Are hutches so bad?

[cavy-cool-crazy]

Originally Posted by SaraCB

Hate to be the devil's advocate, but we are after all talking about animals that did for years and still do in some parts of the world live in the wild.

Yes cavies are still in the wild, but they are not like the ones we keep today. The ones we have have been domesticated, meaning that they have been bred to be a different way to wild guineas.

Domesticated animals should not be kept as they would have been in the wild. Have you ever seen a wild cavy beg humans for food? Have wild piggies jumped on your lap to be cuddled? Have they licked your nose? This is what domesticated cavies learn to do; wild cavies would be much harder to tame in such a way.

We look after our piggies because we love them and want to keep them well and happy, not for our own good. I respect your opinion, but no-one on this site can say "I do everything for my pigs to make me feel good about myself".

[VoodooJoint]

Originally Posted by SaraCB

I think that a well-kept hutch with enough room is perfectly fine. It's been done successfully for decades and decades.

Whatever it takes for you to feel better about yourself and your shoddy treatment of your pets, right?

This site was specifically built to promote LARGE, INDOOR housing. It doesn't matter what your excuses are. We feel that you treat your animals like livestock. There is not one thing you can say to change our minds.

[ilovpiggiesthei]

So will you tell people on your forum to stop trying to convert others into using cc .

[VoodooJoint]

Originally Posted by ilovpiggiesthei

So will you tell people on your forum to stop trying to convert others into using cc .

Nope, You will just have to deal with it.

[Piglet]

Oh for pete's sake, CCC summed it all up. Wild cavies look nothing like the one's we have domesticated - I'm sure they have a different coat. I don't give good care to the pigs so that I feel better. I do it because they are my pets and not my livestock

[Percy's Mom]

Maybe I'm just slow, but have the people that complain about cage sizes and what they're made off and keeping piggies housed inside not even GLANCED at the cavycages homepage before they start posting? If you breeze over it, it is so blatantly obvious that this whole website promotes larger/indoor cages and that C&C is one of the least expensive ways to accomplish this. I would think that the photo galleries, instructions, where to find supplies links etc would pretty much get the point across even if you never read any of the postings in the forum.

[Piglet]

Exactly! It's ridiculous when people say that we should stop promoting C&C cages since they're not the only option. Hello? This whole website and forum is dedicated to these type of cages

[2pigs4rats]

As an Englander who has kept my guinea pigs both inside and out, I can honestly say that they have brought me so much more love and are a lot more fun since they have been living inside. I used to come home from work and think - oh I'd better go and feed the piggies now. Whereas now I can't wait to leave work, rush home feed the piggies and play with them for ages, because they are "there" and I have realised how much fun they are and how much more responsive to me they have become since being inside.
My pigs never got sick whilst they were outside but they are now a lot happier and have more character because they are always by my side or popcorning around their cage instead of being huddled in the corner trying to keep warm, or stretched out next to an ice pack trying to keep cool.

[Kriket]

Originally Posted by SaraCB

It's lovely that most of us choose to do so well for them, but we must realize that a lot of it is anthropomorphism. And I suspect that a great many flaunt their piggie "pampering" to make themselves feel good. Just my opinion.

I just had to say something to this. Thats RIGHT, I do tell people how well I "pamper" my piggies because it makes me feel good. It makes me feel good to know that they're happy, healthy, and that that one person I talk to might just think "Hey, maybe my hutch/petstore cage/storage box IS too small...WOW!" And then go and build a C&C cage or an alternative. I talk about how "spoiled" my piggies are so that maybe people will start taking beter care of their own. And it does make me feel good when I talk about pampering my pigs. I have them in a C&C and right now I feel that the one I have isn't big enough. I can't imagine having them in something so small that they can't run around and jump and be happy.

[homeschoolmama]

I get SO tired of hearing how cavies can & do live outside, so it's perfectly okay to keep them outside. Yes, wild cavies do live outside just fine, and live perfectly normal lives. But not in this country. Yes, wild piggies can withstand some relatively harsh climates. But not confined in a wooden hotbox. Cavies live in the wild, in tunnels underground. Do the people with outdoor cavies have tunnels in thier backyards? Cavies in the wild are able to bury several feet underground to escape extreme heat & cold. They don't stick their noses out in it, and certainly don't stay in it 24/7. And cavies in the wild are able to escape predators, by running away. How is a cavy supposed to run away from a snake, when it's stuck in a cage? And yes, they can get into just about any cage that's out there.

