10 replies to this topic

[spoontinkle]

Hello rodent friends, 

I am feeling really troubled by seeing how my friend treats her guinea pigs. I dont really know a lot about specifically guinea pigs, but I have had a lot of pets over my life (including some rodents) and I know enough to know that they are very anxious and sensitive animals that need to be treated gently. 

 

Just a small background, I have been friends with this person for a few years and we are close and talk all the time, but I did not find out until recently the things that have me feeling concerned. I never met her guinea pigs until I stayed the night recently (we live really far from each other and i hadnt been to her house since she got them because of covid). I know she really loves them, but i feel like theyre really scared and bored and i dont know if thats normal for them or not.

 

here are the things that are worrying me;

1) the space they live in is really small. like the floor square footage is similar to the size home my hamster lives in right now (he lives in a 50 gal tank and he is a baby). she has 2 full grown females guinea pigs, and all they have in their enclosure is 2 little igloo houses, hay, water bottle, and a blanket under them (no bedding because it got too messy in her apartment). This worries me because me and my best friend both have rodents (she has 2 rats) and our pets have very large enclosures, lots of engaging things to play with, and get free roam time. is this normal for guinea pigs to not need a lot of stimulation? do they not need as much exercise as rats and hamsters?

2) this is what worries me the most by far, but the way she treats them makes me really upset. I recently found out her and her boyfriend will do things to startle them on purpose. Examples are: make loud noises, startling gestures, throwing blueberries in their cage from across the room, putting their hands on them and shaking them, lift up their igloos and pick them up when they are hiding, and other things like that. This made me feel so upset because i would never dream of doing anything like that to my hamster. I will be a little more rough with my friends rats to play with them, but they never get scared and hide or bite and they still come up to me and trust me. But her guinea pigs are terrified of people and dont ever seem relaxed. they hide in their huts all the time, even take their food in there to eat it, and only come out when theyre getting treats or when people are far away from them (if they are laying down and relaxed and you approach them, they get stiff and fully alert). Whereas my hamster and my friends rats will run up to you when you come up to the cage, dont mind being petted, and will sleep out in the middle of their enclosures instead of hiding.

 

I really cant imagine this being okay, but again, i dont know anything about guinea pigs and its hard to trust what you find on the internet. Is it normal for them to always be so scared of everything and everyone? Its so hard to confront people on how they treat their pets because i know it can be really hard to hear you might be abusing your pet that you love. I dont want her to think im trying to be controlling or speaking on something I am not educated on, and i was really hoping to get some advice from other guinea pig owners. I really dont know what to do, I hope im just overreacting.

 

Thank you to anyone who can help.

 

(ps. sorry if the way this is typed up is a mess, i was trying not to make it too long or rambly. please let me know if anything is confusing or if you have any questions)

Edited by spoontinkle, 08 June 2021 - 05:17 AM.

[lil BIG dwarf]

I’m not super knowledgeable on guinea pigs, but I do know they need enrichment. Different types from rats and hamsters, and they can do well without bedding, but they need a lot of space as well. Number 3 is also super concerning. I know this isn’t much advice, but here’s a link to an active Guinea pig forum. It’s based in the UK but still super helpful- https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/

[spoontinkle]

I’m not super knowledgeable on guinea pigs, but I do know they need enrichment. Different types from rats and hamsters, and they can do well without bedding, but they need a lot of space as well. Number 3 is also super concerning. I know this isn’t much advice, but here’s a link to an active Guinea pig forum. It’s based in the UK but still super helpful- https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/

Thank you for reaching out,

(I just realized I went from 1 to 3 and skipped 2 whoops)

I am definitely gonna read through some of those today, thank you so much for sharing. I'm glad im not the only one who feels concerned by that behavior. I will keep this thread posted on any updates as well.

[♥~kitkat7♥]

This would stress me out to. The way she is treating them is NOT OK. I mean NOT with all CAPS. I would flat out tell her "what you are doing is not right. The guinea pigs look afraid and I think that you should keep them in a bigger enclosure. Hope I can help and I also hope she either gives them to a better home or makes things right

[Remy]

Spoiler

Hello rodent friends,
I am feeling really troubled by seeing how my friend treats her guinea pigs. I dont really know a lot about specifically guinea pigs, but I have had a lot of pets over my life (including some rodents) and I know enough to know that they are very anxious and sensitive animals that need to be treated gently.

Just a small background, I have been friends with this person for a few years and we are close and talk all the time, but I did not find out until recently the things that have me feeling concerned. I never met her guinea pigs until I stayed the night recently (we live really far from each other and i hadnt been to her house since she got them because of covid). I know she really loves them, but i feel like theyre really scared and bored and i dont know if thats normal for them or not.

here are the things that are worrying me;
1) the space they live in is really small. like the floor square footage is similar to the size home my hamster lives in right now (he lives in a 50 gal tank and he is a baby). she has 2 full grown females guinea pigs, and all they have in their enclosure is 2 little igloo houses, hay, water bottle, and a blanket under them (no bedding because it got too messy in her apartment). This worries me because me and my best friend both have rodents (she has 2 rats) and our pets have very large enclosures, lots of engaging things to play with, and get free roam time. is this normal for guinea pigs to not need a lot of stimulation? do they not need as much exercise as rats and hamsters?
2) this is what worries me the most by far, but the way she treats them makes me really upset. I recently found out her and her boyfriend will do things to startle them on purpose. Examples are: make loud noises, startling gestures, throwing blueberries in their cage from across the room, putting their hands on them and shaking them, lift up their igloos and pick them up when they are hiding, and other things like that. This made me feel so upset because i would never dream of doing anything like that to my hamster. I will be a little more rough with my friends rats to play with them, but they never get scared and hide or bite and they still come up to me and trust me. But her guinea pigs are terrified of people and dont ever seem relaxed. they hide in their huts all the time, even take their food in there to eat it, and only come out when theyre getting treats or when people are far away from them (if they are laying down and relaxed and you approach them, they get stiff and fully alert). Whereas my hamster and my friends rats will run up to you when you come up to the cage, dont mind being petted, and will sleep out in the middle of their enclosures instead of hiding.

