General First cage setup for idiots?

Welcome to the forum!

There are four guinea pigs in Maine at Pet adoption: Want a dog or cat? Adopt a pet on Petfinder right now -- put in "small and furry" for the animal and "guinea pig" for the breed. Some rescues will hold them for you for a few weeks -- I had to wait three weeks to pick mine up because of the distance I had to travel to get them. If you're interested in any of those, you could call and see what arrangements could be made.

You can start small and add on as you like. Shoe boxes with the bottoms cut out and holes in the ends make good hideys, so do small step stools from the dollar store. Using free/cheap stuff will make it possible for your daughter to make things for the cage, and change things around as she likes.

If you don't have time to make the fleece pads, you can start with shavings, carefresh or wood pellets and switch when you're ready -- none of those require any investment. And since people who build C&C cages often remake them into different configurations, it's not a bad idea to use something disposable until you're sure you've got a design you like.

You'll need a scale to weigh them with -- anything that goes up to about 5 pounds and weighs in grams and ounces will do. You should weigh them at least weekly, and keep a record of their weights. If you notice any signs of illness, start weighing daily -- weight loss is often the first real indication that something is wrong.

Be sure to read in the Diet and Nutrition forum -- there are three "must read" threads there:

https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/diet-nutrition/22156-read-me-guinea-pig-nutrition-charts-poisonous-plants-list.html

[URL="https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/diet-nutrition/22157-guinea-pig-nutrition-charts-discussion-thread.html"]https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/diet-nutrition/22157-guinea-pig-nutrition-charts-discussion-thread.html

[URL="https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/diet-nutrition/24770-sample-veggie-menus.html"]https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/diet-nutrition/24770-sample-veggie-menus.html


[/URL][/URL]

Hello & Welcome! Glad to see you doing your research before hand.

A few things I saw lacking were the actual C&C materials themselves. When you buy a box of grids (needs to be 9x9 holes) they will come with connectors, but it's always a good idea to buy zipties to strengthen the cage. Another thing you would need is coroplast, a boxcutter, and tape. You'll need the boxcutter to score the coroplast, and the boxtape to tape it together. If you look here - How to Make a C&C Cage - it will show you how to make your cage.

A couple things I saw besides the materials you were missing would be actual food. Don't forget to get some quality hay for your piggy. I did see hay listed, but still wanted to mention it. If they are under 6 months alfalfa is suggested, if over then Timothy Hay or Orchard Grass are recommended. I would go with Oxbow (in store or online) or Kleenmamas (only can be ordered online.) Another thing you need to get are your guinea pig's pellets. If under 6 months then alfalfa based pellets are recommended, or if over 6 months then timothy based pellets. For this I suggest Oxbow or Kleenmama's again. They are the best brands with the most nutritionally valuable foods. Oxbow Cavy Performance is the alfalfa based pellets for pigs under 6 months, and Oxbow Cavy Cuisine is the Timothy based pellets for pigs over 6 months old.

Another thing you'll need/want is a hay rack. You could make a hay rack out of an extra bent grid if you'd like, or you can buy one. I say that the homemade ones work best, like this...



That is based on personal prefrence, but most people do use bent grids like this or horizontally.

Once you get your pigs you will need to have some veggies readily avaliable. Romaine, red leaf, and green leaf are the best lettuces to use (I normally buy one, then buy a different one once I run out for variety) - never use iceberg, it is very bad for pigs. Another staple to a veggie diet is green peppers. Guinea pigs cannot make their own vitamin C, if they do not get enough they can get something called Scurvy. To prevent it, you want to make sure you guinea pig is getting Vit C through their diet. So, giving 1/8th green pepper per pig is a good way of getting that to them. I also give Cilantro often because it's another good source for Vit C. A couple of treats would be 1 baby carrot per pig or one cherry tomato per pig. There are lots of other veggies, but you can read about that in the diet section.

