Does anyone have a guinea pig?

[chris1gill]

I have finally given in to buying a guinea pig after two years of badgering.... I figured if my children kept at it for two years, they must really want one... in the past we cared for one for a week, it went pretty well....

Anyhow, now that I'm actually thinking of bringing one of these things into the house permanently, I have a few questions.... First, I looked for supplies at Petco, they sell a litter box for your guinea pig.... that leads me to believe you can litter train them? Is this possible? How do you do it? It would be great if possible... Also, what kind of veterinary care do they need? I'd prefer not to get a pet that needs to go to the vet too often... and the last thing I'm really worried about is cutting their nails, how is that done??

I can't believe the kids have stuck with this for two years, just my luck

 

[BriarfoxinWA]

I just love guinea pigs - (we call them our squeakies)! We kept our two in a large cage in the house. You can sorta potty train them to only go in their cage but they will have "accidents" (or at least ours did). We had Petey and Ralphy for over 6 years - Ralphy died in December but Petey is still going strong. We have never ever taken them to the vet as they never got sick.

I try to trim their nails every couple of months using a small pair of animal nail clippers. They have a guide on them so you don't cut too much.

Ralphy died very suddenly but we assume it was old age - 6 is very old for Guineas. Do a google search on guinea pigs or "cavies" and you'll find lots of really good informational websites.

PM me if you have questions!

 

[poohandwendy]

I have finally given in to buying a guinea pig after two years of badgering.... I figured if my children kept at it for two years, they must really want one... in the past we cared for one for a week, it went pretty well....

Anyhow, now that I'm actually thinking of bringing one of these things into the house permanently, I have a few questions.... First, I looked for supplies at Petco, they sell a litter box for your guinea pig.... that leads me to believe you can litter train them? Is this possible? How do you do it? It would be great if possible... Also, what kind of veterinary care do they need? I'd prefer not to get a pet that needs to go to the vet too often... and the last thing I'm really worried about is cutting their nails, how is that done??

I can't believe the kids have stuck with this for two years, just my luck

My DD (12) has 2 female guinea pigs.. Butterscotch and Oreo (my DD has a real sweettooth, LOL). We have never attempted to littertrain them, but I have read that it can be done. We got ours when they were adults, I am sure it is easier to do that if you get a young one.

We have their nails clipped at PetCo. Since they were adults and not used to having them clipped, they were totally traumatized by our efforts to do it at home. I do bathe them every now and again, but only during the summer months. They really need to be kept from drafts, so plan accordingly...try to keep their cage away from windows, etc. They also can get sunburned, so if you happen to take them outdoors, keep them out of direct sun.

Best thing is to go to websites or get books about guinea pig care as there are some foods that they should not eat (like onions and potatoes). And start young with gently handling them, so they get used to it.

They really aren't all that hard to care for, other than changing their cage ALOT...they do urinate alot.

But, we love them and they are really fun. Sort of noisy too, LOL

 

[Donna]

Yes, we have porky. He's a lovable little guy. even my cats love him and he comes out of his little house to see them! Other than the cage itself, buy them a little hutch/house because they are shy by nature and like to hide. Get a water bottle (they drink ALOT) and make sure it is always filled with fresh water. If you get a corner litter box, they will probably use it but they will also go in other parts of the cage. We change our bedding (pine) twice a week. I've read that cedar chips are not as good for them. Buy a small heavy ceramic dish (won't tip) for their food and also a salt wheel to hang off the side. Mine LOVES alfalfa hay (petco) also. They are very easy to take care of. ours has never needed a vet :::knock on wood:::. They make good pets because most do not bite or wiggle alot. I have never trimmed the nails but now i am wondering if maybe i should try to do this. I've also heard sometimes their front teeth may need filed down but if you feed them carrots, apples etc, it will help keep the teeth filed down. Mine also loves bananas, lettuce, grapes. If you get two, make sure you get two of same sex, although baby guinea's are ADORABLE!

 

[Disney_1derland]

We have two in a large cage in the house. We did a lot of research before investing in them. They can 'sort of' be litter trained but you have so many other things to think of when housing them, that the 'litter' part of it becomes secondary.

They need exercise. The like to run in circles. In their cage it is best if there are very few obstructions to a clear path around the edges of the cage. (here is where the litter pan comes in-or doesn't in our case.) We bought the biggest cage we could afford and it's pretty simply laid out. It's one level and a clear path around the edges. There is a small ramp that leads up to a ledge which is where their food is. It also has a sleeping box on the side. We do not put anything on the ground level of the cage and they run like crazy. Here is a cage similar to ours: guinea cage

We also have a hard plastic kids swimming pool that we put them in to let them run loops around it. Then the kids (ours are 5 & 3) can reach in a play with them. They are very social and like attention. They like to cuddle once they are used to you and will seek out your attention.

