What To Consider Before You Buy Your First Guinea Pig

A wonderful hobby for children and for adults is keeping guinea pigs. And because of this guinea pigs are becoming an extremely popular pet. However if you’re now considering buying your first piggy you do need to first spend some time thinking about the guinea pig hutch you will house him in.

Your new piggie will be kept in a guinea pig hutch in most cases. They can be kept indoors or outdoors although if kept outdoors you should be aware that they can be subject to stress from excess heat or cold. But before you buy your first guinea pig house you need to be aware of several things.

The majority of people buy a guinea pig hutch from their pet shop or off the Internet, which is fine unless you buy one of the very small cages available, which is most common because these are the cheapest. However most guinea pig cages are way too small and do not provide sufficient space for him to play or exercise in. You must make an effort to house your guinea pigs properly with sufficient space.

Some people overcome the problem of cost by making their own guinea pig hutch, and if you are able to do so this is a fine way of housing your favourite pet in a spacious house that will do an optimum job. It is quite possible to build housing that is entirely adequate and which is very low cost if you source your own materials, including second-hand materials, and build it yourself.

But even if you provide your guinea pig with a nice large hutch he will still need some entertainment, and the best way to provide entertainment is to provide a companion. But you also need to understand which sexes go together successfully and which do not.

If you put 2 males together you can have fighting, and if you put a male with a female you’ll end up with lots of baby guinea pigs unless you desex one of them, or unless you separate them which defeats the whole purpose. The best combination is to buy 2 young females and house them together.

It’s important that they have hay in their cage as they need hay to aid their digestion. As well they need to have something to chew on as their teeth grow continually and chewing helps wear down their teeth. If you don’t provide something to chew, such as a piece of wood, they will probably chew on their cage. And they need playthings such as plastic pipes and boxes to run in and out of.

There’s no doubt that a guinea pig makes a fine pet but it is important to spend some time thinking about where you will house him, or them, and what type of guinea pig hutch you will provide. Make sure it is large with plenty of playthings, and know what sexes you will buy before you go ahead.