any guinea pig money saving tips?

cluuuuur

Are you keeping them indoors or outside? If they live indoors (mine do) you will find that they 'come around' more quickly to you because they'll see more of you, hear more of your every day noises, and equate more of your actions to food (opening fridges and cupboards, handling crinkly packets, cutting veg, etc). There tends to be more visibility from indoor cages too, as they're usually 'open' on all sides, so they can see around them better.

Outside, you'll probably have to put more work in, though it's still perfectly possible to condition positive response in them.

Talk to them whenever you go by their cage. Let them get to know you. Put your fingers up against the cage sides, let them sniff if they want, let them take it at their own pace. When you put food into their cage do it slowly and gently, and build up the time your hands stay in the cage too - feed them from your hands with veggies if they'll let you. They will eventually!

The key thing I think to remember with gps is that they're prey animals, and trust doesn't come easily. There are times that mine won't be held, or will run from me. They don't operate in the same way as dogs or cats - and your hand going into the cage to get them has the potential to trigger flight response - think of a bird swooping down to get them!

That said, they are adorable, inquisitive animals who will climb all over you when they're happy, or run around a safe area playing 'follow-the-leader'. At one point I had 4, and they used to make a 'piggy train' exploring my bedroom.

Good luck!

sallyrsm

thanks both of you that is what I thought.... they are living indoors got a nice big cage. During the day they'll be in the conservatory (not in summer thought it gets too hot) and in the lounge at night as the conservatory gets pretty cold...
Mario is the little gingery one he's deffo more brave than his brother Luigi (they were already named - adopted from Pets at Home) and Mario has been out of his house a few times for food. Luigi is more reticent and shy, can't blame them they've been living at the pet shop for over a week....
I love hearing them squeak at each other. Bless.
Will post how I get on with them... they are so cute.

LizD_2

Second all the advice above - I have 4 girls now! Leave them for the time being, they'll start to settle in reasonably quick, but will be quite nervous of you for a while. Move calmly and slowly and talk gently to them, they won't drop down dead at a loud noise, but they get startled easily. If you have small children - DON'T let them carry the pigs around. GPs break easily if dropped from arms, unlike hamsters! Sit the child down and put the pig in their laps.

Don't be disheartened if they seem to take a long time to come round - one of mine is nearly 3 and still runs away from me, although she's fine when she's caught. It's just her way - some pigs will always be very timid. Her cagemate is the total opposite - has more front than Southend! The other 2 are coming up for a year old and are just showing their characters (I rescued them at 8 months), they're somewhere in the middle.

Very soon you'll get mad 'wheek' 'wheek' 'wheek' squeals when they recognise the plastic bag rustle at feeding time!

Nightowl

Sounds like you are doing all the right things. They are much safer indoors at this time of year. Keep handling them and be confident in doing so. The best thing about guinea pigs is they hardly ever bite people. Fantastic pets, great choice!! Not bias at all! LOL
Amanda

Nightowl

This one is good http://www.oginet.com/pgurney/ The Peter Gurney Guinea Pig Health guide. This man (sadly departed) is highly respected in the Cavy (Guinea Pig ) world.
Amanda

gerad_way

Just wondered if anyone had any good ideas about bedding for my Guinea Pigs?
In their sleeping box I put a layer of newspaper followed by shavings. As it is really cold at the moment I thought of putting something in for them to burrow.
So far I have tried shredded paper, staw and hay but they eat everything I have tried, so are just left with shavings.Will they be warm enough???
They have a constant supply of food and hay so can't be hungry
Has anyone got any suggestions??:rolleyes:

cluuuuur

The food that you're giving them will add to their warmth, but I'd up their amounts of hay so that they still have something in which to burrow and eat. I'd give them fresh morning and night - with extra on the night.

I believe that some people who have pigs who live outdoors have insulated cage covers that they can slip over the outside of the cage for added protection from the elements.

My pigs live inside, so I'm not much help on this one...!

demented_2

Hi, Do your Guinea pigs live outside? We used to have guinea pigs and they lived outside in their hutch which was stood up off the ground on a bench/old table. We used to put a thick blanket on top of the hutch which we then pulled down over the front of the hutch at night, we just left a small gap at the bottom of the hutch front, to let the air in. The lovely guineas were warm and cosy & it kept the water bottle from freezing. I do miss the little darlings, they were lovely. Hope thats some help to you. Just put extra straw in with them as well in this cold weather. Guinea pigs rule....

Wol2

Hi All guinea pig lovers!!

I used to keep piggies when I was a kid. Then started again some 10 years ago. Currently I have 23!! (planned population explosion over the last few months...standard number 11)

First thing. i've become aware of..piggies these days are not as robust as they used to be..unless you buy from known stock that have been kept outside all their lives. Therefore they really do need to be kept warm and shavings is not enough...as piggies are prone to respiratory infections and don;t show it until it's too late.....takes a trained eye to realise a piggie is ill as they are genetically programmed not to show they're ill until it's too late for the vet to intervene. Symptoms include slight going off food, more stationary than usual.maybe slight runny nose or crusty eye..but quite subtle!! solution...get baytril into them at early enough stage and everything wil be AOK.

Owing to piggie bronchitis probs (in my second stage early years)...have made the decision to keep my piggies outdoors from May til Oct and indoors for the rest of the year.

When I was young...(1970's!!) my piggies used to live outside all year round and had shavings and hay...which they used to eat all the time (hay not shavings!!). They were robust and lived for 5 yrs+. Their cage was insulated with polystyrene tiles on outside and they were placed in a cage stand >3' above ground(also insulated with lino to waterprooof it (bless my dad!!)and blanket/carpet/plastic sheet over the top in really cold weather.) and they always had burrowing hay/straw each day despite how much of it they ate the previous day (but ultimately my 5 yr old still died of bronchitis)

Now my new piggies over the last few years appear to have shorter life expectancy/less robust (<4 yrs) and have in their cages:
a) shavings underneath....
b) newspaper underneath.....
c) shavings mixed with chopped dust free barley straw plus on top.....
d) long barley straw for them to burrow into

They then get fed alternate greens and hay as diet supplement...and I spray Vit C spray on their food on a regular basis.

I still get bronchitis probs and also others which I have never come across before...down to genetic susceptiility combined with cold snap..... which is why I am concerned about inbreeding...and have never bred unless with outsourced stock from different area of county....but still.......I have to top them up with straw/hay every day!! They are eating machines!!

Piggies are like cows....continuously eat and need to keep fibre going through their systems at all costs..so they will eat anything like hay or straw you put in the cage....and they need this on a daily basis. Try and source bales from local supplier to equestrian/farms to cut down on price. They need greens/hay every day to keep their digestive systems going....so don;t be surprised if they eat their way through all the lovely warm bedding you put i for them......overnight!!! Their apetite never ceases to amaze me!! ( I chose straw second time round instead of hay because I thought they wouldn't eat it .....lol!!!! Now I use straw as bedding on a daily basis and hay as an alternative substitute for greens twice a week)


Hope this helps...Pm me if you want further info.

Much love from fellow piggie lover:
Wol2
xxxx

gerad_way

Thanks to everyone for your advice.
My two Guinea Pigs are kept off the ground and have their cage covered by a really thick waterproof covering.
I am glad it isn't just my pigs which eat everything put in front of them.
But I do still worry that because they are naturally burrowing animals they don't get chance to do this because they eat everything in sight.:o