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We have one female guinea pig who is about 1 1/2 years old. She was in an open top cage that was rather large, but ended up leaking because the bottom was PVC covered canvas. So, she is temporarily in her old 29x22 inch cage until I can build a C&C cage. The C&C will be larger and could accommodate another pig. I have enough trouble cleaning up after the first one. Is it that much more work to clean up after two? My husband will have a stoke, but the kids really would like the first one to have company, and I have read guinea pigs are very social and shouldn't be kept alone.

 

So, are two really double the work? How often do you clean the cage with two?

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No more work, but make sure you get another female or if male that it is neutered - it can be very hard to tell, so get it from someone reliable. Unless you want babies, of course. Lots of babies. And while 2 is no more work than 1, 6 is definitely more work! Ask me how I know. :glare:

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Definitely not more work.

 

Make sure that they get along. Our female piggie ran off most males we tried to put her with - she is incredibly bossy.

 

Her first cage mate, Rocky, was neutered and a real easy-going fella. When he died, we tried finding her a new friend at a guinea pig rescue event, but she would have none of them. Then, a friend gave us their un-neutered male and she tolerated him, even his amorous advances. If you've ever heard a male piggie attempt to sweet talk a female with his 'rumble strut', you'll know what I mean. It was hilarious! But Cupid would just turn and give him a little head butt and he'd back off. But she definitely enjoyed his company, as opposed to being alone.

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We've had two together that didn't get along at all. The one that was mean and bossy ended up living to 6.5 years when our other one died at 4 years. He suddenly became sweet and wonderful as soon as his companion died.

 

We got two again this time, but one died two years ago. The other one doesn't seem to miss him at all, but he is played with a lot. He's got some kind of weird eye infection going on right now. We're giving him the antibiotic and anti-inflammatory eyedrops, but I draw the line at eye surgery on guinea pigs.

 

The big cage is a huge help. We didn't have a big cage with our original pair of guinea pigs.

 

Two really aren't any more work than one.

 

I made a 2-story cavy cage using the plans on cavycages.com I use bath towels instead of litter. Any time a towel starts to get raggedy, it becomes a piggy towel.

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