# Anyone Have a Guinea Pig?



## PaintedOaksOki (Oct 6, 2011)

I was curious about anyone having a guinea pig on here! 
If so any care tips etc. would be great! I'm putting together a presentation for my parents


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## BettaHeart (Jan 2, 2011)

If I am right i believe sena has g.pigs :-D
They are so cuddly if i had a better living situation aka yard and no neighbours i would have g.pigs, rabbits, pygmy goats, a eurasier, and my fish lol


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## PaintedOaksOki (Oct 6, 2011)

I really want one but I might have to wait 'till I move out. My auntie as a GP who is named PJ he is so loveable lol.


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## LionCalie (Sep 24, 2011)

Like Rabbits, Guinea pigs have a lot of special care requirements. Check out these two great websites to learn all you need to know!

http://www.guineapigcages.com

http://www.guinealynx.info


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## PaintedOaksOki (Oct 6, 2011)

I've been to guineapigcages.com before... guinealynx *sounds* formiliar but I might be loosing my marbles xD


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## finnfinnfriend (Feb 3, 2012)

OMG guinea pigs are AWESOME!! They are the cuddliest, squishiest little nuggets!


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## speeddemonbk (Sep 30, 2012)

I had THE best piggie ever, Dawson, and yes I'm biased lol. He would scream when you opened the fridge (carrots magically appeared from there) and he gave kisses on your lips but didn't bite. I had him for probably 10 years (which is a lot for a gp). I would suggest unless you don't mind playing barber, getting a short-hair. Mine was a Peruvian so he had long hair and was a wiggleworm when it came to haircuts. He ran towards my stepsister and she thought he was a rat and she screamed and jumped on the bathroom counter lol. He just wanted to say hi and followed her.

Guinea pigs are smelly and messy, so their cages need cleaned a lot. They are such sweethearts though. Except one evil pig I had, she would attack and bite you when you even stuck your hand in to feed her, which I don't know why she did I never hurt her ever. I stuck with male gp's after that. They will need vitamin C added to their diet, as they cannot produce it on their own. Most commercial foods have some but not enough. Their teeth like rabbits continuously grow so there are times they may need to go to the vet and have them ground down.


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## laynisample (Sep 10, 2012)

speeddemonbk said:


> I had THE best piggie ever, Dawson, and yes I'm biased lol. He would scream when you opened the fridge (carrots magically appeared from there) and he gave kisses on your lips but didn't bite. I had him for probably 10 years (which is a lot for a gp). I would suggest unless you don't mind playing barber, getting a short-hair. Mine was a Peruvian so he had long hair and was a wiggleworm when it came to haircuts. He ran towards my stepsister and she thought he was a rat and she screamed and jumped on the bathroom counter lol. He just wanted to say hi and followed her.
> 
> Guinea pigs are smelly and messy, so their cages need cleaned a lot. They are such sweethearts though. Except one evil pig I had, she would attack and bite you when you even stuck your hand in to feed her, which I don't know why she did I never hurt her ever. I stuck with male gp's after that. They will need vitamin C added to their diet, as they cannot produce it on their own. Most commercial foods have some but not enough. Their teeth like rabbits continuously grow so there are times they may need to go to the vet and have them ground down.


I've owned guinea pigs for most of my life and I have never had a smelly guinea pig. I use a litter with a baking soda in it and scooped noticeable areas every day. Other than that I dump all the litter twice a month and scrub the pan with hot water to get rid of any other things. My piggy is going to be a year old soon and is a beautiful abyssinian girl. They are so cute. Her favorite spot (mine too when she was younger and smaller) was to climb up and sit on my shoulder as I went about doing my daily activities. Now she's a little big and falls off if I move, but she still loves climbing up there when we're just sitting around.


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## speeddemonbk (Sep 30, 2012)

laynisample said:


> I've owned guinea pigs for most of my life and I have never had a smelly guinea pig.


I meant the cage not the guinea pig. If you don't stay on top of it, they can get pretty stinky. 

Mine was huge, the biggest I've ever seen (not fat just big). He was too big for a full size metal coffee can when he died and I tried to bury him. I miss his little grunts and squeals and his crazy antics when you opened the fridge on the other end of the house lol.


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## PaintedOaksOki (Oct 6, 2011)

Aww... Your guinea pig sounds so cute! I love Peruvians BUT I don't think the whole hair situation would fly with my mom xD Did your Peruvian shed at all?

My aunt has a Abyssinian and she says he doesn't shed a lot, and then when I held him hair just came off him xD She was surprised at how much he was suddenly shedding.


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## laynisample (Sep 10, 2012)

Arwen rarely sheds. Becoming a groomer for peruvians gets pretty annoying. They would get extremely dirty, need regular baths and I found myself as a hairdresser once a month. Finally I got tired of it and put bows in his hair to hold it off the ground.


