I'm a stay at home mom who just 4 days ago purchased 3 guinea pigs for my "kids". I'm really the pet lover, I'll admit I used my kids to convince the hubby. My first thought was one guinea pig. Then I did some reading online - most of it from guineapigcages.com. You all are great and have lots of great info. For some reason I couldn't stop at 2 so I got 3. I am the primary caregiver. Don't worry, I'm not expecting the kids to take care of them although I let them help.
I would have rescued pigs but I haven't been able to find a rescue nearby that has guinea pigs. So I went the pet store route. Please forgive me. I got 3 females, the pet store workers weren't sure of the age but they said they're between 2 and 4 months old. I'm leaning towards 2 months but I'm no expert.
I hope this post isn't getting too long, just giving a few details. I set up a "practice" c&c cage on my dining room table. I'm glad I did a practice run with cardboard because I measured wrong the first time and had to redo it. Luckily I measured on the larger side so I just had to cut down the cardboard a little more. I had too much "help" I think. The cage right now is 2X4 cubes, and when I get my coroplast today I'm going to set up a longer folding table and make it 2X6. That's about all I have room for. I'm still deciding on the permanent spot for it. At first I set it up on the floor but my 3 yr old tripped over it and fell in twice while I was just building it so I figured a table is the safest bet. I also put grids on the bottom to make it more sturdy.
I am currently using fleece, thanks so much for that idea! I think I'm going to stick with it. At first I thought it sounded crazy but then I started thinking about how much bedding it will take to fill up that huge cage and the Carefresh is $18.99 a bag so I couldn't afford that every time. Boy do they poop a LOT! I had guinea pigs as a child but I didn't remember that part! Luckily I had 2 freebie fleece blankets lying around and I just grabbed some old towels so that didn't cost me anything. Yay for free! I'm a bit of a clean freak so I clean up the poops 2-3 times a day and I've washed the fleece and towels every other day. I'm working on a litter box idea since they poop in 3 of the corners for the most part.
Okay, so I'll stop here. I just wanted to introduce myself and the pigs. The kids named them so there's Apple, Sam, and the third one's name has changed 3 times. Currently they are calling her Kitty. Hopefully we settle on a name for her soon.
I would have rescued pigs but I haven't been able to find a rescue nearby that has guinea pigs. So I went the pet store route. Please forgive me. I got 3 females, the pet store workers weren't sure of the age but they said they're between 2 and 4 months old. I'm leaning towards 2 months but I'm no expert.
I hope this post isn't getting too long, just giving a few details. I set up a "practice" c&c cage on my dining room table. I'm glad I did a practice run with cardboard because I measured wrong the first time and had to redo it. Luckily I measured on the larger side so I just had to cut down the cardboard a little more. I had too much "help" I think. The cage right now is 2X4 cubes, and when I get my coroplast today I'm going to set up a longer folding table and make it 2X6. That's about all I have room for. I'm still deciding on the permanent spot for it. At first I set it up on the floor but my 3 yr old tripped over it and fell in twice while I was just building it so I figured a table is the safest bet. I also put grids on the bottom to make it more sturdy.
I am currently using fleece, thanks so much for that idea! I think I'm going to stick with it. At first I thought it sounded crazy but then I started thinking about how much bedding it will take to fill up that huge cage and the Carefresh is $18.99 a bag so I couldn't afford that every time. Boy do they poop a LOT! I had guinea pigs as a child but I didn't remember that part! Luckily I had 2 freebie fleece blankets lying around and I just grabbed some old towels so that didn't cost me anything. Yay for free! I'm a bit of a clean freak so I clean up the poops 2-3 times a day and I've washed the fleece and towels every other day. I'm working on a litter box idea since they poop in 3 of the corners for the most part.
Okay, so I'll stop here. I just wanted to introduce myself and the pigs. The kids named them so there's Apple, Sam, and the third one's name has changed 3 times. Currently they are calling her Kitty. Hopefully we settle on a name for her soon.