Cube mk2 and WIR

[poachedegg]

Any tips on the best place to site a Guinlu - grass or slabs?

 

If slabs, how do your GP's have access to grass?

 

If grass, do they eat it all?

 

We would be looking for a permanent site - pros and cons please

[BooBoo]

Hello

 

Guinea pigs need access to as much grass as possible. Mine go out in their run everyday - its probably bigger than a guinlu run and I still have to move it each day so they can have enough grass! They LOVE grass so much they squeak with excitement as I carry them out in the morning. And unlike chickens and rabbits they don't dig or s"Ooops, word censored!"e - so the lawn isn't damaged - just neatly cut I would NEVER let my chickens on the lawn - they are the limited to exercising on the patio!!

 

I don't think a permanent site would be as good as moving them round the lawn. I don't think they would like to be on concrete - maybe create a megazorb filled run?

[poachedegg]

I thought a permanent site as we only have a small garden and also so we could peg the run down and plant around the edges.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

Would be interested to hear from others too.

[mot336]

Hi, I have 4 girl in rablu and 2 boys in piglu they are on the grass 24/7 I move them at least once a day! I'm sure a permanent site would be fine, like slabs with bark or shavings ( if run is covered) I think if you had a permanent site on the grass they would graze it far quicker than it could grow and leave a messy patch! I love my piggies in their eglus, they are worth every penny!

 

I know alot of piggie owners bring their guineas in in the winter but with the piglu with a cozy shoe box full of hay in the bed area (good excuse for a new pair of shoes once a week!) I leave mine out and they seem far happier - but thats only my experience!

 

Hope this helps and keep us updated on what you go for!

[poachedegg]

Thanks for the reply - think we will go for the guinlu and move it around the garden........will have to stop our GreenThumb treatments though....the things we do for our pets.

[SAB]

We originally had rabbits in rablu on grass, but found out the hard way (dead rabbits) that we had heavy metals in soil from old mining slag heap. We now have guinea pigs in the rablu but have move to slabs for obvious reasons, but ensure they get plenty of greens - they can see into our living room via picutre window and shout to us when they want more! They seem perfectly happy there and we no longer feel guilty that not on grass.

[poachedegg]

We originally had rabbits in rablu on grass, but found out the hard way (dead rabbits) that we had heavy metals in soil from old mining slag heap. We now have guinea pigs in the rablu but have move to slabs for obvious reasons, but ensure they get plenty of greens - they can see into our living room via picutre window and shout to us when they want more! They seem perfectly happy there and we no longer feel guilty that not on grass.

 

Thank SAB - very useful!

 

Do you put anything on the slabs? And do they stay outside in the rablu all year?

[BooBoo]

re: staying out all year in the ginlu - I would recommed you do a quick search on the G-pig forum - it has been discussed at length and there are arguments for and against.

 

I am biast (mine come in every evening and live in the utility room) but I would bare in mind that the eglu is designed to keep hardy chickens warm, not g-pigs. Perhaps when it is very cold they come in?

[SAB]

Yes mine stay out all year, but are in a pretty sheltered part of garden with house on one side and raised flower beds on the other 3 sides, so they don't get exposed to driving wind. I also have clear ikea shower curtain on top to help with rain. We add lots more bedding in winter too. When we have been worried and checked if they are fine they have been nice and warm to the touch (warmer than us standing outside checking if they are warm enough!).

 

I don't actually have anything in the way of hemp, etc in run but do put in lots of fun things - tubes, cardboard boxes with holes cut out, food positioned at various points through bars - to keep them busy and happy - they seem to love playing in their mini-agility course, then they tend to eat it (the tubes are the edible ones from pet shop and the cardboard does not seem to do any harm, though we tend not to let them eat it all!).

 

We had thought of putting hemp in for them, but they seem happy enough without.

[BooBoo]

Yes - SAB is right. If you put enough tunnels they will be happy where ever you put your guinlu!! Mine are addicted to tunnels - as soon as you put a new tunnel in their cage they HAVE to go scuttle through it - its like they can't help themsleves! V cute

[poachedegg]

Well we have been and got our Guinlu (2nd hand!) this afternoon and have have put them in it about 40 minutes ago - they haven't come out yet!!

 

Have decided to put it on the grass for the next couple of weeks and will then move it onto the patio over winter.

 

It has a green shade on it at the moment however am going to put an IKEA curtain on it tomorrow.

 

We have put a couple of layers of newspaper in the guinlu with loads of shredded paper on it and filled the hayrack with hay, so hopefuly they will be cosy tonight.