Person keeping pigs outside.. and in a petstore cage.

[Nikkipig]

Today I stumbled across a user who, according to his cage tour video- video is here:
, keeps his guinea pigs outside.
One is in a wooden two story hutch, and the other is in a plastic blue petstore cage in a shed.
I politely commented on his video on the fact that the cages were too small and the pigs would be safer indoors. This started a discussion between us, him saying he was sorry the pigs had to stay out. I suggested a few tips on where to keep the piggies indoors, and when I logged back on an hour later he had blown up at me?

I hope you are kidding, keep them in a bahroom[[I suggested this as a last resort fyi]] SERIOUSLY ..and i dont want a smelly room and a hall way NAW thanks .. And in a kitchen were you cook food and eat ! well tbh about 5% HUMANS IN THIS WORLD WOLDN'T keep there pigs in a bathroom or kitchen or brother or sisters room room, Dont have a spare room

Thoughts on this? Did I go too far Just wanted everyone's opinion on this.

[tboyd]

Perhaps out of context to the conversation, or maybe defensive, knowing you are right about the unhealthy cage sizes and being outside. But to keep it in perspective, if the owner of the piggies is also the same person shooting the vid and showing the cages, it seems as if he might be a child. Sounds like one, anyway, and the little bit we can see of him in the frames seems to suggest he has a young boys body, if it is indeed a boy and not a small woman. If that is the case, then perhaps he needs some educating, as all of us can benefit from at times, but does not have the impulse control to accept advice graciously at his young age.

[SweetiePig]

Well some people keep them outside, mostly in places like england and from his accent, that sounds about right. It isnt HORRIBLE that he keeps them outside cause thats where some think they belong and apparently, he is one who thinks that. Its normal to him just like its normal to us U.S. people to keep them inside. I think its up to him and if he wants to keep them outside, he can. And the cages are too small and not proper cages but there is nothing you or anyone else can do about that so why bring it up? It just causes problems.
Thats all in my own opinion.

[tboyd]

I did not think about the possible cultural differences. I suppose I just think of how the the weather is here where I live.....all extremes. Either very, very hot, or very cold, which makes for unsafe conditions even for people to be out in it for long. But then, of course, not all locales have such extreme weather. That is a good point, SweetiePig.

[Paula]

I agree 100% with SP. Patrolling the internet looking for ways you can offer what you feel is helpful advice isn't generally the most productive use of time, especially when you put people in a position of defending something that they don't feel is wrong and when the "advice" is unsolicited. I also don't think you're going to find anyone here to disagree with you or suggest that anything you said was out of line.

Long story short, I don't think anything you said is wrong but I don't think you're accomplishing much other than stirring up an internet debate. I think at this point I'd just provide some links and leave it alone.

[Jade2391]

I keep my piggies outside in a large hutch that was given to me by a friend when i was looking at buying them.I live in australia and everybody i know keeps there guinea pigs outside, they are not inside animals in my personal opinion, mine love to eat grass and there hutch gets moved around the yard daily so they can feed on it, It is a 2 story hutch were they sleep upstairs and the downstairs is a large shady run for them to relax and eat athe grass. Keeping them inside is unhygenic i think but i also dont like dogs inside or cats, maybe because we built our house and im a clean freak . I bring them inside to sleep at night in winter but even then its not that cold at all were i live in winter, i also bring them for cuddles on the weekend. I guess its a personal preference whether you keep them in or out.

[Paula]

I keep my piggies outside in a large hutch that was given to me by a friend when i was looking at buying them.I live in australia and everybody i know keeps there guinea pigs outside, they are not inside animals in my personal opinion, mine love to eat grass and there hutch gets moved around the yard daily so they can feed on it, It is a 2 story hutch were they sleep upstairs and the downstairs is a large shady run for them to relax and eat athe grass. Keeping them inside is unhygenic i think but i also dont like dogs inside or cats, maybe because we built our house and im a clean freak. I bring them inside to sleep at night in winter but even then its not that cold at all were i live in winter, i also bring them for cuddles on the weekend. I guess its a personal preference whether you keep them in or out.

In all actuality there are a multitude of reasons that pigs shouldn't be kept outside. Extremes in weather, the possibility of someone (or something) getting in and harming or stealing them, the fact that animals kept outside rarely get the same level of attention that their indoor counterparts do and therefore are likely to die "unexpectedly" because symptoms of illness that are easily caught when they are housed inside are just as easily missed when they are housed outside, and so on and so forth.

