New to Piggies and Frusrated - Not the right pet for me

[spamonie]

I made a spur of the moment purchase of two guinea pigs a few months ago and I suppose I could argue that they were surrendered to the pet store and I did think it over and research them for a few days before finally taking them home but it definitely wasn't thought out as well as it should have been. My friends who work at the store all went on about how easy they are and they all seemed to love their pigs a ton so I may have gotten a little too excited. My boyfriend warned me that they were going to be 100% my pets and he wasn't helping which didn't concern me because I was thinking it would be a few minutes a day of throwing food in, weekly clean-ups and monthly major clean-ups which didn't sound too bad.

Flash forward to a few months later and I'm honestly concerned for my friends guinea pigs. These guys are a ton of work! I feel like I'm spending a couple hours a day cleaning up after them and I really don't have the time. I keep trying new things to make their lives better and mine easier but it doesn't seem like they appreciate any of my attempts and I'm starting to get really burned out and I'm wondering if it's time for me to re home them. I just can't fathom owning a pet if I'm going to give it the exact minimum it needs to survive which I think is what’s going to end up happening. Now don't get me wrong, right now they're doing pretty well, I just feel like I'm going to burn out and start doing what I was lead to believe I would be able to do but now really don't feel like that's right.

Currently they're in a 2x3 C&C cage (I can't physically fit a bigger cage in their unfortunately) with fleece bed over wood pellets which so far seems to be the easiest but I'm still unable to keep up with all the cleaning. Any advice would be really appreciated as I'm not set on the idea of re-homing them, just contemplating it right now so if you have any tips to help me with my daily care that would be great. Or if you honestly think maybe it would be in their best interest to be re homed tell me because I really want whats best for my pets. My other pets are getting the best care possible so I think it's incredibly unfair that my guinea pigs shouldn't get the same.

 

[bpatters]

With fleece and pellets, what takes up the most cleaning time? I use that ( a thin layer of fleece directly over the pellets), and I just pick up the fleece, shake it out, turn it over, and put it back in. Three minutes, tops, once a day.

I feed them on plain paper plates (no plastic coating, in case they decide to nibble), and throw those away when they're done. I refill the water bottle daily, and give it a good scrubbing once a week.

That's about the bare minimum you can do, but it doesn't take long.

 

[SquigglyPigs]

It definitely shouldn't take a few hours of care every day for guinea pigs. I have 3 in a 2x5 and it takes maybe a total of 15 minutes for all of their care every day. I dump some lettuce and baby carrots in the cage in the morning before work and give them their morning pellets. Then when I come home from work at night, I use a hand vacuum to clean up all of their poops and stray hay. Then I refill their hay rack, give them their night pellets, more lettuce, and a bell pepper. Then once a week, I pop the fleece in the washer to clean the cage.

That seems like a lot of steps but it takes hardly any time and it could even be simplified. Guinea pigs are unlike many other animals in that if they have another guinea pig friend, they don't need attention from humans. So lots of owners feel like they are neglecting their pigs because of lack of attention but guinea pigs are happy as long as they have food, water, room to run, and a friend.

 

[foggycreekcavy]

Bpatters' routine is pretty quick! You really don't need to spend a lot of time on daily care. If you use a disposable bedding (like putting shavings on your wood pellets) you don't have the daily clean-up, but you do need to do a total clean up once a week.

What are you looking for in a pet? Guinea pigs are great because they don't demand much from you, but that also means they don't really want much from you either, like holding and cuddling. They look forward to seeing you mainly because you bring food. For me, their main draw is their interactions with each other. But if you are looking for a pet that loves to be with you, and loves to be picked up and held, then guinea pigs are not that pet.

 

[spamonie]

Thanks everyone! I do feel better already about them not really needing tons of attention. I have a robo hamster so I'm fine with pets that aren't extremely affectionate and I do have rats that give me that feeling so it's okay if the piggies aren't like that. I might also try out the paper plate idea as they recently started peeing in their food bowl but only the fresh veggie bowl. I think if it was just little poops I could more easily clean up the cage but there's always tons of hay all over, even now that I'm using a hay rack, they still make a huge mess, and then they run around and spread litter all over the place. I'm thinking maybe I'll just take out the litter boxes and see if that helps out a little.

