Do Do Guinea Pigs Make Good Pets?

Question

Do Guinea Pigs Make Good Pets?

About how long do they live?

Please give me as much info as you know about them.

I am thinking on adopting one.

Answer 1

yes and no.  they can actually be pretty smart- i had one that knew whenever you rustled a bag, it expected to get lettuce or carrots and would literally squeal.  they live like 7 - 13 years i'm told .. i had mine for 7 and it was already a few years old when i adopted it.  

they're really smelly, and cleaning their cage is a pain in the butt.  you can put kitty litter on the bottom under the bedding to absorb the smell and urine.

all in all, they aren't so bad

Answer 2

I think so yes, they are very sweet, I have 9 right now. go the library and look for a cavy or guinea pig book. they can give you all the info you need. They make a lot of odd noises and need a lot of excercise and space. also they are very social animals, so two would be better. they live about 5-9 years depending on diet and care. I feed mine watermelon, and carrots and for a special snake i feed them bits of bananas. Mine cuddle with me! Although depending on their personality they can bite, and also run away and not allow you to pet them.  

Answer 3

OK, yes they make wonderful pets.

They live for 5-7 years on average.

Alright, I know alot about guinea pigs. They need to be fed fresh vegetables daily. I feed mine carrots and romain lettuce which are excellent for vitamin-C which they cannot produce on thier own. They need hay 24/7. Timothy hay is the best brand for your future guineas. You need bedding for them. Do not use cedar or pine shavings, it causes upper respiratory problems. We use CareFresh. It's really good at absorbing urine and keeps the smell minimal. they need a daily water change and daily fresh water and food. The need Guinea pig pelets with no seeds, nuts or dried fruit because they cannot have any of those. We use timothy complete and they love it! You do not need to bath them because they usually do not need it unless they get icky. It's best to get two females so they have someone of their kind to play with.  For cage information go to guineapigcages.com :) Hope this helped. Please be kind to your guinea! They may seem high maintence but they really are not. Buy a hampster if you want high maintence!

Answer 4

yes, guinea pigs make GREAT pets. they live for around three to four years and love to be played with. they are very social so if you only adopt one, your going to play with it for a great deal of time everyday. they do enjoy to get baths. you shouldn't give him more than two or three a year, they have essential oils in there coat and skin that will be washed a way. be gentle when handling them. i know that mine had a great memory for stuff like that.

Answer 5

Yes, they do. They are calm and super cute. They are great for apartments. You should bathe them using supplies from your local pet store and take them for a check up at a exotic vet yearly. Be warned, they are prey animals, so they can not play with other animals and illnesses are hidden until around two weeks after they caught it.  

Answer 6

Yes they make wonderful pets! They live for about 4-6 years, but with proper care there are plenty that live up to 10 even. Also, they are social creatures, so if you are going to adopt one you MUST adopt another one. It's best to adopt a pair that actually are already bonded, because it will make things so much easier for yourself.

A guinea pig needs a buddy, and their health and over all well being improves significantly even with one other buddy. They popcorn more, become more active, and even become more outgoing because they are less fearfull. It is important to have a buddy they can comminucate and play with who is the same species, while you are out either at work or school.

Guinea pigs require alot of space as well. Not even the biggest pet store cage is large enough. Two guinea pigs need at LEAST 10.5 sq ft. You can accomplish this buy building them a C&C cage (cubes & coroplast). If you can't find coroplast, you can use an alternative, such as a cheap shower curtain from wal-mart. That's what I used before I got my coroplast.

Another thing you will have to think of is their diet. Whatever you do, do NOT buy the c**p with the extra added seeds and other products, because they are harmfull for the pigs digestion. Also, most pet store "treats" have other extra added junk as well, that only harm the pig. Some pet stores even sell yo-gurt drops for pigs..well, thing about that is pigs are lactose intolerant. For good pellets, you can order some online. Both Oxbow and KM have very good pellets.

Here are the links:

http://www.kmshayloft.com/

http://www.oxbowhay.com/index.sp

They also need a supply of unlimited hay. If your pig ends up being 6 months or older, they will need timothy hay, or other hay such as bluegrass if you want to change it up a bit.

If they are under 6 months, they will need alfalfa hay. However, if they are under six months it is not neccesary to have both an alfalfa based pellet, and alfalfa hay. It's best to give them a timothy hay based pellet with alfalfa hay. This way when they get older you can keep giving them the same pellets.

A cup of fresh veggies DAILY is also required. You can give them any kind of leafy green lettuce, such as Romaine, and a baby carrot a day. I also chop about 1/10 of a green bell pepper. Fruits contain alot of sugars, so they should only be feed as treats.

Here, if you do end up adopting a pig, make sure you print out this guinea pig food chart. It's VERY helpfull, and it even has a list of all poisoness foods, and other unhealthy foods to avoid.

http://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/diet...

