Meet the man who has 80 guinea pigs in his back garden - who spends £8k a year on his furry friends.<br /><br />Cid Dwyer, 25, ended up looking after the pets when the previous owners of his new home left 10 guinea pigs behind in February 2022.<br /><br />He decided to keep them but noticed they had multiplied after the first few weeks – as the male guinea pigs were impregnating the females.<br /><br />Cid tried to separate the sexes, but his herd grew to 80 in just under a year before he was finally able to get it under control.<br /><br />He used TikTok to learn about caring for the animals and has now become an avid guinea pig fan.<br /><br />The 80 guinea pigs live in Cid’s back garden in Sydney, Australia, and he spends his days caring for and hanging out with his furry friends.<br /><br />Cid, a content creator, said: “I’ve grown a herd of 80 guinea pigs in less than a year.<br /><br />“They were left by the previous tenants, and I just thought ‘they are cute, I’ll let them hang around.’<br /><br />“I’m now really attached to them at this point.<br /><br />“I can recognise all of them.<br /><br />“I named one Claudia after Claudia Winkleman because she has long hair that covers over her face – like bangs.<br /><br />“One is Curious George because he’s always so inquisitive.<br /><br />“I do have favourites.<br /><br />“Cookie Dough, who is has chocolate chip patterned fur, is one of my favourites.”<br /><br />Cid was shocked when he noticed four baby guinea pigs had been born – after originally being left with 10.<br /><br />“It was cute at first until more of the females started to give birth,” he said.<br /><br />“The males were intent on making them all pregnant.”<br /><br />Cid researched how to separate the male and female guinea pigs to stop them breeding.<br /><br />He said: “I put a fence up, but a male still managed to get in.<br /><br />“Now I’ve built a new enclosure for the females so it’s under control.<br /><br />“They have lots of space to run around so I keep them outside.<br /><br />“I researched the plants and wood I could use in their enclosure to make sure it wasn’t poisonous for them.”<br /><br />Cid starts his days by putting out four trays of barley grass - which he grows - dry food and sometimes a carrot or watermelon as a sweet treat.<br /><br />Every day he cleans out their bedding before spending time “hanging out”.<br /><br />The guinea pigs stay outside in the garden but have covered sections of their enclosure to protect them from the rain.<br /><br />In summer, Cid puts in frozen bottles of cold water down to keep them cool.<br /><br />Cid spends £115 a week on food for the pets and has to treat them for lice and fleas every three months – costing £600.<br /><br />He said: “They have a lovely life.<br /><br />“They are very spoilt.”
