Ongoing Cost Of Keeping Guinea Pigs?

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DavidA

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We are thinking of buying two guinea pigs for our daughter. Please will you give me an idea of the on-going, monthly food and bedding costs for two piggies?

Any suggestions for keeping the cost down would also be appreciated.
 
Hi and welcome to the forum,

Like most people here, we very much promote the benefits of going to a rescue and adopting guinea pigs since there are so many requiring good homes. If you put your location on we can advise the closest centre to you.

In terms of costs, bedding depends on what you use. I use auboise which is a horse bedding and costs me £12 for a large bale, 20kilos, lasts me for 2 pigs approx, 2 months. Food wise, again depends on what you choose. Best to buy the biggest bag available. Buy the best possible hay, nice and green and smells fresh. I can buy 3 large bales for £10, again for 2 pigs will last 15 days. Then fresh food, vegetables. This tends to be the biggest cost excluding any vet bills. Hints and tips to keep costs down...grow your own veg, small plastic greenhouse is popular. Grow grass in trays if garden space is limited or have other animals with access to grass. Buy veg from supermarkets late in the evening to get the reduced deals or early morning on weekends or make a deal with a local veg shop who plan to throw the veg.

That should be a starter, don't let this put you off, they are brilliant pets.
 
The prices are of course some years out, but this thread here may help you consider what is involved.
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/faq-are-guineas-pigs-for-me.36801/

A lot depends on whether you want to keep them as indoors piggies where you can use washable fleece with a suitable absorbent equally washable underlay and hay trays or whether you want to keep them in a hutch with winter protection ideally out of wind and weather. You can find various housing and bedding solutions in our housing section. it is often cheaper to get things online than from a pet shop.

These are our diet recommendations: http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/...or-a-balanced-general-guinea-pig-diet.116460/
You may be able to source hay more cheaply from an equine centre, but it is generally second cut and not first cut.

Please be aware that any pet is primarily yours and your responsibility. Interest will often fade during the 4-7 years of average lifetime that healthy guinea pigs have.

One of the biggest part of the budget can be vet cost, so you need to look either for an insurance or or build up a vet fund.
 
Guinea pigs are very expensive little ones to keep! People cut costs on hay and pellets but you really do get what you pay for. I buy three types of hay and buy vitakraft emotion pellets. Mine are bedded on vetbed which is pricey to start with but lasts for years. It needs to be washed every three days along with a layer of towels.
 
This is a good thread as a starter ...

http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/getting-a-guinea-pig-items-youll-need-to-buy.112288/

I'm afraid I don't add up how much I spend - I am a true slave to my guinea pigs.

Bedding costs can be kept down by shopping around. What bedding you use is very much personal choice. If you have an equine supplier nearby , you may find Aubiose is the most cost effective. If you choose to use Fitch, this is cheaper bought in bulk. A bale of Fitch will easily last a month ( probably longer)

As Lil has suggested, you could have a go at growing your own veg. My eating habits have changed since getting guinea pigs. I used to eat a lot of frozen veg. Now , I eat fresh and the guineas and I can have a share .

Personally, if your budget is tight, I would advise you to look into getting your guinea pigs insured too.

You can save money by making your own toys rather than buying ones in pet shops
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/guinea-pig-toys.43520/
 
It would be good if you considered getting your guinea pigs from one of our recommended good standard piggy savvy rescues. they have mandatory quarantine/medical care, pregnancy watch and carefully bonded pairs, so you can neatly avoid all the usual pitfalls that await the unwary. They will also recommend guinea pigs to you that are suitable for a family situation, so you won't be confronted with skittish prey animals that have not had much in the way of human contact. You will still have to oversee any interaction if your daughter is smaller.
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/pages/guinea-pig-rescue-locator/
 
its about $40-50 a month. counting time and labour (cage cleaning) as well.
its about $20 for a bag of hay for me which i use for bedding. its lasts about 3-4 months.
and about $20-30 for the pellets i use which has lasted 4 months so far. plus $5-10 a week on random veggies.
assuming you spend the top amounts that $54 a month. made up mostly of veggies. a garden would cut that down drastically.

so thats after the initial start up cost. and without counting extra toys, and other accessories.
but having them there when you need a hug, listening to them munching and watching them do silly things is worth it.
 
Hmmm, my six piggies cost me £70 a month, that's includes hay, bedding, pellets, veggies and the odd chew toys.

My bedding is more expensive as i use Fitch http://www.fitchrecycling.co.uk/animal-bedding/fitch-pet-bedding.html although i do buy it in bulk which saves money.

My hay is £8, pellets £6, veggies £35, Bedding £16 but that is for six, so if you just get a pair it'll should be less it all depends on what bedding you use and where you buy your hay and pellets.. :)

They aren't cheap and they require a lot more time then you might first think but they are great pets!

