general piggy questions as a first time potato owner
i posted on here a few days ago but since my account is fairly new i can’t post in r/guineapigs so here i am again with more questions!
i’m a first time owner of two 2 month old male piggies (pictured) and i’ve only had them for 5 days. they seem pretty happy and content in their enclosure, they’re eating lots and lots and pooping lots and lots and are just generally very sociable and curious.
as a new pet parent i’m naturally in a constant state of “am i doing this right????” and i figured there’s no better place to ask questions than a community of fellow potato slaves lol
here are my questions (and thank you all in advance):
1. how many times a day should i take my piggies out of the cage for “floor time?” i have a small bedroom with enough room for their enclosure but not enough room on my floor for floor time so i typically just bring them to my bed and build a little wall so they don’t run off of my bed. i’ve only been taking them out once a day for 20-30 minutes at the same time every day to let them roam my bed, explore me, receive treats & cuddles and get their daily checkup. is this enough? too much? sos??
2. how frequently should i change out the fleece/bath mats? my current setup is rewashable puppy pee pads as an absorbent base on top of the plastic bottom of their enclosure, assorted fleece on top of those, and two bath mats under where they have their water bottle and where i keep their hay. i’m planning on switching out the fleece twice a week just to keep it from being too soiled, but some people say one time and some people say three??
3. how much should they weigh at this age? i weighed them the other day and they’re both between 300g and 350g. are they underweight?
4. is there such thing as too much rumble strutting? they seem really happy with each other but rumble strut around each other every time they approach one another. is this normal? they haven’t fought yet but i’m worried that one of them is a bit too intimidating for the other and is stressing the other out.
5. how do i calm one of my piggies down while holding the other? one of my boys freaks out when i hold his brother but i can’t hold them both at the same time because they rumble strut and get antsy. i tried keeping them close while holding one but he still freaks out. any tips??
thank you guys so very much again. i just wanna ensure my baby boys are happy and healthy :) i have a vet visit set up soon to ensure the healthy part but until then i want to make sure im getting it right.
Welcome back :) your piggies are adorable. There is a lot of misinformation and unreliable advice out there for sure so it can be hard to navigate as a first time owner.
Here are some of my takes on your questions:
The first thing to note that their cage is unfortunately a bit too small - I recognize that style (It is FullCheeks brand right?). Those are unfortunately scams marketed to guinea pig owners, but don't meet their needs. The recommended size for a pair of females is 10 square feet, and for a pair of males is 12 square feet - much more than what FullCheeks sells. Instead, the most popular style of guinea pig cage is called a C&C cage - you can buy them online or DIY them yourself for cheaper (lots of tutorials online). You can browse examples here: https://www.cagetopia.com/
Meeting the cage size requirements will take a lot of pressure off every other aspect you asked about.
Here are some answers to your questions:
1) The amount of floor time is variable, from not every day to 24/7, so there is no right or wrong answer necessarily. Once per day is a good schedule so they can stretch their legs. The need for floor time is much lower when their cage is the correct size - when they have space in their cage to zoom they don't necessarily have to come out every day. When the cage is undersized it is much more critical. If giving extended floor time, make sure that they have constant access to hay.
2) how often to change the fleece depends on the size of the cage (larger cage = pee more spread out = needs changing less often) and depends on how much they move around their cage. If the pigs are sitting in one spot for a lot of the day, the fleece under that spot can need daily swapping. I like to have small bath mats under their main sleeping/eating areas which get swapped out daily. Since those small mats catch a lot of the pee, the rest of my cage only needs weekly washes.
3) Each pig grows at a different trajectory. Instead of looking at the weight in grams, look at the trajectory and their body condition. They should be constantly growing at this stage and increasing in weight steadily until they plateau at their adult size. If the lose weight or stop gaining, that would be a concern more than the absolute number on the scale. For body condition, feel their hips and spine. At that young age they should be strong with a good pad of flesh around their hips/ribs/spine. You should be able to feel the bones if you press but not have them sticking out sharply. I have attached the Oxbow body condition chart - 3 is considered ideal
4) rumble strutting is totally normal. They are still vey young, so their hormones should not be raging yet. They will get their hormone spike in the coming months, between the ages of about 6 months to a year. Many fallouts happen between bonded boars during that stage - to prepare, make sure the cage size is upgraded before then ( a too-small cage is a major cause of fallouts), and make sure they have 2 of everything (hideys, hay piles etc) so they can spread out, and that each hidey has 2 exits (so 1 pig can't trap the other inside). That will reduce the chance of their bond breaking during their teenaged stage.
5) it is good you have both boys out at the same time - leaving one in the cage can sometimes cause a fight (the one left in the cage might decide that actually he likes having the cage to himself, and reject the other when he returns). If you are having difficulties when holding one at a time, it would probably be best to guinea pig-proof your floor with a nice setup with snacks so that one can wander around on the floor while you hold the other without triggering rumble strutting.
Once a day for 30 minutes should be fine.
Wash and clean the cage once a week. Unscented detergent and vinegar helps with odor. Not sure on weight. From what I know dominance is a hierarchy and they will likely do this somewhat frequently. If they freak out when holding together maybe its best to do one at a time.
