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Hi All,

I hope someone can help me.

Has anyone got any experience with taking guinea pigs away in a caravan?

I wouldn't normally consider it, but one of my pair of guinea pigs was put to sleep a few days ago, so we don't want to leave the lone one behind or I would worry the whole time I was away if she was left with strangers.(and she is missing her friend very much)

Travelling shouldn't be a problem, but I was wondering how we could keep the cage cool in the caravan when we went out (shes an indoor guinea pig) and any other advice people might have.

Hope someone can help :)

We used to take ours with us regularly when they were still with us, we used a deep plastic stacking box with a few dozen holes drilled into the lid for ventilation, dangled a water bottle from the holes, removed the lid when we were around to keep an eye on any potential escapees, replaced it for travel and whilst we were out places and couldnt take them with us, But, we also used asmall handtowel for the purpose of wrapping up their rear end and making them feel secure then would carry them like a small dog in our arms around the places we wanted to visit. sometimes we even tucked them out of sight inside our coats whilst we nipped into a shop, which being creatures that like to hide, they seamed to enjoy the experiance of very much.

They did sometimes give the game away though by letting out a loud squeek if they ever smelled food, the green grocers was a place to avoid with them, unless you could cough loudly to cover up their noisey demands!

It also became a source of facination with children who spotted them being carried, and many people old and young alike would stop to pet them or even offer them a carrot or tomato out of their caravan! 

Julia  

Quote: Originally posted by LegsDownKettleOn on 21/4/2010

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I suspect they could do a LOT of damage in a caravan if they escaped.

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Hi, there was a thread on this not very long ago, but it might have been someone with a tent thinking of taking GPs away. Never had these beasties myself & don't know much about them tbh, but I do remember that the opinions of people posting on that other thread varied a lot. Some said that GPs are very nervous & sensitive to movement & noise & got stressed easily -  I'm pretty sure one or 2  also said they had very weak hearts ???

However others said their own GPs were not like this all & actually seemed to enjoy going away ! It seemed to me that like lots of animals they are not all the same. I guess in your case you'll have a fair idea of the character of yours already. Maybe you could try a shortish break first to see how she copes. Hope your poor piggy cheers up soon. It's hard seeing your animals grieving isn't it. Good luck.

Because they are herbivores they dont tend to scratch and chew through things like rats and mice do, nibbling veg and grazing is more their style, they enjoy a piece of fresh applewood to wear there teeth down on, but we never had a problem with ours causing any kind of damage, which is more than can be said for hamsters!

I would echo the advice given about leaving them outside unattended, even under the caravan by day they are at risk of harrasment by the local site Moggy, and even a Kestrel  or Buzzard could inflict serious damage to one if seen as prey from above.

A foxes nose can smell them from a mile away, and a Stoat or a Weasle is capable of killing them with one bite to their neck, where they then drain and drink their blood from the wound. they are far better indoors unless you are watching over them, but once the suns down its ok to put their plasic box onto the backseat of the car for the night, where they will remain safe till early the next morning before the sun gets hot, so you dont actually have to sleep in the same room as them yourselves.

Julia