guinea pig  

Thanks for responding....he is cute, have wanted one for ages and got one finally

kids take care of it?

kids take care of it?

Thanks...will do a search, have to goto the pet shop tomorrow and get the pellets etc for him

If you have access to the Oxbow pellets, these tend to be the best. Otherwise, American Pet Diner is also a good brand. Kaytee is okay and it's cheap, so when I bring pellets to shelter guinea pigs, I usually just buy some plain Kaytee pellets.

Remember to go with plain pellets, and not mixes.

I don't feed all of my guinea pigs pellets. If they're overweight or average weight, I don't bother with pellets. But I monitor veggie intake closely.

I'm not sure where you heard not to feed lettuce. Don't feed *iceberg* lettuce as it has no nutritional value. Romaine lettuce, green leaf, red leaf, escarole, endive, etc. are all okay to feed.

I've never had a guinea pig who didn't like cilantro (high in vitamin C). Red bell peppers are also a good source of vitamin C.

My piggies also enjoy vitamin C tablet pieces from the health food store. Make sure not to buy the ones that are too sugary, but do go for the chewable type. Don't put vitamin C in the water, it degrades quickly that way. It's not as hard to prevent scurvy as most people would have you think. I've only seen a few pigs with scurvy. And these were pigs in shelters that were very neglected.

The easiest way to monitor your piggie's diet and health is to buy a nice kitchen gram scale. I'd highly recommend weighing your piggie weekly and keeping a log. This can be a fun project for kids too if you want to teach them to make a graph or something.

Thanks will have to check it out

Make sure the mix does not contain seeds and nuts. You want to buy plain pellets if you are going to feed pellets at all (I'd recommend it for younger pigs). Guinea pigs are great at choking on seeds and nuts... which aren't even needed for them nutritionally anyway.

wow I never realised there was so much involved with them. so far have been doing everything right. have the guinea pig food mix from the pet store, give him fresh veges everyday. Also trying to tame him so hold him everyday and let the kids pat him. Kinda like having 3 kids now lol. But he is so cute and kids are loving him

Yeah, lots of adopters tell me the piggies are harder to care for than dogs!

I'm so used to having between 8 and 10 fosters, that it seem so weird to only have 3 right now. But only one out of 3 is special needs, so I don't have too much work with them. After awhile you get used to the routine.

The cool thing is though, 2 in the same cage aren't much more work at all than 1. Check www.cavyspirit.com for their sexing page to see if you have a male or female.

The kids are too young to look after it by themselves....I got the 7 year old to help by putting the vegies in the cage, but the rest I do until they can help more

The kids are too young to look after it by themselves....I got the 7 year old to help by putting the vegies in the cage, but the rest I do until they can help more

awww that will be the hard part....when it dies on the kids....but that wont be for ages

Hay/grasses not only help wear down the incisors, but also the molars.

I've seen molars that entrap the tongues of guinea pigs who were fed only pellets. :(

Guinea pigs definitely need hay.

I'd avoid a lot of cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, etc. as those tend to be gassy foods. Guinea pigs are somewhat suspectible to bloat.

thanx for all the info, so far he is enjoying the fresh fruit and mix i gave him...can't believe how much he eats for such a little animal

I'd recommend giving more veggies than fruit. They don't handle sugars as well (so carrots aren't really the best choice either).

I tend to do a mix like this (keep in mind this is for 3 piggies for one whole day, all are adults, and one is a skinny, so it's more like 4 pigs):
1 head of romaine
2 bunches cilantro
1 red bell pepper
1 bunch of something else for variety
1 small amount of fruit only once a week (or baby carrots)

Believe me, if you don't want to be stuck cleaning cages... don't get any live pets for kids!

Cleaning guinea pig cages is pretty easy though. Especially if you use the cubes and coroplast cages (see www.cavycages.com) Just take a dust pan, scoop, done. I've cleaned like 5 cages (all between 7 and 9 square feet) in 15 minutes before. Thorough cleaning takes longer, but just the basic twice weekly cleans are fast.