ProudGrandma Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 If you own or have owned piggies as pets, can you please give me the pros and cons of these little guys? Is it better to get a same-sex pair right away or is one piggie ok? Tell me about the cage you had yours in. and anything else you might think important. thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jen3kids Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 We've had piggies for 5 years now. We started out with a boy-girl pair (both fixed), but the male died. We got a second male (not neutered) and they got along fine. We will not get another piggie for our female though. She is very dominant and when we looked after our first male died, she was very aggressive towards all the males except this one non-neutered fellow. She tolerated him, but would 'put the run to him' if he got too attentive! She is very happy by herself, but she needs/begs to be held everyday, multiple times if possible. We use wood shavings in her cage (cubes and choroplast - google it) and she has a hay rack. Piggies poop and pee everywhere, even near their food/water/hay. We clean her cage once every 10 days. (every 7 days with 2 piggies). No smell, unless we wait too long between cleanings. Anything else??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MercyA Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 Pros: Guinea pigs are very docile and sweet and rarely bite. When tame, they are fun to hold and pet. They will squeal and beg for treats. They are sturdier and easier to handle than small rodents. However, younger children (under 9-10 or so) should *never* be allowed to take them from their enclosure without supervision. Accidental falls and too hard of squeezes can easily be fatal. They require pellets, fresh veggies, and hay, but these are not terribly expensive. Cons: While some guinea pigs learn to enjoy petting, they do not have the same affection for their humans that a rat or a dog or a cat would have. They require a VERY large enclosure to be happy and active. The cages in pet stores are NOT big enough. See: www.guineapigcages.com. I bought a cage "kit" on eBay and was happy with it; you can also make your own. If you put guinea pigs in too small of an enclosure, they will just hide in their houses and sleep all day. Guinea pigs are messy. They produce a lot of waste, and some will sleep in their pee and poo, given the chance. Their bedding can be very expensive. You really shouldn't use cedar chips; it can cause allergic reactions in the pigs and irritate their respiratory system. You can use Carefresh (very expensive), recycled paper bedding, aspen shavings, or Yesterday's News cat litter (although I wouldn't use this in their whole cage--it's pretty hard on their feet). Pine shavings *may* be okay; this is debated. Some people use fleece for their bedding and wash it, or a combination of fleece and other disposable beddings. You can google "fleece bedding for guinea pigs" for more information. Some people are allergic to guinea pigs. Guinea pigs must have hay, and some people are allergic to it, too. Their nails need to be trimmed about once a month, and it can be a little challenging. :) Pros OR cons, depending on what you want: Guinea pigs live 5-7 years, so are a long-term commitment. They really should be kept in pairs or larger groups. They are social animals and need the companionship of their own kind. For more info, see www.cavyspirit.com and www.guinealynx.info If you decide to go with guinea pigs, PLEASE consider adopting them from a rescue. Many guinea pigs from rescues have the added benefit of being already used to handling, and their foster parents can tell you about their personalities and find a good fit for your family. You can search for guinea pigs in your area at www.petfinder.com Hope this helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparrow Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 Guinea pigs are great pets, and have been recommended in your other pet threads, but if you're concerned about your husband's cat allergies, be careful with guinea pigs. My husband has overcome cat allergies, but he cannot touch a guinea pig without immediately experiencing itchy, watery eyes and sneezing for hours...much worse than any cat allergic reaction he has ever had. It can still work, and my daughter has a guinea pig, but my husband stays far away when the pig is out. Two are best, if possible. Cavy Spirit, linked above should cover all of your pig questions, including cages. Build big. We have used pine bedding for years, without issue, but I know some people don't. It can be bought in bulk at Tractor Supply Co. Pros: typically very sweet and tolerant of handling, Cons: messy, need large enclosures, allergies (people, not the pigs) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudGrandma Posted December 23, 2012 Author Share Posted December 23, 2012 is there any reason to have the piggies fixed, even if we plan to buy to of the same gender piggies??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudGrandma Posted December 23, 2012 Author Share Posted December 23, 2012 I would love to buy a piggie from a shelter...but using petfinder, there are none within 100 miles of our home. So, I am thinking our only choice is our pet store....hoping for better luck than with our hamsters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MercyA Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 is there any reason to have the piggies fixed, even if we plan to buy to of the same gender piggies??? Not that I'm aware of, if your piggies are the same sex. