Guinea pigs

[chicken lover #1]

this is a thread for anyone who wants to share info on their Guinea pigs because I am thinking of getting two. I have a couple questions like how long can they go without cleaning there cage, how many square feet do you need per Guinea pig, and how much does hay, food and treats cost per month

 

[JaeG]

My Mum had guinea pigs. She often had trouble with two females as one would end up bullying the other, but in larger groups there seems to be less of that. I'm not sure how males get on without females around - I think they do just fine. They are messy creatures so need regular, weekly cage cleans (though that depends on how you are keeping them - indoor cage or outdoor hutch - and how much space you are giving them). I'm in a different country so can't advise you on the cost of things but they are very cute creatures and very easy to handle. I'd take greens over for my Mum's ones to eat and they'd start calling out when they heard the rattle of the plastic bag the greens were in.

 

[perchie.girl]

Do yourself a favor and make sure you get two of the SAME sex.... Oh and Welcome To BYC

Guinea pigs are very interesting critters. I did my research before I bought a couple for my son. The woman who sold them to me sold me a female that was already pregnant... and gave me a couple of males.... NO problem you can keep em all together.... And the books said so. I thought it would be a great educational thing to do for my son.

She had Five little ones full on record for guinea pigs. they usually have two or three. They are born with their eyes open a set of teeth and a full on squeek... Soooo cute. Since momma only has two spigots babykins just waited in line..... But they are able to eat and nibble on things right away. because of their socal structure and the fact that they are fully functional when they are born... Able to run as fast as momma... they are classified as herd animals.

That being said... Herd animals tend to allow the male to breed right after giving birth.... Yep.... We had another bumper crop jsut a few weeks later.

By the time I learned how to sex the little buggers I found out that they are sexually mature within a few weeks. Another bumper crop from several females.

I learned how to sex finally.... and separated the males and females into different paddocks. By then I had a grand total of about twenty.... Ever seen the star treck move Troubble with Tribbles? LOL So everything was going well

I was feeding each paddock of Guinea pigs a flake of hay about once a week... Then one day I was in a hurry... threw their flakes of hay but got it too close to the fence that separated them. You see Guinea pigs dont jump so the fence was only about a foot high.... I came home counted noses...

One male was missing.... Wild Child... Jet black with cowlicks all over him. I found him in the female paddock all stretched out and smoking the proverbial cigarette.... OH GAWD NO...

Yep the next population explosion set me to giving them to Pet stores but I had Sixty even after that.... I wound up giving the whole flock to an acquaintence who wanted them all.... His wife was from Peru. IN Peru they keep em like chickens.

All that being said. Guinea pigs need vitimine c fortified feed. You can buy it at the same feed store you get your chicken feed from... At a tremendous savings.

Cleaning their cage.... you will know when its time.... The urine will smell like amonia. Clean before it gets that far.

They love greens but if you give them corn on the cob just forget the cob and give them the fresh husks.... OH my goodness they love those. Dietary supplimentation is with things that have vitimine C... Like Cabbage and Brusslesprouts and Broccoli.

I do love them they are a hoot can swap ends like nothing... and Run...

deb

 

[casportpony]

 

[itsasmallfarm]

not to be that guy.

but the meat guinea pig thread has lots of info on raising/breeding them, (i have no interest in guinea pigs) but it was kind of interesting.

there was a guy over there who raises them for pet stores i believe.

 

[Fuzzy Torpedoes]

Guinea pigs are very interesting critters. I did my research before I bought a couple for my son. The woman who sold them to me sold me a female that was already pregnant....

Hehe funny story

Btw the supposed fact stated everywhere about them being "herd" animals is not good information. Cavy Porcellus naturally forms small harems with one male and several females, or in lower population situations, it is more like families. There are agenda-related reasons for why sites around the internet continue to call them "herd" animals (and this bit of less-than-ideal information has indeed propagated far and wide).

His wife was from Peru. IN Peru they keep em like chickens.

Yep they got ate up.

I have a couple questions like how long can they go without cleaning there cage, how many square feet do you need...

Certain web sites right now are greatly exaggerating the amount of cage space needed. One of the regular 90cm x 60cm ones works fine for 2. In terms of cleaning, it can be useful to note that guinea pigs have bathroom area preferences - the only question is how well the cage enables them to exercise those preferences. If you can design your cage interior in such a way that they usually poop and pee in specific areas, you can manage those 'litterbox' areas differently, to the effect of generally having them not living directly in a pile of poop plus it taking less time to clean out the messy areas. They generally like to poop in corners, along walls, and under/inside things.

Below is a little "box house", not a great example but just to show the idea. They may prefer to poop and pee in such a box house. The ones I make now use a thick plastic liner plus a small piece of wood across the front at the bottom to keep the stuff in (wood like 1cm tall, much taller is a risk of them injuring their feet/legs on it). Also I use wood pellets and not wood shavings like this pic has, and I protect the edges of cardboard box homes with duct tape.

Another type of thing they are likely to poop and pee under is below, although this fits only one guinea pig under it at a time. Wood pellets go under it, of course, not just taped-down newspaper.

Corner litterboxes like below can sometimes be used to good effect, but sometimes not, because they might like to pee next to them or in a corner next to them:

Creating an overhang over a litterbox area as below can work well:

 

[perchie.girl]

Hehe funny story

Btw the supposed fact stated everywhere about them being "herd" animals is not good information. Cavy Porcellus naturally forms small harems with one male and several females, or in lower population situations, it is more like families. There are agenda-related reasons for why sites around the internet continue to call them "herd" animals (and this bit of less-than-ideal information has indeed propagated far and wide).



Yep they got ate up.



Certain web sites right now are greatly exaggerating the amount of cage space needed. One of the regular 90cm x 60cm ones works fine for 2. In terms of cleaning, it can be useful to note that guinea pigs have bathroom area preferences - the only question is how well the cage enables them to exercise those preferences. If you can design your cage interior in such a way that they usually poop and pee in specific areas, you can manage those 'litterbox' areas differently, to the effect of generally having them not living directly in a pile of poop plus it taking less time to clean out the messy areas. They generally like to poop in corners, along walls, and under/inside things.

Below is a little "box house", not a great example but just to show the idea. They may prefer to poop and pee in such a box house. The ones I make now use a thick plastic liner plus a small piece of wood across the front at the bottom to keep the stuff in (wood like 1cm tall, much taller is a risk of them injuring their feet/legs on it). Also I use wood pellets and not wood shavings like this pic has, and I protect the edges of cardboard box homes with duct tape.


View attachment 1169228

Another type of thing they are likely to poop and pee under is below, although this fits only one guinea pig under it at a time. Wood pellets go under it, of course, not just taped-down newspaper.

View attachment 1169237
Corner litterboxes like below can sometimes be used to good effect, but sometimes not, because they might like to pee next to them or in a corner next to them:

View attachment 1169243
Creating an overhang over a litterbox area as below can work well:

View attachment 1169253

 

[Jpat]

Just rescued a calico guinea pig!

Whent to a sketchy apartment and she was sitting on a mountain of poop. ZERO shavings and not lieing about 15 pounds of poop!

Had to scrub her and the cage all out and she has minor amonia burns on her feet but shes okay! Cant beleive i waited this long to get one