Are you planning on getting guinea pigs? They are amazing pets with hilarious personalities and until you've kept them you may not realise how much pleasure they can give you.
To help you get all the items you'll need for your new guinea pigs, we've put together a list of what you need for a guinea pig so that you're all set up and ready to go. Think of it as a Guinea Pig Starter Kit!
Unlike some of the starter kits you can buy from pet shops, this includes everything you need for when you bring your guinea pig home.
Essentials
This is a list of the absolute essential items that you need to buy before getting your guinea pig.
- Hutch or Cage. This depends on where your guinea pig is going to be housed.
- Click here to view the hutch we recommend. It also comes with a rain cover which is necessary for giving your pets protection in bad weather.
- Click here to view the cage we recommend. It is the recommended size for 2 guinea pigs but if you have more than two you will need to consider a C&C cage.
- Hay. They need a constant supply of hay to eat. We use and recommend the Pillow Wad Meadow Hay. Our guinea pigs love it!
- Bedding to absorb urine. Choose one from these 3 options: Carefresh, Megazorb or Fitch. We don't recommend wood shavings as they can hurt your guinea pigs delicate feet.
- Guinea Pig Pellets - these need to be fed daily to your guinea pigs.
- Sturdy Ceramic Food Bowls - don't buy plastic ones or very small ceramic bowls as the guinea pigs will tip them over.
- Water Bottle - water needs refreshing every day so it's handy to have 2 of these bottles.
- Pet Friendly Cage or Hutch Cleaner - We use Johnson's Clean & Safe Disinfectant for Small Animals
Good to Have Items
- Somewhere for them to hide such as a Pigloo
- A snuggly bed - our guinea pigs have one of these and they love it!
- A hanging toy for them to pull apart and chew.
- A tunnel. Guinea pigs absolutely love to dash in and out of these and it will provide you with lots of entertainment to watch them! Make sure you buy the "giant" size as the others are for smaller pets.
Now all you need are your guinea pigs! Bear in mind that they love company and can be very unhappy if housed alone so you should always buy a pair.
We always recommend getting rescue guinea pigs as there are hundreds in the UK that are in need of a loving home.
If you'd like to adopt a guinea pig, click here to search for a rescue centre near you.