| Great choice! |
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We've had both guinea pigs and hamsters - love them both!
Guinea pigs are so much fun. Congratulations and enjoy!! |
| what kind of cage did you end up getting? where did you get your pigs? I'm thinking of getting my daughter one . . . she wants a baby - any idea where to get a baby? |
You need to get a pair. They are social animals and suffer if they are forced to live alone. |
Meh, not always. We have a single pig. She started off as a pair but the other piggie died and she has happily lived alone for the past couple years. BUT she lives in our living room/dining room area and my kid takes her out and plays with her a lot. |
We had the same experience. Best to get two females, a coed pair with one already neutered or two young males who were raised together to avoid breeding if you are getting two. Rescues are the best source if you have one local. |
| We just got our kids two piggies for Christmas, too, and we love them! We've previously had hamsters and gerbils and these are much more fun. The popcorning is adorable and their little sounds are so cute, too! I don't mind the poop at all - it was the pee that was an issue but I've managed to successfully train them to go in their litter boxes, so it's a lot less cleanup now. They didn't like their cage, so we have a playyard set up for them lined with fleece blankets and they like that much better. |
| Another vote for a pair of GPs, more fun than I thought. We got a pair of rescues. |
We go two females, but one was already pregnant when we bought her, unbeknownst to us. One of her babies, while still very little, got the other female pregnant. Learn from our mistakes! |
Any tips on how to potty train? And what kind of fleece do you like? Cage? We are going from a hamster to wanting a pair of pigs, and there seems to be so much different about the set up. |
Not the PP but for the litter box we put it right underneath their hay rack which seemed to encourage use of the litter box. For fleece, we bought no-pill/blizzard fleece from JoAnn fabric and have had good luck with it. |
Thanks. And how often does it need to be changed? Is it an every day thing? |
Awesome, OP! I was pushing for the rats (and I'm a gal, not a guy btw), but I grew up with GPs (little sister had the rats) and they're a great pet! Worlds beyond a hamster or gerbil. Enjoy, and keep considering the rats!
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For fleece, you sweep up the poop every day and wash the fleece every several days. This is where a low litter box strategically places with some litter in t can help.
The best cages are the C and C ones: https://www.guineapigcagesstore.com/standard-guinea-pig-cages Congratulations OP. |
| Thanks for all this great info on guinea pigs. My DD wants to adopt a pair. I do want to ask, is there a way to get a smaller breed? I see a few at shelters and they are huge, but then I see the ones at pet stores are smaller. Maybe they are young? I guess I wonder, do they all grow so big? Some look like bunnies! |