Guinea Pig Owner...?

Question

We are thinking about getting two guinea pigs... but we dont want

them to have babies, and dont want both of them boys. Do we put them in different cages? And what supplies do I need?

~Thanks for your help!~

Answer 1

Absolutely not! You can get two girls which will not fight (as long as you et them within a week of each other). If you get a boy and a girl, be sure to get one of them fixed and you will be fine. You will need...

A large cage to get excersize in. (Larger depending on how many you have living together).

-Food Pellots. One fourth of a cup per day (for one guinea pig, multiply that by how many you have). Nutriphase Gold is the best (most nutricious) brand.

-Water. A 'Critter Canteen' filled with a fresh supply every day.

-Timothy Hay. (Is Essential to their diet.) A fresh supply of about one eighth of a cup every day.

-Salt and Mineral wheels. To get their daily nutrition, you can buy these and put them on a 'kabob' for guinea pigs to nibble on.

-Bedding. Fill the bottom of the cage with this-it soaks up the p**p and pee. You must empty this and clean the bottom of the cage once every 10 days or so (for one guinea pig. avary week for more). Carefresh is the best brand.

-A hiding place. Guinea pigs need a place to hide. A 'Pigloo' is what I have found is their favorite.

-Chew toys. Guinea pigs' teeth are constantly growing, so you need to buy them something to gnaw on.

-Fresh Fruits and veggies. Oranges are almost required, since guinea pigs' bodies cannot reatin a source of vitamin C. Also, Strawberries, honeydew melon, blueberries, apples, radishes, cucumbers, bell peppers and carrots. Remember that these are treats, so twice only feed it to them about twice a week.

-Lots of love and attention! Guinea pigs all have personalities, and can become depressed just as easily as humans. You also need to handle it regularly, so that it becomes hand-trained.

Good Luck!

Answer 2

Guinea pigs can be expensive to "fix".  They're small, and can have bad reactions to the drugs.

2 girls will be fine together, and so will 2 boys, it's really no big.

Do get 2.  They love the company.

Answer 3

Why not two boys? If you don't want two boys, get two females. Having them in different cages doesn't allow them to interact very much. I would advise against a male and female pairing as they would need to both be fixed and that can be a risky surgery.

Guinea pigs are highly social herd animals so it'd be best to get two females or two males and house them together.

As for what you'll need, everything you could need to know to care for your piggies is in these websites:

http://www.petinfopackets.com/guineapigs...

http://www.guinealynx.info/

http://www.cavyspirit.com/

http://www.guineapigcages.com/

Answer 4

Make sure you get the same s*x, try adopting from a rescue in your area, www.petfinder.com can help you with adoption.

If you buy from a petstore they are from back yard breeders and mills. Plus if you get females they can be mis-sexed or pregnant. It is safer to adopt, plus you save lives.

Guinea pigs need good quality hay available 24/7 preferably timothy, but alfalfa, fescue, orchard and other types can be used, timothy has fewer calories and most tend to use timothy for adult piggies. A piggy that is pregnant, recovering from pregnancy, or young can be on alfalfa, but should be switched to a lower calorie hay by eight months and can be given the ther hay as an ocassional treat.

Veggies should be fed daily, red leaf lettuce is a good one to start with. Most piggies like leafy greens and will pick around the other veggies such as broccolli and carrots to eat the leafy greens first. Avoid cabbage, it causes gas, so does broccolli, but most piggies tell you they dont prefer it because they wont eat it. One baby carrot a day if your feed carrots, I give mine more but they dont get them every day. I just throw a bunch in the cage, I have to many to make sure they only get one. Here is a good site that can help you more with choosing which veggies to feed: http://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/diet...

Pellets should be high quality, oxbow, and kleenmama's are the highest quality I know of. Try to feed one of these brands.

If you can not feed these, try to find one that is timothy based. Look at the oxbow ingredients and compare them to the ones in the store, the closer you can get to those, the better.

Nutriphase gold and other brands with the little pieces in them are bad for the piggies. The contain sugar, which no piggy should eat, it can cause obesity and diabetes. It is better to stick to a plain pellet and add a variety of fresh veggies.

Girls get along better than boys for the most part, I have only had success with one pair of boys, while all the girls tend to get along. It is possible for boys to get along, but they do better in smaller groups and bigger spaces. The bigger the better for the piggies, but especially the boys.

If you plan on getting a boy and girl, get the boy fixed, it is safer, although any surgery for a piggy is risky it is less invasive than having the girl fixed. For better chance of recovery, have critcal care (a product from oxbow, you will have to have your vet order it) on hand before the surgery and start feeding right away if the piggy is not eating. They have to keep fiber in their gut to keep it moving. If they stop eating fiber, the gut can stop and the piggy will have a hard time recovering once that has happened.

For the cage, build one. www.guineapigcages.com is a place that can tell you where to get the supplies or you can order a cage.