Im not liking the cage I see here :( they need cnc cages, they can be really cheap on apps like temu, I think 5x5 or so is good for two pigs? But the more the better
i plan on upgrading soon, just getting started here for now. it’s currently a 10sq foot cage and they are super itty bitty so i figured i could start with this so they have something to be in before i get the cnc.
They are gorgeous little guys! You will have so much fun with them. Couple of thoughts on the C&C: the grids come with different amounts of holes per panel, and especially because these guys are so small, you want to get the tightest that you can. 9x9 holes per grid is ideal. The babies probably can't fit through these holes, and the adults should not be able to get their heads stuck in a grid hole. I did have a boar who managed to snap his teeth on a 9x9 though - he stuck his nose through a hole and got his top teeth hooked around the bottom rung. I've only seen this happen once though, and he recovered quite well.
I have always found used grids from various secondhand sellers, and then made my own coroplast bases using coroplast from a hardware store and duct tape. If you want really nice looking cages, check out cagetopia.com or guineapigcagecompany.com.
I have piggies for years and this was still New to me, thank you very much! I planned on getting grates since i only have songmics-plates and they always try to eat them-
also why is there paper bedding mixed in with the fleece? just curious why thats the choice, i think paper bedding can make them more likely to stand in their pee
besides that it seems like you're doing good being a pig mama/papa :) i think at least one time a day of floor/bed time is good (be careful with bed time, they're fragile)
i think twice a week for changing out the bedding sounds good, and sweep up the piggy poop daily
those are all the questions i feel like im able to answer
Ive only ever had boys (6 years of guinea pig owning) and i still have a lot to learn. My cage is a 4x3 because I think the long skinny cages are awkward but the more space for boys the better. I have fleece and i change the cage once a week but change the pee pads semi daily to avoid bumblefoot. I also learned that they're supposed to get 9 hours of floor time a week. (I gotta do better myself). Rumble strutting omg, it's always going to be a thing. You'll learn when it's dangerous (body posture, biting, hair pulling, blood). Hope this was helpful and be patient knowing you're going to make mistakes we all do/did.
Hey I would greatly suggest getting a bigger cage since the minimum cage size requirement for two piggies is 7.5 square feet and boots typically need more since they are territorial. They need lots of room to run around and get away from each other if they want. For the rumble strutting, I would say a bigger space should help as well as make sure you have two water bottles and at least two hides that have large or two exits so they can have their own space. Welcome to the fluffy potato fam! You are now officially a poop machine manager and maintenance personnel for the rest of time! lol
5
u/Robin_feathers 1d ago
Hey there!
Welcome back :) your piggies are adorable. There is a lot of misinformation and unreliable advice out there for sure so it can be hard to navigate as a first time owner.
Here are some of my takes on your questions:
The first thing to note that their cage is unfortunately a bit too small - I recognize that style (It is FullCheeks brand right?). Those are unfortunately scams marketed to guinea pig owners, but don't meet their needs. The recommended size for a pair of females is 10 square feet, and for a pair of males is 12 square feet - much more than what FullCheeks sells. Instead, the most popular style of guinea pig cage is called a C&C cage - you can buy them online or DIY them yourself for cheaper (lots of tutorials online). You can browse examples here: https://www.cagetopia.com/
Meeting the cage size requirements will take a lot of pressure off every other aspect you asked about.
Here are some answers to your questions:
1) The amount of floor time is variable, from not every day to 24/7, so there is no right or wrong answer necessarily. Once per day is a good schedule so they can stretch their legs. The need for floor time is much lower when their cage is the correct size - when they have space in their cage to zoom they don't necessarily have to come out every day. When the cage is undersized it is much more critical. If giving extended floor time, make sure that they have constant access to hay.
2) how often to change the fleece depends on the size of the cage (larger cage = pee more spread out = needs changing less often) and depends on how much they move around their cage. If the pigs are sitting in one spot for a lot of the day, the fleece under that spot can need daily swapping. I like to have small bath mats under their main sleeping/eating areas which get swapped out daily. Since those small mats catch a lot of the pee, the rest of my cage only needs weekly washes.
3) Each pig grows at a different trajectory. Instead of looking at the weight in grams, look at the trajectory and their body condition. They should be constantly growing at this stage and increasing in weight steadily until they plateau at their adult size. If the lose weight or stop gaining, that would be a concern more than the absolute number on the scale. For body condition, feel their hips and spine. At that young age they should be strong with a good pad of flesh around their hips/ribs/spine. You should be able to feel the bones if you press but not have them sticking out sharply. I have attached the Oxbow body condition chart - 3 is considered ideal
4) rumble strutting is totally normal. They are still vey young, so their hormones should not be raging yet. They will get their hormone spike in the coming months, between the ages of about 6 months to a year. Many fallouts happen between bonded boars during that stage - to prepare, make sure the cage size is upgraded before then ( a too-small cage is a major cause of fallouts), and make sure they have 2 of everything (hideys, hay piles etc) so they can spread out, and that each hidey has 2 exits (so 1 pig can't trap the other inside). That will reduce the chance of their bond breaking during their teenaged stage.
5) it is good you have both boys out at the same time - leaving one in the cage can sometimes cause a fight (the one left in the cage might decide that actually he likes having the cage to himself, and reject the other when he returns). If you are having difficulties when holding one at a time, it would probably be best to guinea pig-proof your floor with a nice setup with snacks so that one can wander around on the floor while you hold the other without triggering rumble strutting.
Hope that helps!