What do I need to give my guinea pig a good life?

Question

I'll be purchasing a guinea pig in a week or so and need to know what I need to purchase along with it.What food do they eat and what toys to get.Thanks in advance

Answer 1

They need a cage with a bunch of room. They eat pellets and you can feed them carrots/lettuce as treats also. A wheel is sufficeable as a toy and form of exercise. My friend lets his out of their cage every once and a while and puts them outside in a very large roofless box.

Answer 2

You will need a good size cage, good quality food, a same s*x same species companion to start off with.

By good size cage I mean a cage that is at least 7.5sq ft for 1 pig, 10.5sq ft for 2. Pigs can not live outdoors, so if you can not provide an indoor home than I would think again about bringing a guinea pig into your home. They simply can not stand the freezing cold temperatures of the winter and the boiling hot temperatures of the summer. Plus the risk of predators is huge. Therefore I suggest a C&C cage - cubes and corflute . These are incredibly easy to make and they are fun! For more info see - http://www.guineapigcages.com/

Food wise, a good quality pellet is necessary and you are not going to find one at a petstore! http://www.kmshayloft.com/ or http://www.oxbowhay.com/index.sp are the best. For pigs under 6 months alfalfa based pellets are better, and timothy based pellets for those that are older than 6 months. You should give your guinea pig 1/8th of a cup a day. Hay is incredibly important, and guinea pigs should be given unlimited quantities of it. Kleenmama's Hayloft and Oxbow provides top quality hay also, and it is very green and soft. At this point you may be thinking that both of these companies that I have mentioned are way to expensive, however if you work it out by the pound it is very affordable in comparison to petstore brands - including shipping (KM's is online only). Veggies are a big part of a pigs daily diet, and they should have a wide variety made available to them. I provide a mixture of coral lettuce, cos lettuce, capsicum, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, spring mix, basil, mint, apple, bok choy etc for my 5 girls. Of course, they should also have fresh water in a bottle, nothing added to it, and this should be changed daily.

Pigs are extremely social and they should have a companion of the same s*x. I have 3 girls living together in a 2 grid by 5 grid C&C cage, and 2 girls living together in a 2 grid by 4 grid C&C cage. At this point I should mention that you should adopt your piggies. There is a huge over population at the moment, and there are ALOT of pigs out there that do not have a home. If you take a look at petfinder or guineapighome you will see for yourself.

As for toys, no balls, wheels, harnesses or leashes. Pigloos, wooden fiddlesticks, bent grids covered in fabric, cuddle cups and saks etc are all popular in the guinea pig world. I personally have a big collection of toys that I change around so that their cage seems new each week.

Answer 3

I just wanted to completely agree with pigsforlife.  Your absolute best bet is to check the guinea lynx site for good, reliable, and safe information.  I'll just dispel a few of the myths that people have stated already.

Wheels are extremely dangerous as guinea pigs have fairly rigid spines, and they simply do not bend in the way a wheel would require.  The same thing applies to exercise balls and harnesses.

A cage with a mesh or wire bottom is a really bad idea, it can lead to foot problems like bumblefoot (pododermatitis).  This is a serous infection of the feet that may require veterinary care and antibiotics.  If it is left untreated it may spread to the bone requiring amputation.  It's simply not worth the risk.

Pet store cages are ridiculously tiny and are basically glorified litter boxes.  They don't give the guinea pig any room to move around.  When guinea pigs have enough space they will run laps around the cage, popcorn (a really cute jump they do when they're happy) and just generally be content.  This will also give you enough space to get a friend, guinea pigs are happiest with a companion.

For food you need a high quality pellet like Oxbow or KM's.  You also need to give the guinea pig unlimited amounts of hay.  The hay will keep the pig's teeth worn down and healthy, and will keep the digestive system healthy.

Guinea pigs need at least a cup of fresh veggies a day.  Leafy greens should be the major part of this.  If lettuce killed guinea pigs then all of mine would be dead :-)  I usually feed a mix of different lettuces (no iceberg lettuce), parsley, cilantro, kale, bell peppers and whatever veggies I'm having with my supper.  The more variety the better.

