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Feeding- Step 1 |
When it comes to feeding people often ask: Should i feed him when he's hungry or three times a day like all the books say? I find this question particularly hard but i'll try to give you an answer: A time that fits for you. Before school or work, if your work through midday don't go into panic mode, they don't really need to be fed that much, just give them a load of hay to trample down and they'll chew that play in it and have great fun with it! Remember to offer food with vitamin C because piggies, just like humans can't produce their own Vitamin C, don't go overboard, grass has vitamins and they should do fine wit that. Grass in fact is your guinea pigs best mate, guinea pigs LOVE grass, just pick it, you don't need to carefully choose the greenest longest bits just pick wherever, you can pick in the place with good looking grass but your  guinea pig won't take that much notice.
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Feeding- step 2 |
Now you know what to feed your guinea pig we come across another issue, there are thousands of brands and you only want to choose the best. Don't judge the packet on how much it costs, find sometihng with a reasonable price and either ONLY for guinea pigs or ONLY for rabbits, they don't like a mix. I use Barnyard Rabbit Pellets, they come in huge bags and our chicken likes them too, the pellets are healthy and the guinea pigs like them, don't buy a really cheap thing but don't get anything to expensive, packets that show what the food looks like inside are usually best,. I said before that the pellets i buy are for rabbits, in most cases i would say, "Guinea pigs are guinea pigs, rabbits are rabbits, they have different nutritional needs etc." But i have come to trust these pellets for my own reasons, if you disagree that is fine as i probably would too if someone told me likewise, but i know what benefits my guineapigs and that i am proud of. I didn't buy the rabbit pellets when choosing dry foods for my guinea pigs but we used to own rabbits and my guinea pigs would eat the pellets, at first i was apprehensive but now who/ what to trust.  |
Breeding - There are risks!! |
Before you even think of breeding you must know there is a risk of the pregnant mother dying, losing her babies, rejection, the list goes on and on and on. On most caces people have completely normal births but never EVER get a piggy just for breeding purposes!!!!! Never ever ever ever!! WIth breeding you have to be careful, two roans can never be mixed (If you don't know what a roan is then don't bother even thinking about breeding your piggies) nor can two dalmations or a dalmation and a roan, the babies WILL have physical deformities.
I won't deny it, babies are cute but you can't just go about this topic willy nilly. If you have decided to breed your guinea pigs, make sure your pregnant guinea pig has a good source of vitimin c and lots of guinea pig pellets. Also make sure she is in top health before the pregnancy and that she is old enough or not too old. I suggest waiting till she is one to start breeding, you want everything to go as smoothly as possible, stop breeding is she if four years or older. While mum is pregnant keep her seperated from the others, make sure she has plenty of hay and is recieving your best attention.
When the babies are born, check for these things:
How many babies are there? The adult guinea pig has only two nipples, she can handle four babies, but over that there is a risk of rejection or starvation.
Are they healthy? Do they have two eyes? Four feet? Are they alive? If you have too many guinea pigs you may have to hand-feed this start doing so even if you have no suspisions, never leave things until they are too late.
How is the mother doing? Is she stressed or rejecting her young? Is she alive? Is she licking them? Is she is licking them that's a good sign! If she's stressed and rejecting them STOP watching, you could be a cause of this. CHeck every now and again?
Are you suspicious of anything??? Somethings can be completely normal others can be fatal, to be honest (embarrasingly) i am not that experienced in the topic of breeding as every time i have bred guineas thye have been successful, i have no mistakes to learn off but some people are TOTALLY against it and that has caused my to be very cautious. So instead of learning from my mistakes i have learnt from others and the info i have just given is as reliable as ever, i just can't tell you how to spot when things go wrong, unless of coarse it is obvious that everyone is dead or something along those lines. The more subtle problems i am not educated in apart from one that ihave been faced with.
