Things needed for a great hutch
Guinea pigs are great pets and they require a safety shelter and giving them a great hutch is wonderfully nice. There are lots of hutches that you can buy in local pet stores near you but then you have to check its quality and consider some of these things before you buy one.
The hutch must be waterproofed. In order to protect the hutch from rotting, it is needed that the hutch be coated in a preservative so as to protect it from the rain, and from your guinea pig’s urine, dropping, and spilled water. It is vital that you choose a preservative that is safe for animals or else you might end up getting your pet ill. If you are planning to keep your little pet indoors, like a shed, then this step is less dangerous and can still help prolong the life of the hutch.
Moreover, during the winter season, it is important that you protect your guinea pigs from elements. The hair of your little pet will thicken naturally to provide them extra warmth but then you still need to shelter them from the rain and cold wind. As much as possible, move the hutch inside, may it be in a shed or other building. More so, you can also hang a piece of carpet over the hutch in order to provide more protection, but never leave them like this all day long. Even when it is winter, they like to get some plenty of sunlight.
Another important consideration upon buying a great hutch is the size of it. As to any type of guinea pig cage, the bigger the hutch, the better it would be. Cavies are considerably larger than most other small pets and giving them enough space is truly nice. You should also give your guinea pigs plenty of room to run around and enough space to be alone whenever they want to. It is also vital that you offer them a large, unobstructed area so that they can run without hesitation at full speed. Read the rest of this entry
Guinea pigs always love to run around at great speeds. One of the most important things that you can offer to your little pet is a home where there is plenty of room to perform this kind of ability. They can play inside it and at the same get their exercise. This will ensure that your pet is living healthy and its happiness and long life is a guarantee.
The guinea pig hutch is your pet’s lovely home and it should be sufficiently large enough to allow them run laps. They love to this and it is basically great for them. A great hutch would be a seven and eight square feet for a single guinea pig, but it is recommended that you get at least two since they are sociable creatures and they would do better with a companion. A ten or eleven square feet hutch is best for two guinea pigs. A single guinea pig has a dimension of 2.4 feet by 3.0 feet and a hutch for two of them may measure 3.0 feet by 3.5 feet.
Ensure that the hutch has wire walls surrounding it and not a glass enclosure like an aquarium. Aquariums are great for fish but they are not meant for guinea pigs. The wire-walled hutch gives your pet great ventilation and will help keep the cage dryer and smells better too. Also, fresh air is better for guinea pigs.
However, the floor of the hutch is not made from wire because the wire mesh is hard on your guinea pigs small feet and they might get caught up in the mesh. The floor needs to solid but it should not be made with wood either. A wooden floor tends to soak up the urine of your guinea pig and can be a source of bad smells and a breeding place for bacteria. A plastic hutch is the most common and also very easy to clean. There are those plastic floors that can slide in and out easily. If you have this one, the better.
Also, having a good size door into the hutch is also a great idea. This will allow an easier access for cleaning out the cage and this will also make it easy for you to reach your pet and remove him from the cage without hurting your little pet. Read the rest of this entry
A guinea pig hutch is basically designed specifically for pet owners who like to keep their pets outdoors during the summer or all year round. If you are planning to let your guinea pigs live inside the house, it would be best that you buy an indoor cage for that reason.
Because they are constantly exposed to many elements, guinea pig hutches are to be much sturdy in their construction compared to regular cages. The hutches are those that are made from thick, solid wood rather than made from flimsy plywood. In turn this will generally help make the hutch much solid and this will provide excellent insulation from the wind and rain. The most important thing is that having thick walls will keep out predators, such as rats, that can easily gnaw through thin plywood walls and attack your pets.
The floor of the hutch must be a solid one. Some people may recommend you to use a hutch with mesh floors supporting it, such as those used for rabbit hutch. But then using those can be dangerous and that can easily hurt your guinea pig by breaking a leg after getting trapped into it. For you to create a solid floor for them to walk on, you can cover it with several sheets of plain black and white newspaper and numerous layer of hay.
Moreover, giving the hutch a solid roof is an important detail to consider. A good guinea pig hutch has a solid roof that slopes from front to back. This will enable to channel the water away and stop it from sitting on the roof causing it to rot. You can also try to find a hutch that has a large overhang on all sides. This too will help keep away the rain from the walls of the hutch and from your pets. Guinea pigs don’t like to be wet and giving this will provide them additional protection. The roof must be covered in two or three layers of roofing felt to make it waterproof.
It is also important that you take note of the hutches’ front and its doors. The fronts of the hutches are basically divided into two sections. The first is a large door which has a mesh front that allows air and sunlight into the hutch and this also give your little pet a view in the garden. However, guinea pigs are easily spotted by predators so the best thing you can do is to make sure that the mesh is securely fixed, fit it with a strong bolt and fasten it with a padlock if needed. Read the rest of this entry
