money problem

Re: money problem

Yes, it can be very expensive to take care of a pair of guinea pigs. A C&C cage will be around $50, plus food, hay, water bottles, food bowls and the daily 1-2 cup of veggies. Plus you have to think about vet costs. If something what to happen to your one or pair of pigs it costs just $50 for an office visit not to mention any medications, vet services or follow up visits.

You may want to consider adoption a pair of guinea pigs when you have your own flow of money coming in. I understand that you probably want a guinea pig or two more then anything but you need to think about what would be best for the pigs. Maybe you can go to your local shelter and help socialize the pigs there. It would be very gratifying to see a guinea pig get adopted because you helped.

Or maybe check an see if there are any local guinea pig rescues. They may welcome someone wanting to come and help take care of their rescues.

Like I said above I think it would be best to wait to adopt a guinea pig or two. And you are right, if you get one guinea pig you should get two. Guinea pigs are social herd animals and benefit from having someone to pal around with.

you are right

you are right, but the only time that i could get a pig is now basically, within the next couple weeks. i cant make money then, i cna only make money in the summer (i pick blueberrys for a summer job, i am not old enough to have a real one) and i only have that much money now. so what should i do now? there is no local shelters that have guinea pigs. only pet stores. and the cages are very expensive! thats the thing that i am worried about most. how much is an average 20-gallon tank? i have read that those work good.

Re: you are right

Twenty gallon tanks are the worst container for a guinea pig. There is no ventilation which will eventually lead to an Upper Respiratory Infection - which left untreated is deadly. If a pig in your care was to have a URI it would be your responsibility to take the pig to the vet which will warrant a bill of approximately $100-$200.

Like I said I understand that wanting of a guinea pig for a pet. Don't let your love for guinea pigs potential cause you to make the wrong decision. You should wait till you are older and can financially take care of a guinea pig.

When getting a guinea pig it is your responsibility to take care of it no matter what the cost. If you don't have the flow of income then it would be best that you weight.

You also mentioned that the only pigs in your town are from pet stores. If you take a while at look over www.cavyspirit.com you will find that a majority if not all guinea pigs from a pet store will come into your house with some type of aliment. Whether it be mites, Upper Respiratory Infection, Urinary Tract Infection, Etc.

Please make the right choice that will benefit your future pet and not yourself.

Re: you are right

I got a call back today from a mother of a family who wants a guinea pig. They have been struggling to figure out how to provide the proper cage space in their home. I require 10.5 square feet for 2 guinea pigs for adoption. Period. They know that if they have to do less than that, there are plenty of shelters around here they can adopt from, too. The 10-year-old son has made the decision for the family that if they can't provide the best home for the animal, then they shouldn't do it. Smart kid. He'll go far.

what u could do

Buy sum cubes wich is only 19.99 at target then get some coroplast. maybee you should start out with one piggy then get another...mine were 20 bucks a piece. i got one at 4 weeks and had him for 3 weeks then got another that is 9 weeks old..i just got him yesterday...but anyways. go to walmart for the hay,food,water bottle and bedding.....that should costt ya maybe 15-20 dollars..GOOD LUCK

Re: what u could do

If you barely have enough money to get one guinea pig and a cage, than I would suggest you put off getting a guinea pig until you have more money. Even if you invest in enough money to buy 2 guinea pigs, a cage, hay, food, etc., you are still going to need a LOT more money to care for them, which includes, but is not limited too; vet costs, fruits and veggies, guinea pig food, and hay.

I know your love of wanting a guinea pig is strong, but please wait. You are not ready for one yet.

Re: what u could do

Not to mention bedding. The most expensive item in daily care.

Re: what u could do

I'm guessing that for my two pigs I spend per month:

Bedding: $20 * 4 = $80
Pellets: $10
Veggies:&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $10
Hay: $20

That's about $120 in basic costs per month. These are rough guesses, but I doubt they are far off.

The initial starting costs for any pet pale in comparison to the long term recurring costs.

Re: what u could do

I tell people to plan on about $25 a week, barring potential vet bills. That's on the low side.

Re: money problem

bedding, expensive? Ijust use newpaper. Its cheap and easy and saves space from the stacking of newpaper. I have my pig spend most of the time on the floor etc. But guinea pigs are VERY pricey! And the cost doesn't stop after you buy the guinea pig and such. You have a lot more to buy! There are many more cost effeciant animals. Some lizards cost less, some birds cost less in the long run, fish etc.

Re: money problem

I know this is an old thread but no animal is cheap.

<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>Some lizards cost less, some birds cost less in the long run, fish etc.



If these animals are taken care of properly they are anything but cheap.

Re: money problem

Yes all animals are very expensive. My husband says I spend more money on their food and care that I do on our family of 4.
He also says that we should pull up the carpet and just throw hay down on the floor. lol The vacuum is always getting clogged up with hay, bedding and of course dog hair. (I have a border collie) is he is shedding alot!! He also says that I should open a petting zoo. lol He loves them all as much as I do. He feeds the piggies carrot sticks, from between his teeth, it is so funny to watch.

