My sister and I are going to be getting a Guinea Pig...HELP!!?

Question

I would like to know, if anybody has any advice on Guinea Pigss
I do not care what it is, just anything to do with Guinea Pigs.
You can even tell me a story, and I'll be fine with it!

Answer 1

They are fun, social animals that rarely bite, if played with and given attention. Since they are social, get two females so they have a buddy (males will fight), they make the cutest purring and "weeping" sounds! Make sure you clean their cage often; change the bedding at least once a week, and try and pick up any pellets in between cleanings. Provide plenty of fresh water, and on top of their normal guinea pig food, give them treats such as timothy hay or a bit of orange for vitamin C. Play with them often, they are great little pets!

Answer 2

Guinea pigs make wonderful pets, but are a huge responsibility. I do advise that you get 2, or even more, as they are social animals and don't do well living on their own. Please adopt from a local SPCA or rescue organization, as there are many homeless guinea pigs. Also, there are huge risks with buying from pet stores. The biggest issues from pet store purchase guinea pigs are Upper Respiratory Infections, Mites and pregnancy.
Guinea pigs need high quality plain pellets. Almost all of the pellets sold in pet stores are garbage, and usually full of harmful preservatives, sugars, dyes, and other gross stuff that can be cancer causing. The best pellets, and hay, are Oxbow Hay Cavy Cuisine, and KleenMama's.
www.oxbowhay.com
www.kmshayloft.com
Guinea pigs also need grass hay 24/7, as well as 1 cup of a variety of veggies daily. Guinea pigs cannot produce their own vitamin C, which is why they need veggies. Vitamin C drops for water is not reccomended. The vitamin C in the water degrades rapidly, usually within 15minutes, and distorts the taste of the water.

Also, pet store cages are extremely small. Guinea pigs need atleast 7.5sq feet per pig. The best cages are home constructed. They are extremely easy, and inexpensive.
Here's a list of very useful websites that provide the best information on guinea pig care on the net. On both GuineapigCages.com and GuineaLynx there are forums. Check those out, theres a wealth of knowledge
www.guinealynx.com
www.guineapigcages.com

Also, to find a good guinea pig rescue, or guinea pigs up for adoption try these sites:
www.guineapighome.com
www.petfinder.com

They make the most delightful pets, they are very gentle and once they are used to you are very loving. Good luck.

Answer 3

I have 2 guinea pigs, and they are great.

Food:
Dry food--
i like Oxbow

Vegetabeles--
lettuce
carrots
(pretty much anything green, accept spinach, gives them diarhea)

Small Amounts of Fruit--
Grapes
Blueberries
Strawberries
(all chopped)

Timothy Hay--
Oxbow is a good brand for this also

Water

Make sure they get plenty of Vitimen C
Dont get the dropps. They dissolve in the water and change the taste, making your guinea pig not drink.

Housing:
Cage--
C&C is the best
It is easy to make, and guinea pigs love it (more on C&C at bottom link)

Bedding--
Care Fresh
Kiln Dried Pine:
Dont get regular pine, can cause respitory problems

Huts--
Pigloos
Wooden Huts
Coroplast huts
Boxes

Toys =] :
Chews Toys--
Sticks
Blocks
Rods
anything

They like to lie on bricks in the hot summer
They can also file down their nails
And, if you get a brick with the holes in it, you can stuff hay or veggies in them!

Grooming:
Bathing--
Once every 6-8 months

Brush--
Wire Brush
Soft Brush

Nail Clipping--
1. Use baby or small nail clippers
2. Get guinea pig into nicly lighted area
3. Look for a reddish part in the nail. This is the Quick. It holds the blood in the guinea pigs nails
4. Clip Under the Quick
5. Repeat for all nails

Ear Cleaning--
I like to do this every couple of weeks
Use Hydrogen Poroxide wet a cotton ball or Q-Tip
Wash out ear with this

Always make sure the eyes are clean. If they are blurry, the guinea pig is unhealthy. Take the guinea to the vet.