My guys don't like store bought toys.  They do, however, love toilet paper rolls or paper bags that are stuffed with hay.

Have fun with your new guinea pig and make sure to read:

http://www.guinealynx.info/healthycavy.h...

Answer 4

You need :

* Another guinea pig or rabbit , they get lonely

* A biggish cage, which will need to be cleaned regularly

* to give it fresh food and water daily

* make sure they get exercise and attention

* and groom them ( especially if it is a long haired )

* need a stick or something wooden so they can gnaw their teeth .

It would be good for you to get a book or look on the Internet to get some more tips on guinea pig care .

Hope i have helped .

Answer 5

A roomy Cage not a small one that most pet stores will offer you when you first buy one.Buy a big one if you want a guinea pig who can be happy.A plastic floor one is preferred.

Much Timothy Hay is a must.

A Bowl of Commercial Pellets to keep the little guy in the vitamin C.

A bowl for some veggies now and then during the day.

Bedding not made from Cedar.Make sure the material is safe.

Clean water in the guinea pig bottle and don't "fortify" it with Vitamin C drops because it WILL lose it's effect in water.

Make a little dark hiding spot for him.For example,get a shoebox thats nice and clean and big enough for him and some extra space.Cut a door into it and put it at a corner in the cage.This is his sanctuary for having some alone time.

Only bathe him once a month because thats all he needs.

Check his nails every now and then and if they get to big trim them with guinea pig nail trimmers or human nail cutters BUT DO NOT AND I REPEAT DO NOT CUT INTO THE QUICK.The quick is the dark pink parts in the nail and if you cut it he will bleed which is when you'll need flour or septic powder to stop the bleeding.

And always remember to put a new toy in his cage every now and then through out the week.Anything from a ball of crumpled up paper to a little guinea pig safe chew toy is good but don't under any circumstances give him hamster toys like a wheel or exercise balls.These are dangerous for a guinea pig.

Answer 6

First a loving home with alot of space. second lots of food for the critter to eat, third some really nice water for the critter to drink. Then i would get the critter some nice toys to play on. some chewing sticks, and some of those food bars. play with him from time to time, let him know your his best friend. Do everything you would do to make a friend happy, to make your piggy happy. Just not so intense. well have fun raising your piggy!  :D

Answer 7

i have guinea pigs and the need lost of room and hay to cover the bottom of the cage. they love hidding so either by them somthing to hide under or have a cage with a built in house. guinea pigs eat grains, grass, and you can occsionally give them some carrots or apple. they don' need many toys because they don't seem to know what todo with them

Answer 8

First...you will need a hutch or house that has a dry warm area for them to escape the weather as well as an area for them to sun themselves on fine days.

Here's a great website for an info sheet that helped me out! :-)

www.australiancavysanctuary.com

You may have to copy & paste address...

Answer 9

A decent size hutch/cage with room to move around.

Clean water.

Fresh vegetables (not too much leafy green stuff, it can give them diareoha, just as a treat occassionally)

A good quality guinea pig/rabbit food

Something hard to chew on (like a hard piece of clean/untreated wood) to wear their teeth down.

Something it can make a soft bedding nest out of, but nothing that is dangerous if it chews up and swallows.

Clean the cage DAILY.

Check his nails occassionally to make sure they are not growing under or around.

Place something interesting or different in the hutch every other week or so, again, nothing that he can chew up or hurt himself with...just so he has some sort of different thing for mental stimulation.

Answer 10

If it helps, i had guinea pigs for 7years, by the end they were more like pensioner guinea pigs than anything else.

Firstly, i suggest you ask the pet shop or consult the internet first, learn guinea pig tips, for example, they have very sensitive diets, and certain foods make them very sick, and could possibly kill them

(most people think being rodents, they'll love cheese, wrong! they die if they eat it apparently)

If you're intending on keeping them inside, it will need a generous sized hutch/cage, which will need fresh food and water daily, along with possibly some straw, or shredded paper for when they sleep.