I really cant imagine this being okay, but again, i dont know anything about guinea pigs and its hard to trust what you find on the internet. Is it normal for them to always be so scared of everything and everyone? Its so hard to confront people on how they treat their pets because i know it can be really hard to hear you might be abusing your pet that you love. I dont want her to think im trying to be controlling or speaking on something I am not educated on, and i was really hoping to get some advice from other guinea pig owners. I really dont know what to do, I hope im just overreacting.

Thank you to anyone who can help.

(ps. sorry if the way this is typed up is a mess, i was trying not to make it too long or rambly. please let me know if anything is confusing or if you have any questions)

Hello!

I’m a GP mom of 4, so hopefully I can help a bit. Guinea pigs don’t climb like rats or burrow like hamsters, so their cages will look different. Most cages will have hides/tunnels, a place for hay, something to chew on, and maybe a second level or something soft like a fleece forest or cuddle cup. They also need ample room to popcorn, of course. The minimum cage size for two sows (females) is 8 sq ft. The cage does sounds small, but I don’t see anything too glaringly wrong with the setup.

As for number 2, no, guinea pigs aren’t usually scared like that unless you’ve just brought them home. My GPs have learned the sound of my footsteps and will demand treats and food very loudly when they hear me. They run right up to me when I enter the room and gladly take treats and accept some pats.

My only recommendation is to talk to your friend about it if it’s really bothering you. Keep in mind that it isn’t your obligation to make sure other people’s pets are well cared for, so you definitely do not have to talk to her about this if you don’t want to. Here’s a guinea pig forum that you could point her to if you’d like: https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/index.php

Edit: Fixed some typos

Edited by Remy, 08 June 2021 - 08:48 AM.

[ChinchillaDude]

It’s like going up to any rodent and banging the side or top of the cage really hard to scare them for peoples amusement. It’s entirely up to you, it’s on her to care for them. If you choose to say anything gently or bluntly all you can do is aware her that they don’t like loud sudden noises it scares them. You can provide a source from the internet for it and show it to her? Guinea pigs do get used to noises in their environment. It’s loud, and sudden noise that they react that way to. They have surprisingly great memories of people and the things the people they remember do to them. Like they can remember the people who’s hands chased them around their cage or anyone who consistently is doing things that leave them shaken up. Not a good thing. It’s up to her. They’re her animals whatever they go through is on her.. that said imho I think it’s worth mentioning these things to your friend.

[nebit]

Remy gives excellent advice. Without seeing the setup, the "size of a 55G tank" could indeed be close to the general minimum for 2 sows. It could also be a bit small, but it certainly sounds larger than many inadequate commercial cages. Your description of the setup also sounds normal- using a blanket in place of bedding is common for guinea pigs, and they don't tend to use toys. Enrichment for them is generally in the form of open space to move, and novel places to hide, along with different food presentations.

 

And just like some hamsters are super tame and eager to be handled, and others are shy, never seen, or actively terrified of humans, so too are guinea pigs. I've found particularly with mill pigs, some of the temperaments lately are extremely frightful.

 

Intentionally making noises to scare the pigs doesn't sound nice, but ignorance isn't necessarily abuse.

[MochiTheHammy]

Hmmm i know very little about Guinea pigs but if they live in a cage the same/smaller size as your hamster I don't think that's right, they seem a little agitated from the way you described them a little bored too, maybe kindly suggest she reads a article or the UK forum that lil BIG dwarf suggested , I don't think she did much research before getting them, and her boyfriend (no offenses) sounds slightly mean, he definitely shouldn't torment them like that,  you should ask her to do a little more research    and maybe find a way to stop her boyfriend? He poor animals must be scared, cramped and upset  

Edited by MochiHammy13, 08 June 2021 - 08:44 AM.

[Remy]

Hmmm i know very little about Guinea pigs but if they live in a cage the same/smaller size as your hamster I don't think that's right, they seem a little agitated from the way you described them a little bored too, maybe kindly suggest she reads a article or the UK forum that lil BIG dwarf suggested , I don't think she did much research before getting them, but I did google it and it said they do apparently need hay , and taking it out because it was "messy " probably wasn't right, since they could get sick, you should ask her to do a little more research   

Guinea pigs do need hay. It is an extremely important part of their diet. However, the original post mentioned that they removed the bedding, not the hay.

[ajuniceuhamsters]

Remy, Chinchilla Dude and nebit all gave great advice, which I totally agree with

 

I'll just add this point- a 55 gal tank is about 630 sq inches, which is 4.4 sq ft. If the enclosure is truly that small, it's very small for two sows. The technical 'minimum' for 2 pigs is 7.5-8 sq ft, though many will recommend 10 sq ft or more.

Cages should generally include one hideout per pig to aviod squabbles, plenty of hay, one source of water per piggie, chew toys such as willow balls, good flooring for traction, with enough empty space that they can popcorn and do zoomies. 

[Phosphorus]

Adding to above, I think it's important to keep in mind there's a large chance your friend will not change your care advice, so don't take it to heart. It's not your responsibility to make sure every pet ever gets the most amazing care, just to spread it to the best of your ability.

Edited by Phosphorus, 09 June 2021 - 11:24 PM.