New Guinea Pig Owner Questions

[reisixx9]

Okay, I have a few questions.

1. I'm going to get two guinea pigs, but only if I can figure out a sure-fire safe way to keep them if I get a cat. Would I just have to keep the cat out of the room that they're in? Maybe get a top for my cage?

2. Is just fleece over towels sufficient bedding? If so, how often do you clean it? Anything else I should know?

3. I've never had two guinea pigs at a time. I know they're very sociable animals and I've seen many people house their pigs together, but I can't help but worry when putting two pigs together. Will they be okay?

4. I've researched the proper size for a cage, but I wanna know what you guys think. Is 70x105cm enough for two pigs or should I try for something more like 70x140cm or 70x175cm?

[Whimsy]

1. I hav a cat and she doesn't care about the guinea pigs at all, but I would get a top for your cage for sure, just in case your cat is really curious.
2. I used fleece over towels and it worked great. I would change the fleece everyday (or at least shake off all the poos) and wash it all and clean the cage every week. More if the cage is small.
3 somebody else will be better at answering this, but I had a male and a female (spayed) and it was great. Two males can be a problem, but I think two girls would work well.
4. Have you looked into c&c cages? They're easy to make and I think cheaper than a store bought one. You can make them as big as you want, with levels and dividers etc.

Good luck. I'm looking forward to seeing pictures of the piggies 😀

[3piggles]

I've had cats with guinea pigs for years, and never had a problem. A friend who had a lot of pigs and a huge cage had a cat who used to jump into the cage and sleep there, with the pigs. I don't think cats are a problem, but if you are concerned, any rigid cover of the cage should do the job.

Using these shelves definitely solves that problem, allows air to flow through and keep the cage air fresh, etc. : www.webstaurantstore.com/metro-1836nc-super-erecta-chrome-wire-shelf-18-x-36/4611836NC.html?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=GoogleShopping&gclid=CjwKCAjwsqjKBRBtEiwAkWyN35TU7_SauZpcgUEExbyT7UZuK0PDdG4tfBcwADhMOxJxA_wCXo5DZBoCYp8QAvD_BwE

Also, the grids for C&C cages, zip tied together, make a good top, though I wouldn't do that over a long span. If you plan to have a cage more than 2 grids deep, I'm not sure how well it would work. I found this example: www.guineapigcagesstore.com/candc-cage-covered-deluxe-narrow-jumbo

[reisixx9]

Jun 21, 2017 13:44:38 GMT Whimsy said:

1. I hav a cat and she doesn't care about the guinea pigs at all, but I would get a top for your cage for sure, just in case your cat is really curious.
2. I used fleece over towels and it worked great. I would change the fleece everyday (or at least shake off all the poos) and wash it all and clean the cage every week. More if the cage is small.
3 somebody else will be better at answering this, but I had a male and a female (spayed) and it was great. Two males can be a problem, but I think two girls would work well.
4. Have you looked into c&c cages? They're easy to make and I think cheaper than a store bought one. You can make them as big as you want, with levels and dividers etc.

Good luck. I'm looking forward to seeing pictures of the piggies 😀

1. Thanks!
2. Do you wash the towels everyday Too? How many towels do you put down?
3. Thanks
4. Unfortunately C&C cages are way too hard to come by and very expensive in Australia. I am buying storage cubes and making my own.

I'll be sure to post tons of pictures!

[reisixx9]

Jun 21, 2017 16:59:32 GMT 3piggles said:

I've had cats with guinea pigs for years, and never had a problem. A friend who had a lot of pigs and a huge cage had a cat who used to jump into the cage and sleep there, with the pigs. I don't think cats are a problem, but if you are concerned, any rigid cover of the cage should do the job.

Using these shelves definitely solves that problem, allows air to flow through and keep the cage air fresh, etc. : www.webstaurantstore.com/metro-1836nc-super-erecta-chrome-wire-shelf-18-x-36/4611836NC.html?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=GoogleShopping&gclid=CjwKCAjwsqjKBRBtEiwAkWyN35TU7_SauZpcgUEExbyT7UZuK0PDdG4tfBcwADhMOxJxA_wCXo5DZBoCYp8QAvD_BwE

Also, the grids for C&C cages, zip tied together, make a good top, though I wouldn't do that over a long span. If you plan to have a cage more than 2 grids deep, I'm not sure how well it would work. I found this example: www.guineapigcagesstore.com/candc-cage-covered-deluxe-narrow-jumbo

Why wouldn't you use the zip tie solution over a long span?

