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Guinea Pig Care
Nutrition
Guinea Pigs need a well balanced diet consiting of unlimited supply of fresh hay, Guinea Pig pellets (never rabbit pellets) and fresh foods.
Guinea pigs are unable to produce vitamin c themselves and must obtain this from their food.
Suitable fresh foods are... Choko, capsicum, tomato, carrots, red lettuce, endive, kale, parsley, broccoli, cauliflower, grapes, corn on the cob, sweet potato, apple, brussel sprouts, celery, fresh grass (not from beside a road, or treated with chemicals), water cress, pumpkin, parsnips.
Other foods your pigies may enjoy are rolled oats, puffed corn.
Never feed you piggie/s animal products such as dairy, meats, eggs etc..., birds seeds, potato, iceberg lettuce.
Guinea Pigs should have around one handfull of fresh foods per day as well as their hay and pellets
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Housing
Guinea Pigs need a spacious, well ventilated cage. The reccomended size of cage is 8 square feet for one piggie and an extra 1 square foot every extra piggie, and they will need daily floor time for excersize. The bigger the cage the better as pigs need room for excerising.
The cage should not have any wire flooring, shelving or ramps, if they do either remove them or cover them with a thick layer of newspaper, or lino. Wire shelves, ramps, and floors can cause bumble foot a very painfull infection in thier feet, or they can get their feet stuck and twist or break limbs
You can be quite creative when making a guinea pig cage, they love a second level as long as it isn't too high and they can get a good grip on the surface.
Bedding should be used and may be either sheets of newpaper (changed daily), kiln dried pine, or a recycled paper bedding.You may also like to add a towel or old shirt for them to cuddle up on. Never use cedar shaving or chips as they contain harmfull phenols.
Never use Aquariums as they do not allow enough veintilation. This can cause heat stress (can result in death), or the ammonia can build up and cause health concerns.
I must comment on the choice of wether to keep them indoors or outdoors. The cages mentioned above are for indoor use. Outdoor cages must have a shelter that will protect them from the elements and a run. The elements can go from one extreme to another outdoors and pigs easily suffer from heat stress which can be fatal if not treated immediatley. If you do decide to keep your guinea pigs out doors make sure the cage is not placed in direct sun at any time in the day. I don't reccomend keeping them outdoors. Pigs live longer happier lives when indoors.
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A good example of a spacious Guinea Pig cage. |
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Grooming
Depending on the hair type of your guinea pig they may or may not need much grooming.
Shorthaired guinea pigs such as Americans, Crested, Abbysinian and Rex will need very little grooming. An occasional bath to remove any dead hair and dirt is reccomended.
However if you have a longhaired guinea pig alot of grooming is needed. If you are not showing, It is easiet to clip the coat regualary for easy management. If you let the hair grow longer daily grooming is required as well as regular bathing.
Suitable shampoos are small animal, kitten or a mild human shampoo, and is to be rinsed thougroughly. You can towel dry or blowdry on the lowest settings before returning to a clean cage.
Guinea pigs claws should be clipped regulary to prevent them from overgrowing. To do this you will need a pair of animal nail clippers. Make sure not to cut the quick (pink area inside the nail), if you do flour can be put on and presure applied to the tip to stop bleeding.
You can also add bricks or pavers to your guinea pigs cage in places they walk over alot (ie under water bottles etc...) to help keep the nails trim.
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Phoebe and Bella |
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Breeding
Before anyone should decide to breed there are alot of considerations that should be made.
Breeding can be very dangerous as there are many birth and pregnancy complications that can lead to death for both mother and babies such as toxemia and dystocia to name a few.
A sow should not be mated for the first time if she is over 10 months of age as the ligaments around the pelvic bones can fuse making a normal delivery impossible. In this case a c-section is neccessary, but usually without success. Females should be mated between 4-6 months for their first time.
Guinea pigs have a heat cycle of 14-17 days and are in heat for aproximaley 12 hours in which they can mate. The Gestation period is 8-10 weeks depending on the size of the litter.
You can feel the babies moving inside at about 3 weeks before the birth, at this time you should take the male away, and add one teaspoon of brown sugar to 8 0z of water to help prevent toxemia.
Sows should never be bred to deliver in hot weather as this can contribute to developing toxemia.
Babies are born with eyes open, fully haired and are running around and eating solid food within hours. They will need mums milk for another 3-4 weeks before being weaned.
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Introducing a new Guinea Pig
A new addition to your guinea pig family is wonderful time, but there are certain precautions that must be taken to insure the health of your guinea pigs. Before introducing any new guinea pigs they should be quarantined for at least two weeks incase they are incuabting a disease or are carrying parasites. This time gives you a chance to recognise this and have it treated before putting your resident guinea pigs at risk.
After the quarantine time if your new guinea pigs are healthy you can introduce them to your other guinea pigs.
This should be done on neutral territory (ie. Bathroom floor, or bath tub). Rumbling, mounting, and chasing are normal behaviours for establishing dominance in both sexes.
Don't seperate unless they fight and are bleeding.
If all goes well they will be living happily together in no time
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