Keeping guinea pigs in the garden - is it safe?

[Roksana K]

Does anyone have any experience of keeping guinea pigs in their gardens? Debating getting a hatch to keep it in but worried how dangerous the East Dulwich foxes are.

[jenny pink]

Hiya,

may post in the lounge section too,as wider audience...

personally I think its to cold for them,as they're indoor pets..

Jenny

[sue.dawsonramsden@gm]

Hi. We always kept our guinea pigs outdoors when I was a child. No problem with cold. I think you will find they are from the South American Andes region so cold is not a problem. Foxes might be though.

[sjsl]

Agree, ours were out all year, even in snow. Foxes definately the problem so you need a very secure hutch.

[The Nappy Lady]

Hi, please don?t keep them in the garden it is too cold for them in the winter

Please join the Guinea Pig Forum for help and advice.

I know people used to keep them that way but these days it is strongly advised against as is keeping them in with rabbits which used to be really common. Rabbits jump on them and break their limbs and also (trying to be delicate here), can get ?too friendly?. All pretty horrific. So much animal husbandry has changed since we were children, I was surprised too when we looked into it all before getting ours.

We have two lovely boars, now two years old. They live in my children?s bedroom. Unlike hamsters etc they are active in the day (actually only sleep 2-3 hours in any 24 but are quiet and only squeak when begging for food - at which point they are quite noisy!!

They need quite a bit of space - more than the hutch most people used to use / tend to imagine - our two have a run equivalent to the size of a single bed - actually under a mid height sleeper. This ensures quality of life and avoids them fighting which happens if they don?t have enough room.

They live on fleece bedding which is changed and washed weekly.

They need fresh veggies daily and a constant Supply of hay and pellet food once a day too.

They are lovely pets, they get quite tame and like / love to be hand fed but most piggies don?t like being picked up or cuddled very much (some are better than others).

Average life span is 8 years. There are loads in need of rehoming - and it?s a good way to do it as they are often more used to being handled and calmer than young piggies.

Here?s a link to the forum I mentioned.

https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/

You?re welcome to come and meet our boys after lockdown or to ask more questions in the meantime. But honestly they can only go outside in summer and you?d need an eglu run I would say to be sure of keeping them safe from foxes. I?ve heard of foxes getting into wooden hutches many times.

Best wishes.

[Effra]

Their biggest danger is foxes!

[KidKruger]

Just check you?ve no Peruvians living next door.

[Frankito]

Haha I checked out the guineapigforum and it?s hilarious reading some of the posts.. who knew they were so complicated!/

[The Nappy Lady]

I know right?!

But the advice and support is amazing. Like all areas Of life there are clearly people who are entirely devoted to their specialist subject and not much else I guess!

I quite enjoy ours but I?m definitely not obsessed thankfully!!

[Pugwash]

My grandchildren had guinea pigs. kept in hutch or pation in garden, but were moved to shed (with a window) in very cold weather.