Housing your Guinea Pig
In the Southern Hemisphere... Hot summers and fairly cold winters inland. The cold has never bothered me with my piggies (except the Skinnies) as we never seem to get cold enough. But the heat, has proven to be lethal to so many Guinea Pigs left out in the blistering sun.
In the Northern Hemisphere ... Cold summers and even colder winters. leaves the cages damp with the consistent battle of keeping cages dry and clean from the damp. The damp causes respiratory issues in the Guinea Pigs.
My husbandry as a guinea pig breeder has changed and evolved through the years. Learning and discovering through so many different experiences, from our wild rats to other breeders bad husbandry and heat, cold and damp, mites and....
The modern trend of keeping Guinea Pigs on Fleece has left many breeder/pig owners broken hearted, due to the lack of natural environmental day to day needs of a Guinea pig.
In the Northern Hemisphere ... Cold summers and even colder winters. leaves the cages damp with the consistent battle of keeping cages dry and clean from the damp. The damp causes respiratory issues in the Guinea Pigs.
My husbandry as a guinea pig breeder has changed and evolved through the years. Learning and discovering through so many different experiences, from our wild rats to other breeders bad husbandry and heat, cold and damp, mites and....
The modern trend of keeping Guinea Pigs on Fleece has left many breeder/pig owners broken hearted, due to the lack of natural environmental day to day needs of a Guinea pig.
The correct way to equip the above type of cage would be to put a layer of large wood shavings on the base of the cage. Large shavings are very important as fine shavings can cause a fine wooden dust in the air that in turn will effect the respiratory system of your beloved Guinea Pig. A thin layer of hay should be placed over the hay, this would serve as bedding and a daily nutritional requirement for a healthy Guinea Pig. Fresh water in a water bottle, accompanied by a quality Vitamin C enriched food.
The above cage is typically used as an indoor cage. The large debate when keeping Guinea Pigs outside, starts with what type of cage should be used and if they should be housed outside at all?
The above cage is typically used as an indoor cage. The large debate when keeping Guinea Pigs outside, starts with what type of cage should be used and if they should be housed outside at all?
The above examples at cages are available at most of the larger pet outlet stores. On the case of these cages a layer of hay would be placed on the bottom of the cage to be used as bedding and a daily nutritional requirement for a healthy Guinea Pig. The Cage that is placed on the lawn comes with a warning... Dogs can often dig around the cage, especially the terrier type dogs and then gain access into the cage from below and kill your Guinea Pig. The second warning, is to avoid this happening people often place wire on the bottom. However when moving the cage on the grass, the Guinea Pigs leg can be easily caught in the wire and broken by the weight of the cage when being pulled along the grass.
The third most popular and modern way of keeping Guinea pigs is on fleece indoors. There are various different options on cage sizes and styles as shown below. The idea is to have fitted fleece on the floor of the cage, and hay is fed from a hay rack placed in the cage. This is not my personal favorite, but many new Guinea Pig owners are housing this way as seen below.