Housing

A hutch is the best place to keep a cavy. the best hutches have a seperate sleeping area then a seperate area which they can run around in. both compartments open, which makes it easier to clean out.

The best bedding to use newspaper in the bottom of the hutch, and then a layer (1" thick) of wood shavings. These absorb the moisture. Then 2-3 large handfuls of hay on top. Cavies use hay for feed and bedding.

The hutch/pen should be cleaned out every 1/2 weeks depending how dirty they are. Take the whole of the bedding out, spray and wipe with disinfectant then put fresh bedding back in.

For cavies that live outside, be sure to give them plenty of hay to snuggle up in.(especially in the colder months) Also, to prevent wind and rain getting in  a black sack and blanket can be put over the hutch.

You can make your own hutches, this way you can make them really large so that they have lots of room to run around in! We built all our hutches, they are nice and big and they all built together in rows of 10 hutches wide and 5 hutches high! Clean out day is hard work!!!

Water bottles should be clean and should only contain fresh water. They should be high enough for them to reach, if they are too low its very hard for them to get any water out!

You can have groups of young boars or sows living together, as many adult  sows as you like  and 1 boar living together but never have sows and 2 boars living together as this will cause fights. The rule is, never ever have 2 boars together when there is a sow present.

Any sows or boars living together must be in even numbers, either 2, 4 or 6 living together. Never put odd numbers of guinea pigs in the same hutch as they will fight.

VERY IMPORTANT:

If your guinea pigs live outside in a hutch... Make sure that the hutch is fox proof! It must be high enough off the ground so that a fox cant chew through the wire / mesh on the outside of the hutch. Use bolts not latches, as foxes find it very easy to chew / gnaw through latches too!