Traveling with guinea pigs is a question that comes up fairly frequently (especially in the summer!). I figured a sticky thread might be helpful. Feel free to add any tips that you have found to be helpful, as well as anything that you found did not work.
Traveling can be stressful, depending on the pig. For a short trip (five days or less), I figure its best to get someone to check in on them. I have a
neighbor that feeds mine. I give her pre-packaged bags of greens to dump in the cage, and she knows the drill about pellets, water and hay. They have each
other (which is what they're with most of every work day, anyway), so they're good to go. They may be somewhat bored, but they're home, in a
familiar environment; depending on the trip I'm taking, its better than the upheaval of moving them.
For a long trip (any length of time that would require a pigsitter to change bedding, or do more than just put food in the cage), I again weigh my options. If the trip is someplace I will be at for a while, and the length of time to get there is not lengthy, I may take them with me. But often, I will look for a nearby pig-experienced sitter. It is less traumatic for them to travel 30 minutes down the road, and stay at their house (and often get lots of attention) than to go on the road with me. I have the piece of mind of having someone experienced with guinea pigs, who could identify illness, and who would be around them more than for once-a-day feedings. If my pigs are in good health, I have left them with not-so-experienced pigsitters, knowing they'll at least have more company than being behind. It helps to develop contacts of local people with guinea pig experience to sit. Or, you can always check out Worldwide Pigsitters.
I have also had people ask how long they can leave a pig at home, with no one checking in on them. Because pigs can go downhill so fast if they get sick, and that fresh greens will go bad if not eaten, I do not like to leave mine for any longer than 36-48 hours. If I'm going to be gone 49 hours, I get a sitter. Its easy enough to set them up with hay, pellets and water for a few days, but fresh greens can be tougher. I try to put any greens or veggie in a bowl of off the ground, so they don't get fouled before they eat them, and only give them one day of greens (figuring they'll get the second day by the time I get back).
Things to consider when leaving them at home:
- Do you have someone you trust to follow your instructions? I have heard of a few terrible tales of people feeding cat food to the guinea pigs, because they didn't pay attention which animal should get what.
- Keep things simple. Pre-packaging food for a non-experienced pigsitter helps keep the stress level for everyone. Keep items like hay and pellets out in the open (I usually have them hidden away). Label stuff. Initially, I wrote a list of things to do for my sitter, but as we both became more acquainted with the drill, I stopped doing that.
- Bedding. For people who use fleece, you may need to consider using traditional bedding (shavings) for your pigs when using a pigsitter. It depends on the comfort level of your sitter, and how often your current mode of bedding needs to be changed. If you change fleece every two days, and you'll be gone for four, and your sitter doesn't want to touch pee-soaked stuff… shavings may be a better way to go for the length of the vacation.
- Temperature: The winter, I find, is easy. The heat is on in the house, and its pretty much the same every day. Summer can be tricky. If you have central air, it's a no-brainer. But if you don't, and don't want to keep the air conditioner on the whole time, its worth looking at the weather report. Sometimes, keeping things at a regular temperature is as easy as keeping a fan in the room (and if it has a thermostat, you can set it to go on only when it gets warm enough to trip it). Having a fan to blow in outdoor air is good, too (I've set them on a timer, to pull in cool air overnight). If simple automation won't do the trick, this needs to be further instructions for your pigsitter, to keep an eye on the temperature, and how to address it.
- Contact information and emergency plans. Depending on the level of my pigsitter, I have different contact and emergency plans. For my neighbor, I instruct the basics of what to look for, and if anything looks suspicious, to call me. I would not expect her to take my pigs to the vet, and would have to work around that limitation. For an experienced person, and for long-term pigsitting, I have instructions for a sick pig and what constitutes a vet-visit, as well as instructions on how to pay.
Things to consider when taking them with you:
- Do you have an adequate travel cage? Especially if this is a longer car ride, do you have more than a box (which I would be afraid they'd bail out of)? A small cat carrier works well, or a small cage (what is sometimes sold as a guinea pig cage). A travel cage lined with fleece or towels works pretty well. Newspaper just get soaks, and you arrive with wet, news-printed pigs. Shavings can end up all over the car. Towels also give them something to grip onto as the car moves. Nothing causes pig-panic like taking a turn in the car, and them sliding all over a hay-filled or newspaper-filled box (did that once.... never again!).
- Can you keep them cool? A car can get hot awfully quickly, and pigs can start to suffer the effects of heat any time it gets over 80F. You would need to keep them from direct sunlight, and have food and water for them. Wet veggies are good -- I like watermelon rinds as a treat, that I give them (and other treats), every hour or so for the drive (it helps keep the peace - my girls get tired of being confined and start bickering after about 1.5 hours). If you bring a water bottle, I'd set it up only when you're taking a rest-stop. I set up a cage once for travel with a water bottle, and the motion of the car basically emptied the entire thing before the trip was done. And they didn't use it. That was a waste!
- Are your pigs good travelers? My current two pigs took a long time to learn not to freak out in a car. I found that having a cozy for them calmed them. They could burrow into it and feel safe. So if you have any cozies or stuff animals -- something that smells and feels familiar, it may help them with the ride.
- Cage set-up once you arrive: The closer you can recreate Home, the more comfortable your pigs will be. A similar sized cage, if you can, and whatever
cozies or hiding places they usually have can help.
If you do a search on this board for "travel" or "trip" you may find some other suggestions people have for traveling with your pigs.