Websites
C&C:
www.guineapigcages.com
Info:
www.cavyspirit.com
Health:
www.guinealynx.com

Good Luck
and Good Day

GP=]

Answer 4

Everything you need to know can be found on these websites. All you must do is read, read, read. If you research and read about your pig beforehand, you'll have a good concept of what you're getting yourself into. Guinea pigs are really wonderful pets, but they do require a degree of daily care and can be somewhat expensive if you care for them properly.

http://www.guinealynx.info/
http://www.guineapigcages.com/
http://www.cavyspirit.com/

Please note that guinea pigs should be housed in PAIRS. You'll need to consider getting two females or two males. It is a myth that two males can't live together. They can!

Please also consider adopting a pair of bonded pigs from a local shelter or rescue. A reputable rescue will have already quarantined the pigs for parasites and respiratory infections, so you are almost guaranteed healthy pigs. Pet store pigs are known for being sick or pregnant.

Good luck!

Answer 5

Guinea pigs are social animals who prefer to live in small groups. If you keep two or more females together, they will become great friends. If you want two males, it’s smart to choose two babies from the same litter. Since guinea pigs, like all rodents, multiply rapidly, keeping males and females together is not recommended.

As a rule of thumb, you’ll need to provide a minimum of four square feet of cage space per guinea pig—but please try to get as large a cage as possible. You’ll need a solid-bottom cage—no wire floors, please, as they can irritate your pets’ feet. Plastic-bottom “tub cages” with wire tops also make great guinea pig homes. Never use a glass aquarium, due to the poor ventilation that it provides.

Always keep the cage indoors away from drafts and extreme temperatures, as guinea pigs are very susceptible to heatstroke. They’ll prefer an environment kept at 60 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

Line the bottom of the cage with aspen or hardwood shavings or some other form of safe bedding, such as grass hay. Do not use cedar or pine chips—the oils they contain can be dangerous to your pets. (P.S. Yes, you can train a guinea pig to use a litter box—but please note that this will require lots of time and patience!)

Guinea pigs love to hide when they play, so be sure to place cardboard tubes and/or empty coffee cans with smoothed edges in the enclosure for this purpose. Plastic pipes and flower pots are good, too, and bricks and rocks for climbing will be much appreciated. All guinea pigs need a cave for sleeping and resting, so please provide a medium-sized flower pot or covered sleeping box, readily available at pet supply stores.

Answer 6

1. make sure to clean their cage @ least 1ce a week. i put a few layers of newspaper under it so its easy to remove dirty bedding, or sum stores hav plastic lining for the same purpose.
2. no wire bottomed cages. only plastic bottoms. mine is pink bottomed!
3. give them things like kale, collard greens, lettuce (not iceburg), carrots...nothing high sugar like grapes.
4. dont buy those little houses that look cute, not only do they bite them a lot they make them shy and scared of you.
5. its good to get them little chewies or sumthin recommended to chew on, otherwise their teeth grow too fast and then they cant eat.
6. food bowls with daily kibble, if you cant give them veggies a lot then give them lotsa vitamins and stuff, they hav drops that go in their water.
7. water thingies should be refilled wenever looking almost empty, and wash them out every few weeks or they get moldy.
8. remember to cut their nails otherwise they could grow really long and painful. i dont exactly hav any techniques, you could ask a professional for advice. its hard!
9. u dont hav 2 give them a lot of baths all the time, you really dont hav 2 give them any baths @ all unless they were outside or sumthin where things get in their fur.
10. take the top off their cage(if possible) and cage them outside in the summer once in a while and let them be happy eating sum grass and stuff.
11. be nice to them, hav a professional show you how to pick up and hold guinea pigs, thats important.

i think thats it...good luck!

Answer 7

guinea pigs are gorgeous, fun and friendy
advice would be check the sex if youre buyin more than one with a vet because i supposedly bought 2 boys and a few months later there were 5 babies and the mami got quite ill from the pregnancy

Answer 8

Go to the library and check out Guinea Pig books and look at websites...be well informed!
I am getting one tomorrow, my first! Email (hidingmywings33@yahoo) and tell me how yours went!

