Guinea Pig ????'s

[Zebra]

We just got a new guinea pig, and our DD's first real pet.

 

I cannot BELIEVE the conflicting information out there! I got 6 books out of the library...and one will say the thing absolutely can't eat alfalfa and MUST eat Timothy Hay, and literally the next one will say NO Timothy hay, only alfalfa!!!! :001_huh: :lol:

 

I have probably 10 examples like that, every website/book seems to thinking something different about every aspect of guinea pig care...and it's driving me crazy!!! :lol:

 

ANYWAY...we've only have the guinea pig for 3 days, and it mostly hides and doesn't do anything interesting. It does seem to love DD, probably because she is quiet and gentle with it. She has been holding it in her lap and feeding it veggies. It purrs and seems happiest when she's doing that. DH does NOT want another one, getting one was enough of a battle. I have read completely conflicting info on guinea pigs needing a companion. Plenty of people say you MUST give them a companion, but just as many say if you're home all day with them, they will be fine. And, there are a lot of instances of even littermates fighting as they get older.

 

I'm trying to figure out of the guinea pig is unhappy because it's alone, or just new to our house and acting normally. I expected it to be louder and run around more. It is very cute, calm, and laidback...and I guess I don't even know how a normal guinea pig should act!!!

 

We have a starter cage for it to sleep in, and also a bigger fenced play area for it to play in during the day.

 

Any thoughts or wisdom would be appreciated!!!!

[dansamy]

I am going to help you out and start you an your new obsession! Guinea Lynx has all you will ever want or need to know about cavies. We did have two, but one finally passed. Our remaining piggie is living the spoiled life being fed only fresh produce and hay. He's so old now. I think he's 5 or 6 which is eldery for a cavy. He has taken to refusing all pellet brands.

 

3 days? He/she is still adjusting. Give it time. Place the cage in a trafficked area of your home. I do think they do better with a companion. Two females are best, but a really good small animal vet can castrate your male for a male/female pair.

 

Morpheus will whistle and squeak when DH gets home. Happy pigs will also "popcorn" around their cage or play area. They are not hamster-like, but I've heard that some people's cavies do like tubes/tunnels to play in.

Edited April 10, 2010 by dansamy

[delaney]

My picky pig used to only want the fluffy ends of the timothy:glare:

[Twinmom]

Here's another good site for cavy info: http://www.guineapigcages.com/ It does start out by talking just about recommended cages and accessories, but there is a LOT more good information on the site. I learned so much about caring for guineas! In my experience, they definitely do better (and are more fun!) when living in pairs, and two isn't much more difficult to care for than one. You'll see a lot more cool guinea pig behaviors with two!

[Journey]

We have had guinea pigs for several years. We have one left now (and she will be the last one we get because my girls are 22 and 15)! They are, hands down, the best pets (IMO) for little kids. I do agree though that they need a friend...at least all of ours did and this last one seems lonely since her room mate died. I get confused about the hay thing too that's why I have never given our pigs hay. Trust me, they have ALL lived to over 5 years old so I don't think it's absolutely necessary, as long as they are supplemented with other things, which ours always have been. There is a website called caviesgalore.com and those people are very knowledgable about them. I would try to convince your husband to get another one. It's really not more work since they will both be in the same cage. Here are two pieces of advice for you though.

 

1.) Never, ever, ever, put your pig in the sun outside, they will die incredibly quickly. We learned that the hard way (the sun wasn't even out and we put her out on the back deck (under the deck awning) and by the end of the nice day, the sun was just at the corner of her cage and she died. It was heartbreaking, so, so sad and I will never forget it.

 

2.) We use pellet bedding in our cages instead of shavings or straw. The shavings and straw get wet and smelly after a day or two, not to mention how messy they are. With the pellet bedding, we only have to clean the cage once a month (with one pig) and it doesn't smell at all. I really encourage you to find it and it is way cheaper.

[Perry]

Here's another good site for cavy info: http://www.guineapigcages.com/

:iagree:Great site. We built a cage similar to this

 

from instructions at the website. Ours had to be covered to keep the cats out, but it isn't necessary.

 

Those small cages you get at the pet store just aren't big enough.

 

We had two but one was a bully and they fought, so they had to be separated. We fed them dry food, lots of veggies, and timothy. Ours both lived over 5 years.

[jade]

Guinea pigs are fun pets. They do take awhile to get acclimated to people. I had one when I was right out of college and now have had another for two years. It took months of picking up this one and holding it for it to become as mellow as my previous one. Different personalities. I've heard that males do better alone than females. After lots of debate, I decided one was fine, altho two are supposed to be great.

 

For bedding, we use the recycled paper fluff stuff from the pet stores. Sort of expensive, but I've read negative things about the cedar chips, which I used for the first gp who lived 4 1/2 years.

 

Our gp loves to curl up in a fluffy lambskin-style bed, kind of like a miniature dog bed. Easy to put in the wash, too. Make sure the gp has a place or two to hide. Wood is better than plastic, as they'll chew on the plastic. They have to have something to chew on.