Now I have nothing wrong with letting your piggie outside in a supervised run for some freerange grass nibbling. But living outside? Eugggh!

[Becky cavy mad]

My piggies live outside in a nice hutch which my dad has made waterproof and he has insulated it by putting a thick old duvet in some tough plasticand putting it on the roof, put old clothes in bags and nailed the to the sides of the hutch, put bales of straw it dustbin bags and put them on the top and at night the duvet drops over the front to keep the wind out. I would love to have them inside but my dad won't let me and we would only have room for a tiny cage.In the summer the hutch is moved into the shady part of our garden and a few of the clothe bags are taken off.

[VoodooJoint]

Originally Posted by Becky cavy mad

My piggies live outside in a nice hutch which my dad has made waterproof and he has insulated it by putting a thick old duvet in some tough plasticand putting it on the roof, put old clothes in bags and nailed the to the sides of the hutch, put bales of straw it dustbin bags and put them on the top and at night the duvet drops over the front to keep the wind out. I would love to have them inside but my dad won't let me and we would only have room for a tiny cage.In the summer the hutch is moved into the shady part of our garden and a few of the clothe bags are taken off.

Sounds lovely. So nice in fact that maybe you should try living in it.

[Percy's Mom]

Becky - The description of your cage sounds like there is absolutely no light or ventilation whatsoever.

[Becky cavy mad]

There is light from the wire part and the air comes though their too. the flap at night does'nt go down really tight, so they can breath.please don't be sarcastic I'm only telling you about my hutch, I would have them inside if my dad let me.

[daftscotslass]

Originally Posted by Becky cavy mad

There is light from the wire part and the air comes though their too. the flap at night does'nt go down really tight, so they can breath.please don't be sarcastic I'm only telling you about my hutch, I would have them inside if my dad let me.

What you described might keep the drafts out but I can assure you that it does not keep them any warmer other than that. I tried something similar a long time ago and it didn't stop my guinea pig contracting pneumonia due to the temperature - and that was in a brick outbuilding, not even outside. I will also add here that in the UK we are due one of the coldest winters since 1995/6. The temperature here plummeted to -25C then - I really hope it is 30 degrees warmer in England than in Scotland for your piggies' sake!

I wasn't "allowed" my guinea pigs inside either. So, when the above happened I made a conscious decision not to keep guinea pigs any more until I had my own place and could keep them inside. As I've said in many a thread, I learned the hard way.

[Becky cavy mad]

I can't give them away though it would break my heart to see them go. most people have a hutch outside with nothing to protect them from the cold or anything so I just can't give them away, my mum said these are the last pets we will have, but when I'm older and have my own place I will have lot's of piggies in a huge c & c cage.

[daftscotslass]

Originally Posted by Becky cavy mad

I can't give them away though it would break my heart to see them go. most people have a hutch outside with nothing to protect them from the cold or anything so I just can't give them away, my mum said these are the last pets we will have, but when I'm older and have my own place I will have lot's of piggies in a huge c & c cage.

No no no, I was never saying give them away. You are doing the best you can while you're living at home, as I did. You could whinge a bit more at your parents though! Not that it worked very well for me when I lived with my mum. Possibly best wait until you're older before adopting any more piggies, though, that's what I was meaning.

[Becky cavy mad]

thanks daftscotlass for understanding some people on here are really sarcastic.

[daftscotslass]

Originally Posted by Becky cavy mad

thanks daftscotlass for understanding some people on here are really sarcastic.

It's OK. It's really hard when you desperately love your piggies and when they pass on it is really tempting to get more and it was hard for me to make the decision to wait several years until I moved out. Whinge all you can, show them this page etc to try and turn them round in the meantime - you never know you might get lucky!

[CavyCrew]

I have 2 of my single guinea pigs indoors, (1 cannot be bonded for various reasons the other is very soon to be bonded with another) I love having them indoors and in an ideal world yes my other 3 would be indoors aswell but its just not possible for alot of people!! My guinea pigs are perfectly happy, they live in a summerhouse thats insulated and soon to be heated, in a large hutch. We spend alot of time with them every day either bringing them in or staying outside with them, when it gets below 0 degrees they come indoors, but the cage isn't big enough for every day use. We don't have room for a large indoor cage. Are you suggesting that because it is not possible for the 3 guinea pigs to live indoors that I shouldn't have rescued them? That they might be destined to a life of misery with somebody else who doesnt feed them and lets them live in their own dirt? I think not.