Before you get a guinea pig it's good to know what to expect, one person had a question and here's the summary... Are guinea pigs clean and easy to take care of? Do they made a lot of noise during the night?

Answer

Guinea pigs like any animal in a cage needs to count on his or hers owner to keep the cage clean for optimum health. If you spot clean the cage daily take out the leftover veggies the guinea pigs didn't eat (if any) the night before, and little poo they leave behind you may get 4 or 5 days before you might have to clean the entire cage.

That's for one guinea pig, if you have more than one guinea pig or don't want to spot clean you are looking at every couple days. It can also depend on the size of your hutch or cage. You should always buy the biggest cage you can afford.

Guinea pigs need fresh water and food daily, and they do squeak, squeal, and get all happy when they know the food is on the way. They also talk to each other through squeaks. They won't keep you up all hours of the night carrying on since they are the most active during the day.

So if you are able to feed, water, pet and play with your guinea pig daily and willing to clean at the cage weekly or more if necessary then a guinea might be the pet for you. Undecided?

Consider reading Guinea Piglopaedia: A Complete Guide to Guinea Pig Care (Complete Guide To Guinea Pig Care) It comes highly recommended for people who are thinking about getting a guinea pig.

I read an article a few minutes ago about getting a guinea pig as a pet and the basics of taking care of your new animal. The author mentioned guinea pigs love to eat (don't we all!). Now I'm not saying they are party animals and will eat you out of house or home or anything like that but he brought up a good point, if you take a vacation or leave for a day or two you can't leave them alone like you could a cat.

Your cavy needs fresh food and water daily so if you need to get away for a few days and for some reason can't take your pet with you then you need to find a sitter or take your guinea pig to a friends or relatives house.

When you drop off your pet make sure you bring your own food as they may not know which fruits and veggies your guinea likes best, or worse feed him or her the wrong foods. It would be helpful a few days before you leave on vacation the sitter can come over and visit with your cavy and get to know them a bit.

If you would like to read the article that inspired this post you may view it here.

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I am going to buy a guinea pig at Petco or pet smart but I don't know what a sick piggy looks like.

Answers

1. Look for an active one, one that is a little curios in you that has clear eyes, not hair loss, no rashes, not limping, clean, also go to a pet store that looks like they treat there pets very well.
here this might help:

Diseases And Problems:

The most common illnesses I see in guinea pigs are pneumonia and hair loss associated with malnutrition (lack of vitamin C and other nutrients) and the diseases of old age. The most common disease I find is newly purchased pigs at breeders and pet stores is Pasteurellosis. Pasteurellosis is caused by a bacterium, Pasteurella multocida that is present in some breeding colonies. It causes respiratory and eye infections as well as abscesses The next most common disease is streptococcal infections.

Although pasteurella and streptococcus can be cured with antibiotics these antibiotics can be fatal to the guinea pig. Guinea pigs are notorious about handing antibiotics poorly. The problem is that these antibiotics also kill the “good” bacteria that reside in the pig’s cecum and are essential to proper digestion. If these bacteria are killed, the pig soon succumbs to toxic products that accumulate in the intestine.

When you purchase your guinea pig, be sure it appears healthy. Its eyes should be bright and clean, never crusty or lacking luster.

Check it’s nose, eyes, ears, and rear end to be sure it is free from any crusts, discharges, redness or inflammation. . The guinea pig should be alert and active, and plump. Its coat should be full and lustrous. Check its skin for flakes, and redness, and check carefully for parasites such as lice. When you pick up the guinea pig it may be quite skittish and fearful. It should quickly relax in your hands as you stroke it. Don’t purchase a guinea pig that is too calm or too skittish. Keep guinea pigs toenails clipped short every month with human toenail clippers.

If you should accidentally cut one too short, push the nail firmly into a moistened bar of Ivory soap to stop the bleeding. Longhaired varieties may need occasional brushing. Use a slicker comb designed for Persian cats.

2. Please rescue from a shelter. they really need u. its near impossible to find a guinea pig thats not sick in a pet store. its like finding a needle in a hay stack. as i said the shelter piggies really need u. they are all healthy and vet checked. u can try petfinder.com good luck i hope u adopt!

3.When buying from a pet store you need to look out that they are not sluggish and are quite active, the piggys need to be curious, interacting with other guinea pigs, clean eyes and nose, feet free of sores, hair and skin clean, check to see if they are itching or not (if they are it is an indication that they have mites), no hair missing, check the rear end for any diarrhea, breathing calmly – evenly paced, walking/running smoothly, If I were you I would use the site below to learn what guinea pigs can get and what their symptoms are for each of the diseases:

http://www.guinealynx.com/emergency.html

Good Luck!!

4. This will be a simple question for me to answer. When most guinea pigs are sick, they don’t eat and don’t play as much as normal. It is common for a guinea pig to be calmer the usual, when sick. Some guinea pigs breath heavily when not feeling good, and these animals are very sensitive to illnesses. Bring a sick guinea pig to the vet. instantly.

5. The Sick Guinea Pig
Most people experience having a sick guinea pig at one point or another, and aside from taking your pig to the vet, where medication is given, there are things you can do at home to help your pet recover. Bummy and Trous both were very sick before they died, as almost all guinea pigs are. The following are a list of things you can do at home, to help your pet:

Give your pig water through a mouth syringe – it is important to keep him hydrated. What I’ve found to be good to keep the piggie hydrated it to put a mixture of milk and water in a syringe, and feed it to the pig. This gets liquid in his body, and milk has protein to help him gain weight.|

If you have two pigs, feed them separately! If your sick pig is eating slower than the other one, he won’t have a chance at the food that he wants – and really needs, with that other little mouth grabbing it!