I cut their nails about every 3 weeks, it's not difficult to do yourself, just don't cut too much because they have a vein in their nails like dogs do. Keep a styptic pen on hand in case you do cut too much (or use cornstarch like I do ) I find if I don't cut their nails every three weeks they start to curl and it gets hard for them to run. They hate it so I wrap them up in a towel and just do it slowly and give them treats.

Ours are very odd, they only like the cheapest food that has nothing but just plain brown pellets. They also drink an amazing amount of water. We have a 32 oz water bottle that we fill almost daily. They are great first pets for kids because you can't forget to feed them, they'll screech at you when they are hungry (which is always, ours eat about a cup of food per day)

We clean their cage every 5th day and we use a bedding that is shredded paper that they can burrow in, they really like it better than pine shavings or recycled newspaper bits.

Since they are rodents they need constant chewing, so hang a chew toy in the cage.


Wow, enough of a novel. Obviously if you have questions you can pm me, I'll quit for now.

 

[Barb D]

We had three; they were wonderful pets. Unfortunately, they caught something contagious and all died.

We had ours in a huge "cube and coroplast" enclosure. It took up DD's entire bottom bunk of her bunkbed (with the mattress removed.)

Here's a link to show how to make them. They are much cheaper than normal cages and give the piggies a lot more room to spread out...as long as you have the space for it.

 

[JennyMominRI]

We got two *female* guinea pigs and had them in our cage together..Imagine our surprise when we woke up one morning to find 4 guinnea pigs,2 big 2 small..Turns out Brownie wasn't a fat female,Brownie was a pregnant female..The strangets thing is that when they are born they are miniature adults..COvered with hair ,eyes open and jumping around the cage on day one

 

[Barb D]

We got two *female* guinea pigs and had them in our cage together..Imagine our surprise when we woke up one morning to find 4 guinnea pigs,2 big 2 small..

We had a similar experience with RATS and ended up with 12 of them! Most of them are now with the Friskies animal rescue, but we still have the father and two of the sons.

 

[DVCLiz]

We used the CareFresh brand of bedding, if I remember (it came in a green bag.) - I think newspapers compressed and shredded. It was so much better than any type of cedar or pine bedding - it smelled MUCH LESS. We cleaned the cage less often than we should have - you should probably count on about 1 or 2 times a week. We never took ours to the vet - I trimmed her nails at home. She lived about 4 years or so - she was very sweet!!!

 

[gallaj0]

We had 2 both girls, and a little while after bringing home the second, she had babies; they were mixing boys and girls at the pet store.

They are pretty easy to care for, but time consuming. It's ok though, they love the attention, and will start calling (squeaking) if they hear you coming down the hall.

 

[KIRSTIN'S MOMMY]

We also have 2, Sissy and Lacey. We've had them about a year and just purchased a larger cage for them. They're growing so fast, lol! We usually change their cage about once a week and trim their nails about once every other month or so. I was surprised at how vocal they are. I never knew they made noise until we brought these two home! They're great pets.

 

[Donna]

We used the CareFresh brand of bedding, if I remember (it came in a green bag.) - I think newspapers compressed and shredded. It was so much better than any type of cedar or pine bedding - it smelled MUCH LESS. We cleaned the cage less often than we should have - you should probably count on about 1 or 2 times a week. We never took ours to the vet - I trimmed her nails at home. She lived about 4 years or so - she was very sweet!!!

We sell this at my pet store. It works great for guinea pigs. One of our customers raises them and she swears she'd only use Carefresh. I think i am going to try it next time i need bedding. Good scissors for nails would be the same ones you use for cats.

 

[Just_Me_06]

great ! now reading this i really want 1 but im gonna do sooooooooooo much research! lol

 

[chris1gill]

I just want to say thank you to everyone that has posted here! You've helped so much.

Does anyone have a list of foods these little guys can eat? I wouldn't want to give them something that can make them sick... I know carrot sticks, grapes, apples... Donna mentioned bananas and lettuce as well, is there anything else I'm missing?

I really like the idea of the plastic pool to let them run in, that's great!

I am planning to get the biggest cage we can afford, so they'll have room. I'm worried about where I might keep him/her now as our house is a bit drafty... hmm...

Now, as for getting a pregnant female from the pet store, that just SCARES me LOL....

 

[Donna]

Just pick up a bag of the regular guinea pig food in Petco as it's regular diet and give the other stuff daily as treats. Mine is so funny. i will drop a carrot into his dish and he will peak out of the house but he will wait til i walk away to sneak out to get it. he's just so shy. Post a picture once you have yours!

