Guinea Pigs Care Information

How to Take Proper Care of Your Guinea Pig

If you have recently welcomed a guinea pig into your home you need to know about their specific needs. Care of pet guinea pigs is not hard but there are a few things that they need to keep them in top physical shape. There are three main areas you need to know about: housing, feeding and medical care. This article can help you with all of those.

Providing a Safe Home for your Pig

Guinea pigs need a safe and secure environment to live in. They chew and are very curious so you need to contain them and keep them protected and away from things that would make them ill. But you also need to keep in mind that a guinea pig needs room to exercise. They cannot use a hamster wheel so there needs to be room for them to run about as they can be quite energetic at times. Also, since guinea pigs are rodents they gnaw. You need to make sure that they cannot chew their way out of their cage and you need to make sure that if they are gnawing on their cage, it will not make them sick.

Bedding is a critical issue with guinea pigs. Dusty bedding or bedding that puts out harmful chemicals such as phenols can make your guinea pig sick. Corn cob bedding or hardwood shavings are ideal. You can use other shavings such as cedar, but keep in mind that they can put out phenol-containing oils which can cause health problems in some guinea pigs.

What Should I Feed my Pig?

Guinea pigs do very well on a diet of pellets, hay and fresh vegetables. They are unlike other rodents in that they need vitamin C added to their diet. This can happen either through the feeding of vegetables and fruits or through pellets that have had vitamin C added. Supplements added to drinking water can change the taste enough that the pigs may not drink and you should keep an eye out for this. Pellets with added vitamin C can break down over time so always use these kinds of pellets before the best before date.

Hay is a very important part of a guinea pig diet. It provides the fibre that your guinea pig needs to stay healthy. There are many different kinds of hay on the market including timothy grass, alfalfa and mixed grass. Keep in mind that they love alfalfa hay but it is high in calories and should not be the main hay that is fed to your pig.

Always keep a supply of clean, fresh water on hand for your guinea pig to drink. If you notice that litter or other objects has fallen into the water dish you should clean it out and provide new water to drink. Because pigs seem determined to get unwanted stuff into their water, many owners opt to use a closed, suspended water bottle with a drip spout to provide their pigs with water.

Veterinary Care for Sick Guinea Pigs

If your guinea pig gets sick, it can be a frightening time. A guinea pig may be quite ill by the time you notice there are problems. This is because guinea pigs are prey animals that hide symptoms of illness from predators. An experienced veterinarian can be your best friend during this worrisome time. It is critical to make sure your vet has experience with exotic animals since guinea pigs tend to react badly to penicillin. It can kill off the healthy bacteria in their intestinal tract leading to deadly bouts of diarrhoea.

As you learn more about your guinea pig, you can find out what amazing pets they make. But proper pet guinea pig care is critical if you want to provide a healthy and happy environment in which your pet can thrive.