Im a first time guinea pig owner what do they need???

Question

i need to know like what kinda of bedding food and toys.cause i want it to have a good life.help.thatnks

Answer 1

Everything you could need to know and more:

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

http://www.guinealynx.info/

http://www.cavyspirit.com/

http://www.guineapigcages.com/

Remember that guinea pigs are herd animals and are highly social, so they do best in same s*x pairs or groups.

Answer 2

We have raised guinea pigs now for 10 years. They need a clean cage bug enough for them to move around in. They also need guinea pig food and every other day for good digestion they need timothy hay. Since guinea pig have a low immune system, they need either fresh fruits or veggies everyday. Try and take your guinea pig out daily and let them run around either outside or around so they get planty of exercise!

Answer 3

Guinea pig food, pellet diet is best because with seed mixes they pick out their favorites and don't get a balance diet. DO NOT use cedar or pine. Use aspen, carefresh, or softsorbent. Good toys are hidey houses, critter kabobs with lots of chewies, the hard plastic balls with bells in them (the cat toys with hard plastic slats as the thinner plastic can break and injure piggy), flip n toss toys, chubes, grassy hutches. They need timothy hay and veggies 24/7. Best to get a hay rack and treat holder for convenience plus it keeps it clean and off the nasty bedding. They also need vitamin c, without it they'll get pneumonia and die. Do not keep them near windows or doors that lead outside, drafts are deadly to them.

Answer 4

All the tuff the other person said.

Also, you need to have wood type toods for them to chew on because their teeth grow very fast and they cant grow long so make sure they always have a chew toy.  For food, get them the regular guinea pig food. Then what i did was i made them a salad, lettuce, carrots, apples, and all that stuff. But guinea pigs cant have some veggies and fruits so make sure you look that up on the internet.  Make sure they have vit. C, like oranges, and vitaman C drops in there water.  Also, the bedding I used was not the wood shaving or newpaper, but the other stuff that was kinda soft and fluffy, it worked great. Sorry I cant remember what it was called.  And take it out of the cage and play with it everyday. they can get bored easily so let them run around.  In cooler weather you can take them outside on the grass, just make sure nothing harmful is around them.

Answer 5

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 6

make sure they get an orange slice per day, or vitamin c drops in their water. It prevents them from getting scurvy , where that is what they can have hair-loss, and get real sick.

Answer 7

http://www.petco.com/caresheets/small%20...

http://www.cavyspirit.com/care.htm

http://www.exoticpetvet.com/breeds/guine...

these site are the best sites to visit for a first time guinea pig owner. they provide you with information that every guinea pig should know. i hope this helped and good luck !!!

Answer 8

Guinea pigs are generally low-maintenacne animals. They

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!