Stuck run

[poachedegg]

Hi,

 

Have bought a hutch and have sourced our GP's - will be getting them next week (well they're for our 6 yr old daughter!) and have a couple of questions:

 

1. I have have read WHAT you need to feed GP's, but not how often.

 

2. If we were to put the hutch in the garage over winter, how do they survive without any natural daylight apart from the times they came into the house to play?

 

3. A what age is it suitable for babies to be able to live outside?

 

Any other tips gratefully received.

 

Thanks

[Chooks Aloud]

Hi

 

I've got 3 boy GPs and they all live outside in their hutch & run inside the chicken run with the chooks. They started off inside our house but within a couple of days I was having trouble breathing. Thought I was allergic to them so out they went in with the chooks. I'm not allergic just coincidental that I was going down with a chest infection.

 

However, the GPs seemed to enjoy being outside that we left them there. They were very young when they went outside (as I said, I'd only just picked them up from the pet shop) and it was in the middle of winter. The chooks and GPs amuse each other and having them outside gives them a lot more room to play - they are not just shut up in their cage, but have a large run to run around in.

 

GPs should not be put into a garage - car fumes are dangerous and they will get no stimulation, nothing to see and low light levels.

 

They certainly are little piggies my three - they scoff everything in sight. I feed them twice a day. In the mornings I give them their dried food, put greens/lettuce/carrots/cucumber/fruit, whatever I have available from the garden and also lots of hay in their hay loft. When I get home from work I do the same again, a little less on the fresh fruit & veg. I read in a GP book that hay must make up the majority of their feed, going careful on the fruit & veg, as you do not want to give them a dodgy tum. They are not daft with their dried food, they pick out their favourite bits, just like kids really, and leave the rest. I tend not to refill if they do this, but wait until they have eaten some of their 'not so favourite stuff'.

 

I stuff hay inside kitchen rolls and put them inside the run, and they have great fun pulling it out and destroying the kitchen roll.

 

I love my GPs and give them lots of cuddles. Make sure you handle them regularly to make them friendly.

 

I also regularly clip their nails, being careful not to cut into the blood vessel, brush them regularly and also bath them every few months and then give them a blow dry - which they love. I also make sure that their bottoms are lovely and clean, ucking out all the pooey bits etc (lovely) with a cotton bud. If you gently press them on their back end it sort of opens up and you can get it all out. Sorry to be so graphic, but once you've had a look you will know what I mean.

 

Hope this all helps and enjoy your GPs - THEY'RE LOVELY.

 

Karen

[poachedegg]

Hi

 

 

GPs should not be put into a garage - car fumes are dangerous and they will get no stimulation, nothing to see and low light levels.

 

 

Thanks for all the useful information. Regarding the garage - I have read several times that it is prefarable to put GP's in a garage/shed during the winter as they can't take the low temps - ours doesn't have a car in it, however would be dark............now I am confused!!

[Chooks Aloud]

Mine seem to be okay outside. I just make sure there is plenty of bedding to keep them warm and cover the hutch over with blankets. They are also inside a very big run which is sheltered and covered so they never get wet.

 

Karen

[victoriabunny]

If there's no car in the garage they'll be fine. Mine used to live in a huge run in the garage in winter that my dad built - it was fantastic, with lots of tunnels and nest-boxes for them to play in and plenty of toys to stimulate them. We put woodshavings on the floor so it wouldn't be too cold for their feet and they were very happy in it. In summer they lived outdoors. All lived to be at least seven years old so it can't have done them too much harm!

 

Where did you decide to get the GPs from in the end, poachedegg?

[poachedegg]

If there's no car in the garage they'll be fine. Mine used to live in a huge run in the garage in winter that my dad built - it was fantastic, with lots of tunnels and nest-boxes for them to play in and plenty of toys to stimulate them. We put woodshavings on the floor so it wouldn't be too cold for their feet and they were very happy in it. In summer they lived outdoors. All lived to be at least seven years old so it can't have done them too much harm!

 

Where did you decide to get the GPs from in the end, poachedegg?

 

The thing with our garage is that it doesn't have any windows - would that be a problem?

 

We are going to look at some next week from a lady who advertised on Preloved. I did contact Tameside Rescue, however they only had 2 left and they weren't what my DD was looking for. I also came across a rescue based in Lymm, however they only rehome where the GP's live inside. Our local RSPCA also don't have any, so whilst we had good intentions in rehoming GP's from a rescue place.....the reality is we were struggling to actually do it!

[victoriabunny]

Ah well, you tried?

 

Does the garage have plenty of artificial light? If so I think they'll be OK. And I assume you can have the door open a lot? Mine were always fine, as I said before. Try to give them as big a run as you have room for, but don't leave it bare - they love things they can hide in. Shoeboxes with pop-holes cut in the sides are real favourites - I used to ask in carpet shops for some of the cardboard tubes which are on the inside of carpet rolls (perfect GP size), and used them to connect shoeboxes together. They love running through it! I really love piggies, I'd love some more one day if DH will ever relent and let me get *more* animals....

[pelicano]

One of the reasons why guinea pigs shouldn't be kept somewhere dark (garage/basement etc) is because they are likely to get a vitamin D deficiency, and consequently a calcium deficiency alongside it. I really wouldn't recommend it, unless they are getting some natural light every day too.

[pacman]

I've also heard the same about keeping them in a garage and that car fumes could kill them. Not sure about the light issue. I keep mine indoors in a huge cage. Just using the eglu as a (rather expensive) run which has a bit more protection as one of my pigs was killed by a fox last year in a standard run.....any way. I digress.

 

Regarding the feeding, I feed mine twice per day. This involves:

 

- Giving them lots of fresh hay to chomp on (make sure it's good quality sweet smelling with a green tinge to it and not dusty or mouldy smelling- I have a good pet shop which buys it in from a farmer, or a horse feed supplier is a good bet). I remove soiled or damp hay.

 

- Giving them their dry feed (a complete pellet is recommended as it prevents selective feeding and them eating only the bits they like resulting decreased nutritional value)

 

- Giving them a mix of fresh feed (mine like leafy green veg, carrots, cucumber, melon skins, banana skin, tomatoes, lettuce (but not iceburg - bad for them) and i even cut grass out the garden)

 

There are two of them and I give them a handful of dried feed in a bowl each feed time, a bowl full of veg and loads of hay. Needless to say they are well covered, but very healthy. Boy, do they let you know if you are late with the feeding. Every time I open the door they squeak. There's no way I could ever forget to feed them!

 

Perry Tigger