Guinea pig information?

Question

I'm buying a guinea pig on July 14. that's the day after I go to Hershey Park. So is there anything I should know beffore I buy my guinea pig? If you tell me I would appreceate it!

Answer 1

I think discosaur pretty much covered it all.  Take a lot of time reading over the Guinea Lynx care guide.  It will provide you with all the information that you need.

Answer 2

i have 2 piggies and their great :D

What i know is,they need food with vitamin C,

they are better in pairs,so u might have to get 2

they need new food and water everyday,this is espescially important.

they can not be out in the hot summer heat,so make them indoor pets,or bring them inside frequently.

they eat alot

they are shy at first,but sweet when they get to know you

they have small bladders,and have to go almost every 15 minutes,so make sure they dont go on your furniture,lol

their cage should be cleaned once a week,or even sooner,sometimes.

they may be threatened or frightened by large dogs and cats,so keep them seperated.

and thats all i can tell you that i know,but heres something more that you can read about them

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinea_pigs

hope this helped :D

Answer 3

I have a long haired boy! Lets just say he's special. he flicks, runs, jumps, purrs, and nibbles. Here's what u need

guinea pig

cage

hay

vitamin c drops

chew toys

stuffing

water bottle

fruits and veggies

plastic bowl 2 put food in

dry food

e-mail me at [e-mail] if u need anything else.

Answer 4

We've had many pigs over the years. My daughter's pigs have been award-winning show pigs, so we know how to raise healthy pigs.

And we've seen (and rescued) mistreated pigs... so here's some tips on raising healthy pets.

First, they are rodents: their teeth grow continously and you need to clip them on a regular basis. It is best to have an owner show you how to do this. We use fingernail clippers. The toe nails also need to be clipped. We've rescued pigs whose teeth were so long that the little guys were starving because they can't eat with teeth that are overgrown. Another pig had toenails that had curled under and he was in pain when he walked. Don't let this happen to your pigs because it is very hard to repair. You can't just cut off the excess all at once because of the quick.

Our neighbor got a pig because her kids like ours. She cleaned the cage daily and the pig died. This is gross, but they need to eat their poo. It contains good bacteria for their stomaches. Rabbits have a similar condition.

Yes, they need a lot of vitamin C. We give them a little Tang if they seem depleted in vit C. Always give them GUINNEA PIG food -- not rabbit food. And a hay product, such as timothy hay, is important. Many treats are expensive and are not necessary. We have always given our pigs a carrot a day. Strawberry hates strawberries, but loves watermelon. Baby loves strawberries, but doesn't like cracked corn. Each pig is just like a kid -- picky !

Pigs don't do well if you don't play with them. They are social animals. Some of our rescue pigs have been biters and have had other anti-social behaviors. This comes from not being handled and played with. Play with your little friend. Get an old baby blanket and hold the pig on your lap while you watch tv or do the computer. A baby pig will want to run and play more than an older pig.

Housebreaking a pig is difficult, but we have housebroken all of the pigs we raised from babies. Observe how antsy the pig gets just before he or she pees, then every time you see this happen -- put it in its cage! Right away! Pretty soon the pig will know that it is supposed to pee in the cage. Part of housebreaking is teaching YOU as much as the pig! We let our pigs run around the living room and they go back into the cage to pee because when they were little, we trained them to do that.

Don't put the cage in direct sunlight or by an air conditioner vent. They can't take extreme temperatures. If your pig sneezes or coughes, please take it to a vet. Pigs can die from bad colds.

We've given our pigs little balls with bells in them (cat and bird toys), stuffed animals (Jack loved his dog -- ate a little of the fur when he was stressed, but basically didn't destroy it), and other toys. They love to play!

Enjoy your pet!

Answer 5

I agree with Discosaur but just wanted to add . .

Dont buy a guinea pig from a pet store.  Often, they come from the same type of puppy mill situations, where the parents are in cramped confinements, unhealthy and overbred.

Check your local humane society.  Not only is it likely cheaper, but you will have made a difference! (I just adopted my mother/daughter pair from the humane society a few months ago.  They had been vet checked, are still young at ages 12 and 6 months, and only asked a $10 donation fee each).

Good Luck!

Answer 6

Of all the pets that I have treated, guinea pigs are the gentlest. They do not have a mean bone in their body and it is hard to believe that they were once capable of existing in the wild. The Spaniards introduced pet guinea pigs to Europe in 1554. They obtained them from the Inca Indians of Peru who kept them as pets as early as 1450. These rodent-like animals no longer exist in the wild. They are also called cavies. Guinea pigs are very shy by nature. They are active both in the daytime and occasionally at night. Guinea pigs are very vocal and this vocalization plays an important part in socialization with other pigs or humans. Guinea pigs love company. Researchers have counted at least eleven different sounds that guinea pigs make in communicating with each other and their owners. Their social nature, temperament and low maintenance make them excellent pets. Guinea pigs are the gentlest of all the pocket pets, which include mice, hamsters, rats and gerbils and so are ideal pets for responsible children. I would not purchase any living pet for a child younger than nine. They love to be petted and will squeak and grunt with pleasure when they are gently handled. They will pine away and their health will suffer if they are not handled or kept with others of their kind. They are very clean. I got my first guinea pig when I was nine. We named her Mrs. Crawford, after one of my parent’s bridge partners who also had droopy jowls.

Like swine, boy guinea pigs are called boars and females sows. Adult female guinea pigs weigh about a pound (450gms) while males weight in at about a pound and a half (700gm). They come in four basic varieties, long and shorthair, straight and swirled and an endless variety of colors. With good care and proper diet, guinea pigs should live 4-7 years. A few will reach 8 years of age.

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 s*x. If you pinch or squeeze the genital area the p***s 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 s*x.

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  

Answer 7

Research!

These are the BEST sources of information out there - read through all of them:

http://www.guinealynx.com/

http://www.cavyspirit.com/

http://www.guineapigcages.com/

It's impossible to tell all there is to know about guinea pigs in one short answer, but after reading around those sites, you will have a great idea of how to care for guinea pigs and what life with guinea pigs is like.

A few things that can't be emphasized enough:

- Get two! Guinea pigs are very social. They won't bond with you any less if you have two, and they don't take up any more room or cost much more to maintain. They'll be much happier and better pets for it.

- Have a big enough cage. I'd recommend 8 to 10 square feet  (preferably more) for a pair of guinea pigs. Homemade cages are best - the third link I provided is all about housing guinea pigs and has great info.

- Feed them a proper diet - that means not a pellet-only diet. Pellets are part of their diet, but timothy hay and fresh vegetables should make up the bulk of it. Guinealynx has great articles on diet.

- Socialize them extensively. Guinea pigs are often scared and timid and the only way they will overcome that is with lots of attention. If they spend most of their time in a cage, they may never "come around" - you'll have lots more fun with a well-socialed guinea pig.

- Find a vet that has experience with guinea pigs BEFORE you bring them home. Guinea pig health problems quickly turn into emergencies, and you don't want to be looking for a vet when you have a sick pig - you want to already have one.