Pampered Popcorning Piggies Rescue
Care guide
Table of Contents:
Taming
Basics
Cages
Diet
Health checks
Taming:
When you get a guinea pig, you can’t expect it to let you catch it easily and be easy to handle, those things take time. When you first get a guinea pig(s), you need to let it be in the cage without bothering it for at least three days to get it used to the surroundings. After the three days, you can begin to hand feed the pig some veggies, and that will get them used to being around hands. Another good thing to do to get them to adjust to being talked to is playing a radio or TV in their room. They will get used to human voices.
When you begin to pick them up, DO NOT CHASE THEM around the cage with your hands, that scares them. Go in smoothly a quickly when picking up the pig. DO NOT HESITATE! I personally like to get them to a corner and have them jump into my hands. If you have beds in your cage, pick up the bed while they are in it. I recommend using a blanket when holding them, especially for children, because they will poop and maybe pee on you. You want to do lap time at least an hour a day to get them used to you.
Not related to catching and handling them, a good way to get them to adjust to a routine is to use sounds. I usually tap the veggie plate for veggies, Open and close totes for hay, shake the food bucket for pellets, and shake treat jar or crumble bag for treats. It is good to get your guinea pig into a routine, so try to feed them pellets and veggies the same time everyday.
Basics:
Guinea pigs are herd animals, which means that they should live in pairs or herds. Without another guinea pig friend in the cage with them, they are lonely and depressed. A lot of people try to say their guinea pig is “happy” without a friend, but that isn’t true. Guinea pigs are really fun when they have a friend and a large cage because they run around and play with each other.
Another common misconception is that guinea pigs are good swimmers. THEY ARE NOT SWIMMERS AND YOU SHOULDN’T PUT THEM IN POOLS! You will always see those videos of guinea pigs swimming, but what they are really doing is fighting for their life. The guinea pig will swim because if it doesn’t, then it will drown. Swimming could cause a guinea pig to hurt their fragile backs, drown, or even have a heart attack. Overall, guinea pigs are great, but you need to be willing to learn about what they need without saying that they are just an animal or a rodent.
Cages:
Guinea pigs need large spaces! Petstore cages DO NOT cut it! The only acceptable petstore cage is a Midwest cage, and that fits two piggies comfortably, but more space is always better. It is way more fun to watch them run around and popcorn. The Humane Society says the minimum cage size for 2 guinea pigs is 7.5 square feet. If you put your guinea pig in a small cage, they won’t have room to move, and they may seem boring. How would you feel if we locked you in a closet alone for your whole life? That is how a lonely guinea pig in a petstore cage feels. Also, if you do have multiple pigs in a petstore cage, they won’t have room to get away if they guinea pigs aren’t getting along. It is important that you have a big cage so that they can get away, especially if they are male guinea pigs.
Some people like Midwest cages, but my preference is a DIY cage known as a C&C cage. It stands for cubes and coroplast (corrugated plastic). You can buy wire storage cubes to use for the cage part, and coroplast for the bottom and sides. It is fairly cheap, depending on how big you make it, it can cost less than a petstore cage and be triple the size. They are easy to clean because they will not eliminate in one spot in this cage. You can also customize them by making multiple levels, putting it on a stand to open up storage space underneath, or even making a top for it. You can also pick the color of grids and coroplast you want! For more information and examples of these cages, go to guineapigcages.com.
People say bedding will cost too much with a big cage, but a new bedding that is becoming popular in the guinea pig world is fleece. You can use two layers of towels, or other absorbent materials under a piece of 100% polyester fleece, and it is a great bedding. It lowers the smell, and it is washable, so you will save money. The pee will soak right through the fleece and absorb in the towels, so your pigs won’t have wet feet! No matter which bedding you use, you need to spot clean daily.
Diet:
Guinea pigs can’t create their own Vitamin C, you have to make sure they get it. Bell peppers are high in Vitamin C, so you can give them those daily, but you can also supplement it. Some people put Vitamin C drops in water, but I don’t recommend it because the pigs might not like it, so they won’t drink enough water. If they don’t drink the water, they will have health problems from that. Even if they do drink the water, the Vitamin C doesn’t stay in it all the time, so they may not be even getting it. My favorite supplement to use is the Oxbow Vitamin C Tablets. They look like treats, and most guineas love them. Another requirement in their diet is daily vegetables.
