We are on the road again! A couple months ago as I started planning the next PCS move, I started worrying about my sweet guinea pigs. My first thought was that I’d bless another military family with these wonderful creatures. I mean, they are delicate little critters, right?
But I was having trouble with the idea, since I’m absolutely smitten and my oldest son has a very strong attachment too. He’s created a Guinea Pig Club at school. All members of the club have 1 special guinea pig power and a nickname. My son, as the leader of the club, has all the powers so that he can properly lead the group, and has plans to open another chapter at his new school. Knowing all this, I thought that I should at least consider trying to move WITH the pigs.
I found answers to all my questions on Guinea Lynx. There’s a forum there for guinea pig lovers and although they are a little on the extreme side with their pig lovin’, the information was very helpful. I learned that plenty of people have moved their pigs for thousands of miles without casualties, so I decided to give it a go.
Food: Today is our first day on the road and so far, Chippy Wippy Nippy Gippy (this is one piggy, not four) and Muskrat are doing GREAT. They both seem to be quite comfortable, although they aren’t eating their usual timothy based food pellets. It was recommended that while traveling, you bring lots of water laden goodies like celery, tomatoes, lettuce and the like, but I forgot that today. While at Subway, I managed to sweet talk the sandwich artist into slipping me a few extra slices of tomatoes for my babies into a cookie sleeve. I’ll go out tonight and grab some goodies for them before we hit the road again.
Water Bottle: The water bottle was questionable. I was planning to leave it in the cage for them, hoping that on a straight stretch of road it wouldn’t be too leaky. I think if we were in a car we’d be fine but we are pulling another vehicle and there are more bumps and jerks so the water bottle leaks a good bit. I took it out and placed it in a cup holder. When we stop for gas or food, I’ll put it in the cage for them.
Bedding: Instead of a loose bedding like wood chips or carefresh, which would surely be strewn all about the vehicle by the end of one day of travels, I’m using towels. Even better would be something absorbent like a towel with a piece of fabric that wicks away moisture such as fleece. I’m just using the towel though, and it’s working fine. Bring enough towels so that you can change it out every evening before you go to bed. I’m tossing the dirty ones into a walmart bag which I’ll launder separately next time I go to the laundromat.
Socialization: Against the advice of all those very hard core guinea pig lovers, we are socializing our piggies on the road! My kids love them and our dogs are small and have never shown any aggression. If you have big dogs or terriers, I don’t necessarily recommend this idea, but one of my dogs is a yorkie! He doesn’t show any type of desire to hurt the guinea pigs though, since he’s about the same size as they are I guess! My other dog is a poodle mix and she’s content to sit in the driver’s lap and sleep.
Lots of animal lovers would have their critters more contained, which is surely more safe for them. With the dogs in a crate and the piggies always in their cage, I’m sure there’s less room for dangerous circumstances, but for us, this is really working. I suggest you read a few more articles on the subject though, and make up your own mind.