For bedding, I use fleece. It is the most cost effective and economical for my situation. For some people carefresh works, others decide to use aspen, but I avoid it because every time I would clean the cages, the dust would hit me in the face. It was like throwing sand in my face every week. Avoid scented beddings, especially cedar.

Carefresh is expensive, so basically fleece gave the feel of carefresh with the added benefit of it being cheaper for two cages that fill the room that my family now calls the barn.

guineapigcages.com also has a fleece post that is in great detail on how to use it, where to get everything, etc.

Make sure your vet is cavy savvy, Most vets are not and will look in the books to find out whats wrong with your piggy, but with pigs that kind of time is not there in an emergency. there is a vet list on guinealynx.com also some medical information and information the common guinea pig owner should know.

Know the dangerous meds if you go to a vet that is not knowledgeable about guinea pigs.

Avoid all vitamin/mineral wheels and vitamin C drops, to give vitamin C to your piggy feed a variety of veggies, kale, parsley, cilantro, red leaf, romaine. I feed watermelon for a treat, rind and all. They all try to climb to the top of it to eat it. Spring mix is also an easy option. A lot of dark leaves in the bag along with variety.

The sites mentioned above should be able to help you more, I think I have given you enough information to give you and your new piggies a good start.

Answer 5

Either get a same s*x pair or fix one if you are getting male and female. If not, go with seperate cages. If you put a male and female together, both unaltered, they are guaranteed to have babies. You will need a good size cage for each piggy if different genders, food, hay, a water bottle, vitamins, and fruits & veggies. It is important to give them foods with vitamin c as they cannot make it on their own. It's vital because without it they will get pneumonia and die. Keep the cages away from windows and doors that lead outside, drafts are bad for them. Give them as much hay and veggies as they want, just not too much lettucs as it will cause diarrhea. Some guinea pigs are allergic to tomatos. I suggest only feeding one new food a week and see how it goes. If they react badly, write it down and don't give it to them anymore. If there is no reaction, move on to the next thing. Make sure they don't get red bumps around their mouth (allergic reaction) or have diarrhea. Do not give too many fruits either, the excess sugar will cause diarrhea.

Answer 6

If you're getting a boy and a girl, and don't want babies - YES, put them in separate cages!! (We've had experience with this... When we got our second pig, they told us it was a girl, so we put it with our other girl pig... and turns out, the second one was actually male...) If you do this, put the cages next to each other because guinea pigs are social animals and like having others around. You can also get two girls, if you want, and keep them in the same cage; or, as the first answer said, you can get one of your pets fixed and have a boy and a girl in the same cage. I don't recommend this, though, just because I hate putting animals through any kind of surgery (plus, it's expensive). It's your choice, though.

Anyways, you will need:

- Cages. Each cage needs to be larger than hamster cages, but they don't need to be as big as rabbit cages. Somewhere in the middle will do. Make sure the cages have solid, tub-like bottoms; you want a bottom that is at least 3 inches deep so that you can fill it with bedding. The top and sides of the cage can be coated wire.

- Bedding. Bedding keeps guinea pigs warm and cool, as well as soaks up waste materials. Bedding must be changed regularly so the pigs don't get sick. There are several varieties of bedding for guinea pigs. At my house, we've used 3 different kinds and all worked well. First we used a bedding that was made of recycled cardboard - it was light and pillowy. It seemed very comfortable for the pigs and it soaked up moisture well, so that we didn't have to change the bedding every day (we ended up changing it about every 10-14 days). The only problem with this bedding was the cost - it was expensive. The second bedding we tried was cedar chips. These also worked well, though they seemed to soak up moisture less well than the cardboard bedding, and so we had to change the bedding a bit more often. It's inexpensive, though, and the cedar gave off a nice smell. The third bedding we tried consisted of pine chips. These worked identically to the cedar chips; they just smelled different. Pine chips are also inexpensive. Currently, we use cedar chips or pine chips for our pigs (which one we use depends on what's in stock at the store when we go shopping).

- Food. There are so many different kinds of guinea pig food out there; we just use generic food pellets. Do some experimenting to see what your pigs seem to like the best. Also, guinea pigs can have fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as special treats sold at pet stores, every now and again. Make sure to check a reliable website or book before feeding your pigs any fruits or veggies - not all foods are good for guinea pigs (grapes, for example, should not be given to guinea pigs). Timothy Hay (looks like grass, should be sold at any pet store) is also great for guinea pigs.

- Water bottles. These should be very easy to find at your local pet store, and there's really nothing for me to explain about them.

- Somewhere for your pig to "hide." One thing I've noticed about all guinea pigs is that they like to be hidden/protected. I suggest you buy some sort of plastic "house" for each of your pigs; the ones we use are igloos (don't remember the brand, sorry), and we found them at our pet store - you might find them at your local pet store, too. They're just the right size for guinea pigs.

- You may opt to give your pigs a salt wheel.

- You also may opt to give your pigs something to chew on - they should have certain wooden and synthetic items available at any pet store.

- Don't forget that, just like any pet, guinea pigs need lots of love and attention! =)

I hope this helps! If you want to know anything else, feel free to email me.