any guinea pig money saving tips?

you_wicked_gay

My best money saving tip for your pigs, or any other small animals would be to get down to your local super market and pick up their reduces veg.

We go to do our weekly shop on a Friday at asda and find at around 6-7pm they start reducing and putting out all their veg, bread, cakes, meat, fish etc that are near sell by date.

We get absolutely loads of mixed chopped seasonal veg for around 10-30p a bag. Last time I was in, a lady was asking one of the workers if he could reduce some bags of spinach and lettuce leaves a little more because it was for her tortoise.

Usuablly if you tell them its for your pet they will knock a bit more off for you

lil_me

Make friends with your local green grocer, when I kept guineas and bunnies we used to pop in and he'd give us bits of veg that were chopped off like cabbage leaves, brocolli stalks, chunks of other veg and stuff which was slightly marked for free. Allotment owners are sometimes very helpful too. We used to have neighbours kids come round when the neighbours were making Sunday dinner especially with veg bits they'd had left over like cabbage leaves, carrot pieces from ends etc.

Careful not to give them too much watery veg like cucumber etc, can give them the runs. Very good point about the grass after cutting aswell.

http://www.galensgarden.co.uk/blog/

melancholly

nodwah wrote: »

Thanks for the other tips everyone, esp about the slab to keep the nails short, I had wondered about that as our biggie piggie has quite long nails and is a bit scratchy.

we cut the nails of ours every year - almost as difficult as bathing them and ended up with lots of scratch marks up the arms, but after a few goes my mum became very adept at it! just used normal nail clippers (we had a separate pair just for the GPS!) and didn't cut too much off, but just enough to keep them down.

itsalldrivingmemad

The boys are slowly calming down - they still squeal when we pick the up but thenthe sit happily on our lap eating dandelions or grass. the smaller one of the 2 is the most vocal and the larger one is the most timid.

I bought some special clippers and clipped their nails they sat really good whilst I did it - i didn't clip that much off just the point so they weren't as scratchy.

Off to con a mate into making a run now....

beachbeth

I only give my guinea pigs a small piece of carrot every now and then as it not supposed to be good for them to have a lot and they don't need to eat carrot at all really. Mine absolutely love celery and cucumber, especially the leafy bits on the celery. They also love the green tops to carrots and any sort of cabbage. I give them the leaves from cauliflower too as well as a bit of the cauliflower itself. You can also give them tomatoes as long as you scrape the seeds off first and grapes without pips too.

Apart from all this, the proper guinea pig food that you buy from petshops has vitamin C already in it.

Now33

My children keep asking for a pet we have decided to buy them a guinea pig. What would be the place to get them from. Also can they live outside - especially in the winter - I am not sure whether I would want to keep them in the house. Any advice would be appreciated.

sheng719

hi there! They can stay outside in the garae or shed if you have one. They can also stay inside the house they are not that stinky as long as you always change their bedding. You also have to provide ample space for them and they love being outside. I have three boys they can be a bit smelly as they are boys but they are great pets!!! Love them!! they are very sweet!!!:p

nodwah

My DH is adamant that the GPs are not coming inside for the winter, so the hutch is goiing in the boys playhouse and we'll be putting a light in. My nieghbour has done this and her GPs are perfectly happy. I saw an internet thing about how they like little sleeping bags to be cosy, so I'm going to make them some out of old fleeces!

Also can I suggest you look for a rescue centre? I got ours from the SSPCA for £5 and they've checked them out for illness and watched their behaviour and I think you're safer there than from a pet shop.

Also, they like company so get 2 of the same sex.

alfiedog_2

Would definitely agree that they like company! We bought 2 females at the weekend and they have their hutch in the garage. They can live outside but would advise to cover their hutch in very cold weather as they are not as hardy as rabbits and need a bit more protection in winter.

LizD_2

My pair come indoors for the winter. They're definitely more sociable and friendly when they're inside. A garage isn't ideal if it's used for a car - the ventilation isn't great and they have quite sensitive respiratory systems. They need to be somewhere where the temperature is fairly consistent.

Don't bother buying ready-made 'cosi-beds', 'cuddle-cups' etc, just use an old clean hand towel: they'll happily burrow into that. Guineas need to be able to hide to feel safe and they love small, dark, enclosed spaces. Any material bedding needs regular washing. GP's will probably just chew and eat posh beds!