Answer 9

Guinea pigs are fun.
Make sure you keep their pen clean.
Do not put two males together- they will fight.
They eat fresh vegetables, rabbit pellets, rolled oats, bread, fruit.
Their babies are born "ready to go"--unlike a mouse.
They will whistle when they hear you coming.
They are pretty easy to catch if they get loose.

Answer 10

Choosing The Right Guinea Pig:

If you decide to purchase two pigs, make them both immature females. Males are more active than females and grow up larger. They also have more odor. If you purchase a male and a female you will have to have the male neutered or be resigned to endless litters of baby pigs and a shortened female lifespan. Females can become pregnant as early as two months of age so it is quite common for them to be already pregnant when you purchase them at a pet shop. If no males are present, there is no need to spay a female. Spaying a female guinea pig is considerably more expensive than neutering a male.

Housing:

Like all animals that are eaten in the wild, guinea pigs are very uncomfortable with people and other pets hovering over them. Provide them with containers or objects that they can get into and out of sight. Guinea pigs left free to roam the house eventually get into trouble. So keep them in a cage or pen. Powder-coated cages for guinea pigs are available at most pet stores. Most are designed for one, not two, guinea pigs and many are too small.. I like to have four to six square feet of floor space for each pig - considerably more than National Research Council guidelines suggest for scientific institutions. Put a small wooden or cardboard box in the cage for the guinea pig to hide in. It is important that the cage not have a raised floor grid. These grids cause the guinea pig’s feet to become sore and inflamed. My guinea pigs never jumped, (although readers of this article report theirs do). In any case, no cage lid is required if the walls are at least 18 inches high. I do not like to keep guinea pigs in glass aquaria - they become too humid. Keep the cage in an area where temperatures range between sixty-five and seventy-five degrees Fahrenheit (18-25C). Guinea pigs handle cold quite well but they are very susceptible to heat stroke. Allow them plenty of exercise time outside of their cage. Be careful, particularly if children are involved, the most common accidents that occur are being stepped on and falling off tables. Be careful of toxic plants, electric wires and cats and dogs. Pick up guinea pigs with both hands; one round their shoulders and the other supporting their hindquarters. Be very gentle with pregnant females and youngsters.

Bedding:

My favorite bedding is large flaked pine wood shavings. Several guinea pig breeders have taken exception to this and reported cases of liver damage associated with pine bedding. If you use pine flakes, try to select one with low aroma. These are from low-resin pine species that do not contain large amounts of aromatic organic compounds. .They can be purchased in large bales at feed stores. I try not to purchase bedding that is dusty or mouldy.. Hard wood chips are also fine for guinea pigs but they are messier. Shredded newspaper with soy inks also make excellent bedding. I do not use cedar shaving because of their strong aroma but I do not actually recall a case where cedar’s aroma was linked to a health problems. Bedding should never be allowed to get damp. Change the bedding once or twice a week.

Diet:

Like human beings, guinea pigs need a daily source of vitamin C or ascorbic acid. A lack of vitamin C causes a disease called scurvy. Scurvy in guinea pigs causes eye infections, hair loss and pneumonia. All guinea pig pellets are fortified with vitamin C. But after a few months of storage much of this vitamin is lost. That is why I suggest that vitamin C be added to their diet or drinking water. 500mg of ascorbic acid can be crushed in 500ml (one pint) of drinking water. It should be changed daily. Alternatively, the tablet can be crushed and sprinkled on one to two pounds of diet. Although guinea pigs can be maintained on pellets alone, I like to feed mine timothy hay, kale, spinach, collard and turnip greens as well. Iceberg lettuce is valueless but romaine lettuce – especially the outer leaves is a good source of nutrients. You can pick and wash dandelion from your yard as well. Alfalfa hay and cubes can be feed sparingly if other hay is also fed. Alfalfa is too rich to be a major component of their diet. Fruits, starchy vegetables and sweet items are best not fed because they can upset the normal intestinal flora or bacteria on which these pets rely.
Guinea Pig Chow should make up two thirds of your pig’s diet. Purchase only name brand guinea pig pellets and be sure they are fresh. Large retail outlets tend to turn over their stock of feeds more rapidly than smaller stores so purchase them at the big outlets. If you purchase more than can be used in two months keep it in the refrigerator or freezer.
I use heavy lead-free ceramic food dishes. Water can be provided in bowls but quickly get soiled with loose bedding and food. Water bottles with stainless steel ball bearing sipper tubes are much better. Guinea pigs drink a lot and love to run the water out of the bottles. That is why the sipper tube must have a metal ball at its spout.
Some say guinea pigs are rodents and some say they are not. Like rodents, guinea pig’s teeth are constantly growing. They need safe wooden or bone objects in their cage on which to wear their teeth down or the teeth will overgrow.

