Preparing for guinea pigs

Just gorgeous! 😍 Congratulations and May next weekend come round quickly 😁

@artcasper mine hide when I do a loud sneeze as well, even the boys 🙄 yet the Hoover doesn’t phase the latter!
 
Blitzen made annoyed rumbling into an art form. Used to do it at the gannets on tv, jangling keys, people sneezing...
 
Siikibam said:
Just gorgeous! 😍 Congratulations and May next weekend come round quickly 😁

@artcasper mine hide when I do a loud sneeze as well, even the boys 🙄 yet the Hoover doesn’t phase the latter!
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Mine don't bother about the hoover either! I just say ' it's only the Dyson - out again !
 
Welcome!
My pair live in the front room with us. I have a teenager who makes his displeasure at his shoot them up games VERY clear. They ignore that. I sniffed earlier and Jenny shot off to hide. Honestly, you can’t second guess what will terrify them at any given moment.

Make sure you get a horse washing bag for your fleece, you don’t want any scratchy hay in your nappies!
 
Aww, lovely looking boys. The white one looks like he’s gasping for joy at being adopted 😅

Mine popcorn at the hoover, even when it’s right next to them (it’s a handheld hoover and sometimes they refuse to move/stop eating so I have to hoover around them 🙄) scared them witless to begin with, but now it makes them excited and they start doing laps. Or they come up and try to eat it as I’m scouring it past them...which is helpful. Not.
 
Fantasimo said:
Aww, lovely looking boys. The white one looks like he’s gasping for joy at being adopted 😅

Mine popcorn at the hoover, even when it’s right next to them (it’s a handheld hoover and sometimes they refuse to move/stop eating so I have to hoover around them 🙄) scared them witless to begin with, but now it makes them excited and they start doing laps. Or they come up and try to eat it as I’m scouring it past them...which is helpful. Not.
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Comet used to try and play with the scoop I used to clean their cage out. Or he'd try to eat it. Like seriously you dolt, I need to clean this stuff up to keep you healthy and happy...please? lol he was having none of it.
 
😅 they certainly don’t make things easy for us and they don’t respond to ‘no’ either. That is the definite advantage of rats and dogs. But guinea pigs? Nope 🤷🏻‍♀️
 
Cage is built, I’m finishing off the liners tomorrow hopefully and then taking my daughter shopping for tunnels, play things etc... after school. The hay, pellets and bedding for litter tray are all here waiting too.

I just wondered if I’m best taking wee level out of the cage as I’m not sure doorway big enough and don’t want to start fights between the boars when they’re settling into new home? I thought I could maybe remove plastic ramp and replace with dowling to hold up the loft area? Would mean the area was still a covered hides but piggies couldn’t block each other in? I might be over thinking things though 🙈

We have ordered some wee cosy beds for them so hopefully they’ll be arriving soon. Feel like I’m preparing for new babies
 

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Personally I'd take the whole thing out, ramp and loft. It's hit and miss whether they'll actually go up there or not and I was always paranoid about them not eating properly because of it. But that's just me.
 
I’d also take it out. That ramp to go up is too steep. And the have more room to run around freely. Hides and boxes can be moved.

Be ready to arrange everything nicely, only for them to ‘redecorate’ 🙄 Feng shui & all that!
 
I don't think you are overthinking at all - you are simply preparing properly!
You new boys are very lucky.
I would remove the level and replace it with a couple of cardboard boxes with 2 doors cut into them. This way both boys have a safe place to hide, but no one can get blcoked in.
 
Fred and George (who were previously Jimmy and Jones) came home today. They are settling in nicely and now that the children have been chased away for a while they’re having a wee snooze in their hay tray 🥰
 

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Somepig's obviously got himself into a few scraps with that ear. They're gorgeous boys, clearly interested explorers :love:
 
Fred (white and ginger) was brave and had a very short cuddle with my daughter on his way from travel box to new cage but George (fuzzy) was a bit more nervous so we just let him go straight to the cage.
 
Piggy_novice said:
Hi everyone,
As the title suggests we are trying to prepare for getting guinea pigs. We have a guinea pig rescue close by and would be looking to adopt a pair from them (no real preference whether board or sows we will chooses on personality and pigs that will be a good fit for our family). I have been reading the new owner guides and we have a good local vet.