The other thing I always wonder... what do you guys mean when you "shake out" the fleece? Take everything out of the cage, unclasp the fleece, bundle it up and then shake it into what? The trash, the floor, outdoors? I have carpeted floors and unfortunately it's an apartment so there's nothing I can do about it so when all their poops get tossed out of the cage it's terrible to clean up. When I try to shake the fleece out every night it becomes a 30 min process of me shaking as much as I can out but missing the garbage then vacuuming everything up that wouldn't come out, then completely cleaning the floor because I'd say 50% of the poop ends up there.

I think I'm tired from the mess they make but what might really be burning me out is my boyfriends lack of interest. I don't care that he doesn't like them but I'm always paranoid that if I was to go away but he's home I'd still have to hire someone to care for them. He refuses to feed them and the one occasion where he did toss them hay (making a huge mess for me to clean up) he wouldn't let it go for ages. Even tonight, it was our weekly clean up and this was my first week with the new fleece and pellet set up which was actually a lot easier than it's been so that's good! But my boyfriend offered to vacuum the "rat" room (which is where the piggies live) and then complained about how he isn't supposed to be cleaning up after the pigs and 90% of the floor was covered in their poop and so on... I think he wants them gone but knows that I I believe in keeping pets their entire lives so probably doesn't want to make me feel worse than I already do. But him trying not to make me feel bad might actually be the problem.

 

[bpatters]

I shake mine outside in the flower beds.

And yes, I take everything out, but it's not much -- a few hideys, pellet dish, and that's it.

 

[stray hares]

Carpet can be a pain. I used the cheap vinyl sheet flooring to lay over some areas of my carpet (obviously it just sits on the carpet, it isn't glued down or anything!) just to protect the carpet and make sweeping up hay, bedding, etc. easier. Might be worth doing under and around your piggy cage, just to create a border between your piggies' poo and the carpet. Fleece can be a little bit harder in apartments. It might be easier for you to sweep or vacuum, rather than shake out the fleece?

 

[SquigglyPigs]

I use this hand vacuum for cleaning the cage daily: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001EYFQ28?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage
I have to flip the vacuum upside down so that it doesn't suck up the fleece (a trick someone on this forum taught me) because it's pretty strong! It even does well picking up some hay.

 

[pigger123]

I just go through with a plastic spoon and scoop all the poops into a dustpan. Takes 5 minutes once a day.

 

[PiggyGrandma15]

I had been reading this since it started and I timed the daily clean out - refilling hay / water and using a dustpan and brush to sweep up the poop and any loose hay. But then, I don't strive for daily perfection with the hay, just the poop. Yesterday it was about 5 minutes - with my 5 year old "helping." Which is really not helpful at all. Haha. The thing that took me the longest was opening the fresh bag of hay. Really how long does it take to give them veggies / pellets?

Today I literally used a stop watch to time the entire clean out swap out of fleece which I do once a week. Including the time to go down to the basement (one flight of steps from where the piggies are) to start the laundry, because I forgot to stop it before I went down it took me a full 21.47.32 (minutes.seconds.miliseconds). It wasn't like I was rushing to get the laundry going either, and I had to remove a load from the drier to rotate out of the washing machine in order to start the piggie wash.

What I also did today was:

1. Piggies "quarantined" to loft area.
2. Remove ramp and block hole with an upside-down hidey (I am RIGHT there and I keep an eye on them to ensure they don't go skydiving, but the stair hidey blocks the hole darn near perfectly, and the hidey box right next to it seals the deal! I wouldn't walk away from them like this, but with me being within arms reach the entire time, it works)
3. Unclip the plexiglass from beneath the fleece and towels.
4. Take the bottom fleece and kinda folded up the four corners all up to hold above the middle, to make what my grandma would call a "ho-bo pack" (my apologies, but I don't know how else to describe it).
5. From there I pretty much "poured" it into the kitchen. Gentle shaking (more of a vibration / small wave-like motions) was all it took to get all the stuff off of it. The few stubborn pieces of hay I manually picked off. Anything that missed the kitchen was just on the cloroplast to sweep out a moment later.
6. Fleece and towels into a laundry basket.
7. Took the cloroplast kitchen (I keep it under the 2x2 loft to make it easier to get it cleaned out way back under there) and put it lengthwise into a 25 gallon trash bag.
8. keeping the kitchen IN the back I dumped the contents into the bag -- I have been using carefresh paper bedding over newspaper (I haven't noted a smell at all and this gets changed out about every 4th day if that and it is more for the sheer concentration of poo)
9. Then I wipe out the kitchen with a diluted 1:2 mixture of white vinegar and water and set asside to allow it to air dry a moment.
10. Dust pan and brush to get any lingering poo or hay that may have managed to get beneath the fleece and towels.
11. I put down fresh towels and fresh fleece and clipped the plexiglass back to it under my ramp and opposite corners (I have a borrowing issue otherwise)
12. wipe out kitchen with a dry papertowel just for good measure, new newspaper, new carefresh, fill hay containment
13. Replace kitchen.
14. Piggies move to fresh downstairs.
15. remove hidey and any toys (which always end up upstairs) and set aside, pull out the, undoubtedly gross, coral but keep it close.
16. Repeat steps 4-13 for the loft.
17. Replace ramp, and toss the fleece and towels into the washer.

The first few times it seemed to take me longer, but I feel like I've hit a stride of routine, and it seems to go much more smoothly now. As far as poop / hay on the floor, I have no tips on that one. I'm the one that makes a mess on the floor with the hay, but my dyson makes quick work of that. My pigs tend to use the coral for their primary ... bathroom. The downstairs kitchen gets another bulk of it and most of the rest I find in their hideys. Perhaps it is the 6 inch rise of the cloroplast around the exterior?

All of that being said, I have always felt that animals (and children) are mirrors of our attitude. If you are feeling resentful and annoyed, that might not be the best environment for the piggies.

 

[jrv4babies]

I've been married for almost 17 years and let me tell you, it isn't going to change. I'm with you, I wouldn't have a problem if boyfriend isn't "into" the piggies the same as me, everyone doesn't have to enjoy the same things. BUT I would advise to take notice if someone NEVER wants to help just for the sheer sake of helping care for YOU as his love.

I don't know how old you are. But as I said I have been married almost 17 years. Don't get me wrong, love my hubby very much, have 3 beautiful children together, and a happy life together. But I had to come to terms a long time ago with how truly selfish he is and that he just has no interest in doing anything to help me. I do feel like I "settled" big time in that area and wish I'd heeded the small signs better when we were young and first together. Not even saying that means I would have dumped him, but I wish I'd have defined my own needs in that area from a much earlier time in our relationship.

Sorry to unload all of that but it sounds like this is at least 1/2 your frustration...
someone who not only refuses to help you but even goes beyond that to act like gave you the favor of the world when did help one time vs someone who WANTS to "have your back" to tackle daily tasks successfully. It sounds TOO familiar to me and I had to put my two cents in

 

[jrv4babies]

From the piggy perspective. I watch all the beautiful cage pictures on here and marvel. I read the descriptions of giving a daily shake. It never worked that way for me either. I would be the best fleece addiction person ever, who can resist all the cuteness! However, I found early on I hate fleece. First of all I have to clip it down like Fort Knox. And then my girls STILL find a way to pull it up. It would be at least 20 minutes a day for me to take it out and shake it, not a 3 min thing for me. And then it would STILL be yucky. Maybe my girls are just pigs (hahaha) but the amount of hair and hay bits that are STUCK on after just one day, forget it. Then if I wanted to put back in clean fleece, it would be another 10 minutes (and only if have good weather) on my deck trying to use a rubber brush to get it off. Not to mention the washing. And all the gp hair in my washer. I have a very busy family of 5 and we hardly can keep up with the laundry as it is, having to do loads that require me to completely clean the washer after and run second load to clean out washer. Not for me.

Most liberating thing I ever did was go to wood pellets only and stop putting the layer of fleece on top. I want the time I spend with my piggies each day to be petting them and gushing over how cute they are munching their veggies etc. Not breaking my neck cleaning.

