HELP! Need advice on raising baby guinea pig

[Goat_Walker]

SO my friend works at a Humane society thats local. Someone came in with a guinea pig male "dad" and four babies.


Well they didnt seperate the dad. Mom died or something, the people didnt give them very much info.


Well Dad killed three babies and they saved the last baby. My friend is now fostering it.

We have no idea on the age , ill get pics up later.


SO - how do i care for it? I know not to give it formula. Pellets, lettuce, and alfalfa hay are good. WHAT ELSE? I have never owned a guinea pig. Ive had rats, mice, rabbits, gerbils, and hamsters. But not Cavvies (sp?) SO HELP! Please and thank you

 

[Akane]

Guinea pigs pop out ready to eat an adult diet so the care is exactly the same except you may want to feed higher energy foods and more of it than an adult. Such as unlimited pellets and some alfalfa hay instead of just grass hay. Make sure hay of some type is available 24/7. Don't introduce too many vegetables too quickly. Limit the variety a little the first week or 2 and then you can move on to adding different veggies. If the guinea pig starts to have soft stools get some acidphilus capsules or droppings from a healthy guinea pig and give it mixed in with pellets dissolved in water or fruit juice with no added sugar. The good bacteria in the intestines of many herbivores are obtained from eating their parents droppings especially the cecotropes in rabbits and guinea pigs.

Check out http://www.guinealynx.info/diet.html for lots of approved fruits and vegetables you can feed guinea pigs. We also usually keep a bag of cranberries on hand since they make good bite sized treats and last forever in the fridge without going bad.

 

[sydney13]

you should get it some guinea pig pellets to eat free choice while it is young. oxbow is a great brand and they have a special type of pellets for baby piggies. i feed my guinea pigs some fruits and veggies each night for dinner and in the warm weather they go outside in their en each day for grass. you can get it some vitamin c supplement to keep it healthy. the human type is better then the rodent type because it contains more vitamin C. this way you don't need to feed them as much supplement because they tend to hate the taste.

 

[sourland]

Guinea pig pellets (higher vit. C), dark green leafy vegetables-kale, spinach is great.