Guinea Pig Help~

[~Alex~]

So I was wondering if anyone knew much about guinea pigs? My niece has one it appears to be in good health eating wising and all that but then I found out that they dont buy the poor guy anything to chew on! So I took some of the spare toys I was saving for Ernie (and ones he doesnt really like at all) and took them right over! All he had in his cage was a hanging toy that he didnt like. Also when I was looking at his paws his nails are REALLY long. They are beginning to curl back towards his feet which I know is not good in any animal.

So my questions are: can guinea pigs chew the same kind of wood as a chinchilla? Should a guinea pigs teeth not touch or be overly large in anyway? And then what can we do about his nails? What's the proper way to cut them and with what?

Any help is appreciated! I feel very bad for this little guy even though they really love him they didnt do the right research for owning him and I want to help correct this and make his life better.

 

[missyjre]

my pigs chew the same wood my chins chew. They tend to prefer fruit wood and they dont' even just chew the bark off! They actually chew the wood!! Lol
Here's a great video for nail trimming I use regular people clippers like the person in the video does. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNAX_k2EGw4 I have one piggie that freaks out about the nail clippers so I just file hers with a regular nail file.

Teeth being too long can be an issue just like with our chins. Malo and the whole bit. Watch for the same signs. The first time I ever took a piggie in to get teeth checked the vet said if they're starting to curl in at all it's time for a trim. I had to have one piggie trimmed once i've been very aware since and provide lots of things to chew. And HAY HAY HAY just like the chins. Here's a decent tooth link! http://www.guinealynx.info/teeth.html

Best piggie advice I can give is Hay all day every day and lots of high vitamin c fruits and veggies!

 

[Gabby88]

Does he have plenty of hay? A lot of guinea pigs don't chew wood toys. I know none of my three do. I always put wood blocks in their cage and they never touch them. As long as he has an unlimited supply of hay, he should be fine.

They also enjoy toilet paper rolls. They don't chew NEARLY as much as chinchillas do, so not having any wood toys in his cage isn't really a big problem if he's getting plenty of hay.

And for trimming toenails, I just use a human nail clipper. It works really well. Their nails get trimmed once a week. They grow really fast.

 

[mishellyshel]

my piggie doesnt chew wood either......but she loves her hay! i mix it up and try to get some of the courser hays in there for teeth wear. she also gets oxbow pellets and lots of veggies and herbs. her favorites are the tops of carrots, cucumbers & cilantro!

as for nail clippers, i use the infant ones. i am always afraid of clipping that blood line so i do a little at a time.

 

[Gabby88]

I feed my guinea pigs timothy hay, orchard grass, and botanical hay. They LOVE the botanical hay. They also love the Oxbow pellets.

Some of their favorite veggies are red, green, and yellow peppers. Plus they're FULL of vitamin C. They also love parsley, cilantro, kale, red leaf lettuce, cucumber, baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, and a lot of other veggies.

 

[Dreamlite]

I used small beak trimmers to do my guinea pigs toes. They don't like holding still but not many pets do! As for the teeth, if when resting you can pull back the lips and look, the front teeth should not meet or even come close. If they are long they need trimmed before they cause issues with the rear teeth. My piggies love fruit wood and hay. If he doest like you hanging toys its not unusual. But definetly give lots of fresh vegies.

 

[~Alex~]

Okay thanks guys! I'll take her over hay as well later because they have never given him any! I'll also get her to clip his nails asap or do it myself. Thanks for the video! He seems to like chewing on the vine toys that Ernie never chews on and I havent looked to see if he likes the wood at all. They do give him lots of fresh veggies to eat too but they've never gotten him hay.

I'm really glad I decided to start looking at him after getting Ernie. Before then I never even realized small animals needed to chew as much as they do and I dont want him to up and die prematurely. My niece would be completely devastated. You guys have been a huge help!! I will post again if I have more questions.

EdiT: I do have another question! I see some people on youtube bathing them. Is this actually necessary or is it more of something to do if you're guinea pig has a mite problem or something like that?

Also how did you go about bonding with you're guinea pig? He is very skittish and although likes to be out of his cage does not like to be picked up or handled at all! He will hide when you try to pick him up.

 

[Gabby88]

Definitely get him some hay!!! He should be having unlimited hay every day. It's extremely important.

You don't really need to bathe guinea pigs. You can if they start to get smelly. Make sure to use a guinea pig shampoo. Even baby shampoo is to harsh for their sensitive skin. If he has long hair, he may need bathed once a month.

When I give mine a bath, I put about an inch of luke warm water in the sink. Then I use the blow dryer on warm and low and blow dry until they're almost dry. If you just leave them wet and stick them back in their cage, they could catch a cold or get pneumonia or a URI.

Most guinea pigs run and hide when you try to pick them up. It's just a part of being a prey animal. Just take him out and hold him for a while every day, and he should start warming up to you. But he might always run away when you try to grab him.

 

[~Alex~]

Alright thanks! I was mistake then have given him hay but they have not bought him any for about a month so I filled a ziploc baggy full of hay and just told them to get more from me if they needed it. He's not long haired so I doubt he really needs it and they keep his cage really clean. Apparently he has been much quieter since I gave him toys (probably because hes no longer bored)

They have been considering getting a friend for him as well because he gets very bored during the day. How would you introduce two of them?

 

[Gabby88]

Boars can be tricky to introduce. Do you know what size the cage they have is?

 

[~Alex~]

I meant to say the two of them! Ernie has a cage thats honestly probably only big enough for just him. Would you take the same approach like put two cages close together and move them close to introduce them? then start doing playtimes together? Or do you think its best to leave him as one? It was mostly considering it since he seems very lonely.