They need to have a cup of vegetables per pig each day. Some are not safe for guinea pigs, but my favorite veggies to feed are red/green leaf lettuce, carrots, grape tomatoes, bell peppers, cilantro, and occasionally cucumber. They can have some fruit, such as blueberries, strawberries, apples, and sometimes watermelon. Sometimes, there is a part of a fruit or vegetable that the guineas can’t have. If you aren’t sure, check out guinealynx.com for more information.
The most common belief is that a guinea pig’s diet should be all pellets, but this is not true. Pellets should be given in limited amounts of ⅛ cup per pig. You want pellets that are just plain pellets with no seeds or colorful pieces. The best pellets you can buy for your guinea pig are KMS Hayloft pellets and Oxbow Essential pellets. KMS Hayloft pellets need to be ordered from that company, but you can find Oxbow in almost any petstore.
Everyone wants to give treats to their guinea pigs, but the best treat is fresh vegetables or fresh forage. Treats that are given to your guinea pigs need to be natural, you don’t want a ton of unnatural ingredients. Guinea pigs can’t have seeds because they could choke, so DO NOT buy a treat containing seeds. Guinea pigs also can’t have dairy, so DO NOT buy yogurt drops.
The MOST IMPORTANT thing in a guinea pig diet is hay. Their digestive system never stops, so you have to supply UNLIMITED hay to keep it going. Hay is also the most efficient way of keeping their teeth trimmed. A guinea pig’s teeth never stop growing, and if you don’t give them hay to keep them trimmed, it could lead to malocclusion, and they won’t eat. Wood chews ARE NOT a substitute. Hay is 80% of their diet!
Health Checks:
Health checks are important in a health check you should:
If you need to go to a vet, make sure they specialize in guinea pigs!
Another thing relating to their health, if you want to bathe them occasionally, only do it when needed. Do not do it more than every 4 months. Make sure to use guinea pig shampoo, if it has a guinea pig on the bottle, it should be fine.
Care guide
Table of Contents:
Taming
Basics
Cages
Diet
Health checks
Taming:
When you get a guinea pig, you can’t expect it to let you catch it easily and be easy to handle, those things take time. When you first get a guinea pig(s), you need to let it be in the cage without bothering it for at least three days to get it used to the surroundings. After the three days, you can begin to hand feed the pig some veggies, and that will get them used to being around hands. Another good thing to do to get them to adjust to being talked to is playing a radio or TV in their room. They will get used to human voices.
When you begin to pick them up, DO NOT CHASE THEM around the cage with your hands, that scares them. Go in smoothly a quickly when picking up the pig. DO NOT HESITATE! I personally like to get them to a corner and have them jump into my hands. If you have beds in your cage, pick up the bed while they are in it. I recommend using a blanket when holding them, especially for children, because they will poop and maybe pee on you. You want to do lap time at least an hour a day to get them used to you.
Not related to catching and handling them, a good way to get them to adjust to a routine is to use sounds. I usually tap the veggie plate for veggies, Open and close totes for hay, shake the food bucket for pellets, and shake treat jar or crumble bag for treats. It is good to get your guinea pig into a routine, so try to feed them pellets and veggies the same time everyday.
Basics:
Guinea pigs are herd animals, which means that they should live in pairs or herds. Without another guinea pig friend in the cage with them, they are lonely and depressed. A lot of people try to say their guinea pig is “happy” without a friend, but that isn’t true. Guinea pigs are really fun when they have a friend and a large cage because they run around and play with each other.
Another common misconception is that guinea pigs are good swimmers. THEY ARE NOT SWIMMERS AND YOU SHOULDN’T PUT THEM IN POOLS! You will always see those videos of guinea pigs swimming, but what they are really doing is fighting for their life. The guinea pig will swim because if it doesn’t, then it will drown. Swimming could cause a guinea pig to hurt their fragile backs, drown, or even have a heart attack. Overall, guinea pigs are great, but you need to be willing to learn about what they need without saying that they are just an animal or a rodent.
Cages:
Guinea pigs need large spaces! Petstore cages DO NOT cut it! The only acceptable petstore cage is a Midwest cage, and that fits two piggies comfortably, but more space is always better. It is way more fun to watch them run around and popcorn. The Humane Society says the minimum cage size for 2 guinea pigs is 7.5 square feet. If you put your guinea pig in a small cage, they won’t have room to move, and they may seem boring. How would you feel if we locked you in a closet alone for your whole life? That is how a lonely guinea pig in a petstore cage feels. Also, if you do have multiple pigs in a petstore cage, they won’t have room to get away if they guinea pigs aren’t getting along. It is important that you have a big cage so that they can get away, especially if they are male guinea pigs.
