Guinea Pigs...

Lizzie · Guinea Pigs...

Or Jimmy Pigs, as they're known in our household...

Mostly as a result of this clip, we're thinking we might get a pig or two.

Now then, I had one when I was a child but that was a loooooong time ago, so does anyone know anything about keeping them?

Can they live outside all year (bearing in mind we're in Northumberland and it can get jolly cold in the winter)?
Do they eat chickweed (I think this might be the deciding factor for OH!)?
Is it better to have two, rather than one? And is it easy to tell the difference between the sexes - I can cope with two but I'd rather not have to deal with a whole herd of piglets...
Are they expensive to keep (v. important, given my expected circumstances soon)?
How long do they live?

I have it in the back of my mind that someone (could it have been Libby?) used to breed them ...

I'm not normally a fan of animals in cages, but OH reckons he could construct a pig palace and they're soooooo cute Laughing

Cabbagepatch

A pig palace! Laughing

They aren't expensive to keep and yes they can live outside but they do better with a bit of extra shelter in the colder months.

No.1 daughter took hers for walks on little harnesses and reins and trained them to jump over piggy sized showjumps Laughing

They are certainly cute (I love their piggy language) and obviously they are brilliant company if you should happen to find yourself at home everyday Wink

lloyd

And if they breed, remember they used to be bred as a food type meat source, so free food for the family. Bonus!

Old Lob

lloyd

And would you have a problem with that Stan? Wink

Old Lob

morlan75

Heee hee hee ... you two new I'd read this say nothing Laughing

xxx

Lizzie

Thanks for your input guys Rolling Eyes

And thank you CP for some rather more sensible advice Laughing

Old Lob

Libby

I used to breed guinea pigs many years ago, I am still tempted to get some more as they are so sweet.

Anyway advice:-

They will need a shed to go into in winter as they don't like damp and wind!
They are company animals so get 2 of one sex, the boars will be fine together if bought young and no females are nearby.
They have to have fresh veg everyday as they cannot produce vitamin C.
They also like fresh hay daily too.

Any other questions ask away, I probably still have my guineapig books somewhere, will have a root and see!

Kathy

We've had guinea pigs Lizzie, Still got one. they don't do well outside all the year round without extra protection. They are quite hard to s*x as babies, we bought one as a friend for Piggy,(E's choice of name) put "him" in the cage, Piggy made some of the strangest noises I've ever heard and jumped on his "friend" to erm......"be friendly." Embarassed

A very quick removal of new friend and back to the pet shop to inform them that "he" was in the wrong pen! Laughing

They do like company so better with a pair of the same gender or a rabbit, no chance of mistakes there. They do eat chickweed, are very cheap to keep and live around 4-7yrs.

They like company and can be very verbal, Piggy enjoys a cuddle and doesn't mind getting his claws clipped (this needs to be done occasionally).

Mind post photos when you get them! Laughing

Becki

I've had guinea pigs too. Sadly I had to rehome my last one because he kept 'getting jiggy' with my rabbit Laughing

I put mine in the shed in the winter to keep it out of the draught.

Cabbagepatch

Libby

I must admit its not a good idea to put a rabbit and a guinea pig together as they have different diets and I know poeple say they are OK but actually they aren't always Confused

Kathy

I meat to add to my post that our Piggy is on his own but with people always coming and going he chatters away to us and doesn't appear to be lonely.

Libby

one of my best guinea pigs, was a darling and lived till he was 9 years old!

Lizzie

Aaaaaw - I'm wavering really badly on this now! I thought I'd persuaded myself it wasn't a good idea but now I'm thinking it would be great! I love the little piggy noises they make!

If we do go ahead, I think we'd probably go for two boys (Whizzer & Chips? Hendrix and Marley? Ping and Pong? You can see I haven't thought about this a lot - ahem!) and we have an open-fronted shed that the pig-palace could live in, so they'd be sheltered from the worst of the weather. And if that's still too cold, they could always live in the greenhouse Laughing

Hmmm, decisions decisions....

Libby

go on you know you want too Laughing

Cabbagepatch

[quote="LizzieIf we do go ahead, I think we'd probably go for two boys (Whizzer & Chips? Hendrix and Marley? Ping and Pong? You can see I haven't thought about this a lot - ahem!)
Hmmm, decisions decisions....[/quote]

Idea

Ooooer, we could have a Potting Shed Piggie Naming Poll.

Followed by a Potting Shed Piggie Naming Ceremony.

Perleease can I be an Honorary Potting Shed Piggie Godmother? Wink

Libby

Lizzie

What are you lot like!

Kathy

Well.....have you got them yet?

Lizzie

Libby

In Bristol there is a Guinea Pig rescue, have you maybe got something like that by you? That way you are giving a good home to some homeless 'cavies'!

morlan578

lizzie just go get em every one needs rodents in their lives look at me with dai and elwyn (oops musnt forget eric)
I,d advise you to get hamsters but guinea pigs is just as good ,but I honestly think chinchillas are the creme de la creme if you want a larger cuddly friend thumright

I spent the day today with some of my daughters bunnies ,French lops mini lops and an english seriously good pets and full of character she has loads and each has a different personality we have taken loads of pics and been looking at them and seeing in some of them watership down characters she has a fievel a big wig a hazel and a general when we post the pics you will see what I mean Very Happy

Libby

its funny really, my girls had rabbits but they never did anything for me, we have had hamsters and rats too and sorry but I never liked them either!!
You can't beat GP's, do you think hubby would notice if I snuck some in down the garden????

Lizzie

I had a rabbit when I was a kid but I wouldn't get one now - not with a lurcher and her apprentice in the house! We've also had a pet rat (belonging to my stepdaughter) who was lovely, but as we're trying to get the dogs to control the rat population in the garden, I don't think another pet one would be a good plan either!

This is also one of the reasons why I'm hesitating about the pigs ... I wouldn't want them to end up as lunch for a hungry hound!

Libby

mmmm I had forgotten about your dogs!!!
In the summer we had runs made that went on the lawn so they got plenty of greens, and kept the laqwn mowed, when we had the dog we just had to train him to ignore them, but does that work with lurchers?? I don't know!!

Lizzie

It's more Millie I'd worry about to be honest - she much more likely to kill something in the fields. Penny more or less concentrates on bunnies but Millie will kill rats/mice/rabbits/birds/anything else she can get her paws on really Laughing

The more I think about it, the more I think it's probably a bad idea (but that doesn't necessarily mean we won't do it anyway Laughing

)