10 I think! And 3 counts as a herd I think! Anything more than 2! I originally just wanted three. If you're going to get three I'd get three at the same time. I originally had 2 happily bonded sows and I had the idea of just adding one but the forum convinced me it's better to add another two so there's not an outsider situation e.g one newbie and 2 best friends! That's why I've always added two sows at a time with the exception of Winston! Another thing all breeds are lovely but I have found the absysisian breed to be much more confident. Online it says they're confident and friendly as I always used to have one absysisian and she's the most confident and just presumed it was a coincidence. The two babies are also absysisian and I've never known guinea pigs to be so confident; the most confident of all of my herd by far, jumping on me all the time, letting me give her long strokes, playing with my toes, they literally won't leave me alone like puppies. I'm mainly interested in watching them rather than handling as the rest of my herd are very timid. I love all my guinea pigs equally regardless of how confident they are and I'm sure alot of it is down to the individual guinea pig but If I had children I think I'd prefer to let them handle an abyssinian guinea pig rather than one of the others who are very frightened. That's just my opinion and I'm sure lots of others have different opinions. All breeds are lovely with different characteristics

That is so helpful - thank you. I will get them all at the same time! I am about to get my C&C set up soon. I will look at space though in terms go getting three - I think the setup I am looking at would either be 187 x 78 or 187 x 114 - I need to work out if that would be big enough for three.

That's interesting about the breed and the Abyssinian seeming to be more confident.How can you tell what breed they are if you are getting them from a rescue centre? I wonder if they know... I will ask them (they are going to be fed up with all my questions!).

 

[Piggies&buns]

That is so helpful - thank you. I will get them all at the same time! I am about to get my C&C set up soon. I will look at space though in terms go getting three - I think the setup I am looking at would either be 187 x 78 or 187 x 114 - I need to work out if that would be big enough for three.

That's interesting about the breed and the Abyssinian seeming to be more confident.How can you tell what breed they are if you are getting them from a rescue centre? I wonder if they know... I will ask them (they are going to be fed up with all my questions!).

180 x 77 is big enough for three. That is the measurements of a 2x5 c&c (3 piggies).
If you wanted to add more in future, you then have to increase the size so a 2x6 c&c (measuring approx 220x77) for four, 2x7 for five etc
Cage Size Guide

 

[Tara95]

That is so helpful - thank you. I will get them all at the same time! I am about to get my C&C set up soon. I will look at space though in terms go getting three - I think the setup I am looking at would either be 187 x 78 or 187 x 114 - I need to work out if that would be big enough for three.

That's interesting about the breed and the Abyssinian seeming to be more confident.How can you tell what breed they are if you are getting them from a rescue centre? I wonder if they know... I will ask them (they are going to be fed up with all my questions!).

These are my abyssinians in the first four images. They're generally more fluffy and have may have spirals in their fur. The last photo is the rest of my herd as you can see the difference in hair texture. They're lovely also but very timid. The final picture is Winston and he is a teddy breed as his hair is quite rough and frizzy.
And that sounds like a lovely set up - very spacious!

 

[Siikibam]

I wouldn’t be ‘stuck’ on a particular breed or age. It can lead to disappointment and I think most in rescues aren’t ‘babies’. The important thing is getting those that would suit your household. Older piggies can be just as lovely. See what is available to adopt first. If it’s a boar/sow/sow & boar pair then that’s what you get. If you happen to find a trio/quartet then you can go with that. Just remember veg costs. Would you be able to provide if they all fell ill at the same time? Also consider the time to care for them. The more you have the more work.

 

[Tara95]

I wouldn't pick one breed over another as alot of it is down to the individual and I'm sure a rescue would work with your needs. If I could drive I would've chosen a rescue myself as your more likely to get an animal with the correct sex and without illness. I must add though a few of the pigs I've purchased from my local area were probably in need of rescueing more than the rescued pigs! I don't think you can necessarily pick a breed from a rescue either. I have just found the only abbsybians in my herd (both old and young) are particularly confident, the babies enjoy being picked up, whilst my older abbsybian girl tolerates it, all are the most confident by far. If a child wanted to hold them I would let them but with my other four (varying breeds) I probably would opt out as I think the experience would traumatise them if I'm honest. Especially one particular girl who may nibble and teeth chatter because she's so scared. It doesn't bother me and I find it more special bonding with more timid guinea pigs. I'm sure you'll find what you're looking for as all guinea pigs are special regardless of age, breed and temperament

 

[Freela]

They will get used to noise, especially familiar noises. We got our first pigs when the kids were 7, 5, and 2... they are in the family room and got used to kid-related noise and motion pretty quickly. I always think it's funny that our pigs are nonchalant with teenager noise... including my son who plays the electric guitar. But gentle birdsong outside? They get so spooked by it! LOL!

 

[Jemima]

They will get used to noise, especially familiar noises. We got our first pigs when the kids were 7, 5, and 2... they are in the family room and got used to kid-related noise and motion pretty quickly. I always think it's funny that our pigs are nonchalant with teenager noise... including my son who plays the electric guitar. But gentle birdsong outside? They get so spooked by it! LOL!

That's hilarious about the birdsong vs.electric guitar!I"m just really looking forward to getting to know them and their different personalities. I've been in touch with rescue and at the moment they only have 23 single males Because of coronavirus and so on, they haven't been able to spend time trying to bond them, as they normally would, as I think some of them are with foster homes.

I do agree with the poster above also, saying that it is like a rescue buying them from a pet shop! But I would prefer to wait for them to come into the rescue centre, as I will support them with the adoption fee, etc. I've always adopted my cats.

The most important thing over anything else is of course the happiness and welfare of your pet, no matter where you get it from.

 

[DM270921]

They do get used to noise. Mine used to be scared of the door as it opens quite loudly, but now they know it’s the noise of heaven (food comes when it opens).
They also used to be spooked by my cello (believe me, I don’t blame them with the squeaks I play) but now.... this was Frodo yesterday while I practised:
View attachment 168121

 

[Tara95]

Aw bless, best of luck with it all. You seem like you're going to make a really amazing owner as you're doing so much research already! and well done you for being so patient! I think you're doing the right thing it's just a shame that they've got so many lonely boars that would probably love a friend and a new home sooner rather than later. I suppose it's a difficult situation for everyone involved. Xx

 

[Jemima]

Has anyone had experience of having Guinea Pigs in a responsible child's room? Are they nocturnal? Very noisy?

My husband is not keen on taking up floor space in the office! Otherwise I may need to consider outdoors again...

 

[Jemima]

Don't worry ! I found this thread - which is helpful :-)

Guinea pigs in the bedroom?