Hand-feed him. With Trousers, he ate more off my lap than he would in his cage! Don’t stop feeding your sick pig just because he doesn’t appear to be eating. With the medicine he is getting, it should make him hungrier, so keep providing it, for when he decides to eat. Try to give him his favorite foods, to entice him to eat

Mostly what I’ve been talking about above is when your pig isn’t eating. This is the most dangerous time for your pig, because guinea pigs don’t have a lot of weight on them in the first place, and when they stop eating – they lose weight rapidly. And most guinea- pig sicknesses involve lack of appetite. Though we are all worried about that one sick pig, if you have two guinea pigs, you also have to consider the other one:

Be sure to hold and cuddle your other pig(s) too, they still need love Give your other pig a run around – they still need and want exercise Make sure they don’t eat the sick pig’s food – you can end up with a really fat guinea pig. If your sick pig is having diarrhea, separate them, for the sake of the other pig. The stools’ might be infected/contagious, and the goal is not to get both pigs sick! Also, if your pig has an infectious disease, separate the pigs again (your vet will tell you about this)

When your pig is sick, it is important to try to get them well. But how do you know if the pig is sick in the first place?
Look for loss of appetite – it can happen suddenly
Look for strange lumps and bumps
Listen for heavy breathing
Look for small or messy stools
Look for difficulty moving
See if your pig is being lethargic
Not squealing for food (if he did in the first place)

6. One of the most common ailments in pet store pigs is mange. Look for patches of hair missing or reg itchy areas. Its easily fixes, with meds from the vet, but you prob. don’t want to spend extra right away. Also please check to see if you have a guinea pig rescue in your town! Lots of sweet piggys need homes! And they are usually really healthy and loving! Many pigs also hide their illnesses (because of their prey instinct) so you won’t know its sick until you get it home.

Don’t take that chance. Adopt from a reputable rescue or shelter.

View the Original article

On May 26th at the Edmonton Valley Zoo in England 65 guinea pigs and one red squirrel where found dead, Police suspect they were poisoned by oranges. Police officials believe that someone came into the park after closing and fed the poor little guinea pigs poisoned fruit, how very sad. One little cavy died the next day, graciously 6 guinea pigs survived the attack.

They are awaiting toxicological reports to determine what exactly happened.

Here's more on the guinea pigs death

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• Guinea pigs poisoned at Edmonton zoo (cbc.ca)

I live in OZ and it is winter here now. My guinea pigs are currently in the shed as it has been raining. When I went up to feed them tonight I had realised that when one of my guinea pigs tried to squeek she made a weezy noise instead.

She is old about 4-5 years old- what could this be… can she have a cold or something?. Also on the bottom of her, her hair is going and little sores/scabs are left, not much though. I checked my other guinea pigs and they do not have this? Can she have mites?

Answers

1. Please get your guinea pig into a vet as soon as possibly since respiratory illness is often very rapid and fatal in guinea pigs if not treated. Mites and allergies can also be an issue with guinea pigs, and you just might want to bring her in for now and separate her from the other piggies to make sure they do not get sick too and to keep her dry and warm. Peace

2. You should take her to the vet she may have a respiratory illness, and it cant be treated very quickly. You should take her to the vets quickly before it gets any worse. She could also have a cold off your shed. She might be cold! (could be old age too) Good Luck !

3.What kind of shavings do you use? (If any?) Because if they are cedar, it’s most likely going to be a respiratory illness. You need to take your piggy to the vet immediately. You said you had another one right? If you DO use cedar shavings, get that piggy out of that cage, and into something else without cedar shavings. Good luck!

4. Take her to the vets, it could be very dangerous. they can get it from being in the cold. good luck

5. you should never have guinea pigs outside in winter! even in a shed, sounds like she has cold and stressed, keep them inside.

View the Original article

Need a home for your cavy? Cages for guinea pigs should be at least 2 feet by 3 feet at the bare minimum for one guinea pig any cage smaller will affect your guinea pigs health. In this case a bigger cage is better; you should buy the biggest cage you can afford to get. Guinea pigs need to run and play so they should have a large cage, a cramped up guinea pig will get depressed, overweight, and sickly. Make sure there enough room in the cage for a nesting box so your little guinea pig can sleep or hide. Add a rack for hay and greens, a water bottle and your cavy is all set.

Guinea pig cages should be made from wire for proper ventilation with a plastic floor so they don’t get their little feet caught. If you can find a cage with a pull out tray for easy cleaning that would be ideal. For your sake you should look for a cage with sides a few inches high to help keep the hay and litter from landing on the floor.

Guinea pig cages should not be made from wood because wood could allow the urine to soak in which will smell up your house. Although aquariums seem like a good choice they are not, your guinea pig could get too hot from a lack of air.

Guinea pigs are social butterflies and two guinea pigs are happier than one so if you can buy a larger cage now (enough for two) then you can get another guinea pig later on.

Luckily cages for guinea pigs have evolved from the old days some have wheels so you can move your cavy around with you or take outside for a short time (don’t leave your guinea pig in direct sunlight). Others have lofts or second stories that keep the top area clean. It is very important to clean your cage regularly for a happy and healthy pet.

Find cages for guinea pigs on sale...

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