 

We give ours Timothy Hay, pellets, lots of carrots, spinach, lettuce, pears, apples, parsley, cilantro, dandelion leaves (washed off!). He likes celery but some friends told us that might not be so good for them.

 

Sometimes we let the gp chew on a papertowel roll or paper without ink on it. Be sure not to have it in a place where there's lots of odd noises at first. They're really sensitive to ping-ing sounds, some music, etc.

 

Have fun!

[AngieW in Texas]

I had guinea pigs as a kid (only one at a time), we had a pair several years ago, and we have a pair now.

 

Bigger is definitely better when it comes to guinea pig cages.

 

Our piggies have three cages. During the day, they are in a two-level cage made from modular shelving that is 5'x2' on the bottom level and 1'x2' on the top level that we made using the designs on http://www.cavycages.com .

 

The night-time cage is an under-the-bed box that is just the right size to fit in the bathroom. The daytime cage is in my 11yo's bedroom and she is a very light sleeper, so we have to move the piggies out at night. The under-the-bed box is 3'x1', but since the guinea pigs are diurnal, they don't need as much space at night.

 

The third cage is outdoors and is made of modular shelving panels. It measures 3'x3' and has a cover. We make sure that the cage is in a shady spot and they are never outside for more than an hour at a time.

 

We use towels instead of regular bedding. The towels make cage-cleanup a breeze. When the piggies switch from the daytime cage to the night-time cage, we roll up the towels and take them outside to shake out the poo. When the piggies were little, we reused the towels for up to three days at a time. Now we switch to new towels every day. There's a box in the garage for used piggie towels, so I wash the towels whenever there's enough for a load.

 

We never found a water bottle that didn't leak, so we use a water bowl instead. Water bowls are much easier to deal with. I didn't know that guinea pigs could drink out of a bowl until we got our current piggies from a rescue. They switched to water bowls because they were so much easier to deal with.

 

We put a hay rack in the daytime cage and keep it filled with Timothy hay all the time. The girls take up veggies a couple times each day. The piggies also have pellets and water.

[Ginger]

How do cats and guinea pigs generally do together? My dd wants a gp, but our cat is very territorial of her kingdom.

[AngieW in Texas]

When I was a kid, I was worried that my cat would eat my guinea pig because he was definitely a hunter. He was actually scared of the guinea pig. He would jump down into the guinea pigs cage, but then hightail it out of there as soon as my piggie started squealing (which started just as soon as my cat got into his cage). My dog loved the piggie and would hold him between his paws to lick his ears.

 

The dog we have now would probably chew on the piggies. She killed a pet hamster who got loose several years ago and would love to eat any of the squirrels who taunt her on a daily basis. We have a baby gate keeping her out of the hallway that leads to the kids' rooms.

 

You can make covers for a piggie cage that a cat couldn't get into. It would be pretty hard to make a piggie cage that would be dog-proof for an 85 pound dog like ours.

[Zebra]

Thanks everyone for all the helpful info :)!

 

I think I am going to give the poor thing some more time...we did go out last night and get it a bigger cage. Hopefully that will make it happier. :lol:

[Liz CA]

We just got a new guinea pig, and our DD's first real pet.

 

I cannot BELIEVE the conflicting information out there! I got 6 books out of the library...and one will say the thing absolutely can't eat alfalfa and MUST eat Timothy Hay, and literally the next one will say NO Timothy hay, only alfalfa!!!! :001_huh: :lol:

 

ANYWAY...we've only have the guinea pig for 3 days, and it mostly hides and doesn't do anything interesting. It does seem to love DD, probably because she is quiet and gentle with it. She has been holding it in her lap and feeding it veggies. It purrs and seems happiest when she's doing that.

Plenty of people say you MUST give them a companion, but just as many say if you're home all day with them, they will be fine. And, there are a lot of instances of even littermates fighting as they get older.

 

I'm trying to figure out of the guinea pig is unhappy because it's alone, or just new to our house and acting normally. I expected it to be louder and run around more. It is very cute, calm, and laidback...and I guess I don't even know how a normal guinea pig should act!!!

 

We have a starter cage for it to sleep in, and also a bigger fenced play area for it to play in during the day.

 

Any thoughts or wisdom would be appreciated!!!!

 

We had several guineas and they never had companions and did fine. Your little guy/girl is getting used to you and the new surroundings and your dd is doing the right thing by gently holding it and gaining its trust with delicious snacks!

We fed out guinea a mix of hay (we did not look exclusively for one or the other, I think it was a mix) but it seems most important that they get food that contains Vitamin C.

We had a very sad incident once when I tried to save money on cheap supermarket food labeled for guinea pigs & gerbils. Our "Scruffy" almost died because he had no vitamin C in this food. We were able to save him by injecting Vitamin C (after the vet taught us how). Our vet was so upset by the mislabeled product that he called the manufacturer.

 

The more your dd handles the guinea, the tamer it will be and the more fun you will all have with it.

Congratulations on a new family member! :001_smile:

[lapsetmom]

Yes, the pet store we bought ours at said to feed them oranges periodically because vitamin C is so important for guinea pigs!