Re: money problem

I didn't say cheap, but cost less. My brother got a gecko and it didn't cost nearly as much as my guinea pig. We already had an aquarium, crickets are cheap from where we get them, he changed the bedding less often. I prefer the guinea pig (but if I could of gotten a snake... lol) Bedding is cheaper for birds from what my friend tells me. Everyone says I spend too much for the guinea pig, and I do sub a lot of stuff (the bedding I use is newspaper) for the C&C cage i'm building instead of using more grids for a base and then the chloroplast they step on, I just put chloroplast attatched directly to the grids and then the chloroplast in a form of a box on top. Guinea pigs are VERY expensive in comparison to some other small pets. It depends how much you will spend for their cute lil faces.

Re: money problem

I think the cost really depends on the type of care that is given to an animal. A gecko, for example, if set up in an adequate habitat and maintained can cost a pretty penny.
Typical "bedding" for birds is a cage liner of newspaper. When you add on avian care, toys and high quality food they rank up just as expensive as guinea pigs if not more. The price of bird toys is ridiculous.
Guinea pigs are very expensive though. I hope the original author of this post decided against purchasing a guinea pig.

Re: money problem

As do I. If I had to stop at $120 to pay for my guinea pig I think my guinea pig would die of unpampering lol.

Re: money problem

I used to spend every little bit of money I had on my hamster and now the guinea pigs have taken her place!!I have just got a saturday job(i'm 15) so the pigs are going to be even more spoilt!!

money problem

Cubes and Metal bottom doesn't cost alot! The cubes at CostCo are around 18+tax, and the metal is around 9+tax per sheet. And it is easy to make! Put you need duck tape around the eding, so you nor your piggy will get caught! And for floor time, you can have your piggy on your bed( if on your bed you can use underpads, which pee doesn't go throught, those are around 7.99 but work Great!) And you can get pet suppiles at garage sales or the flee market. And a monthly or yearly vet check isn't a month! My cavies only see the vet if they are ill or sick or need their teeth trimmed, but other than that, I can check their health by myself. And they don't need veggies everyday, but it is good for them to have veggies everyday. And if you get a 8 pound bag of guinea pig food, it will last you a great while! And I know the price of pigs at the pestore! 26+tax!!! That is alot! It is better to go to a feed store that carried guinea pigs. They are around 9.99 where I live. And they don't have the vet checks, but if you pick out a healthy one you shuold be just fine! And at feedstores you can get a flake of hay, or a bale if you want it to last for months. And a bale of Timthoy hay cost about 6-8 dollars + tax. And for hay racks, you can bind a creative cube, and hay it up with cable ties. And for the food dish, you can buy one, or use a soild hamster wheel, or use a CLEAN NEW soap dish. For the water bottles, Wal-mart sells them for a good price. Lee's Feed and Westren Store is in Shingle Springs( If you live that close) and they have thigns for a great price! And for the little houses, you can just use cardboard boxes, with holes in them, and bedding, and when they get really soild you can throw them away and get a new one. And for more info vist my site at: darcymonkey.tripod.com/cavycorner/ or e-mail me at: [email protected]

Darcy

You never know

It's great if you can find ways to lower your guinea care costs, but the bottom line is that you need to have the money available JUST IN CASE. My baby guinea boy jumped right out of my arms and broke his leg, so not only did that cost an arm and a leg (pun intended) to fix, it was a good thing I'm grown up and have a car to take my pig to the vet! My mom was like, "How much does it cost to get a new guinea pig?" The point is, hard as it is, you need to wait because you never know what you may need to pay for.
If there are shelters in your state, you may be able to *foster* guinea pigs for them in your home. They may provide the food, cage, etc. This would be a great way to have piggy experiences without the risk. Check www.petfinder.org to find shelters.

Pig costs

You can save yourself a fair amount of money by spending your time and effort instead. First of all you should devote some good time into finding somewhere to give you cheap correx. It can get pretty pricey if you don't use a bit of initiative. Call around, ask around, and be prepared to go to unknown stores that may or may not have a good bit of correx for you. If you are lucky you could get yourself a reasonably sized sheet for a couple of dollars (I guess you are american?). Cubes can also be expensive (and bloody hard to find) whereas you can buy wood in bulk cheaply, and chickenwire and nails costs next to nothing. Be prepared to put the effort in and make yourself a cage. It's not hard - a bit of measuring, sawing, banging in nails, really not that hard. I managed it and I'm no older than you are. You can find unwanted pigs that may cost you nothing at all, or not much. You can use hay for bedding, and it does not cost much. HOWEVER - i strongly suggest that you look around for a job first. Do you want the responsibility of animals that you can't afford? Imagine how you'd feel if you found something wrong with one of them one day but couldn't afford to take it to a vet, and it died as a result? Wait until you are sure you can afford it, and more importantly get back-up. Talk to your parent(s) about it first, and ask them if they'd be willing to put money towards the pigs if it was needed. Remember it's not the end of the world if you have to wait a while for your pigs - it'll just make it even better when you do get some. Sorry for the long post, but I know how you feel and reckon there's nothing to stop you if you are prepared to put the time and effort in.

ps. if you are english and money is a problem, just wait until sixth form and you'll get EMA.