Green Piggies

In April two lovely baby Guinea Pigs joined our family.  We had done a couple of stints looking after our friends Guinea Pigs, so felt ready for the commitment.  I'd had Guinea Pigs as a kid, but it would seem things have changed a lot since then!  My childhood pets were kept outside, and the poor wee things often had to swim, as we had a backyard that flooded ankle deep when it rained.  Thankfully my pet keeping practices are better informed now, thanks to the internet and friends.  I consider my Guinea Pig keeping practices to be rather friendly to both the piggies and the planet, so wanted to share them here, along with links to those from who I have gleaned this knowledge.

1.  Guinea Pigs like to live inside and have lots of space to run around.

Our piggies have the best of both worlds, with an outdoor cage for fine day 'outdoor time', where they happily munch our lawn.  This is not for the lawn-proud as it ends up with an interesting checkerboard pattern. I've also made them an enclosure under the trampoline, which is handy for keeping the grass down under there.

2.  Pet shop cages are too small but you can make your own.

You'll find endless ideas online, have a look at the links below, especially my pinterest board.  Clever people have made good sized cages out of all sorts of things, in the true sense of recycling and reusing.  Above is the C&C (cubes are coroplast/corflute) cage we made.  I have some improvements in mind for it, but it is working well as is.  You can see the old pet shop cage below it, our guest suite.

3.  Lining our cage with hay and newspaper is not for me!

When guinea pig sitting I found out how quickly our compost bin was being overwhelmed by the waste bedding material from the guinea pigs cage.  So I was thrilled to find an alternative: cloth nappy style!  As a past user of cloth nappies (diapers) I was familiar with the concepts behind using a fleece layer on top of an absorbent layer, and not squeamish about the washing side of things.  I found instructions on line and varied them a bit.  When I built the bigger cage I made new ones, and kept the old small cage as guest piggy accommodation, and for when our piggies go on holiday.  I sourced my fleece (top layer) and mattress protectors/old towels/bath mats from the local op shops so feel I've ticked the 'reuse' box of my environmental mantra of 'reduce, reuse, recycle'.

4.  Daily room service is quick and keeps smells at bay

Our piggies love a fresh clean cage and reward it with lots of pop corning (that is cute little jumpy spins they do when they are excited).  Each day I try and give them some outside time, and strip the used bedding out of their cage.  I shake it into the recycle bin.  Their poos just shake off.  With some soapy water in a bucket (I just use a tiny bit of dishwashing liquid), I wash their food bowl, toilet, and hay-tray.  Then I rinse their bedding in the same water, and squeeze it out ready to go into the household washing.  For the bottom of their cage, I spray on some white vinegar and give it a quick wipe and dry.  The whole lot can be done in five minutes.  The small amount of newspaper, hay scraps, poop, etc is great for the compost and helps stop  it becoming too sludgy.  Ours mostly toilet in one corner of the cage, so they have a toilet there made of an old ice-cream container and lined with a single folded sheet of newspaper (I raid the neighbours recycling bin occasionally!).

5.  Piggies are actually friendly and interactive.

This was a big discovery for me, as I don't recall this about my childhood ones.  Probably because ours live inside with us, they are very friendly and interact with us.  They vocalise and we've learned what the different sounds mean, including purring when they are content and 'wheeking' when they want food.  When I start to prepare dinner they start wheeking for the veggie offcuts.  They will stand up  against the side of their cage, or on their hammock and call to us for attention.

6.  Piggies salad can be free!

I get our fruit and vegetables from a local saturday morning market.  I discovered the vendors put their offcuts (outer leaves, stems, too small, bruised etc) aside as rubbish to be disposed of.  They don't mind me taking a bag or two of it for my piggies.  This lasts them a week and gives them a great seasonal variety of produce.  It is their favourite by far and they call out for it at dinner time!  I also make hay and dried food available to them, as well as fruit and veggie scraps and our lawn!

So I hope that gives you some green ideas for your piggies keeping, or some inspiration if you are considering Guinea Pigs as pets.

Useful links:

Fleece bedding: http://www.calicavycollective.com/2013/10/how-fleece-bedding-works.html?m=1
http://www.calicavycollective.com/2014/03/guinea-pig-101-fleece-bedding-guide.html#more

C&C cages:
https://www.guineapigcages.com/howtometric.htm

Here is my Guinea Pig pinterest board with lots and lots of ideas on how to care for your piggies and create a fun and comfortable environment for them.