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Keeping Warm Moved house, Help!

A.Hopkin

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I live in the UK and we have recently moved house, unfortunately my 2 guineas cannot fit in my new room (I now have a box room which literally fits my bed and wardrobe) my parents refuse to let me have my guineas anywhere else in the house and have said that ifI want to keep them they need to go outside.

I am really unsure on what to do! I love my guineas and have had them for 4 years now, the thought of giving them away really upsets me but I really don't know how to keep them outside with the cold temperatures we get here in the UK. I've brought a thermometer and plan to monitor the temp outside for the next few days, I still haven't bought an outside hutch (a friend has looked after my guineas for the past week) luckily our garden is fully enclosed with really high fencing but it is all brick on the flooring outside.

Do any of you guys have any advice about keeping my guinea's outside? or do you think it would be the kinder thing to do to give them up for adoption?
 

Petlovr

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Guineas cannot live outside, because the weather changes too rapidly for them to thrive. Predators can also attack them. These guineas have been indoors all thier lives, and I don't think they would adjust well to the move out doors. Can't you put their cage on top of your dresser? Sit down, and calmly tallk to your parents, and explain that you have had them for 4 years, you love them, and getting rid of them is going to be heartbreaking. They were adopted for life. Ask your parents what you can do to make them more comfortable with having them somewhere else in the house. Maybe clean their cage more often to limit smell, take the doors off a closet and use that area?, etc. If they understand what this means to you, and that you are trying to be responsible, maybe they can come up with a solution. If not, I think they should be re-homed. Good luck.
 

boofp

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You don't have a corner where you can put a 3x3 maybe with a kitchen loft. Im pretty sure you can build a cage to fit your room.
 

A.Hopkin

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Predators are not an issue, when I say that our garden is enclosed by a fence, I literally mean it is a beast of a fence, it is extremely tall (you can't see over it) and cats are unable to climb it (our cat has already tried) the gate is also kept locked and shut at all times as we have been using the main front door to exit/enter out house, and as the flooring in the garden is all brick nothing can dig underneath. The area I had been thinking of was in a corner where the hutch would be surrounded on two sides. There shouldn't be an issue with heat as even in summer the area I live doesn't get that warm, it's just the cold temperatures that worry me.

Their cage is too big to be above the wardrobe unfortunately.

My parents refuse to have them anywhere else as they generally dislike pets, I had considered moving out due to this (I'd been living at home so I could save a deposit for a 2 bed house) but at the moment I just can't afford to leave and wasn't expecting for my parents to want to move house, they decided to downsize now that both my sisters had moved out and they didn't think I would be living at home much longer.

I have rearranged my room and can squeeze a cage between my bed and wardrobe, the only issue is that I would need to downsize their cage as the one I have currently is about 150cmx85cm, if I downsize it will be too small for my 2 guineas (I could squeeze a cage which is about 100cmx80cm), if they have more playtime out of their cage would it compensate for a smaller cage? (they currently get about 1-2 hours each day with me after I finish work).

I have also considered having them in the garage, the only problem with this is that there are no windows in our garage so it would be really dark, it is also dusty and anyone rarely goes in there so they would not see as much activity as they used too, it can also get pretty dark too.

We don't have any closets in the house either and to be honest I wouldn't be happy having them in such an enclosed space where there isn't much ventilation, it could also get quite stuffy in the summer.

It's looking like I'm going to have to rehome them tbh, I'm so upset as I had planned to move out in the next few years and would have loved to give them their own room.

Do any of you guys know any good rehoming places in the UK? I know they have rehoming in Pets at home now but the animals there always look pretty miserable and I don't know what they do with the animals if they don't find them homes. I know our local RSPCA already have a number of guineas too, I'm just really worried that if I put them up for adoption and no-one adopts them then they would be destroyed, do they still do that to animals??
 

A.Hopkin

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is it okay for them to have a cage that is tall to make up for the smaller length? as I said I could just about fit a 1m long cage in but I could definitely have one with more floors to make up for that! but I always thought that having a good length cage was better as they could run around more and extra floors don't count towards the minimum square footage?
 

pinky

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Is it possible to get a sleeper sofa or futon instead of a bed so you'd have more room for the cage? You could take it with you when you move out.
 

Mastershroom

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A smaller cage isn't going to kill them, and it's certainly better than a kill shelter. Our first pig lived in a very small cage (about 1.5 x 2 in terms of grids) for over four years until we adopted her, and she's fine. Especially if you aren't planning on living there for much longer, just build whatever cage you can fit, and when you move out, then you can upgrade them to a nice large home.

And one to two hours of floor time is even better. I think they'll be reasonably comfortable. I've had to live in small apartments and dorms for a year at a time too, so hopefully your pigs will understand. ;)
 

A.Hopkin

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Getting rid of the bed wouldn't save any room as it is already a single bed, when I said my new room is a box room I really meant it.

I think I shall just downsize for now but add more floors, just hoping I won't be living with my parents for much longer (as much as I love them to bits), only worry I have is that I'll be here for a few more years as deposits take a long time to save up for! :S

"about 1.5 x 2 in terms of grids" wow! I am so happy you adopted her, I can't believe they were in a cage that small!

I'll try letting my guinea pigs have more free reign time in my bedroom as compensation as I'm usually in my room anyway with them :)

Thanks for the help guys, advice from you has really reassured me and I really couldn't stand the thought of giving them up for adoption knowing that the likelihood of them actually being adopted wasn't that high with how many guineas are already out there without homes.

Now I just need to sort out another cage for them! haha I can always take my guineas over to my friends house so they can have a cheeky run in her grassed garden too :p
 

Mastershroom

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"about 1.5 x 2 in terms of grids" wow! I am so happy you adopted her, I can't believe they were in a cage that small!
Don't get me wrong, her previous family loved her, they just didn't know about C&C cages. They kept her well fed, and we got her in good shape. The only reason they gave her to us was that they were moving out of state and couldn't bring her with them, and one of them was allergic to her anyway. :)
 

foggycreekcavy

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I believe they will be fine in the smaller cage. They get along pretty well?
 

beachgurl_1988

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I think they'd be fine in a smaller cage. You can even leave them for more floor time!
 
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