Glad you're looking into getting a guinea pig! They have amazing personalities, and are smarter than what most people think they are! However, they may be considered costly, and require ALOT of responsibility. Remeber, they are a 4-6, possibly up to 10, year comitment. I hope you do decide to adopt one, cause there are so many in shelters waiting for a wonderful home to go to!

To learn more, please look around on these websites, they are the ones to use and are very reliable. They have the most up-to-date information about proper care, and have cavy savvy people who discovered what cavies really need with experience.

www.guineapigcages.com

www.guinealynx.com

www.cavyspirit.com

Oh yeah, hopefully you go to www.guineapigcages.com and join their forum! There are tons of cavy savvy people there who will be more than happy to answer any concerns/questions you may have!

And please, whatever you do don't listen to people telling you to buy from a petstore! By that you support breeding mills, and pigs from petstores are OFTEN sold sick. It's an unfortunate fact pet stores really do not know much about guinea pig care. Hense the poor advice they give, the items in stores they sell that harm the guinea pig such as bad food/ balls/hay wheels. But im sure since you are adopting, you already know about that stuff.

Answer 7

GUINEA PIGS MAKE GREAT PETS!

they live 5-8 years and sometimes even more

they rarely bite and LOVE to cuddle on your lap

when they do cuddle they make adorable purring noises

giunea pigs don't eat that much

grass hay

water

and

pellets with vitamin C

their cage needs to be big

so a c & c cage is a good size

for information on c&c cages go to www.cavycages.com

they love to run around a bathroom or kitchen so just let them and be on watchful eye

veggies are also apart of their diet, a small carrot, a cherry tomatoe, dark greens, and spinach

bathing them is easy and also nail clipping is needed

for more iformation fo to www.guinealynx.com

youtube also helps

Answer 8

yes they are great. boys are much more nicer then girls, girls are more aggressive, but the boy ones are much more calmer, and nicer.

they live about 8 years.

Answer 9

Guinea pigs live a good 7-10 years if you take care of them. I have two of my own and they get stinky if you don't clean their cage every other week or so. they like walking around under blankets and stuff so it can be kinda fun and they can be very good pets.

Answer 10

YES!!! They are wonderful pets if you just want a cute little friend. They can live about 7 years tops maybe, I am not positive though look it up. They are really sweet and cute and awesome just make sure you take really good care of them, clean there cage and water weekly, fresh food, and make sure they are handled as well, good luck!

Answer 11

Guinea Pigs make GREAT pets. I should know, I have one. They range from $30-$40 in the pet stores, and it cost about $20 a month to pay for their supplies. If you want to get a guinea pig, here's what I call the starter kit. It's a list of supplies with a link to show you how big it is, and how much it is. I hop everything helps!

A cage for one, plus most of the things you need:

http://www.petco.com/product/12284/Super...

Cages for more than one, for 2 I suggest the largest you can find.

http://www.guineapigcages.com/buycc.htm

Cage size for each guinea pig,

http://www.guineapigcages.com/

Hay,

http://www.petco.com/product/104866/PETC...

Treats,

http://www.petco.com/product/4815/Vitakr...

http://www.petco.com/Shop/petco_ProductL...

Bedding:

http://www.petco.com/product/10791/Caref...

or,

http://www.petco.com/product/14454/Caref...

Here's a link for more information about guinea pigs,

http://www.jackiesguineapiggies.com

Go to http://www.petco.com for more supplies.

Email me if you need anything else. They live 4-7 years and grow up to 11 in  long!

Answer 12

They stink.But if you can't have pets where you live they are funny to watch. Get one of the little balls you can put them in. They roll all over the floor.Great for kids to watch.Careful they don't bite though

Answer 13

Yes because they are easy to take car of.

They also dont make a mess like mice.

They live four to five years.

The Guinea pig (also commonly called the cavy after its scientific name) is a species of rodent belonging to the family Caviidae and the genus Cavia. Despite their common name, these animals are not pigs, nor do they come from Guinea. They are native to the Andes, and while now extinct in the wild, they are closely related to several species that are commonly found in the grassy plains and plateaus of the region. The guinea pig plays an important role in the folk culture of many indigenous South American groups, especially as a food source, but also in folk medicine and in community religious ceremonies.Since the 1960s, efforts have been made to increase consumption of the animal outside South America

Answer 14

no.

Answer 15

Ditto frashy. Look at the links they gave you.  

Answer 16

Yes! They are wonderful pets, as long as you hold them every day!!

Answer 17

Um...From personal experiance. No.

lol mine was really mean....but mine was also abused before i adopted it.

lol

BUt my friend used to have one and hers kisses her and is really nice to her. hahah

So if u got one...then get a baby one from a breeder or maybe the petstore. =]

they live a couple years im guessing.

and they arent 2 expensive