Hello from the Netherlands

[Starrats]

Hello Guinea Pig Lovers

My name is Patricia and I'm from the Netherlands.
I live on my own with my 2 polish rescue dogs, 2 hamsters (1 Syrian and 1 WW) 2 old rats and my 2 Guinea piggies

I registered here to see how people from other countries care for there piggies and maybe get some new ideas to.

I recently (July 5th) got a guinea pig that was thrown out on the street because ....well it's vacation season in my country :sad:
Which means it's also the "lets throw out the pets we got in the past year so we can go on vacation" season

She was found in a field by a woman who was walking her dog and after 2 weeks of searching for the owner she looked for a better home for the piggy and that's how she came to me
My heart just melted when nobody responded
She was brought to me with her cage and food and when she got here I checked her, clipped her nails (so much nails and she was licking my arm when I was finished *melts*) found out she was a girl and let her get used to her new surroundings
I named her Molly and she weighs 1031 GR

Molly & her back Mohawk lol


I was not planning on getting a guinea pig but here she is, luckily I got the cage she was in @ the house of the woman that found her so at least I had something to put her in for the time being.
But I also knew is was WAY to small so I made a step by step plan.
I have had guinea pigs before (they where 5 year+10 months old and 5,5 years old when they died) so I know how to care for them.

The step by step plan I made to give Molly a better piggy life:

1- Molly came here, gave her some proper guinea pig food, right type of bedding and delicious veggies to eat and get used to.
2- Let Molly get used to her new surroundings, and had to wait a bit to see if she was not sick or pregnant.
3- Gave Molly a bigger temporary cage. Tiny boost for physical health
4- Molly gets a little "sister". To boost her mental health and social life.
5- Molly & her little "sister" get a proper sized cage. (boosts everything even more)


So after a week of getting used to her surroundings I moved her from the guinea pig cage to a hamster cage lol (I have a lot of spare cages and I picked the biggest one I had)
Don't worry, the hamster cage is much bigger than her guinea pig cage lol It's still not the proper size for a piggy but it is much better than the cage she was in.

Top is the guinea pig cage she was in when I got her.
Bottom is the hamster cage she is in now.

She was running laps and popcorning when I put her in the bigger hamster cage


And then I waited another week to see if she might be pregnant or sick, but she stayed the same and her health was perfect.
So it was time to search for a little sister for her, and I found 1 @ a good breeder nearby (there are no shelters nearby)
Her name is Poppy and she is still a "baby", I got her a view days ago

This is Molly with Poppy:


The introduction went really well. Molly was popcorning when she finally realized there was another piggy in the cage lol It was so cute and made me cry a little
And the next morning I caught them popcorning together lol
So now all that is left is saving up money so I can buy a custom made guinea pig flat/cage (last step on my list)

I measured the spot where the "cage" will be and I made a little drawing of it to, the cage will be 150cm x 70cm so it will be big enough for the girls I just need some time to save up money (and to sell the furniture that is there now) because I'm not very rich and getting Molly was not planned at all and because my house can be pretty drafty a C&C cage won't be good enough to protect them from the draft when it gets colder plus it's in my living room so I want the cage to look nice
I hope I can get the cage before the end of the year maybe even before winter starts.

 

[miniver]

Hello and welcome. Molly and Poppy are adorable. They look so cute cuddled together.

Look in the picture section at alternative cages. There may be some ideas you can use for a larger cage. You may be able to save some money by using supplies you already have around the house. There are some very creative ideas on this forum.

 

[Starrats]

I have nothing around the house XD
except hamster cages, lots and lots of hamster cages (10 or so, want to sell them to get some money for the piggy's new home)

I did get an idea an hour ago, using 2 8x22 Ikea Kallax shelf unit, my hamsters are on 2x2 Expedit shelf units, so it would also fit well with all the other furniture, and then put a C&C cage on that, but the C& C would only be 4x2 and I don't know if that's big enough???, I could expand it by adding levels of course. it would only be about 350 euro instead of 600-700 euro.

And maybe get some plexiglass for the draft????

 

[miniver]

A 4x2 C&C is big enough for two girls. Also, there are lots of Ikea hacks for cages and plexiglass for the sides. Sounds like you'll have a really nice cage when you're done.

 

[Starrats]

Good to know that's it's big enough The IKEA shelving units would just be for putting the cage on so it's high enough to protect them from my dogs (and to store stuff underneath, and I have a lot of stuff)

 

[lisa325]

Hello and Welcome . I look forward to seeing pics of the finished project.

 

[rotto77]

Hello and welcome. your girls are very cute. Good luck with their cage.

 

[Rywen]

Hi and welcome! Thank you for taking in abandoned Molly and giving her a loving home with great care and a sister!

 

[Nikkipig]

Welcome to the forum. I saw your post about your girls on another forum (CS) as well.

 

[Starrats]

Thanks everybody

Molly and Poppy are doing really well
They "talk" a lot while they are eating XD And sometimes Molly seems to be bringing veggies to Poppy when Poppy is to scared to come out of the safety of the hideout thing they have. Never seen that before, I found it a little odd but also cute. Poppy also likes to hide behind Molly

 

[SardonicSmile]

Have a look here for c&c cages (never bought there so I don't know if they are a good site)

https://www.caviadraadkubus.nl/draadkubus-kooien.html

There are cheaper ways to make a cage, but with dogs around at least the grids are pretty sturdy.

Stores like Praxis or Gamma do carry "choroplast", look for something like "kanaalplaat" or "polycarbonaatplaat" but they are pretty expensive. There might be some cheaper online stores.
For grids you can use a run like this

https://t.zooplus.nl/shop/knaagdieren_kleinedieren/rennen/metaal/6_hoekig/284826

You can easily connect two together, you can bend them so they form corners and they are usually high enough that piggies will not climb over. I used these for years and never had any issues.



If you live anywhere near the German border, some stores there like Fressnapf or Das Futterhaus carry big cages that fit two piggies. The upside is that the whole cage is enclosed so the dogs cannot get in if they were ever inclined to have a close-up look.

(broken link removed)




For food, the best available is JR Farm grainless complete

https://t.zooplus.nl/shop/knaagdieren_kleinedieren/voer/cavias/jr_farm/159854

 

[Starrats]

I already made a cage plan its a view post above.
I just need some time to sell some old furniture first and then I can start buying new stuff.
I already know about the draadkubus site, that's the site I'm going to order my cage from.
I'm putting my cage on kallax furniture from Ikea those are 77cm high so my dog's cant reach the piggies. (I have 2 small dogs)