I'd also recommend a rescue, i bought mine from a pet shop and had a bad experience and ended up with unexpected babies which is why i have six...
 
I have 4, keeping them indoors for the first time so it'll be interesting to see how the costs compare to keeping them in hutches outside.
My c&c set up cost £35
Pellets £4.50/month
Hay £5
Bedding- I spent around £10 on fleece which will last a long time (hopefully!) and use old towels as well
Toys: I was bought fleece cosies/tunnels as birthday presents, but I use paper bags/egg boxes/cardboard loo rolls as toys (which are essentially free!)
Veg: We grow our own veg so the pigs get offcuts, they go out on the grass every day (we have a large garden and my dad made a run for free!) or I get the heavily reduced produce at the supermarket.
 
Hi and welcome, we brought 3 piggies in May for our daughters and as our family pets. We didn't get them from a proper rescue and it cost us around £300 in vet bills as they turned out to be very poorly, also getting sows from people other than a proper rescue center is risky as they can often be pregnant. I've just adopted my 4th piggy he was from a proper rescue center and I found the whole process really easy in adopting him and he only cost me £15 which i think is fantastic considering he is 100% well and heathy.
I have two large hutches outside that are home to my two sets of boars (boars only live in pairs as a rule) I swear by Aubiose too it's a fantastic bedding it does not stick to the piggies fur like wood shavings and it soaks up the urine so the top layer is dry, it's appox £12-14 for a 20kg bag I use this on the landing of the hutches. I use towels with a fleece blanket on top in the bottom part of my hutch and in the bedroom too...fleece can be picked up cheaply and lasts a long time, old towels are great to use I put a message on my facebook page asking if anyone was having a clear out of fleece bedding or towels could they let me know and Ive had bags of towels and some fleece blankets given to me :)
Food....many of us on here use the online hay company called...hay for pets a huge bag of hay 9kg bag cost £16 including delivery and has lasted me 4months. Don't buy cheap hay your piggies could end up getting lice/mites and that's an added cost for treatment. Also hay should be green and dried and smell nice not horrid brown and no smell. I currently feed mine pets at home pellets £5 appox fir a months worth but I'm looking into other pellets at the mo. Veg....we have a piggy safe veg guide on here I downloaded one and took it shopping with me in the start. Once a week I buy spring greens, cos lettuce, corrandior and parsley for them £3-4, we eat cherry toms, cuecumber, apples, melon other veg, herbs etc etc and they have these things too, (I pamper my boys and I like to find diffrent ways to keep them from being bored). To start with it can cost a bit of money while you get set up but they are worth it :)
Here's one of my hutch set ups.
 

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I have found one of the ways of reducing costs with guinea pigs, is to give them vegetable and fruit peelings if possible, also stores like Morrison's sell seconds of veg which are fine,also maybe use free foods in the summer like dandylion leaves. Shopping around for Guinea Pig nuggets, In Asda they are £2.00 for a packet, and you can get hay cheaper from pound shops. Also by sharing information on this forum, we can share potential bargains.
 
Bazonian said:
I have found one of the ways of reducing costs with guinea pigs, is to give them vegetable and fruit peelings if possible, also stores like Morrison's sell seconds of veg which are fine,also maybe use free foods in the summer like dandylion leaves. Shopping around for Guinea Pig nuggets, In Asda they are £2.00 for a packet, and you can get hay cheaper from pound shops. Also by sharing information on this forum, we can share potential bargains.
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It is not acceptable to feed guinea pigs peelings. There is no nutrition in them and many are toxic. With cheap nuggets you will find they are full of sugar or grains which is very unhealthy for guinea pigs. You pay for what you get really so anything cheap is not going to be worthwhile.
 
ypu shouldnt feed peelings. the reduced veg that supermarkets do everyday is fine though. you need a good quality pellet, cheaper ones are just garbage, not nutricionally balanced and often contai n harful additives. burgess is a common highly reccomended pellet here and VetUk has it the cheapest. Hay you need to get good quality hay. if its short it wonty grind their teeth and you end with huge vet bills. if its not green and fresh it isnt going to do them much good. with pets you cant really scrimp, and if you do you will soon learn that you are doing more harm to them and then it will make you feel bad. i am glad ypu have come to the best place for advice though, research is the key to being a good pet owner.
 
Bazonian said:
I have found one of the ways of reducing costs with guinea pigs, is to give them vegetable and fruit peelings if possible, also stores like Morrison's sell seconds of veg which are fine,also maybe use free foods in the summer like dandylion leaves. Shopping around for Guinea Pig nuggets, In Asda they are £2.00 for a packet, and you can get hay cheaper from pound shops. Also by sharing information on this forum, we can share potential bargains.
Click to expand...

I agree that it is good to share information and share any advice about potential bargains.

