Sorry its a guinea pig question?

I thinking of maybe getting a couple of guinea pigs but how do you look after them?? How do they differ in requirements to rabbits?

Theres loads of advice and people to help on the guinea pig forum. Give that a whirl to see whether they are definitely the pet for you. I have guinea pigs (and buns and cats) and adore them.

guineas are similar, they are social, need veggies adn hay as well as some pelleted food. they are more sensitive to draughts and temperature extremes than bunnies. they need plently of space, lots of run around time etc. i would think they take about the same amount of maintenance as a rabbit. i have 8 guineas at teh moment, 5 girls together, 1 solo male (he's unsociable) and a pair of males.

Yeah id try out The guinea pig forum in my opinion guinea pigs are less work than rabbits.

I used to have piggies! They are lovely and easier to handle then rabbits but very sensitive to damp/cold weather, so are best kept inside or in an outhouse in the winter (mine lived in my greenhouse in the winter).

They are not exactly low maintenance, you need to bath them every three months and because of the damp issue, be very careful of the weather when putting them outside in a run. They are also quite prone to skin problems and chest infections.

Having said that, they are the most adorable pets and I miss the noises they make! I rescued my two (Ewok and Nutty) and they lived to 9 and 8 years old respectively (very old for piggies). The only reason I have not got anymore piggies is because those two really were irreplaceable (sp?).

They need hay veggies and also pellets as do buns but a different pellet as they have different dietary requirements.

Plenty of room for excercise but I woudl say need to be cleaned out more frequently than buns as they pee everywhere - there is no way of 100% litter training a piggie from our years of experience in having piggies :lol:

It may be wroth you ringing a rescue to find out more as many would be happy to help you and would tell you housing requirements to enable you to rescue some pigs if that's the route you choose to take

Good luck

I agree with everything that's been said. I'd say they are slightly lower maintenance than bunnies, but I have a bit of a skewed view with all the dramas I've had with my bunnies! :shock: :lol:

My ladies are the messiest things ever! They pee eveywhere. They poo everywhere. They chew everthing...but i wouldn't have them any other way!

thanks guys gives me a good idea about what it takes to look after them i'll have a good think, thanks again.

There is a guinea pig rehoming centre in Reading, this site may give you some other suggestions http://www.readingguineapigrescue.co.uk/

JellyBelly said:

My ladies are the messiest things ever! They pee eveywhere. They poo everywhere. They chew everthing...but i wouldn't have them any other way!

Click to expand...

Are your piggies anychance related to my girlies???? :roll: :wink: .You sumed it up well! Love them really though!

Amy xxx

I don't know, do your girls have messy hair and make wheek wheek noises when they here you coming?! Lol