Thinking about a guinea pig as my pet?

Question

first thing is first should i adopt one or buy one

i read about them and know quite alot

i think i will one little box of timothy hay and alfalfa just to see witch one he/she would like i learned about their diet i have a hamster right now and i know hamsters are different from guinea pigs. My hamster escaped a couple of times and i wondering can guinea pigs escape alot too because they cant climb my dad is starting to cave of letting me have one. i am saving up some money and

what kind of cage should i have?

adopt or shop?

and

how much money do you think would be enough for the cage,

food, hay, and toys???

Answer 1

This site has all you ever wanted to know about GP's.

http://www.guineapigcages.com/

Offer a variety of food.  That includes hay.  Just like people, they need many different foods to be healthy.

Guinea pigs don't have the drive to escape like hamsters do, but they'll leave if they have the opportunity.

ADOPT!!!

There are hundreds of fantastic pets just dying to meet you at a local shelter.  Right now, they'll have babies too.

Cost depends on where you live.

Go shopping and look at prices.  Walmart has the best prices.

Good luck.

Answer 2

haha this is funny i actually have a guinea pig as a pet, her breed is a teddy coat, you will not find this type of piggy in any pet store, ive been in around 10diff pet stores in toronto and none are even simliar to her, well they are cute and are very diff from other rodents, they wont climb out of the cage, give them fresh veggies ie- carrots,brocoli,cucumber,green beans,and fruit they like apples, strawberries watermelon but not too much, its very rich for the little systems......

i dont know your city but if you have a petsmart or pj's they have cages there they are around $60 for a decent size one, food is so cheap..... any pet store you can buy a bag of guinea pig food for $5, and toys ya you can put some stuff in there and get him/her a chubby chube, its a long tube they can crawl into and chew on as well, Make sure they have stuff to chew on, and they love timothy hay......

Guinea pigs also have a much longer lifespan than other rodents.....hampsters if your lucky 2yrs..... ive had my piggy for 6 1/2yrs and in the guide i bought it said lifespan 6yrs at best. they are not as hyper and mischievous as hampsters...they will run around the house but you can catch them..if they are babies tho they can run fast!!! if you have any others questions let me know!!

Almost forgot!!!!  for litter buy this high grade cat litter called "yesterdays news" it absorbs great and you dont need to change as much as pine shavings....when the pine shvings mixes with their urine....no good...but this litter is fine on their toes and absorbs great..... you can change evry 5-7 days depending on how many pigs you have...... they look like little grey pellets.....

Answer 3

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 4

I'm not sure how much help I will be price wise because I'm in UK. However.......

If Guinea Pigs have a bit of the wall then they can't escape. Even if you have no top on the cage.

I only use Carefresh Pet Bedding and both my pigs sleep in that house together so the warmth they get from each other is ok.

Although you can keep 1 pig at a time I've been told it is better with 2 or more since they are social animals and make squeaks and squeals to each other.

You can only keep: Females together

                                  1 Male and multiple females

                                  1 Male (You can't keep 2 males together.

The other thing to remember is to give them fresh vitamin C everyday. Just like a piece of Broccoli or somethin aswell as their dry food. Also, they need hay always. It helps their digestion.

Toys didn't go down well with my pigs. There's things called "cuddle cups" I bought that they seemed to enjoy but needed to be changed and thrown in the washin machine about twice a day so I gave up on them.

Best thing is to do lots of research and I hope it goes well!

Answer 5

I personally believe in adoption. Go to a local shelter, rescue, or check the classifieds in your newspaper to see if they have any piggies. You will have saved a life versus putting money in a breeder/pet store's pocket. Thousands of animals die every day in shelters, it's sad really. Get a cage that has a plastic bottom or you can make one yourself, there are plenty of plans out on the internet, just search. A good sized cage for a piggy can go up to about $70. You can find discounted cages online at places like petguys.com, drsfostersmith.com, and martinscages.com. The intial cost of a piggy is pretty steep, I'd say $6 for food, $5 for hay, and around $20 for hay. They need veggies and vitamin c daily. Give them as much veggies and hay as they want, guinea pigs are grazing animals and need the constant chewing to wear down their teeth. Also they require a lot of fiber in their diet. They need the vitamin c because they cannot make their own and without it they will get pneumonia and die. A ball park figure would be around $120 for the stuff, excluding the adoption fee.

Answer 6

Well you're average GP can run between 30 and 50 dollars depending on the store you by it from. Adopting would deffently be cheaper.

As long as the cage can close and stay shut you shouldnt worry about him escaping

for a total of everything including the GP your looking at about 150 to 200 dollars depending on where you get everything, the bedding, food and "toys" are going to be the most expensive. May i suggest buying in bulk? you'll need it

A wire cage will be best keep it inside during the colder months but if you have a old rabbit cage, you can stick him out there during the summer and such. just remember to check on him!

i used to have a GP i would put a harness on him and take him for walks, well i really carried him out to the desination and he ate the grass but it was still cute!

Answer 7

good pet so far i have had mine for like a week in a half. umm i bought mine but it really doesnt matter you are still giving an animal a better home. umm mine hasnt escaped from his cage but when i let him exersise he ran around my room and go into tiny places ( they stretch out and get skinner) i went to petco and got what is called a guinea pig starter kit. it comes with a nice size cage, a food bowl, a water bottle, food, timothy hay, bedding, a treat and i think that is it for 70 dollars. the proce of a guinea pig was 30 dollars. and we got him a ball and a wheel and a tunnel blocks and a play pin and it verys in price. Oh and an igloo. i want to get him a little bed and LOTS more toys and stuff but i used all my money. hope it helped

Answer 8

I own two guinea pigs so I can give you some advice.

first of all you need to go to a local pet store (large or small it doesn't matter.)

you want a healthy newborn so ask them about that.

you want a healthy one and you ahve read about them so you should know which ones are healthy

(remember one thing you either have a good or bad pig they either life for a long time or for a short time. They are either sick or healthy if they get sick once they will get sick alot so make sure you have a good one.)

Typically guinea pigs do not try to escape. In fact I let mine roam around in the open outside very often. But that doesn't mean you dont need to keep a wacthful eye on them.

Dont get your pig a glass cage. Its just not neccessary the cage I have is a 'my first home" I have had it for 5 years now and never had to replace it.talk to your seller about what size you will need.

For your dads sake I tell you the truth. Guinea pigs do stink. But it depends on what litter you have. If you think your pig stinks. Try a new litter. there are all different types. some last longer some are cushier and some absorb the stink better.

hope this helps!