 

[mickeyfan2]

We have had GP for more than 17 years. They love a cozy house to sleep in, but we find not giving them the house when you bring the baby home helps them take to the owner better. When they get friendlier then put in the home. They all have unique personalities. Get a girl, the boys have more of a smell and need to be changed more often. GPs are communal animals, so having a playmate in the cage is a plus (but not manditory). They need to be in an area free of drafts and cold. Our two Sally and Rosie are getting old. Sally will turn 6 in April and Rosie will turn 6 in May. We like to feed them Kaytee Exact (looks like dry cat food). Also give them Timothy hay instead of Alfalfa. Alfalfa has too much calcium and they can get kidney stones from it. Also they need to get vitamin C. GPs are like humans, neither can manufacture vitamin C. Also if you have a cold stay away from them. They can catch it from you. Fresh greens are a good suppliment. They are only eat what they like. We find they eat more variety when there is more than one. Any other questions, please PM me.

 

[ckay87]

We have 2 piggies. I read a couple places that they are community animals and "need" a friend. It worried me that we would accidently get a boy/girl set, but luckily they were, in fact, both boys. Although Timmy likes to think his friend is a girl sometimes...that's all I'll say about that.

Cared for properly, they are work. I scoop out poopies 2x per day - there are A LOT of poopies. They eat a ton of Timothy Hay. I also give mine a salad for breakfast. They need extra vitamin C and, although it's in their food, I spoiled my guys with the veggie thing. Now - heaven forbid I forget the salad in the am. They yell loudly til I remember.

Purchase the absolute largest cage you can, but best of all is the suggestion that someone else gave about the cubes & coroplast cages. See: www.cavycages.com for details. I purchased the coroplast at a sign-maker for $30 and got the storage cubes at Target for about 15. Cheaper and much larger than anything that can be found in a pet store, seriously. And bigger cage = less stinkiness.

They are cute how vocal they are and cuddly. Mine never got over the fear of being picked up, but once we are holding them they are fine. Enjoy.

 

[BriarfoxinWA]

As far as food goes - we feed ours pellets plus I give them a few stalks of parsley morning and night. I opted not to give them the vitamin C drops in their water and parsley is a great source of vitamin C for them. I'll also feed them broccoli, califlower, carrots, apples, iceberg lettuce and leaf lettuce.

 

[luvflorida]

We've had two guinea pigs for the past five years. We got them when they were just babies, both female- Rapunzel and Cinderella. Unfortunately, Rapunzel died last month. Even worse, it happened while we were away on vacation and a relative was taking care of them. She died rather suddenly on the first morning of our vacation. Our daughter was heartbroken, and felt bad that she wasn't there when Rapunzel died, but she knew that five years is pretty good for a guinea pig to live.

We worried how it would affect Cinderella. They had been together for five years and we thought maybe Cinderella would become lonely and/or listless. She actually has become more friendly and, if possible, more active! She was always more social than Rapunzel, but now she runs to the edge of the cage and stands up squealing whenever we come near her cage. She gets more attention now and I think she is enjoying it very much!

I've found that guinea pigs aren't really that much work. The hardest thing is cleaning out their cage especially because it's a very large cage and kind of cumbersome to move about. I've always used shavings, (not cedar), for their bedding and I buy it in huge bags at Walmart for five dollars a bag. It lasts a long time! They love Timothy Hay and guinea pig food that is a mixture of pellets, corn, sunflower seeds and other dried things, I'm not sure what to call them. Other foods they like: carrots, lettuce, cabbage, cucumbers, apple and orange slices, and grapes. I refill the water bottle almost daily because guinea pigs do drink a lot of water. In the summer, I put the pigs outside on the grass for a bit with the top part of their cage over them and they love to be out in the fresh air and to nibble on real grass.

If you handle them a lot when they are babies, they become much more social and less timid, although I don't think they ever really get over being somewhat skitterish. Rapunzel used to like to be carried around snuggled up in a blanket, and Cinderella has enjoyed a few rides in a tiny red wagon that my daughter pulls her around the house in!

Probably the most fun they would have was when we'd put both of them on our screened in porch and let them loose. They would run in a circle chasing each other around table and chair legs. I'd put a blanket down that was used just for this purpose and afterwards, I'd just take it outside and shake the poopies loose into the woods.

 

[ckay87]

In the summer, I put the pigs outside on the grass for a bit with the top part of their cage over them and they love to be out in the fresh air and to nibble on real grass.

Ours love being outside so much, I'm going to build something secure for them - like a heavy half-cage with no bottom, that I can set out in the grass in the summer so they can spend most of their days out there. The way they eat grass, I figure if I just move them around, we may not have to mow anymore!

They love it out there, so why not. Might save me on some cage cleaning. Just need to call the vet about flea/tick prevention for the little guys.