Guinea Pig Help?

Question

My daughter was given a 15 week old guinea pig yesterday. I have experience with my own rabbit but know nothing about these! I presume I treat it like the rabbit? Also suggestion of names? Thanks in advance

Answer 1

First off, guinea pigs and rabbits are NOT the same, or even similar. You could house them together, but rabbits and guinea pigs have different dietary needs, and rabbits can possibly carry bacteria and fungi that will make your pig sick. Also, you run the risk of your rabbits injuring your pig with their powerful back legs. For more on housing a rabbit and guinea pig together check out this link: http://www.guineapigcages.com/rabbits.htm

Your guinea pig needs guinea pig food. Guinea pigs cannot make their own vitamin c like rabbits can. Rabbit food doesn't have supplemental vitamin c, and can also contain antibiotics that are harmful to your guinea pig. Also, do not buy guinea pig food with seeds in it, as seeds pose a choking hazard. Since he is young, look for an alfalfa based food. When he is about a year old try switching to a timothy hay based food.

You can feed your pig fresh veggies such as lettuce, carrots, bell peppers, cilantro and many other kinds of veggies. For an excellent food chart look here (PDF file): http://www.guineapigcages.com/food/Veggie-and-Fruit-Charts.pdf

Here are some excellent websites with lots of information:
http://www.guineapigcages.com
http://www.cavyspirit.com
http://www.guinealynx.com

Answer 2

i hve 2 guinea pigs, i'm 13, i bought em in september 2006 and i new nothin bout these small creatures.

i got advice from the lady at the pet store:

its very good that u already hve a rabbit, the guinea and the rabbit can both stay together as they make very good friends

do not get another guinea pig of the opposite gender or u may hve problems with WAY TOO MANY mini guinea pigs

guinea pigs need a lot of vitamin c, give em carrots or grass

dont give em a bath more than once a month, or they can die of cold

they love to be handled, try not to pick it up for the first 3 days, it must be in the corner of the cage, wait until it starts to move around and adapts to the new cage.

NAMES:

My guinea pigs names are: Pikachu and Poochini

here r some names i quite like:

Logo, Miz, Fong, Pineapple, Kiwi, Bubbly, Bunty, Koorai, Tokoi, Hector, Franklin, Zippy, Wasky, Ariel, Pooka....hummm....out of idea sorry

good luck with the new pet ^_^

Answer 3

Firstly guinea pigs are not the same as rabbits at all! Guinea pigs systems are different to a rabbits, firstly u will need to feed them on a special diest which contains vitamin c, this is because g.pigs cant produce there own and with out it they would get what humans can scurvy!! So give plenty of carrotts and oranges or any other type o vit c fruit and veg to supplement there diet. Secondly g.pigs are much more delicate when u are handling them, there backs cannot bend backwards so they cant have as much rough and tumble as a rabbit would! Also g.pigs are better off in pairs because they can get lonely at times .
Il leave the names for u to choose!!!lol

Answer 4

Guinea Pigs cannot produce there own vitamin c so need to have that supplemented in there diet. a good diet is supa guinea excel which has vitamin c in it and it is in a pellet form stopping them from picking at the food. if you cannot get that diet you could try gertie guinea pig or if you are going to feed the guinea pig the rabbit food you should use vitamin c drops such as abidec which you can get from the pharmacy.

Rabbits and guinea pigs dont always make the best hutch buddies as there can be alot of bullying so just look out for bite marks on both of them.

Answer 5

Most of the cage care is the same as a rabbit, cleaning out and bedding, etc.
BUT.... get guinea pig dried food and it will need plenty of vegatables in it diet, things like carrot, cabbage, couliflower etc. They also love cucumber, but go careful on things like lettuce.
Some guinea pigs are no so hardy when living outside, and in colder wether you may have to cover it over or take it inside for the winter.
Ask your pet shop or vets for more advise.
Most of all, they tend to be a little more cuddly than rabbits, as well as much more vocal. they like to speak to you, especially when you feed them.

Answer 6

Yes, they are pretty much the same to look after as rabbits (I have owned both) the only thing is that guine pigs need vitamin C supplements in their food or water, this is available as a liquid you can buy in the pet store. They also need a supply of hay to eat. Apart from that there is not a lot of difference.

Answer 7

They are generally hearty animals. You can feed it the GP food and you also need to give it a Vitamin C supplement. You can get it at any health food store or even at a pet store. I seemed to have gotten better deal getting it from a health food store. They love hay and should be given all that they want to eat. They love fresh fruits and veggies but greens seem to give them colic and they tend to be a little grouchy when that happens. Never use cedar bedding as this could lead to an upper respiratory infection. Other than that give him ample love and attention everyday. They live for about 5 yrs.

Answer 8

Pretty much yeah I used to keep Rabbits and Guinea pigs together and they fed together I love their squeaks! they are much more rewarding than Rabbits I found

Answer 9

We had guinea igs when we were younger, Trinket, Treacle and later, Flintsy and Thatch. Guinea pigs are similar to rabbits, but you won't need such as secure run as they don't burrow or jump! You can buy guinea pig/ rabbit food from the pet shop/ supermarket/ market and he will also eat fruit and veg scraps-but not citrus fruit. You can bathe him sometimes if you want- Trinket was white and we used to bathe him to rid him of the grass stains using mild shampoo- I expect you can get specially formulated stuff now. We used to hair dryer him when it was cold! Their claws may need cutting from time to time, you can do this yourslef being careful not to cut the quick- the blood supply to the nail. This is clearly visible on lighter coloured animals, but if you have a pig with dark nails you may want to tke him to the vet if you are not confident. My friend has one who she takes to the park as she has no garden- they don't run fast and do like the outside, so this may be an idea if you have no grass space for him. They are sociable animals and will like your attention, pet and groom them on you lap frequently. If he is brown, I always wanted to get a brown pig/ rabbit and call it Muscovado- maybe you could name him this. As they are rodents their teeth will continue to grow as well, so they need to gnaw- you can get appropriate things for them to chew on from the pet shop- if they don't gnaw enough they may need their teeth ground down- check them occasionally.

Answer 10

i have 3 girl guinea pigs lol about 6 years old now(i know!very old) you have to make sure they have loads and loads of vitimin c! u can get drops for thier water bottles in all pet stores and they absolutely LOVE cucumber! i give them lettuce every now and then but if you give them 2 much lettuce the toxic in it can poison them. if you handle them everyday then they will love you very much hehe. and whatever you do in the future, NEVER EVER buy a rabbit to put in with it! they arent like rabbits at all as guinea pigs never bite or scratch and love to squeek. make sure you dont feed it rabit food though as its poisonous. mine love gertie guinea pig food and you can buy dried grass, they love that. i normaly just put mine out in their run most of the day. and in the winter make sure you bring it in. their fur cant handle the cold weather! hope this helps! =] xx