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Baby guinea pig-ness!

2K views 15 replies 10 participants last post by  LittleMistweave 
#1 ·
I got a baby guinea pig and I have been reading up on them before I got her from a lady that had a pair of guinea pigs and they had had a litter (or whatever you call guinea pig bunches of babies) and was giving them away. I know not to put her in one of the exercise balls because it can hurt her back and possibly even kill her from it but I was wondering if there was any other major things anyone knew about that books might not tell me.
 
#5 ·
Make sure she has plenty of running space. ^_^

I would also suggest getting her a friend. They are very social animals and a lot of people believe that even playing with humans does not help much because they are herding animals and prefer to be around other guinea pigs.

Oh, and give her something to hide in! Mine has a half-log and a shoebox with a short side cut out.

And remember to give her as much Timothy Hay as she can eat! This is very good for their digestion and best if available for them at all times.


Congratulations on the new baby!
 
#8 ·
She needs a friend, and lots of attention otherwise she'll lose her friendliness. This is what happened with our guinea pigs when we were too young to know and remember that you have to keep handling them. And make sure you have two of the same gender unless you want more (this happened to us as well), it seems obvious but we were told they were both boys, then opps.
 
#9 ·
I have her out of her aquariums all the time and the cat sleeps with the guinea pig. I don't know why and I always watch her really close but for some odd reason unknown to me the cat and the guinea pig will poke each other in the nose and run through the house and play tag for hours on end until you stop them. I have two aquariums and a cage for her in the house so I think she has enough room lol. There are tubes between the aquariums and I put the cage where she could get in from the little aquarium but nothing else could. It's a really complicated looking pile. I use pine shavings for her to live in and she has a ball that someone gave me that I just left half of it in there for her to play with and she keeps her toys in it and hides in a box I threw in there and a little blanket I made for her so she would stay out of mine. I give her friuts and nuts and veggies and stuff as treats but not all the time because I don't want her to get too fat that she can't walk. She's a bit of a porker right now but she always does that right before she hits another growth spurt. If I could find the camera I would post pictures. >.<
 
#11 ·
No aquariums!! They don't provide enough ventilation (especially with the pine bedding - there are some concerns about the oils in pine, and this would be more of an issue in an aquarium than an open cage). Aquariums are also way too small, even if she spends a lot of time out. They really need one big space to run around in, not small cages joined together.

Veggies are part of the main diet, not a treat. They need about a cup per day, especially leafy greens. Skip the nuts.

Check out www.guinealynx.com for good basic care info. Way better than any of the books out there.

Also check out www.cavycages.com for large, inexpensive cages that are easy to make (don't be put off by the "make" part - they really are easy!)

I second getting a same-gender friend from a rescue or shelter.

I would be pretty nervous about a cat and a gp playing "tag", although it sounds like you are watching them closely...I definitely would not leave them together unsupervised, though.

I would love to see photos, too!
Baby pigs are wonderful.
 
#12 ·
I agree with minibean, she sounds like she knows what shes talking about =)

I also think a big flat cage is important just to stretch and run around, rabbit indoor cages are good. They take up a lot of space though, but you can somehow put them on top of eachother with a little ladder thing down, like on that cavycages website =) Definetly get her a piggy friend, and in the summer she can be outside on the grass, with you watching and in one of those guinea pig outdoor cages that have walls but not a floor =D
 
#13 ·
I can't put her outside because we have a boxer and she knows that Kate-Monster is in the house and she used to look at her funny and run away when she was a puppy but now she wants to play with her and she is ruthless when it comes to something she wants to play with. The guinea pig did get out the other day and hide though lol. I was trying to clean her little house and cook at the same time and she ran off when I wasnt looking and the cat never messed with her even though they were alone in the house for like 5 hours. I am making her a thing so she can outside though but I am putting alot of thought into it and studying everything to make sure our boxer can't get in it. And I just had her in the aquarium until I could get her in something else and that aquarium has as much ventilation as a cage because of the way I have it set up and it's got more room for her to run around in than a cage so she is rather mad about being in a cage and goes back in the aquarium on her own.
 
#15 ·
If the cage is smaller than an aquarium, it probably is too small. The bare minimum recommended cage space for a pig is 7.5 square feet. Is it really that big? (most gp cages sold in pet stores are around 3-5 sq ft, for comparison's sake) As for ventilation, does the aquarium have glass on all 4 sides? How tall are the sides?

They do enjoy going outside (make sure your grass is untreated if you put them on the grass). I would not leave a gp outside unsupervised though no matter how safe you think the enclosure is. I have heard too many awful stories of animals breaking into supposedly "safe" outdoor enclosures. Does your boxer come in the house too?

I wish my cat and pig could get along! Jenny would go after Piglet in an instant if I left them alone, and Piglet just wants to eat Jenny's fur.
 
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