Show off your cavvies!! cavy=guinea pig :)

[cutiepieacres]

a few of my favorites....

This litter is about 5 weeks old now but I love the little chocolate roan sow on the left, wasnt expected at all as a color!

Liberty was born on the 4th of July I have her brother Patriot too, both are so prettty!!

BO is super laid back and sweet and has awesome curl! He won Reserve in Show yesterday at a cavy show.

Van Gough is my spoiled guy, I love him and loved brushing his long hair. He decided to give himself a haircut though so at this point its no longer as long as pictured.

 

[Goat_Walker]

ALRIGHT GP PEOPLE!

Tell me about them as pets. Usually the only ones I see are really skittish. Do they need as much attention as rats? I have a four story metal cage that was originally used for ferrets but now used for my rats. Would that be ok for them or do the have to h a soft bedding? I know they have toes and claws so I wasnt sure if this would mess with their feet.

In general - tell me about them. My current pair of rats just arent my favorite. Of course they are sweet and smart but they just.. dont speal to me ya know? So if I do decide to get a guinea pig - could I get just one or would I need to get a pair?

 

[Isablahblah]

aww they are all so cute!!!!

 

[clickie]

awww I love guineas. I used to own two, had them for 6 years they weren't skittish at all. The person who I got them from called them teddy bear guinea pigs, not sure what their real breed name was but they were really fuzzy, might be called textal or something like that. I love their little squeals they would make when i brought them treats.

 

[Kanchii]

We have one at the pet store I work at that was born there, I swear its all different colors: white, black, agouti, red roan... its crazy! i should take a picture

 

[clickie]

In general - tell me about them. My current pair of rats just arent my favorite. Of course they are sweet and smart but they just.. dont speal to me ya know? So if I do decide to get a guinea pig - could I get just one or would I need to get a pair?

How come your bored with your rats? anyway...

you HAVE to get a pair lol. gps are very social animals, and enjoy the company of each other, plus you get to have two lol. its best to either keep two females, or two males. two males can live together without fighting if they were raised together.

I got my guineas when they were young and handled them alot, so they did not bite or run away. I let mine go outside all the time they loved to run around and eat clover. mine loved carrots, lettuce, etc. guinea pigs need vitamin c, since like people they can not produce it on their own, you can buy drops to put in their water.

guinea pigs can not climp, so you want them to have a 1 story cage, it should be large enough to allow them to run around. mine loved those igloo things to hide in. they need a place to hide. they need a good quality guinea pig food, and timothy hay. also make sure the cage does not have a wire bottom, that care hurt the piggies feet.

do not use ceder shavings, aspen is okay. you want to make sure the cage is clean because they can get sores on the bottoms of their feet if the cage is dirty.

they can be given baths using bunny shampoo, and depending on how long their hair is they will need to be brushed daily. their nails will need to be cliped when they grow too long.

like rats and other rodents, their teeth grow quickly, they will need some kind of chew block, or wood to help grind their teeth down.

I would check local shelters first before petstores. petfinder.com, etc. they always have tons of guinea pigs. my friend's petstore won't sell guinea pigs, but people are always bringing them in because their kids became bored with them. not sure how one can get bored with a guinea pig.

I can look up more info about keeping them, but that is what I remeber, I haven't had guineas for a few years.

but they were one of my favorite pets to have. I am waiting so see if any one else brings some in the store, so I can convince my parents to let me get it lol.​

 

[shelleyd2008]

http://www.guineapigcages.com/
This site has tons of info about guinea pigs, as well as a forum (though not as easy to navigate as this one is).

The reason we have 2 is that I read online that the best toy for a guinea pig is another guinea pig. We have had 3 total, but one died. Poor Debbie cried forever until we brought April home, and it was only a few days. She really missed her cage mate.

You can make a 2 or more story cage, but they need a lot of floor space. There are different types of ladders you can make to get them to use more 'upper' space. 7.5 sq. ft. of floor space is the minimum you should have for 2, but the more space you have the happier they will be. 7.5 sq. ft. is only 2.5' x 3', so really not all that much space. If you have more than one level, the bottom level should have 7.5 sq. ft. of useable floor space, then the extra levels is extra. Guinea pigs love to run and jump, and need to have plenty of room to move so they don't get fat

My piggie Debbie is a nibbler, she always has been. She doesn't bite hard, but she will let you know she's there. April is a fraidy-cat, you have to hold her good when you pet her, or she will get away, and it takes hours to catch her!! But that's just their personalities. Now if we had gotten April first, or if she were an only guinea pig, it might be different for her. But she would much rather have the company of Debbie than us. Debbie can be put on the grass with no cage, and you just go and pick her up when you want to put her back.

You shouldn't keep them on wire, but you could use fleece and towels as their bedding. Your cage might work, with modifications, it depends on how big it is really.


But you can get just one, you don't have to have 2. But you will want more than one, I can guarantee it!

 

[PintoPasoFino]

Cavies are fun! They can make good lap pets too. They aren't too hard to take care of, and they are a very interactive pet.

I would recommend a one story cage as well. They aren't much of a climber, and since they are heavy in the front end, a fall from a higher level can break their teeth. Seen that happen before!

No wire bottom either, and no to the ceder as mentioned before. Kiln dried pine works. Lots of fresh hay too. Feed the plain guinea pig pellets and not the stuff with all the seeds in it. Seeds contain a lot of oils which isn't so good for the cavy. Also make sure you feed the freshest guinea pig pellets you can find, they need the extra vit C which the cheaper rabbit pellets don't have. They need that extra vit C!

I was really big into showing several years ago, had over a hundred for a couple years. Then when I got married and moved I fell a bit out of it, now I just picked up a dozen nice ones at Nationals last fall so here we go again!

I do satin silkies, coronets, and silkies. I have some gorgeous TSW's and lemon agoutis, and some golden agoutis, and a nice rainbow satin.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Quote:
Are those guinea pigs "free ranging"? Also, how does the "guinea pig ladder" work? Just by fear of the drop they stay on the shelf?

Just curious! I've heard of guinea pigs being used for eating. They were one of the meats that were considered "economical" like quail and rabbit. If this offends anyone, I can move it to another thread. ((Kind of curious to see the pics of guinea pig on a plate.)) You know what? I'll go ahead and start another thread. Spectrum, will you give me your input on the "new" thead?

THANKS!
-Kim

 

[CountryMom]

We have a new website I have been working on. I still need to add to it a LOT, but here are some of our guinea pigs...
http://cowgirlcaviary.tripod.com/
We currently raise Americans, Silkies, Satin Silkies, Coronet, Satin Coronets, and Peruvians. It is a wonderful past time and responsibility for my three children and something I share with them and enjoy. We show several times a year. Haven't been to nationals though.

The year it was in Fort Worth I had a very ill mare and could not leave the ranch. About a month ago we just got some imported stock from Canada. We also keep pedigrees and work very hard to plan our breedings and offspring. I have an entire building dedicated to them that is equiped with an A/C unit (considering our temps have been in the 100's.