I have a separate "kitchen" area and do a full clean of that weekly. But I only clean the rest of the cage every 4-6 weeks. Wood pellets rock. And my girls seem clean and happy. I do make every effort to thwart their attempts to spread hay everywhere, or if they beat me in the game, then I make sure to spot clean that, because it is peed on hay that will get stinky but not the actual wood pellets those can go amazingly long without the cage getting stinky.

Good luck!!!!

 

[jrv4babies]

Here is my cage when I first got started. I loved it. It was so beautiful. Quickly learned that I detested taking care of it




And here is the stripped down realistic model that I grew into over a little time and now can happily take care of and enjoy my piggies

 

[CavyChrissy]

@spamonie I definitely feel you. I do love my pigs and my cage, but I seem to have gotten carried away and made it more complicated than necessary... Also my allergies have slowly gotten worse since I've had them (and testing confirmed I am very allergic to the mold that grows in hay). So I need to minimize the time I spend cleaning the cage. I don't want to rehome mine either, but it's not working out like I thought. I'm glad to read your post and know I'm not alone!

@jrv4babies I love you cage story via photos above. I'm feeling inspired to try a similar scaling back. Question on your wood pellets - do your pigs poop in the non-kitchen area of the cage much? I thought your set-up might work for me at first, but then I thought about how much my girls poop all over the cage. I think if I left the same pellets for 4 weeks I would more poop than pellets!

 

[HollyLeaf]

@jrv4babies I love you cage story via photos above. I'm feeling inspired to try a similar scaling back. Question on your wood pellets - do your pigs poop in the non-kitchen area of the cage much? I thought your set-up might work for me at first, but then I thought about how much my girls poop all over the cage. I think if I left the same pellets for 4 weeks I would more poop than pellets!

You know, i was wondering the same thing, about the poop and the pellets. I considered going to wood pellets, but then i thought about, okay, so the pee will just be absorbed and i dont need to worry bout that, but how in heck do i clean out the individual poops? Using a scooper or a dust pan like i have would take more pellets out then poop, then whaddya know, you gotta replace the pellets. I just feel like those pellets would end up being a lot of work. And heavy too (my cage is on a grid stand, not sure how it would hold under that weight).

 

[Mark Sparkman]

I have 2 piggies in a 6 by 2 C&C.... They tend to pee in the corners. I put a good amount of wood pellets in those corners and scoop them out every one to two days. I then replace the soiled pellets as needed. The rest of cage is covered with pine shavings. The poops are of little consequence until a complete cage clean is needed. I've tried every other method but this works best for me.

 

[HollyLeaf]

I have 2 piggies in a 6 by 2 C&C.... They tend to pee in the corners. I put a good amount of wood pellets in those corners and scoop them out every one to two days. I then replace the soiled pellets as needed. The rest of cage is covered with pine shavings. The poops are of little consequence until a complete cage clean is needed. I've tried every other method but this works best for me.

How come you dont just use shavings all over the cage, or wood pellets all over? If they just pee in the corners, you still have to clean it out every day or so. How come not just use all the same bedding material?

 

[Mark Sparkman]

Because the wood pellets control the odor 100% better than shavings but shavings "hide" the poopies better and are more comfy for the piggies in all other areas of the cage.

 

[CavyChrissy]

I have 2 piggies in a 6 by 2 C&C.... They tend to pee in the corners. I put a good amount of wood pellets in those corners and scoop them out every one to two days. I then replace the soiled pellets as needed. The rest of cage is covered with pine shavings. The poops are of little consequence until a complete cage clean is needed. I've tried every other method but this works best for me.

How often do you do a complete clean? Does this include removing and replacing all the wood shavings?

 

[Mark Sparkman]

It varies. It definitely does not need a full cage clean once a week. Given the cage size with just two piggies, it doesn't need it every week as long as the pee corners are cleaned ever other day or so. The wood pellets are so effective in extending time between corner cleans. Their hideys are fairly close to their favorite pee corners, so it is convenient and they tend to poop in that area too, but I would say 50% of the time at the most. Probably less.