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudGrandma Posted December 23, 2012 Author Share Posted December 23, 2012 since piggies need such a large cage, how does one afford buying bedding for it? When you clean the cage, I am assuming you need to clean ALL of the bedding out, is that right? What do you all do for bedding?? thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest inoubliable Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 since piggies need such a large cage, how does one afford buying bedding for it? When you clean the cage, I am assuming you need to clean ALL of the bedding out, is that right? What do you all do for bedding?? thanks. We shred old schoolwork every few weeks, any junk mail (not glossy inserts or catalog stuff), old bills and credit card statements, etc. Then we have a large tote that we pour the shredded paper in and mix with a large bag of Carefresh. Carefresh is amazing and we usually find good prices with Petsmart or Petco sales. We only buy it on sale and buy the best value (not always the largest bag). A 50/50 mix with the shredded paper keeps costs down AND we recycle our paper. :) Marshmallow has never complained. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MercyA Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 since piggies need such a large cage, how does one afford buying bedding for it? When you clean the cage, I am assuming you need to clean ALL of the bedding out, is that right? What do you all do for bedding?? thanks. You can spot clean daily by scooping out soiled areas, and that will help keep the cage fresh longer. However, in my experience all of the bedding will need to be changed out and the cage washed about once a week. Some guinea pigs do tend to go all over the cage. The rescue from which I adopted our piggies lined their cages with newspaper to save money and completely changed it daily. However, I do *not* recommend only using flat newspaper. The poo just sits on top of it (and the pee, too, actually), and the guinea pigs will lay in it. (I imagine people who use washable fleece for bedding tend to have the same problem.) Plus, the ink can rub off on the pigs' fur. You really need something "fluffy" (like the mixed Carefresh and shredded paper mentioned above, or like pine shavings) so the poo can fall down into it and the urine can be soaked up. If you have something like a Tractor Supply near you, you can look for bulk bags of bedding. It takes a *lot* of bedding to fill a decent sized cage. If it's not something you can afford, I would go with another pet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MercyA Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 dp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 We use old bath towels for bedding. We made a large cage like you see at cavycages.com. It is 4 panels by 2 panels on the bottom floor and 1 panel by 2 panels on the top. The top floor is the kitchen. We have a bowl of water there (the shelter we got our guinea pigs from fed them water from bowls rather than bottles) and a bowl for pellets and a hay rack. The bottom floor just has an igloo. We used to have two guinea pigs, but one died. We really don't expect Rocky to last a whole lot longer. Something is wrong with him, but we don't know what. The vet suspected diabetes because he got cataracts in both eyes at the same time and diabetes can cause that, but the test was negative. He is blind now, but it doesn't interfere with him getting around at all. He has no problems going up and down his ramp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 If you own or have owned piggies as pets, can you please give me the pros and cons of these little guys? Is it better to get a same-sex pair right away or is one piggie ok? Tell me about the cage you had yours in. and anything else you might think important. thanks. We had one piggie and it seemed fine. Make sure you feed food containing Vitamin C. The piggies cannot manufacture it themselves and some commercially sold guinea pig food is deficient in Vitamin C. We had to give injections to one of ours because we purchased food that did not contain enough Vit C without knowing it and it was labeled for guinea pigs. Ask your vet which food he would recommend or check with other owners. They are generally kid-friendly and easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaillardia Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 We had a pair, m/f. She was pregnant. Babies were fun, they were born ready to run, squeak and jump, eyes wide open. My dh was allergic to them. The kids didn't like cleaning the cages. After the male piglets were about 4 mos. old they started becoming aggressive/territorial toward one another. Females together were okay. You can get them neutered/spayed, I called a veterinarian about it. At the time it was about $85 for spaying. The worst was the smell and some people are very sensitive about that kind of thing. We changed cage bedding at least once a week, every ten days was not enough for us. One important thing: I was told after having piggies that they shouldn't be given alfalfa very much at all as it can cause something...it was life threatening but I can't remember if it was internal bleeding or something that affected one of the organs. And another really important thing: they really can't take being outside in the heat. And they have to have stuff to chew on all the time. Oh, yeah, we had problems with mites at one time also which required a trip to the vet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudGrandma Posted December 24, 2012 Author Share Posted December 24, 2012 thanks for all of the tips and advice. I really appreciate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippen Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 I was more allergic to our guniea pigs than to our cats. Gingerh, I just called about getting a rabbit neutered and the quote was $300! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.