Whereas if you're going to keep them outside, i suggest i cage with mesh on the bottom so the grass can get through for them to eat (they love grass - but beware or some mystery weeds that sometimes pop up in grass) and their cage needs to be moved every day or second day. (pro - all the poo leaves once the cage is moved. con - if the cage isn't secure, they can sometimes escape... they find a way. or something else e.g. snake will get in.)

From experience - i know that they are very timid animals at frist, they like to hide, and need something to make them feel comfortable when they're scared. Possibly a piece of old plumbing tube (white PVC pipe) which they can go into for saftey, and to be hidden whenever they feel the need.

When i got my guinea pigs, i was told that they fret when they're alone - they thrive with company. But unless you want a million little guinea pigs (which granted are adorable! but once the breeding begins, it's hard to stop!) two guinea pigs of the same gender are advisable.

BEWARE: guinea pigs are homafrodites - which means they can change gender, i had 2 male guinea pigs and neither changed gender, although apparently it's more common for female guinea pigs to change into males, as creepy as that sounds.

I really hope that helps a bit.

Answer 11

GUINEA  PIGS  ARENT  HEMOPHRODITES.

god what a load...

Ok - i advise you to go to 'cavy cages' on the internet. Type it into google - because they have the best cages. Petstore cages are far too small for guinea pigs to have room to run around and jump. (if your guinea is happy, they will run or do something called 'popcorning', which is a series of little jumps. You can do some searches on youtube and see this behaviour.)

If you get a young piggy, they can be made quite tame. I suggest to you that you get two females, so they keep each other company. Guinea pigs really do need company. Once you handle them from the time they are little, you can let them have walks through the house (free range time, as i call it) and then place them back in the cage. Mine would be free to walk all around the kitchen and lounge for a few hours each day. I would set up a play mat for them and they would just stick to that area.

Another great accessory to get is a play pen. You can get a good one for about $40 and put it outside for them to run around in on a warm day. Type in animal play pen into google or ebay (I hope you plan on keeping your guinea pigs inside all other times!)

You will have to clean the cage out often. I would clean mine every 2 days. Always have pellet food and water available in petstore ceramic bowls. You must also feed your piggies fresh veggies each day like

- carrot

-apple

-cucumber

-lettuce

-pear

-tomato

etc

Just a few extras - guinea pigs love to go under things - so play tunnels, or even just spare boxes from the house with little doors cut into them make great toys for them to play in.

I would give mine a box with blankets inside for them to sleep in. Even at night it was very warm. But i had to change it often because they would mess it.

One last pointer - your guinea pig will treat you very coldly for the first few weeks. This is normal behavior, and do not take it as rejection. They will warm up to you sooner or later when they are comfortable. You might also want to look into adopting a guinea pig from a shelter. There are lots needing homes.

oh... and  DONT  BUY A  CAGE  WITH  MESH  ON  THE BOTTOM!!!! please..

Answer 12

well ginea pig food would be number 1 you can get it at a local pet store or even walmart.a cage and some bedding.a water bottle and bowl as for toys you can get a tube for it to run through n a den or something or it sleep in.Also it might like some tomothy hay or resh veggies to eat so have some veggies in your fridge and some hay which is also avialable in pet stores or walmart(walmart has everything these days)

and plenty of love and care.Ginuea pigs are fairly low maintance so it should be easy to take care of.

Good luck!

Answer 13

okay, we had our guinea pig for 8 years. (very old for a pig)

anyway, get water and food and an inclosed cage, cos crows don't mind the odd pig. a little house and lots of love.

really that;s all you need...

just some tips....

they love glass and carrots, but they are all different, so learn from you pig.....

remember check their teeth every month....

and it hurts when they bite!

lol

kenz

xx

Answer 14

Piggies need plenty of room, Loads of timothy hay, food every day, i fed mine veggies at night, vitamin C, fruit is good, but just mainly apples and grapes, some fruits are poisonous 2 piggies, cauliflower makes them gassy and it STINKS, chance the cage at least once a week. i use recycled paper bedding called carefresh. some sort of shelter, a whole heck of a lot of love and attention, constant company. (2 females, or brothers or a lone male, but never 2 males that dont know each other or a male and female for obvious reasons unless you really want 500000 piggies in like a monthand a half) sry, this is kinda random, but hope it helps!!!