My personal opinion is that if you can't stand to have an animal in the house for whatever reason, then having the animal only to relegate it to a life outside is probably not the wisest move and isn't in the best interest of the animal. But in the end, you are right, what every individual person does with their pets is largely a personal choice, and the priority that a person puts on their pets is too. Unfortunately that doesn't always mean doing what's best for the pet.

[Aertyn]

I, also, live in Australia. I know of many people that keep them inside. It's not only better for them, but you really get to see there true personalities. My first set of pigs were kept outside and whilst I loved them, I didn't spend a lot of time out there with them. When I moved them indoors I was constantly watching them...truly fascinating creatures guinea pigs be.

Keeping them indoors is no more unhygienic than having an indoor cat or dog (and all cats and dogs should be indoors really...). My girls are kept in a pristine C+C that cost about $100 to set up. Table from Bunnings, $50, Grids $30, Lino $15. Cheaper, bigger and easier to clean than *any* hutch I have ever seen on the Australian Market.

[longlostcurls]

When I was younger we had guinea pigs and we kept them outside in my back yard. But here in Bermuda we dont have extremes. In the winter we get a little chill and summer can get a bit humid but its nothing they couldnt handle. This time around I decided to keep them inside so I would be able to keep a better eye on them and I am happy that I did as they will live much longer and will get much more attention. Sometimes I feel they are a bit unsanitary but as long as you keep their cage clean and wash your hands constantly then whats the problem. Now that I know I could never send them to be outside all alone to be watched by the neighborhood cats. That must scare the life of them. Cats come up to the cage like "I'm gonna get you." I know I would hate to be in that position. Out in England they have wild foxes right? I've heard that they are a big menace to people and animals, messing up gardens and eating small animals. To keep them outside with animals like that running around is just putting the animals at risk. If they dont wanna keep them safe then they should give them to someone who has the animals welfare in mind.

[Lumba]

We recently moved and circumstances are such that our two lovely guinea pigs Katrina and Asha now have to live outside. I have seen a lot of posts around the internet on this issue, and I've been taken back at how judgmental and even vitriolic some of the comments are about people who for one reason or another have the piggies outdoors. In our case, we don't have a choice. So I'm trying to figure out how we can help our piggies be as warm and comfortable as possible. We live in San Francisco, so the weather is not at all extreme. We bought a very nice, large two story hutch and I build a wooden platform to raise it up from the ground. We bring them inside to run around in the kitchen frequently, and we are not at all forgetting about them. Our biggest concern at the moment is how to raise the temperature a little during the rainy months. I have not seen any good suggestions yet. Please let me know if you have any good ideas. And please, please, please, don't badger me with moralizing comments about the evils of keeping them outdoors. We love our piggies, they've been with us for four years, and we are willing to spend what it takes to make them comfortable out there. But we simply can't keep them indoors in our new place.

[tboyd]

Maybe something like a heat lamp, or perhaps a heating pat/electric blanket if you could rig it up that there was no risk of chewing or getting wet.......like maybe under a padded fleece liner or something? I wish you luck with figuring out an acceptable solution.

[NotAgain_piglys]

When people are individuay "targeted" especially in our society today they feel threatened and singled out and I find it almost dangerous to do so. I personally did I similar thing a few years ago on your tube over americans keeping sugar gliders (australian marsupial), it was extremly painful as an aussie to one day see all these videos of sugar gliders being kept in bird cages. It was hard to watch as here particulary in my state most species of sugar glider are on the brink of extinction as they are so sensitive to any environmental change and encroachment. And yes I said something (trying not to be rude, but it certainly was taken that way!). The best way to change guinea's circumstances is educate the public on a wider scale so that people feel compelled to change within a group not just as an individual who was doing the "wrong" thing. I would say though that even though he reared up at you, thats he has at least thought of the pigs welfare and might have changed his setup. But he aint gunna say that now!!

[cupcake.ninja]

I used to have a sugar glider in college and I didn't have room for anything but a bird cage. I made the bedroom "glider safe" and let him loose at night to play. He mostly snuggled down on my 2nd pillow and chilled there while i slept.

I moved into an even smaller apartment a few months later (not by choice) and the landlord refused to allowed even a tiny pet. I gave him up to a lady who had a whole room in her house devoted to sugar gliders. She was really a wonderful happenstance and I got lucky that she was looking for another glider.

I don't think i had the best setup at all. I didn't research in depth the living conditions required for a SG, but i knew the diet inside and out so at least he wasn't being fed wrong.

No one ever gave me the advice i needed to fix the situation, i'm glad you guys are pretty straight forward whenever i do something stupid with my new piggies. It's nice.