Guinea Pigs can be kept inside or outside all year round. Here are some of the main features to consider when purchasing a new hutch for your pet guinea pig. For a range of fantastic guinea pig hutches, starter packs and accessories please visit our website Pets.ie!
Material
Wooden hutches are a great option as they generally offer a bit more space and warmth for your pet. Wood offers good insulation from the weather and tends to help regulate the temperature, keeping the inside warm in winter and cooler in summer.
Look for a hutch which uses treated timber and has been protected with pet friendly wood preservative. You may need to re-treat the wood after the first couple of years, so check the tin to make sure the product is safe to use on your pet’s home.
Most hutches have a wire mesh section to allow ventilation and to give your pet a view of the outside world! The mesh should always be well maintained and bolted closed to stop predators such as foxes and cats accessing the hutch.
Hutch Size
When buying a hutch, consider that size your guinea pig will be when they are fully grown and of course if the hutch is being used for more than one pet, it will need to be larger. Guinea Pigs like to run a lot, so it’s ideal if you can have a long area within the hutch or as part of the run which would allow them to run back and forth! They should also have a separate sleeping area where they can rest on their own.
Flooring
The floor of a solid wood hutch should be off the ground so it’s not exposed to the cold and also so it doesn’t rot. If you have a small hutch consider adding a run, made from wire mesh, to one side to give your guinea pig a little extra space. The run should not have a wire mesh on the bottom though, as guinea pig’s feet can easily get caught and injured in the wire.
Sleeping Area
Inside the main hutch should be a dedicated sleeping space for your guinea pig to make their nest. Provide plenty of absorbent bedding, such as pet safe wood shavings, so your guinea pig can burrow and hide, which they love to do!
Easy to Clean
One of the things we don’t always thing about when choosing a hutch is how we will clean it! And if your child has been given that responsibility, then it makes sense to pick a product that is super easy to clean. All our hutches have this in mind. There is a slide out metal floor for easy cleaning which you just remove, tip in to the compost heap or the bin and then replace along with fresh bedding.
We hope this article has given you some pointers as to what to look for when picking a hutch for your Guinea Pig.
We have a lovely range of Guinea Pig Hutches all with fast & free delivery to anywhere in Ireland or Northern Ireland.
All of our hutches are designed with both the Guinea Pig and with children in mind. We believe it’s really important the hutch is really easy to use for the pet owner of any age as it allows for ease of interaction between the pet and it’s owner.
Guinea Pig Hutches
Depending on the model of Guinea Pig Hutch you choose, they can have the following features.
- Guinea Pig Hutches suitable for indoor or outdoor use.
- Suitable for one, two or even more guinea pigs.
- Easy clean slide out floors.
- Child friendly design.
- Sliding handle to make it easy to close the door to the guinea pig sleeping area.
- Outdoor run area to allow the guinea pig access to fresh grazing.
- Lots of access doors and gates to make it easy to pet your guinea pig and fill feeders or drinkers.
We also have a full range of starter packs which include both the guinea pig hutch as well as all of the essentials required when getting a new pet guinea pig. These starter packs come complete with our own guide to keeping a pet guinea pig. This guide has all of the important information to get you up and running quickly and hassle free.
All guinea pig hutches will arrive flat packed and do require a small amount of self-assembly. All parts are provided, you just need a screw driver to assemble and it takes about 30 minutes.
If you need advice on choosing a guinea pig hutch just drop us a line via our contact us page or give us a call.