First Time Guinea Pig Owner

autumngirl

lizzie157 wrote: »

Unfortunately we now only have 1 as we lost the other a few months back - we've decided to wait and get 2 together -rather than go through trying to introduce another to the 1 we have.

Hi Lizzie157, Sorry to hear that you lost your guinea pig. I know from experience how tricky it can be to get boars paired up successfully. Just wondering if you'd thought about perhaps temporarily fostering a guinea pig (for a local Rescue) for a while, so your remaining pig has some company? Just a thought

mshappy

Thanks for all your replies. Joined the Guinea pig forum.

I'm converted to fleece. I see what a mess the hamster makes with the sawdust hehe.

Hoping for 2 girls

mshappy

Oh wasn't too keen on the fleece idea but I have explained how it works and he thinks its a great idea

autumngirl

mshappy wrote: »

Oh wasn't too keen on the fleece idea but I have explained how it works and he thinks its a great idea

Hope it works well for you!

I use fleece for my own pigs, with old towels underneath. Some people also put a layer of newspaper under but I don't bother with that. If I had the money I'd definitely buy inco pads to use instead of towels - they're supposed to be excellent and are obviously designed to be super absorbent and as odour-free as possible. For extra absorbency I also put a cheap microfibre towel (the super absorbent small towels for drying down dogs) under the fleece where their hidey houses go, as that's always where they wee most.

I find fleece great and it doesn't smell as long as it's changed regularly. (I use a little dustpan and brush to spot clean, sweeping out the poos once a day, and do a full change once a week.) As long as you never use fabric conditioner, when you wash it, the fleece should wick away the wee well. Every now and again I add some white vinegar when I wash their bedding, to stop any lingering smells, and it's always fine.

For me, the only downside to using fleece is having to wash it - if there is too much debris stuck on it (hair, hay etc) then it can potentially clog up your washing machine, which obviously could be very costly! I've been using fleece in both my cages for over a year now and have never had a problem but I do always spend a while brushing down the fleeces in the garden before I wash them, to make sure I've got off as much as I can. If you can, it's quicker/easier/more effective to hoover them before washing! (I don't have the right attachments to stop the hoover sucking up the fleece, so I just use a stiff brush!) I know some people put their fleeces in old duvet covers, for washing, so any hairs etc are all contained within the cover and can't block the machine but I've not tried this.

Really glad you've joined the guinea pig forum - I'm sure you'll find it really useful.

Good luck with it all!

mshappy

Going to buy this bed topper from amazon. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Washable-Absorbent-Bed-Pad-90cms/dp/B000MES1W8/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=IXAAY57969VFK&colid=2231RRWLJ9ZOS

SamanthaD85

Im glad that you found the forum, im a member on the forum too and all you need to know will be on there!

I use those pads and fleece in my c&c cage, they are great!

A 120 cage will be fine for 2 pigs as its nearly 4ft long and 2ft wide, most rescue's will rehome pigs in that sized cage, but nothing smaller. Would you consider getting your pigs from a rescue rather than a petshop? As there is many piggys in rescues looking for loving homes.

The only advice i would add is look for a good guinea pig vet, one that knows all about them, so if they ever fall ill you know you have a good vet who can help your piggy friend.

x x

mshappy

We have looked at some rescue. There isn't too many in area and the ones we have checked have no sows. They mainly have older boars. Will keep a look out though x

Pablosmummy

I'm another fan of C+C cages and fleece! We used to have 3 pig, now unfortunatley down to 1 (Pablo died in December - my name is a bit weird now I guess) Stan is old so we're not going to even try and bond him with another pig. TBH he seems alot happier on his own!

With the fleece, you just have to make sure you brush as much hay/hair as you can off. I have a rubber dog grooming glove which works really well getting the hair off. I also dont have a proper C+C cage - I dont have any correx, I use a shower curtain which covers a large piece of thick cardboard - works really well, we can change the cage easily if we need to, its easy to pack up if we need it aswell (also you can make it really pretty! at the moment we have a multicoloured flower cage!)

Pablosmummy

also, theres a site that some rescues use to post pigs - something like guineapigrehome I think? We found ours on there, might be worth a look.

autumngirl

SamanthaD85 wrote: »

The only advice i would add is look for a good guinea pig vet, one that knows all about them, so if they ever fall ill you know you have a good vet who can help your piggy friend.

I really couldn't agree more! As I mentioned before, even Vets who are extremely highly trained/skilled/experienced with other animals are usually sadly lacking when it comes to guinea pigs....they simply don't get the specialist training.

When guinea pigs are unwell they can be very good at hiding it and their health can deteriorate shockingly fast, so it's especially important to have a good guinea pig Vet in reserve for when you need it. Unfortunately I learnt all this the hard way, when I was new to guinea pigs and ending up losing one...something which I now think could've probably been avoided if the Vet was better skilled with guinea pigs, despite their impeccable credentials with dogs & cats.

It was that awful experience which led me to join the guinea pig forum, where I found a recommendation for a fabulous Vet with special interest in guinea pigs. I'd urge any piggy owner to make sure they have a good guinea Vet, sooner rather than later. You'll see that the guinea pig forum has a thread about Vet recommendations.