The late, great Peter Gurney (1938 – 2006) wrote several important and charming books about life with guinea pigs or cavies. One of the most memorable guinea pigs he wrote about was named Free Range Fred. He was given that name because he ran about the home like a dog or a cat and did not live in a cage or a hutch. But is this a safe option for guinea pig owners?
For the most part, no. Loose guinea pigs can get underfoot, get access to poisonous household chemicals or get crushed by an opening door. Guinea pigs also are easy prey animals for cats, large pet birds and any dog bred to chase rats or small prey animals. But in a few situations, free roaming may work out, even if it’s just in one room of the home.
Peter Gurney’s Place
Peter Gurney described his home life and how Free Range Fred managed to fit in with it. Gurney did not have other pets or small children – two big dangers for loose guinea pigs. At one point, Gurney had about 70 guinea pigs, including many females or sows. Free Range Fred, an intact boar, preferred to wander over to the sows’ pens (even though he could not get in) rather than try to make a bolt for the front door.
Gurney would instruct all guests to shuffle their feet when they walked through his house if Fred was about. Sometimes it was easier to pop Fred into a pet carrier or a cage when visitors were coming than to get them to check under seat cushions before sitting down. Gurney also notes that Fred almost died being placed into the washing machine. If a guinea pig is free roaming, always put laundry into a machine one article of clothing at a time to check for a napping cavy.
My Colony
I had a guinea pig as a small child. But when I was an adult, I was a guinea pig slave (presumably owner) from 1992 to 2000. In that time, I only kept sows in order to make sure I wasn’t surprised with babies. This was before spaying sows became a normal practice in America. Some of my sows were rescues. The most I had at one time was six. I lived in an apartment that allowed small animals.
My guinea pigs needed exercise. Which meant floor time or out of the cage time. Unfortunately, I had two jobs and roommates that would not help me care for the guinea pigs. The best alternative I could come up with was to make my bedroom into a free-roaming guinea pig room.
I blocked off half the room for the guinea pigs so that they could not chew electrical wires or go out of the door. I also recommend blocking access to underneath your bed, because guinea pigs love to hide there. I left their cages open so they could jump in to eat and use the water bottle and jump out to root around the old rags I left for them to snuggle in. This arrangement worked really well and gave the piggies the exercise they needed.
References
Gurney, Peter. The Proper Care of Guinea Pigs. TFH Publications; 1992.
Gurney, Peter. What’s My Guinea Pig? TFH Kingdom Books; 1998.
Author’s own personal experience