I plan on getting two guinea pigs from the animal shelter, any tips?

Question

How do I convince my mom? I think I'm pretty organized. Also, how do I care for it? Please give me some tips.

Answer 1

I strongly advise that you start off with a general "how to care about guinea pig" book. You can find these easily at a pet store. I advise only getting one for your first experience. Be very careful about selecting 2 pigs (those of us who have them call them "pigs" for short!) because they may not get along, and you don't want to deal with babies for the first time. When you pick one out, look for a pig with clear eyes, no bite or scratch wounds, and no runny nose. The guinea pig should be alert. Teeth should not be overgrown. You will need to make sure the pig can chew on the bars of the cage or chew toys because if their teeth get too long they are unable to eat. You will need to get a cage that does not have a wire bottom. DO NOT PUT CEDAR SHAVINGS in the cage for bedding...this will make your pig sick. Use PINE or Eco bedding. You will have to choose pellets that have vitamin C in them along with vitamins for the water...their bodies do not naturally make vitamin C. This brings up another important topic...colds. Pigs can catch them from you, and it is hard for them to deal with them. Also, the cage should be at least a little off of the floor and where there is not a draft so a cold is not caught. You will also need to find a VET that knows about exotic animals. Call around in your area and ask if they treat guinea pigs, ask how much a office visit would be if needed. This is also a show of responsibility to parents! You should also provide alfalfa hay and fresh carrots daily. My pig loves the peeled baby carrots and will whistle for them! I could go on and on about what to do with one, but those are the bare basics. As for convincing your mom, RESEARH! By this I mean, read all about them, go to pet stores and make a list of everything you will need to get started & have to keep purchasing for care along with the prices. Figure out what your schedule would be for feeding and spending time with your pig...put it on paper to show you are serious. Also, what would you do when your family wants to go out of town? Come up with possibilities on that, and again put it on paper! Hopefull this helps to get you started. I think it is GREAT that you would adopt from a shelter!Good Luck!

Answer 2

Guinea Pigs make great pets, but first you need to ensure that a qualified person checks whether they are male or female and if they are mixed gender you will need to cages. Guinea Pigs mate quickly and frequently. You could end up with 6 litters in a year and thats putting it mildly assuming that you get the babies out of the cage before they mate with the parents.
Guinea Pigs don't produce any vitamin C so they must be fed guinea pig food which contains vitamin C (never feed rabbit food even though it looks the same) plus you should supplement there diet with fresh fruits and vegetables. Never feed any animal iceberg lettuce it is of no nutritional value and will make their stool runny.
Keep their cages clean and dry and use a pine bedding material. NEVER use cedar chips they are toxic!
Love your guinea and it will love you back purring and chirping everytime you enter the room.
Good luck

Answer 3

Guinea Pigs are wonderful little pets. I would suggest two boys. You will need a good sized cage - I have a 40"x22" topless cage. It seems to be the perfect size for two. Never use a wire floor. They will need vitamin C every day - this is very important. I give them a piece of tablet in a blueberry every morning. They need a lot of Timothy hay at all times (Not alfalfa). I use a small 8oz. bottle because they have small mouths. Their cage will need to be cleaned at least once a week. I hope this helps.

Answer 4

Do your homework on guinea pigs...

Go to a website that specializes in guinea pig information. Print that info out for your mom so she knows what responsibilities it requires, and let her know you are willing to go through with it. Parent's biggest worries are being stuck caring for an animal because their kid doesn't want to. You need to be able to convince her out of that.

Answer 5

Get two sisters. Boys will fight...the dominant one will fight the younger one so badly, that he can seriously harm or kill him. I have two boys, but they are separated. I used a material that enables them to still smell and communicate with each other. Before you get them ....find a site here that explains the meaning of the certain sounds they make...for example a squeeking tells you that they want to be fed...there are many interesting sounds they make. Guinea pigs are very shy by nature. Feed them their treats mainly by hand, to make them less fearful of you.
They are less messy than a caged rabbit....nevertheless, if you never had a rabbit you won't really appreciate that fact. I love to take care of Angel and Baby.

Answer 6

guinea pigs are very easy to keep and to look after. you will need a cage,bowls that they wont chew,waterbottle for them to drink from and some cage litter or corn cobs to place on the bottom of the cage.. guinea pigs make good pets.. just make sure you take them outta the cage daily and play with them and you can brush their coats with a old used toothbrush..

Answer 7

Here's a few excellent websites on guinea pigs, hope they give you some good info -
http://www.russelrabbit.com/languages/suk/36.htm
http://jackiesguineapiggies.com/guineapigbehaviour.html
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AirfPCC_WDppIZHBxdJD09Lsy6IX?qid=20060911111007AAtjsNF
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinea_pig - this Wikipedia site's page has got lots more links down the bottom of the page, too. Hope they all give you some good advice and more contacts too.

Answer 8

Try this website...it has a lot of tips and tricks on taking care of your animals. How old are you? Just show your mom you can responsible enough to take care of them. Show her all the research you've done on how to care for them.

Answer 9

we have three, they are awesome, but can be stinky and loud. We line there cage with fleece, they love it and ats alot easier to care for than wood chips or something, just take it out and wash it when its cage cleaning time. Its also possible to litter train them, so that would make it even easier to care for them.

Answer 10

If your mom is an animal lover it won't be hard to talk her in letting you have one. They make really good pets and are so cute!

Here are some really good web sites for more info. on them;

http://guinealynx.info/index.html

http://www.russelrabbit.com/language

http://jackiesguineapiggies.com/gunieapig

http://wikipedia.org/wiki/guinea_pig

http://www,albinoblacksheep.com/flash/guineapig

And for some good pictures go to
http://www.SmileyPets.com

I hope your mom lets you have them.