Breeding:

Guinea pigs are rather easy to sex. If you pinch or squeeze the genital area the penis will extrude in young males. Adult males are quite obviously male. When I kept cavies, I was taught that female guinea pigs are fertile at as young as two months of age (55-70 days)! And that males mature slightly later. My favoite pocket pet husbandry book The UFAW Handbook also states these ages at puberty (fertility). However, a reader recently informed me that guinea pig females can become pregnant as early as three weeks of age and that males can be fertile as early as four weeks of age. I never separated males from females at so young an age and I have never observed pregnacies occurring so young but apparently this is the case. So play it safe and separate the males babies from the female babies as soon as you can demine their sex.

They have estrus or fertile periods just after giving birth and throughout the year. The length of their estrus cycle is sixteen and one-half days. They are fertile for 6-11 hours, usually beginning in the evening. They come into heat again shortly after birthing. Although female pigs are fertile at two months of age or earlier, they should not be breed until they are 4-5 month old and weigh a little over a pound. The male used should be about double her age to insure potency.. A bigger problem is breeding female guinea pigs for the first time when they are too old. At 7-12 month of age the female’s pelvic bones fuse, making natural delivery next to impossible. So guinea pigs of this age that are having a first litter often need it delivered by cesarean section (dystocia). Baby pigs arrive after a pregnancy of 60-70 days. They are precocious and arrive fully developed. Babies suckle their mothers for about three weeks (180gms) and then are able to eat the same foods as their parentddddddds. Litter size ranges between one and eight. Be sure to handle the babies often at this age so that they become tame.

Diseases And Problems:

The most common illnesses I see in guinea pigs are pneumonia and hair loss associated with malnutrition (lack of vitamin C and other nutrients) and the diseases of old age. The most common disease I find is newly purchased pigs at breeders and pet stores is Pasteurellosis. Pasteurellosis is caused by a bacterium, Pasteurella multocida that is present in some breeding colonies. It causes respiratory and eye infections as well as abscesses The next most common disease is streptococcal infections. . Although pasteurella and streptococcus can be cured with antibiotics these antibiotics can be fatal to the guinea pig. Guinea pigs are notorious about handing antibiotics poorly. The problem is that these antibiotics also kill the “good” bacteria that reside in the pig’s cecum and are essential to proper digestion. If these bacteria are killed, the pig soon succumbs to toxic products that accumulate in the intestine.

When you purchase your guinea pig, be sure it appears healthy. Its eyes should be bright and clean, never crusty or lacking luster. Check it’s nose, eyes, ears, and rear end to be sure it is free from any crusts, discharges, redness or inflammation. . The guinea pig should be alert and active, and plump. Its coat should be full and lustrous. Check its skin for flakes, and redness, and check carefully for parasites such as lice. When you pick up the guinea pig it may be quite skittish and fearful. It should quickly relax in your hands as you stroke it. Don’t purchase a guinea pig that is too calm or too skittish. Keep guinea pigs toenails clipped short every month with human toenail clippers. If you should accidentally cut one too short, push the nail firmly into a moistened bar of Ivory soap to stop the bleeding. Longhaired varieties may need occasional brushing. Use a slicker comb designed for Persian cats.