Keeping guinea pigs is a wonderful hobby for kids and for adults. For this reason guinea pigs are a popular pet. However if you’re thinking of buying your first piggy you do need to put some thought into how you will house your guinea pig.
Your new piggie will be kept in a guinea pig hutch in most cases. They can be kept indoors or outdoors although if kept outdoors you should be aware that they can be subject to stress from excess heat or cold. But before you buy your first guinea pig house you need to be aware of several things.
The majority of cages you find in pet shops or on the Internet are way too small, and will subject your new family members to a cramped lifestyle lacking in exercise and fun. Of course the reason that most people end up with a cage that is too small is that the smallest hutches are the cheapest. You need to make every effort to ensure that the hutch that you buy for your favourite pet is sufficiently large even if it means spending some extra money.
The best way to end up with a nice large guinea pig cage that is sufficiently spacious and not too expensive is to build your own. If you scrounge some second-hand materials you can build a hutch very cheaply.
But you should also understand that guinea pigs get bored easily and will still need entertainment even if they have a nice large hutch. The best way to provide entertainment for your guinea pig is to provide him with a companion, thoug you do need to research which sexes go together and which do not.
If you put 2 males together you can have fighting, and if you put a male with a female you’ll end up with lots of baby guinea pigs unless you desex one of them, or unless you separate them which defeats the whole purpose. The best combination is to buy 2 young females and house them together.
And you’ll also need to provide something for your piggies to chew on as their teeth grow continuously and they need to chew to help wear them down. A piece of wood is sufficient and if they don’t have this they will chew on their hutch. As well they need a constant supply of fresh hay and some playthings such as plastic pipes or boxes for them to play in.
Guinea pigs make fine pets. However a little forethought is necessary when choosing their hutch, to ensure you have one of inadequate size with plenty of playthings, and you need to know how many guinea pigs will go in the hutch and what sexes they will be before you buy.
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