Hello!

@sofilovespiggys
Your piggy is the cutest!!! But he really does need a friend preferably of the same gender. And if you get two you should really get a cage the same size or bigger than the recommended. Especially cos he's a male and when you get him a cage mate it's going to be a male and if the cage is too small they may fight. But you'll have to have that guinea pig in quarantine for a bit.

Hello,

Building your Own cage costs less than buying the laregest cage from a pet store. It would cost 30 to 50 dollars to build your own suitable side.

If you want the best care for guinea pigs, you have to be able to afford it.

This includes putting money aside for the Vet, making sure they have Hay and vegies daily and timothy hay based pellets. If this is something you wont be able to do, I do not recommend guinea pigs as a vet.

Before adoption please look arround on this site, there is a lot of useful information that will benefit you!

Research c&c cages (cubes and coroplast) on the internet! You can make a great cage for less than 20$. Home Depot sells coroplast AND the cubes! If you have limted space then you can build a cage that fts exactly the amount of space you have and you can build a second floor... I hope ths helped! Oh and yes, your guinea pig will be MUCH happier wth a friend....

Thanks @Bacon4EverEver and @Popcorn321 I will try and convince my mum and dad to let me but come c&c cage parts for my birthday and also let me have them living in my bedroom as he is currently living in the utility room do you think he will be ok on his own or in a slightly cramped cage until November? Also will living in the uk affect the cost of c&c cage materials a lot?

Does the room he is in have light and good air flow? Does he get a quality, timothy-hay based pellet food, unlimited hay, and daily veggies, along with attention so he isn't lonely? If so, he should be fine for a few more months. Just try and give him some floortime every day if you can. If he is nervous for a while though, that's okay! Start floortime once he's used to you being around him so floortime doesn't become scarytime*. When he is ready for floortime though, just corner off an area of a large room or use a small room with a door and let him out so he can run around. It helps to have a few places where he can hide too, both in and out of his cage so he has a few safe places to go. I'm so glad you could take this guy though--he's very cute and you sound like a very loving owner, he's lucky to have you!

Also, I'm not sure about your parents, but my own mom is the most stubborn individual I know (sorry mom, I love her but she's stubborn as can be) and she was VERY much against me using a c and c cage. She only said this after I told her about it for months and then built the thing, which was annoying, but I managed to convince her by proving how happy Bob was in his big cage. But if they do not want you to make your own cage, there IS a cheap-ish premade cage that could work for you called a midwest cage. It's a bit flimsier than a c and c and has a leak-proof canvas instead of a plastic tray, but it's the appropriate size for one pig and two can be connected to make a bigger one. How that is done, I do not know, but I do know it can be. So if they offer to buy you a premade cage instead of a DIY one, that is a very good option. If they are up to you getting him a bigger cage but not either of those, please tell us! There are so many fantastic options for cages out there...most are DIY mind you, but they're viable, like a melamine or plywood cage, or that one plywood and door cage someone made not too long ago. But my point is have options, and show them examples of cages people have built to show them what you mean. Sometimes seeing is believing, you know?

And if they are up for you getting a c and c, then FANTASTIC! Just let them know being a guy, he and his guy friend will need a cage equal to a 2x5 or a 3x4 c and c to be comfortable (boars need more space than sows, you see). But gosh, the change in happiness and health is astounding. He'll be a lot happier with more space, that's for sure! And I'll take a little look around to see if I can find somewhere to get c and c supplies in the UK, but I make no guarantee--I live in the US and wouldn't know where to find anything, but I can research.

Alright!
So I looked at some threads and I think you can get grids here: (broken link removed)
And coroplast (called correx) here: https://www.the-aluminium-shop.co.uk/correx-sheet

The total price, minus shipping, is about £45. That's about $70, which honestly isn't TERRIBLE, I mean I spent that much on my cage but I also cat-proofed it and got colored coroplast. So I'll try and find cheaper grids for you...that's WAY to expensive for grids in my opinion, but for the correx, I paid $30 for my coro so £10 (look at the 4 mm one--that's only $15 mind you) is fantastic. Hopefully I can find something a bit cheaper if that's too much.

@wombats the room he is in has a window along length of it so it is quite light but not direct sun there is good air flow too. I'm currently using up the hay he came with its not the best but its dust extracted and doesn't smell damp or musty. I was looking at beaphar meadow hay for his next one. His food is a granola type of mix which is apparently bad but he likes it and eats most of the pieces but i was thinking of putting him on Jr farm grainless pellets

Here are the list of ingredient's:

Timothy grass, orchard grass, meadow grass, plantain, red clover, meadow fescue, lady's mantle, parsley, pea flakes, diced carrots and beans flakes, diced parsnip, peppermint leaves, fennel, diced apple, flax seed, dandelion leaves, diced beetroot, nettle, chamomile flowers, black seed, vitamins

Additives:
Vitamin A (10,000 IU/kg), Vitamin D3 (1,000 IU/kg), Vitamin C (250 mg), Vitamin E (40 mg)

Which seems like a good option for him. He gets lots of different vegetables because i am vegetarian there are always plenty of options. I can give him as much attention as possible yesterday we sat out in the sun on the lawn and he seemed to be happy so i plan to buy him a little run or ark for warmer days so he can play outside while i do my outdoor chores ect. My mum is a very caring person and loves animals but it was a big ask to ask her to let me have freddy I've spoken to her about getting him a friend and she seems open to that but unsure of letting me have him up in my room. One issue with mu room is that it has full sun for a lot of the day and can get quite hot would leaving the window open be enough to keep them cool?

Awww this made me so happy to hear! He's so lucky my goodness, you and your family seem like a guinea pig's heaven. I can't say much about the food, but it seems okay to me--I'm pretty bad at judging pellets though, but the vitamin C is very good, and there's no alfalfa or other things that would catch me off guard except for the apples, but it's all natural stuff so it seems like an interesting option at least. I'd get some more input on that, though; I don't want to give you the wrong idea.

But yes, he should be just fine in the room he's in; your room's high temperature might be a problem, though. Maybe getting a fan or if you have curtains closing them halfway/all the way might help, though. If not, I hope you can work out something. And that's lovely that he's doing so well--I'm glad he likes having fun outside, but make sure it isn't too hot. Anything above 85+ can cause heatstroke, and make sure he's under close supervision when he is outside. You sound very responsible, but don't forget that. I remember when this poor person had three of their pigs pass away when it was a bit too hot outside and it was awful, the poor dears. Just be careful, but if he enjoys it, playtime in the sun will be really good for him.

I'm also very glad she'll let you get him a friend; hopefully she'll understand two pigs need more room than one and she'll let you get a c and c. I just hope this isn't too pricey; ebay is also a good option for cheaper grids, I hear, so that might be an option.

Ok thank you for all your help and advice

He's so cute I'm going to die XD

Any advice to cheer him up a bit? He's currently feeling very very sorry for himself after I noticed and removed a terrible impaction (about the size of a walnut [emoji33][emoji16])

Oh dear! Some favorite veggies or maybe a bit of fruit might cheer him up.

@wombat just as I posted this he ate some lettuce so hopefully he's perking up a little.