guinea pig questions

blondrebel76

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My bf's niece has a very cute black and gold guinea pig that she bought from a kid that wasnt nice to the poor little guy. The pigs name is Rodney
naturally. Anyway she was trying tonight to get me to take him, only thing is i dont know much about them. They keep him in a little cage in the bathroom and feed it dogfood. And his nails are so long they are starting to curl under and he is very jumpy. He dont bite but jumps and makes the little chirpy noise if you touch him. How do you tell if they are male or female? I didnt see any testicals but then again i dont knwo what a pigs genitals looks like. I seriously thought about bringing him home and taking care of him but i am afraid i dont know enough about the things. My bf's niece begged me to take him, she said she knew i would be able to take better care of him then she could and spend time with him, but someone please give me some advice here, what do i need to know before i even consider this adventure? btw these ppl are not mean to animals or anything, they love animals but i fear they dont know how to properly take care of the poor guy, they have 4 goats, 3 cats (one special needs), a rabbit, 2 fish(which i maybe taking also) and 10 dogs.
 

brandi

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Im not as well informed on them as some of the other people on this site are...but I have 4.
This is an excellent source for information..
http://www.guinealynx.com/
here gives you pretty good pictures so you can sex him/her properly!
http://www.guinealynx.com/sexing.html

They do need a source of vitamin C in their diet as they cannot produce it themselves. I use 8in1 ultra Vite vita-sol most petstores carry it if not you can ask them if they carry vitamin c to supplement your guinea pigs diet with. It is also good for them to have hay as it aides in digestion I use Timothy Hay that I can get at the pet store. Mine also get a fresh vegetable salad once a week as well as several things to chew on in their cages. Pine bedding is not good for them because of the oils in it. I use carefresh bedding or Aspen. I usually trim their nails once every two weeks. Thats about all I can think of...hopefully soon someone will be along with more information!
 
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blondrebel76

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thanks for the links, turns out Rodney is a neutered male and is definatly on the wrong diet. I might go ahead and pick him up tomorrow night and see if i can at least get him back on the road to being a happy piggie.
 

mochaviolino

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Another good site to visit is Guinea Pig Cages. I would recommend you make a C&C cage, since they're large and much easier to keep clean than a tiny pet store cage (the site will have all the information you need about this). As for bedding, I've never used Carefresh, but hear it's very good. I've also heard of people using Yesterday's News but, again, I've never used it. I'm currently using fleece bedding, which prevents upper respiratory infections and I don't have to worry about trees being cut down just so my pigs can pee on them
It's been great and doesn't smell so much when changed out every 5-8 days (bottom layers of newspaper, two layers of towels, and a layer of fleece).

I would not recommend you talk with anyone at a pet store. They're usually so misinformed when it comes to these little guys--they're intention is to sell you stuff not provide you with quality information. They usually send people home with exercise balls (dangerous for their spines), pellets with seeds and colored things (bad food with items that cause obesity or diabetes), yogurt drops (filled with animal fats they can't digest), etc.

They should be getting a daily supply of fresh veggies (mine get romaine lettuce, bell peppers, a baby carrot, and the occasional fruit slice) as well as unlimited hay. Most chew toys/cubes are worthless and/or dangerous. Seeds can get lodged in their teeth and the animal fats in yogurt drops could harm their digestive system, not to mention these are all too high in sugar! Don't add vitamin C (or Tang powder) to their water, as it doesn't last more than 5 minutes and the taste can turn them off. All vitamin C should be received through their pellets or veggies (red bell peppers, oranges, etc.). And of course, a quality plain pellet is recommended as soon as possible. The dog food is filled with animal fats that a guinea pig cannot digest.

Since Rodney's nails are so long, it would be a good idea to take him to the vet (preferably an exotics vet) for a quick trim. This usually runs $15 and you won't have the traumatic experience of accidentally cutting the quick (I take one of mine to the vet now after that...). Since he was living in some poor environments, a basic wellness check would be great also. Just to make sure there are no mites, fungal infections, dental problems, etc.

I'm glad he's in a new loving home
I've seen so many guinea pigs that don't get the care they deserve (despite the owners' good intentions).

Here's hoping everything goes well!
 

brandi

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Originally Posted by mochaviolino

Another good site to visit is Guinea Pig Cages. I would recommend you make a C&C cage, since they're large and much easier to keep clean than a tiny pet store cage (the site will have all the information you need about this). As for bedding, I've never used Carefresh, but hear it's very good. I've also heard of people using Yesterday's News but, again, I've never used it. I'm currently using fleece bedding, which prevents upper respiratory infections and I don't have to worry about trees being cut down just so my pigs can pee on them
It's been great and doesn't smell so much when changed out every 5-8 days (bottom layers of newspaper, two layers of towels, and a layer of fleece).

I would not recommend you talk with anyone at a pet store. They're usually so misinformed when it comes to these little guys--they're intention is to sell you stuff not provide you with quality information. They usually send people home with exercise balls (dangerous for their spines), pellets with seeds and colored things (bad food with items that cause obesity or diabetes), yogurt drops (filled with animal fats they can't digest), etc.

They should be getting a daily supply of fresh veggies (mine get romaine lettuce, bell peppers, a baby carrot, and the occasional fruit slice) as well as unlimited hay. Most chew toys/cubes are worthless and/or dangerous. Seeds can get lodged in their teeth and the animal fats in yogurt drops could harm their digestive system, not to mention these are all too high in sugar! Don't add vitamin C (or Tang powder) to their water, as it doesn't last more than 5 minutes and the taste can turn them off. All vitamin C should be received through their pellets or veggies (red bell peppers, oranges, etc.). And of course, a quality plain pellet is recommended as soon as possible. The dog food is filled with animal fats that a guinea pig cannot digest.
Mine get the vitamin C supplement in their water because they will NOT eat too many fresh veggies that contain Vitamin C Gacie will eat carrotts Lacie will NOT Lacie doesnt eat anything other then her guinea pig pellets a b it of romaine letuce and drink her water. Gracie only eats carrotts and romaine lettuce guinea pig pellets and drinks her water...I do have a supply of timothy hay readily availible to both. I did not reccomend her talking with the petstore only asking them about the vitamin C supplement if she couldnt find it. While you dont reccommend it I do. These little guys can be very very picky about things theyve never had and the easisest way to get them to take it is through their water.
 
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blondrebel76

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well Rodney has a new home with other fellow piggies to play with. We found him a home with a local vet that has several piggies so we know he will now get the proper care. I was proud of little sammy, she was very grown up about the whole thing and wanted what was best for Rodney.
 
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