Soon to be New Piggy Owner, Have some Questions :)

First, you're going to need different food, Kaytee is very very bad. You should go for Oxbow timothy hay and pellets (Found in some stores) Or KMS which is found online here: (broken link removed) Also you can read here about guinea pigs social like: Guinea Pigs Social Life

Depending upon where you live, Sweet Meadow timothy pellets are also an option and can be ordered online. They're less expensive for me than Oxbow or KM and are also a quality brand.

A quick word on the Kaytee Fiesta food-
I do feed that to my guinea pigs, but I've been thinking about changing because it does have a lot of fillers. My pigs also pick out all those fillers and eat them and leave the pellets, which is what they actually need. One of my pigs has also gotten one of the fillers stuck in her tooth and couldn't close her mouth, and she couldn't get it out without my assistance.

As I still do use it myself, I'm not telling you what to do I'm just suggesting that after you're done with that bag you might want to think about switching!

Anyways, you sound pretty prepared! I especially love the big cage. Pigs love pillows and beds in addition to hidey houses, so if you're feeling ambitious one day, you or your family should make some!

Regarding the third piggie.
I've heard that boars rarely work in threes. I've read about people who have kept pigs for years and can't get them to work as a trio, you have to have the right mix of personalities or else it could fail and you might have to separate one of them.

Unfortunately they're correct about the Kaytee brand pellets. They are alfalfa based, which could potentially cause a build up of calcium in your little guys urinary tract. Timothy based is much healthier for them. The brands that they listed above are much better for your babies (I use oxbow, which I can find online and one bag will last a LONG time since they only need about 1/8 of a cup to 1/4 cup a day).

The cage looks awesome!!! They're going to be very happy in it and it will reduce the potential for any fighting between your boys.

Now, I myself use the Kaytee brand timothy hay. I have heard a lot of people doubt the quality of the Kaytee hay, but I've had no issues with it. It's green, healthy and my piggies love it. My only suggestion as far as that goes, is that you get the much bigger bags. My 2 females that I started with originally could go through one of the mini bales a week. I hope this helps and I am glad that you are so excited about it!

The only other supplies that I would suggest that you get is another food bowl and another water bottle. Especially with boys, the less potential you give them for fighting the better. I would suggest 1 food bowl, 1 water bottle, 1 hide per piggie. It doesn't matter which ones they use, just that they don't have to share if they don't want to.

As for the 3rd piggie, it's really up to you. If you want to have 3, that's fine. You might wanna wait until you can build the cage a little bigger (boars usually need a little more space than recommended size, just because they can get a little more aggressive than sows). *Your cage looks plenty large to me, but until you get them all in there, there's really no way to know whether or not they're going to be ok with it.* Either way, just make sure that when you introduce them, it's either into a newly renovated cage or a just cleaned top to bottom cage. Boars (some sows too) have a tendency to mark their territory and it's best to make sure that the cage is completely free of any of those markings before you add a new herd member (that means all the hides, food bowls, water bottle and sides of the coroplast and cage too), it will help reduce the chance of them ganging up on the newbie.

Welcome to the cavy community and I wish you a wonderful life of happiness with your piggies!

Welcome @3 Little Piggys! We'd love to see pictures when you get your little guy.

I have a couple of suggestions.

A lot of us really don't like pigloos. The pig sits in its own waste, and inhales the fumes from it. They've also usually only got one door, so one pig can trap another in them. Hideys that have two entrances and exits are far better. Step stools from the dollar store work well, as do upside-down shoe box bottoms with holes cut in the ends. You can see lots of suggestions in the Photo Galleries.

Second, most things Kaytee makes are crap. They'll do in a pinch, but aren't very high quality. Depending on where you are, you can order much better pellets from (broken link removed) (and the price will be about the same, even including the shipping), or buy Oxbow or Sweet Meadow.

Buying hay in the pet store is absolutely the most expensive way to buy it, hands down. If you live anywhere near hay growing country, you should be able to get a whole bale for less than $10. If not, you can order it online and pay shipping, get far better hay, and still pay way less than you'll pay buying it in small packages at the pet store.

With two males, I'd have two water bottles and two pellet dishes, just in case they decide they don't want to share.

It's not the alfalfa that makes Kaytee so bad. It's some of the other ingredients. One of the recommend brands of pellets is Mazuri 5664 which is an alfalfa based pellet. Mazuri 5664 is also a good pellet to feed, but feed no more than 1/8 cup a day. Timothy pellets can be fed up to 1/4 cup a day.

I use pigloos. I just make sure I wash them regularly to keep them clean. My guinea pigs are on fleece so I sweep up droppings multiple times a day and move the pigloos around to different spots in the cage. They're made of plastic and have ventilation holes on top so they don't absorb urine like wooden structures will and are well ventilated. I'd stay away from those without ventilation holes. My guinea pigs have never fought over them but that's because they're bonded. When you introduce new ones, they might compete for hay, water, food or best spots in the cage, with or without pigloos or other hideys.

Welcome to the form, I would thing with three males bigger is better. If you plan on trying to add a third piggie make cage bigger. Dont buy foods with seeds or colored pieces or dried veggies.
I personally feed my piggs kaytee hay and they eat it just fine. Dont forget your veggies bell pepper, baby carrots, cilantro and grape tomatos can be given daily.

Hello, I am new to the world of cavies too! However I do know that for every group of female guinea pigs there can only be ONE neutered male. You can add another male. A younger male is usually a good idea if the pair is adult. If the pair is still young, adding an older male usually works and a young one could work but perhaps not as well as an adult. You should go to Guinea Pigs Social Life that is where I got my information from. Hope I helped!

pinky said:

It's not the alfalfa that makes Kaytee so bad. It's some of the other ingredients. One of the recommend brands of pellets is Mazuri 5664 which is an alfalfa based pellet. Mazuri 5664 is also a good pellet to feed, but feed no more than 1/8 cup a day. Timothy pellets can be fed up to 1/4 cup a day.

I use pigloos. I just make sure I wash them regularly to keep them clean. My guinea pigs are on fleece so I sweep up droppings multiple times a day and move the pigloos around to different spots in the cage. They're made of plastic and have ventilation holes on top so they don't absorb urine like wooden structures will and are well ventilated. I'd stay away from those without ventilation holes. My guinea pigs have never fought over them but that's because they're bonded. When you introduce new ones, they might compete for hay, water, food or best spots in the cage, with or without pigloos or other hideys.

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My mistake on the alfalfa miscommunication. Thank you for clearing that up!