Too many babies!! Once my girl had six babies and with only two nipples she ended up neglecting three, the third negelcted one managed to live off Ruby's sisters milk but even with all our efforts the other two died. It was dereadful, they wouldn't eat and had runny noses, they had gassy stomachs and so from that i learnt something valuable, be prepared. I couldn't help Ruby from having too many babies for her to look after, but it taught me that even with all your efforts guinea pigs can die, of coarse if i hadn't bred Ruby the babies wouldn't have died, but also the other four wouldn't have been born, and i own one of her babies to this day, i have learnt form that experience and have one gorgeous guinea pig of which i look after and care for, there are the up sides of breeding and the down sides but nobody can guarentee anything, which i believe is the biggest risk of all.
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Girls or Boys? On piggy two piggies? Long hair short hair? And all the woes that come with buying piggies |
These are the questions that bothers a lot of people though it's quite simple, we'll start with girls or boys. Two boys will learn to live together, never put this past them, no matter what a book says, i've got three boys living, sure they had their fights but they've got used to each other! Trust your instinct but let yourself be surprised sometimes.
Boys don't smell. Guinea pigs don't have the gland most rodents have that cause unpleasent smells. Girls are usually a populrar choice because of the odor theory, "Boys smell so i'll get the girl!" Bull.
three guinea pigs can have a bit of a disagreement sometimes. Two is the best ammount for a beginner, on piggy can get aweful lonely, and although long hair is so beatiful short haired is always best. You can get crested piggy's with little 'hats' on their heads, there are short haired, and one i find particulrly cute teddies and rexes, they're fuzzy but born with curls! You can even get abysinnians which have worls making them look spiky! The stereotypical guineapig is nan abysinnian that i white and orange and black patches, a cute guinea pig, yes but remember their are LOADS of different colours that guinea pigs can have! So don't stereotype keep your options open people!
Buying your piggy from the petshop is alright i've been to sites totally against it, rescuing a piggy from the SPCA (RSPCA) is the reccomended option though, but remember it doesn't matter, they all need a loving home! At first they'll be really timid but soon they'll get used to it! One thing, although they're short, plumpish and innocent they can sure run really fast!!!! Keep that in mind, it'll come in handy someday!
With all this petshop horror business i go by a general rule, if nobody bought pets form the petshop, just rescue centers, the guinea pigs at the petshop would end up being the ones needing saving, they don't exactly have luxury homes there do they? I tell people to be reasonable when it comes to the whereabouts of purchasing your pet, make your own descision, some people are totally against buying pets from a petshop and maybe you will be too but makes your own descision, think about my rule but also think of how rewarding saving a life is. ANother option is buying off breeders, again some people are against it and others don't mind. I don't really mind because i know how hard it can be to sell guinea pigs and altohugh i'm not buying a new pet every week this is my shrewd opinion. I am not on any side, it is my wish that all people can choose where to purchase their guineapig freely.
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A Perfect Home |
People spend alot on stupid tiny cages. If you live in a warm country like New Zealand, or where i live in New Zealand (Auckland) It doesn't snow then they can live outside quite happily in one of those outdoor runs, with an indoor lounge and an outdoor garden area. A hutch is good too. When you buy your cage put a thick layer of newspaper and then lots and ltos of hay, guinea pigs houses with just those pristine wood shavings are horrible guinea pigs love hay and it's good for wearing down their teeth, making burrows and when they're bored they eat it all up. If you've ran out of newspaper you a flattened box, they work great because they're stronger and easier to use. To clean it either take out the flattened box or rolls the newspaper up wearing gloves, and put in bag to put in bin! Simple! Cleaning every week can be exsessive, cclean it when you know and can see it's dirty, don't leave the job too long or it'll become a bigger job eahc day passing and your guinea pig can become ill.
A golden rule: The Bigger the Better!!!! Piggies love running, jumping and pop-corning about, there's a great type of do-it-yourself cage at www.cavycages.com using 'cubes and coroplast' in other words wire storage cubes and corrugated plastic! Also, the more piggies the more space required, take these things into account before purchasing those glorified ltter boxes!
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