Don't forget to get a small kitchen scale. Pigs hide their illness' and most of the time seeing a weight change is the first sign that something is off. It's always a good idea to keep track and weigh your pigs weekly.

As for adoption, hopefully someone spots this and knows the area... but check www.petfinder.com and craigslist. Those two are really good ways to find unwanted pigs.

Take a deep breath! It can be overwhelming at first, but you'll get the hang of it. Don't be nervous about asking questions if you need help with something.

I'm glad you are planning to adopt and getting everything ready before bringing your new piggies home.

Have you try searching on Pet Finder? I see three listings there. While there are not many to choose rom, they are all adorable.
Pet Search Results: Adoptable guinea Small Pets in Falmouth, ME: Petfinder

As a fleece user myself, I never liked having fleece covering the whole cage. I always have a small section of the cage that uses disposable bedding for a feeding area. I find that hay gets too hard to clean on fleece. Some people do use fleece in their whole cage, so it's really your preference.

You don't really need a ramp, some guinea pigs like them, some don't. They will enjoy tunnels though.

Hidey houses and tubes have been big hits with my pigs. Toilet paper rolls or paper towel rolls are another big hit with mine. Something else I did was also take a sheet of paper and crumple it into a ball and they pigs loved to chew on it. If you can make a cozie (like a pillow case with three side shut and one side open) those are usually big hits. Some pigs also like stuffed toys, but you do have to watch out for them eating the stuffing. Mine pretty much ignored the cat balls and wooden bird toys on the side of the cage.

Do you know the type of hay you should be getting?

Make sure to wash the fleece three times before you decide to use it, this take away the waterproofing the fleece has on it, so the pig pee can soak through.

Thank you for looking into a rescue, I am no help on recommending one since I'm not in Maine. You can try to look on petfinder for pigs closest to you, or try craigslist for people that are getting rid of their pigs.

trexgorawrrrrr said:

If they are under 6 months alfalfa is suggested, if over then Timothy Hay or Orchard Grass are recommended.

Click to expand...

Actually, piggies of all ages need grass hay (timothy, orchard, bluegrass, etc). Alfalfa s just a supplement. If the babies are being fed alfalfa pellets, they don't need alfalfa hay, and vice versa, if they are being fed timothy pellets, they can have alfalfa hay as a supplement. They'd still need grass hay.

Welcome! I see most things were covered. Just want to mention a good plain pellet. No seeds, nuts, or colored things in it. Alfalfa based if under 6 months. Timothy based for over 6 months.
The two that is most used here are Oxbow www.oxbowanimalhealth.com and kleenmama (broken link removed). Many order on line and have the products shipped to their home. Both pellets and hay can be bought on line. Piggies need unlimited grass hay. Also Purina puts out Mazuri plain pellets for guinea pigs. Mazuri can be found in feed stores, or stores that sell Purina products.

Thanks Lissie, I actually kind of forgot that. I haven't had piggies under 6 months for 6 months. I remember now that you bring it up, that they were fed alfalfa based pellets with regular timothy hay. Forgot to mention that part!

Wow, thank you all so much! I'm going to print out these replies so I can write down all the info....this forum is the best!

One followup question....does it matter where things are set up? Like, should their hay and pellets and water be all together on one side of the cage and their hideaway be on the other? Or does it not matter?

Also, how much do they eat? Do I just keep putting pellets in their food dish when it's empty? I know they should have fresh hay at all times and obviously water. And how much fruit/veg do you throw in every day? Can they eat TOO much lettuce, cilantro, peppers, etc.?

It doesn't really matter where things are set up -- whatever works for you will be fine.

One-eighth cup of pellets per pig per day is plenty -- you don't want them to have unlimited pellets. The general rule of thumb for vegetables is about a cup per day per pig. Mine get a little more than that -- they get about a cup of veggies each once a day, but with no lettuce in it. They then get about a leaf of lettuce each per day, split into two servings.