[Whimsy]

The c&c cages are just grids you put together, but if you can make something else yourself, that's great too. I'm looking forward to seeing pictures.
I didn't (my guinea pigs passed away) wash the towels more than once a week. I had two towels under the fleece and just changed the fleece everyday. As long as the top layer is dry, the pigs should be fine.

[reisixx9]

Jun 21, 2017 23:19:07 GMT Whimsy said:

The c&c cages are just grids you put together, but if you can make something else yourself, that's great too. I'm looking forward to seeing pictures.
I didn't (my guinea pigs passed away) wash the towels more than once a week. I had two towels under the fleece and just changed the fleece everyday. As long as the top layer is dry, the pigs should be fine.

I'm so sorry to hear about your pigs. Thank you for all the help.

[Bean]

I've never had cats, but if I did, I would definitely have a lid on my cage! It depends entirely on the cat, but for the long periods when no one's around to keep an eye, it would give me enormous peace of mind. I have a few friends with cats who have said they would never offer to look after our pigs at their houses (while we're away) as their cats are serious hunters and experts at getting into things, and they just wouldn't trust them, even with cages with lids. Having catsat for them and collected the mice/ birds they've caught, I can definitely see their point!

The bigger the cage you can get, the better. The more space they have, the happier and healthier they will be. I think 60cm x 120cm is the minimum recommended size for two guinea pigs (the Cavy Cages website says 76cm x 127cm), but anything you can add onto that will give them a lot more fun!

I found the cable ties worked well for the cage - I prefer them as if you use the connectors, it reduces the internal dimensions of the cage a little. They were sturdy and it made it easier if we needed to move the cage (upstairs or to someone else's house) as once you took the correx box out from the inside, it just collapsed a bit rather than needing to be dismantled. If you're adding a lid, it may make the frame a bit weaker though.

When I use towels and fleece, I usually sweep daily and then wash everything every few days. The pigs are in my living room and I have a very sensitive sense of smell, so it'd probably be fine for longer than that but I like to nip any odours in the bud!

As for pairings, two females are generally fine and male:female pairings generally work well, but one would need to be neutered. Usually it's the male as it's a far less invasive and therefore safer operation for males.

Lots of people have two males and it works fine, but they do tend to need more space and adolescence can be a tricky time, especially if they're the same age and both going through it at the same time. If one male is older than the other that can help. I don't know where you plan to get them from, but rescues have often paired up boars, so you have the security of knowing they've already bonded.

This is a great page on their social life.

It's definitely the right thing to give them company of their own kind. Even if you're a super attentive owner, there will still be long periods of time when they're on their own and they're social creatures with a need to communicate. I love watching them interact - they all have such unique relationships with each other, as well as the bond they have with their owner.

[3piggles]

The more grids you zip tie together, the more flexible the whole cover would be. If a cat jumped onto a large cover, I think it would act more like a trampoline than a cover, and probably scare the pigs. It would hold, as a suspension bridge holds, but you wouldn't always want to be on it. If you could find braces for the grids, that would give it more rigidity, I think you could make the cover any size you wanted.

You also want the cover to cover the whole cage, so if you have a really large cage and a really large cover, the cover could be hard to get out of the way when you want to access the cage. So just make the cage/cover a manageable size, and you should be okay.

When I used towels under the fleece, I found the towels started to smell very quickly in hot weather. You want 100% cotton towels, and the thicker, the better. You may need a couple of towels some times, and more towels other times. It depends a lot on how soaked they get, the temperature, what the pigs ate, etc.

I bought 100% cotton terry cloth by the yard, and cut it to fit the cage. That was okay, but they pee more where they spend the most time, so you almost want extra padding under where they stand to eat and drink, and under their sleeping areas. I know that doesn't really answer your questions, but the amount of towel padding you need depends on a lot of things.

Also, when washing the cage bedding, use unscented detergent, and no fabric softener. Pigs live really close to their bedding, so any scent is greatly magnified to them than to us. The fabric softener limits the absortiveness of the fleece and toweling, making them less effective.

I also advise you to line your cage with something like self-adhesive shelf paper you can remove when it get stained, and replace. It will keep the bottom of the cage looking cleaner, and it doesn't cost much. Buy the worst patterns. No one will see it Cage bottoms do get fouled, and they can be pretty gross, despite regular cleaning.