Some people like Midwest cages, but my preference is a DIY cage known as a C&C cage. It stands for cubes and coroplast (corrugated plastic). You can buy wire storage cubes to use for the cage part, and coroplast for the bottom and sides. It is fairly cheap, depending on how big you make it, it can cost less than a petstore cage and be triple the size. They are easy to clean because they will not eliminate in one spot in this cage. You can also customize them by making multiple levels, putting it on a stand to open up storage space underneath, or even making a top for it. You can also pick the color of grids and coroplast you want! For more information and examples of these cages, go to guineapigcages.com.
People say bedding will cost too much with a big cage, but a new bedding that is becoming popular in the guinea pig world is fleece. You can use two layers of towels, or other absorbent materials under a piece of 100% polyester fleece, and it is a great bedding. It lowers the smell, and it is washable, so you will save money. The pee will soak right through the fleece and absorb in the towels, so your pigs won’t have wet feet! No matter which bedding you use, you need to spot clean daily.
Diet:
Guinea pigs can’t create their own Vitamin C, you have to make sure they get it. Bell peppers are high in Vitamin C, so you can give them those daily, but you can also supplement it. Some people put Vitamin C drops in water, but I don’t recommend it because the pigs might not like it, so they won’t drink enough water. If they don’t drink the water, they will have health problems from that. Even if they do drink the water, the Vitamin C doesn’t stay in it all the time, so they may not be even getting it. My favorite supplement to use is the Oxbow Vitamin C Tablets. They look like treats, and most guineas love them. Another requirement in their diet is daily vegetables.
They need to have a cup of vegetables per pig each day. Some are not safe for guinea pigs, but my favorite veggies to feed are red/green leaf lettuce, carrots, grape tomatoes, bell peppers, cilantro, and occasionally cucumber. They can have some fruit, such as blueberries, strawberries, apples, and sometimes watermelon. Sometimes, there is a part of a fruit or vegetable that the guineas can’t have. If you aren’t sure, check out guinealynx.com for more information.
The most common belief is that a guinea pig’s diet should be all pellets, but this is not true. Pellets should be given in limited amounts of ⅛ cup per pig. You want pellets that are just plain pellets with no seeds or colorful pieces. The best pellets you can buy for your guinea pig are KMS Hayloft pellets and Oxbow Essential pellets. KMS Hayloft pellets need to be ordered from that company, but you can find Oxbow in almost any petstore.
Everyone wants to give treats to their guinea pigs, but the best treat is fresh vegetables or fresh forage. Treats that are given to your guinea pigs need to be natural, you don’t want a ton of unnatural ingredients. Guinea pigs can’t have seeds because they could choke, so DO NOT buy a treat containing seeds. Guinea pigs also can’t have dairy, so DO NOT buy yogurt drops.
The MOST IMPORTANT thing in a guinea pig diet is hay. Their digestive system never stops, so you have to supply UNLIMITED hay to keep it going. Hay is also the most efficient way of keeping their teeth trimmed. A guinea pig’s teeth never stop growing, and if you don’t give them hay to keep them trimmed, it could lead to malocclusion, and they won’t eat. Wood chews ARE NOT a substitute. Hay is 80% of their diet!
Health Checks:
Health checks are important in a health check you should:
- Check for mites or guinea pig lice (guinea pig lice can only be on guinea pigs, this usually only occurs when first getting you pig or introducing a new pig).
- Check for bald spots.
- Check for red or dry skin.
- Check for sores or red feet.
- Check for dirty ears.
- Look for bumps.
- Check teeth are lined up properly.
- Make sure they are eating and drinking.
- Check nail length, and cut them if needed.
- WEIGH THEM WEEKLY on the same day, around the same time. You want to record it in a journal. A drop of 40 or more grams should result in a vet trip. I recommend a small electronic kitchen scale that measures in grams. Just put them in a large bowl on top of the scale, but make sure to zero out the bowl.
If you need to go to a vet, make sure they specialize in guinea pigs!
Another thing relating to their health, if you want to bathe them occasionally, only do it when needed. Do not do it more than every 4 months. Make sure to use guinea pig shampoo, if it has a guinea pig on the bottle, it should be fine.