I hope you don't mind that you have been outvoted about your advice about veg peelings @Bazonian . Guinea pigs need good quality, fresh veggies. They're not worried about what shape and size their veggies come in , which is why seconds are OK.
 
Costing... Jeez makes me break out in a little sweat.

I've probably spent £300+ plus fleece liners, snugs, cage accessories this year might be more. But not all at once... My poor credit card.

I recently found a place that sells 15kilo bags of food at good price and that'll last me a month maybe more, hay comes at around £2-£4 depending where I go. Plus there's the food bowls, water bottles (and water bottle covers), puppy pads... Veggies too we go shopping twice a week. Sunday for us and another shop in the week for the piggies. I spend around £15-£20 on my second shop around £30 on the first. The vet bills are my killer. I tend to go on Saturday as cheaper at £20 but emergencies looking £25 + any medication. They are expensive and anyone who says they are cheap need a good talking too.
 
Just to add on vet fee's it can be worth putting so much into an account each month to cover vets. Sometimes you can drop lucky and never need to see a vet other times it can feel like you live there... So it helps just to have a little put aside just in case...
 
I will probably sound like a party pooper now, but please be aware that piggies can cost a fortune if things go wrong. I would strongly recommend you get any piggies insured. I currently have a piggy with bladder problems, she has had 3 ops including a hysterectomy & is still under the vet for care & my total spending is over £3,000 (Yes you did read that right!) In my mind they are not really the cheap children's pet a lot of people think they are, they are much more complicated animals than a lot of people think. Mine is the worst case scenario but it is a fact & it happened to me, so I think be prepared & get insurance & research that you have a competent guinea pig savvy vet you can get access to.
 
I think a great cost saving way is to use fleece for the cage instead of using paper bedding. Just toss in the washer and dryer and they are clean. You can make these yourself or purchase them online not sure if they are at pet stores since we don't have a pet store where I live, here is a wonderful place to check them out Hope this will help and it also has the cost of cages supplies to help you figure out on going cost. http://www.guineapigmarket.com/
 
I have 2 piggies and use puppy pads on the floor of their run, I pay £11 for 100 pads which last around 3 weeks. I get through loads of hay as I completely clean them out daily, I spend £2 for a bag of meadow hay, and I buy 3 bags a week, my rabbit also has loads of hay!

I then buy mixed leaves, corriander, parsley, peashoots, celery, cucumber, peppers, tomatoes and spend around £20 per week on this lot, although bunny also has a share in this as well!

Dry food is quite cheap and lasts a while.

Any vets bills are, of course, an unknown added extra! I have had my 2 for a few months now and have spent around £100 on vets bills.
 
getting everything i needed i have spent near to 400 pounds, includes bed, c and c grids, coroplast, bottles, hidey, tunnel, oxbow hay, alfafa hay (baby pig), nuggets, carry cart, hospital cage, nail clippers, ceramic bowls, fleeces. I have spent a few pounds every other day on fresh vegetables, if i include taxi to make the journey less stressful for pig which i did add another 25.00 pounds
 
people smoke weed near here, i cant tell now if its the hay or smoke blowing in my open window, i nevwer smelt it in my room before it must be the timothy hay...
 
I think the slight backlash at the member suggesting peelings was pretty harsh if I'm honest. Yes it is very bad if you're giving potato peeling, but the member did not specify what they are giving. There is absolutely nothing wrong with giving piggies the odd few carrot peeling (only in moderation), I also give mine the offcuts of celery (chopped small), cucumber, broccoli, beetroot etc which is perfectly fine and healthy.

Just a note on buying pellets in bulk, the vitamin content is only guaranteed for a certain amount of time from manufacture (3 months if I remember correctly but may be different), so don't buy more than you are going to use in that time period - bulk isn't always better.
 
afu said:
I think the slight backlash at the member suggesting peelings was pretty harsh if I'm honest. Yes it is very bad if you're giving potato peeling, but the member did not specify what they are giving. There is absolutely nothing wrong with giving piggies the odd few carrot peeling (only in moderation), I also give mine the offcuts of celery (chopped small), cucumber, broccoli, beetroot etc which is perfectly fine and healthy.

Just a note on buying pellets in bulk, the vitamin content is only guaranteed for a certain amount of time from manufacture (3 months if I remember correctly but may be different), so don't buy more than you are going to use in that time period - bulk isn't always better.
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In another thread the poster said he feeds lemon and mango peel.
 
A lot of people go into keeping pigs thinking that they are simple and inexpensive pets to keep. Your right, if you keep them simply and inexpensively, but this is NOT the right way. Piggies can be very expensive, especially to first set up. You learn to economise along the way without cutting on the quality of care you give your piggies, like buying in bulk, growing your own etc. They aren't stupidly expensive to keep, but they aren't an easy cheap pet either. But I will tell you this, they are a GREAT pet to have :)
 
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