Bernie (my guinea pig) should always have grass at his disposal (his disposal being that little mouth of his). He needs something for his cage that grows grass for him so he can graze naturally. It would need to be able to water itself, and to be resistant to chewing. The grass needs to be a kind that tolerates low light. The soil would need to be de-wormed, and, if possible, sterilized, so that the animal wouldn't get sick from it.

I propose a stainless steel metal box with wire mesh covering the top. The box comes already filled with de-wormed soil and grass seed. The box lid would flip up to accept new pre-seeded "soil cubes". A modified water bottle (comes in the kit) has a tube that runs down to the box, slowly watering the grass.
-- fogfreak, Oct 19 2003

Cat grass in a tub. http://www.epetpals...on&key=079593080027
It also exists for rabbits and guinea pigs but I can't find a link. [squeak, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]

Chia cage?
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Oct 20 2003


Quite correct in your reasoning but these already exist for rabbits guinea pigs and even house-cats. I used to sell them in the pet shop where I worked. There wasn't a metal grill on the top however as the pets like to sit on the grass as well.

Good idea about it being refillable too. The ones I sold were not and were pretty expensive if used as the only source of grass.

I don't think the watering system is really necessary though. You'll be opening the cage at least twice a day to feed your pigs anyway, so why not just y'know, water the grass with a watering can. Will stop it getting soggy too.
-- squeak, Oct 20 2003


[Squeak] Bernie doesn't get fed. He has a food dispenser that lets food always be availible to him. Because of that, we don't open the cage that much.
-- fogfreak, Oct 20 2003


Aw. Poor Bernie. I hope he's got a big cage or a run or a friend or something.

And have your automatic watering system if you must.
-- squeak, Oct 20 2003


Note to all current or potential guinea pig feeders(and somewhat off-topic, but I post it as a Public Service Announcement): DON'T feed your guinea pig lettuce. I found out the hard way that it will, given in in high enough quantities, kill the wee buggers.

Mind you, said ex-guinea pig never once refused a nice, crisp Iceberg leaf...
-- never trust a man in a blue trench coat, Oct 20 2003


I've heard that iceberg lettuce is bad for them, but other kinds, romaine for instance, is fine. Don't give them apple cores, though. The seeds can contain cyanide. [squeak] We're thinking of getting him a friend, but when you have a male in its prime, you can't get a female for the babies, and you can't get a male for the fighting. Damned if you and damned if you don't.

Also, if the pad was big enough, the pig could still lay in the grass and still have the screen. If anyone knows of a product like this, please link me. I almost ordered the cat grass thing, but I didn't know if it had just grass or catnip or anything else mixed in there.
-- fogfreak, Oct 20 2003


I think there are catnip ones and plain grass ones too. I wish I could find a link for the ones I used to sell. And I know what you mean about finding a friend for Bernie. They look cute, do guinea pigs, but they can be right little sods.

We once received a delivery of baby guinea pigs at the pet shop where I worked and a new girl figured it would be fine to mix the litters with existing stock as they were all very young. Result: One dead boar the next morning with half it's head eaten off. Nice.
-- squeak, Oct 21 2003



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