Adopting from the Rescue
How to adopt from Furry Potatoes Guinea Pig Rescue if you are a first timer:
Step 1: Get in contact with us via email, including details of your enclosure/hutch or let us know if you would like advice about the best ones to buy (scroll down for recommended set-ups)
Step 2: you will be invited to attend the rescue for an education session, where you can learn all about proper Guinea Pig care and ask any questions you might have (write them all down, there’s so such thing as a silly question) and you can meet some Guinea Pigs and see who’d suit you and your family (please bring the children along if applicable) We then ask that you go home and make sure you are prepared, have a family discussion about which Guinea Pigs you liked etc - we want to be really sure we aren’t rushing into this. Guinea Pigs are a 5-7 year commitment, so we want this to be a slow, considered process - not an instant, pet shop-like experience!
Step 3: If we have seen and approved your setup via photos and videos, you will be welcome to return to collect your chosen Guinea Pigs. If you would like us to reserve them for you until you can come back to collect, it’s a £10 deposit, deducted from your adoption fee.
If you are looking for a companion for your current Guinea Pig(s), please get in touch with setup photos and details of your requirements. Please take a look at our bonding page if you would like to book in a bonding session.
Our housing requirements:
For a pair of Guinea Pigs we will require a minimum set up of 12sq ft. This is for either gender of Guinea Pig
Our preferred set-ups are indoor C&C-style grid enclosures. You will need a 5x2 grid model to meet our minimum.
These can be purchased from
Kavee
Cage Creations
Ozzy Cages (via hay pigs in the UK)
Or you can very easily and cheaply create your own version by purchasing grids from Amazon (search for cube storage grids) and creating a base from Proplex, which can be bought very cheaply from DIY stores. Using this method will cost you around £30 total!
We will also accept other enclosures as long as the same square footage is met. For example, wooden enclosures.
If you would like to have a larger group, you will need to add on another grid length for every additional guinea pig e.g. 6x2 for 3, 7x2 for 4 - or you can go wider and shorter, or in an L-shape.
Hutches
The ONLY hutch size we will accept is 6 ft. We highly recommend Chartwell hutches, because they are well built and spacious. Pet shop hutches are usually cheap and flimsy.
We will not adopt to you if you plan to put your hutch outdoors 24/7. Your hutch must be indoors, or situated in a shed, outbuilding etc. Guinea Pigs outdoors in hutches are vulnerable to extreme heat and cold, as well as predators. Their human families are also unlikely to spend as much time with them, if they are outdoors in the cold and rain. The hutch can be moved outdoors if it is predator proof during fair weather but you must must have a place it can be moved into when it’s very cold or very hot. An ideal temperature for Guinea Pigs is 15 degrees.
We will rehome a maximum of 3 Guinea Pigs to a 6 foot hutch, if you would like a larger group you will need to look at converting a shed, playhouse etc. It will need to be insulated, well ventilated, predator proof and options for heating and cooling.
Ramps : we prefer single level hutches, as often Guinea Pigs struggle with steep ramps and they can fall off and hurt themselves. If you have a double level hutch, please put a brick under the ramp to reduce the slope and place a barrier around the hole at the top so your Guinea Pig can’t fall through.
Please see our care guide for bedding and diet advice.
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What to avoid
Sadly, many cages and hutches sold in Pet Shops are completely unsuitable for Guinea Pigs and far too small.
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For example, the Ferplast 100cm and 120cm are commonly sold alongside baby Guinea Pigs. Keeping your Guinea Pigs in a small space will be damaging to their health and mental wellbeing, it will also greatly increase the chance of a pair fighting. In addition, you will have to clean them far more often and the Guinea Pigs will just sit around being bored and give you very little enjoyment, you won’t see many of their engaging natural behaviours!
Which guinea pigs are right for me?
We really encourage you to visit the rescue and see who you fall in love with. Please keep an open mind regarding the colour/breed of Guinea Pig…they all need a loving home!
One of the reasons we do not have separate housing requirements for boars and sows is that we really encourage a gender blind approach to choosing - we want you to adopt who you fall in love with, rather than picking by gender.
Rescues are always full of boars (male Guinea Pigs), partly because there are so many myths around them! Boars are not messier or smellier than sows, and a well-bonded pair is very unlikely to fight. Boars won’t mind if you have a pretty pink setup or if you call them girly names. So please do consider adopting a lovely pair of boys; they have big personalities and are often more outgoing than sows. However, if you have plans to have more Guinea Pigs sharing one enclosure in the future, then you’ll need to go for sows as boars prefer to live in pairs. You can also have 1 neutered boar in a group of females, and they often help keep the peace.
If you have small children, I would recommend going for older Guinea Pigs. Many parents want very young Guinea Pigs so they have them for as long as possible; whilst baby Guinea Pigs are very cute, they are very wriggly and very fast and children can struggle to handle them. An adult pair will be much easier to handle.
Please consider taking a chance on the shy and quieter piggies, they’re often overlooked! It’s so rewarding to be the one who helps a nervous piggy come out of their shell!
Choosing who to Adopt
If you are looking for a specific age or gender of piggy not shown here, please still contact me, as I may have some not yet listed or I can add you to a contact list to hear about any that come in.
If you are interested in adoption, please drop me a message. Please include details of your cage/hutch and if you currently have any guinea pigs. If you are yet to purchase your set up, I can advise on the best options.
If you have a single Guinea Pig in need of a friend and there are single piggies available here, I can offer a “piggy play date” to see if the two are compatible. This is subject to a £10 deposit to reserve your time slot. Please ask for more details.
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If your adoption doesn’t work out for whatever reason, I ask that they are returned to me rather than rehomed elsewhere.
Other adoption policies to note:
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we will never rehome a guinea pig to live alone. They are a herd animal and thrive on social interaction.
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We will not rehome boars to live in groups of more than two boars, as trios and groups have such a high fall out rate
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Please ensure that if you are renting, you have full permission of your landlord to have pets in the property, we reserve the right to check.
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We are happy to adopt to families with children, but the adults of the family must take overall responsibility for the care of the Guinea Pigs. If the children lose interest, the adults must be prepared to take over. We would like to meet your children and see how they are with Guinea Pigs, if they are too rough or boisterous we may suggest that Guinea Pigs are not a good fit for you.
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We will rehome to households with cats/dogs but please ensure that you keep the Guinea Pigs in a room where the other pets are not allowed, and you have a lid on your cage for added protection. Never allow unsupervised access for your dog or cat.
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We will not rehome Guinea Pigs to live with rabbits. They have different diets, care needs and a rabbit can easily injure or even kill a Guinea Pig. In addition, rabbits can carry diseases that are lethal to Guinea Pigs but do not affect the rabbits themselves
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We will not rehome to schools, nursing homes, petting farms or other environments where the Guinea Pigs will be submitted to constant handling and noise.
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When you adopt, you are then responsible for all necessary vet care (unless agreed for a pre-existing condition) please make sure you have the funds available for any emergencies or you take out insurance
When you adopt, you will sign a contract to state that you are now responsible for the animals in question. You will also have to agree that in the event that you can no longer keep the Guinea Pig(s) that you will return them to us, rather than rehoming them elsewhere - including social media and rehoming websites. We will always accommodate a space for “our” piggies.