 

[mishellyshel]

so I filled a ziploc baggy full of hay and just told them to get more from me if they needed it

just to let you know the volume of hay a piggie eats.......my girl would eat a ziplock baggie gallon size full of hay probably in one day! seriously half of that size bag is what i give her every night and its gone in the morning. plus she gets her lettuce and veggies and sometimes some fruit every night and a bowl of pellets. Piggies can eat! She eats more hay in one night than all my chins combined!

 

[Gabby88]

I meant to say the two of them! Ernie has a cage thats honestly probably only big enough for just him. Would you take the same approach like put two cages close together and move them close to introduce them? then start doing playtimes together? Or do you think its best to leave him as one? It was mostly considering it since he seems very lonely.

No, guinea pig introductions are completely different than chinchilla introductions!! If you tried introducing them that way, they'd never get along.

The recommended cage size for two boars is 7.5 square feet MINIMUM. If they don't have that much room, they'll probably fight. If they can't commit to a cage that large, they shouldn't get a second one.

This website has all of the correct introduction information.

http://guinea-pigs.livejournal.com/3002707.html

When you introduce guinea pigs, you do it all at once, not slowly like you do with chinchillas. After a 3 week quarantine, I used the "bath" method, and then let them play in a neutral area for about an hour. Then I moved them all to their super clean, scrubbed, rearranged cage and watched them for the next few hours and made sure they didn't fight. With guinea pigs you NEED to keep them together unless they seriously fight and draw blood.

And I also agree with Michelle. My pigs could go through a ziplock bag of hay in about an hour. Haha

Here's what my cage looks like for three sows.

 

[~Alex~]

Oh wow that is a huge space! They definitely wouldnt commit to that. That is quite a spectacular guinea pig cage though! I really like that! Can I ask what the cage is or how you built it? I especially like that wire hay crate over there <3

I've actually never been very partial to the pigs myself (mostly noise reasons. I dont like the squeek. I surprisingly can sleep thru the rattling of a cage from a chinchilla though) but now that I've learned more about them I've considered giving them a shot when I am on my own and have the area for them to be in haha. Ernie is enough for me especially since Im planning to get him a friend soon.

Thanks everyone for you help in this! It is really appreciated!

 

[Gabby88]

It's called a C&C cages (cubes and coroplast). It can be made by buying storage grids (MUST be 9x9 squares per grid, the others are too large) and the corogated plastic used for sign making. There are kits available on Ebay for a great price.

My cage is 2x5 grids. For one pig, he should have at least a 2x3. That's the minimum size requirement for one guinea pig. It pains me that people don't research these things before getting a pet and then don't want to buy them a larger cage because it would be too inconvenient for them. GRRR!! So if they can't commit to at least a 2x3, they shouldn't get a second guinea pig. If they don't have enough space, boars will fight.

I ADORE guinea pig noises. They don't squeak at night and have never once woken me up. In fact, only one of my three guinea pigs even squeaks at all. The other two make some tiny noises every now and then but they're mostly mute, I swear. The third girl who I just got a few months ago, on the other hand, screams when she hears any bags crinkling or when I go in the fridge. But that's the only time she really makes noise. I think it's adorable.

How could you not love a face like this? Haha! (This is my Abby)

 

[Maggie:-)]

I use to have a guinea pig named chester he loved to play in the water. I would fill the sink up a little more then an inch and he would love it. Just warm water tho not with shampoo or anything. And id turn the heat up a little so it was warm enough and then towel dry him and let him stay out of his cage until completly dry.
I have had 3 guinea pigs,there really pretty cool. I actually love when they squeak. When id come home from work they would squeak to show they were happy and ready to come out.

 

[~Alex~]

Yea it seems they get super attached to you. I read that someone's guinea pig would follow them around their house and cuddle with them on the couch. Hehe how lovable and oh man thats a cute cage!! I really like that cage too that's what I would probably do if I ever got one.

Their guinea pig squeeks a lot when they arent paying attention. So it's really annoying for them but I think he's just super bored.

Where did you get these things from? Or how did you make it?

 

[Gabby88]

He might be squeaking because he's bored. Or he could be hungry and asking for food. If they aren't even feeding hay, I doubt they're feeding too many veggies either. Instead of thinking of it as "annoying" they should be asking themselves what he is lacking that's making him be so noisy.

I made the accessories in the cage myself. I used fleece and extra grids I had. I just bent them by hand and made some covers. I made the hay rack that way, too. Haha!

And my guineas don't follow me around the house because they'd poo and pee everywhere. They can't be litter trained. Otherwise, I would probably let them run wherever they wanted to go. They do cuddle with me on the couch though.

 

[3chins]

Just jumping in here to say, we love our guinea pigs, they are really neat pets. I had a C&C cage but wanted more room for them so I bought a 2 foot by 5 foot metal/chrome storage rack from Costco with 5 shelves. I cut a hole in the shelves and used black plastic ribbed flexible pipe [Home Depot garden area] from shelf to shelf. The pigs love it they have 40 square feet of cage on 4 levels and run up and down the pipes. So in a 2 foot by 5 foot area we have 50 square feet of critter condos.

Ours never squeak unless it is they hear me chopping veggies or getting the hay or feed out. Love the wheeks they make.

 

[~Alex~]

Okay so restarting this again because I offered to take the guinea pig off their hands because she said she hates feedintg it and my neice says she doesnt like how uncuddly he is. ( I think he's super cuddly)

What food do you give a guinea pig? Can it eat Mazuri chin chow or what is the best guinea pig food at an affordable price?

What toys keep him entertained? Tubes? Also i think I would go with fleece for his cage because he would be in direct contact with the ground. He's in wood shavings now but I'm not a big fan if he actually has to be running around in it...can they be litter trained?