I have a 6 year old and 1 yet old. Obviously the 1 year old would not really be involved with them in any way but the 6 year old is keen for pets and would be involved with feeding and eventually handling them. Because of the small children I have discounted a c&c cage and have been looking at the ferplast 160 (have also seen a new house extension for this which would take cage to 200cm x 60cm). I am slightly worried about cage placement as currently the only space we have big enough is in a well used dining room. This is also the access to kitchen so frequently used through the day although cage would be away from kitchen door. Will this be too stressful for guinea pigs or are they likely to become accustomed to life in a busy family home?

We have a garden and would get a run for nice days so they can access the grass. During winter and rainy days they could have floortime in the house when baby in bed.

I just want to make sure we do everything we can to make sure they’re happy and suitable pets for our family. My daughter is patient and realised she will not be able to cuddle them immediately, we are going to visit the rescue centre this week to introduce ourselves and find out if they will recommend a pair suitable for us.

Thanks.
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Hello and welcome! We adopted our piggies earlier this year and are so glad we did!

Can I ask why you discounted the c&c cage?
 
My one year old is a climber so I assumed she would climb in with them (proven correct as she tried to climb in the playpen at the guinea pig rescue on Friday 😂)
We also have a lot of my older daughters friends round and while I can trust her not to pick them up I couldn’t be sure if all her friends. I know I could make a lid for c&c cage but felt safer with a sturdy purpose built cage.
I think in the future we would look at c&c as they look great for piggies and are wider than our cage.
 
Hello Fred & George! What handsome boys you are 😍 prepared pignapping kit
 
Piggy_novice said:
My one year old is a climber so I assumed she would climb in with them (proven correct as she tried to climb in the playpen at the guinea pig rescue on Friday 😂)
We also have a lot of my older daughters friends round and while I can trust her not to pick them up I couldn’t be sure if all her friends. I know I could make a lid for c&c cage but felt safer with a sturdy purpose built cage.
I think in the future we would look at c&c as they look great for piggies and are wider than our cage.
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Gorgeous piggies! Our C&C cage is 2 grids high all round as we have a demon boy child 5-year-old relative who visits regularly! A 2 grid high C&C secured with cable ties as well as the proper grid connectors is completely child proof, even for an "intelligent and creative special child" with ADHD and Aspergers who wants to touch the guinea pigs eyeballs because they are shiny...
 
PigglePuggle said:
Gorgeous piggies! Our C&C cage is 2 grids high all round as we have a demon boy child 5-year-old relative who visits regularly! A 2 grid high C&C secured with cable ties as well as the proper grid connectors is completely child proof, even for an "intelligent and creative special child" with ADHD and Aspergers who wants to touch the guinea pigs eyeballs because they are shiny...
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That is reassuring! We’re getting an extension hopefully next year so will have a bit more space for a bigger cage and will probably go with c&c then. Good to know we can childproof it effectively.
The cage they’re in now looked huge until we put 2 piggies in it 🙈 I’m going to order them the extension which will take it to 2 metres long until we have more space. They’ve got a playpen coming to get out for runs and cuddles and we’ll get them an outside run next year as realistically probably past most of the Piggie friendly weather now unfortunately.
 
So it turns out you can buy love if we’re talking guinea pigs and food 😂 Few wee treats and hand feeding them some of their pellet allowance and now they’re running up to see us as soon as we come in the room. Lots of chattering as we’re eating dinner and the baby’s newest pastime is standing saying hello to them 🥰
George is definitely boss pig so he gets fed first or there’s chasing and rumbling. They’re so entertaining I’ve not had the tv on all day
 
Aww, such lucky boys to have such a good home. You’re obviously doing all the right things!

Also, I’m still laughing about piggies eyes being shiny! 😂 It’s true, they are!
 
I've always had our pigs in the family room. They definitely adapted just fine to the noise. They will quickly learn to filter out sounds that don't affect them... mine get spooked by bird sounds and such outside because those are new, but are fine with the TV and the electric guitar my son plays indoors because those are familiar. The only inside noise that makes them hide is the vacuum! When we got our first pair of pigs my kids were also young (probably about 6, 4, and 2 years old.) We had basic safety rules (they didn't get the pigs in or out of the cage, they had to sit down and hold them in a blanket, an adult had to be around when the pigs were being held.) It worked out fine for everyone. When the pigs were new and getting used to us, I would let the kids hold them basically buried in a blanket and they got snacks during lap time. They warmed up pretty quickly! Hope this helps!
 
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