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## PaintedOaksOki (Oct 6, 2011)

I would consider getting an American, but I really want a Teddie, or an Aby! I love the rosettes on Abys! xD


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## laynisample (Sep 10, 2012)

Abys are by far my favorite. If you go into the link at the bottom of my sig you can see my beautiful Arwen.  She's my only piggy right now.


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## PaintedOaksOki (Oct 6, 2011)

AWW... Arwen is so cute!
The Friesian stallion you ride is handsome! I love Friesians!


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## laynisample (Sep 10, 2012)

Thanks. He's got such big gaits that literally throw me out of the saddle (Sitting a trot on a friesian doesn't work well) and I have a bad back so I haven't seen him since last month. And isn't Arwen just adorable?


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## PaintedOaksOki (Oct 6, 2011)

I have come up with a plan:
1. I get a black Skinny Pig
2. I name it HIPPO! 

How tall is Keegan?


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## laynisample (Sep 10, 2012)

Keegan's 17 hands. 

Also LOL Hippo.


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## speeddemonbk (Sep 30, 2012)

PaintedOaksOki said:


> Did your Peruvian shed at all?


Some, but really not that much. I just had to give him lots of trims because with all that hair they are more prone to wet tail. I tried shaving him once, but it took 3 hours to finish him cause he wouldn't sit still so that was also the last time I did that... I found a picture of him, it's blurry it was back before we had a digital camera so its a pic of a photo. He was probably about 8-9 months old.


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## PaintedOaksOki (Oct 6, 2011)

Your Peruvian is cute! ^.^
--
I haven't really looked at Skinny Pigs that much but they are hypo-allergenic right?


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## speeddemonbk (Sep 30, 2012)

They are supposed to be hypoallergenic. I have allergies to everything and the only thing that set mine off was the bedding, not the pig.


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## PaintedOaksOki (Oct 6, 2011)

I was just thinking hair wise because my mom, me, and my dad, are allergic most furry animals, and my mom is convinced that I'm allergic to GPs too! haha


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## ThePearlFish (Mar 31, 2009)

I have 2 Gpigs. They are both female but I had issues with one of them being more aggressive to the other, so they are separated, but in the same cage so they can talk through the bars and such.

Normally Gpigs do best in same sex pairs though or a neutered male and female (so no babies).

Baby gpigs need to grow up on alfalfa hay and pellets made for growing gpigs and adults need to be on an adult diet and Timothy hay.

Best food products I have found are the Oxbow products. They have Vit. C already infused in their pellets and are found more easily so you don't have to order anything. I just supplement Vit. C through a Spring Mix Salad and other fruits/veggies several times a week to balance the diet better (plus, they looove treats!). Every time I go to the vet they say that my gpigs are healthy and they are almost 6 yrs. old. I also buy my hay in bulk, 25 lbs for my 2 pigs. It doesn't go bad and it is cheaper that way.

I have an approximately 6 ft long C&C cage and use fleece on the floor of it and litter pans with Yesterday's News Cat Litter in them.

I used to pick up the hay that got strewn about the fleece, vacuumed up the poops daily and then changed the litter in the pans on occasion and I also put the hay I gave them daily in the litter pans. I was able to train one of my guinea pigs to use the litter pan 85-90% of the time and the other about 75% of the time. When I got lazy though and kinda stopped they didn't use their litter pans as much.

Guinea Pigs are a lot higher maintenance then people think they are and they are actually quite smart.

I am sure there is a few things I forgot to add, but I can add it later if I remember.


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## speeddemonbk (Sep 30, 2012)

You shouldn't ever put cloth of any sort in with a guinea pig, they don't nest and they will nibble on it and can possibly die from the strings, or get tangled in it etc.

Also cedar is a no no. It produces a smell when wet that can kill them. Not to mention it's usually sold in chips that are not soft and can cause bumblefoot. You can use pine safely as long as you get rid of the dust part, and pick out the stray sticks so it's soft. I used chicken bedding (pine) from a feed store and it cost $8, if that, for a years worth (every week I dumped it and hot water washed the cage).


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## ThePearlFish (Mar 31, 2009)

A lot of people use fleece with their guinea pigs and they have not had trouble, you cannot get strings that can tangle with the gpigs from fleece. You use bricks to hold down the fleece so they cannot grab edges or go under. I have used towels, etc. in transport carriers or temporary cages. You just need to be careful of what condition the material is in, that they don't get straggly or anything, if the animal chews on it, substitute something for them to eat or remove it. 

Cedar is definitely a no-no due to the respiratory issues. Aspen or Carefresh is the safest bedding if you are only using substrate for the cage.


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## sincerelyanna (Oct 5, 2012)

Yes, I do 

Wendell is a Sheba Mini Yak.









Who shares a C&C with his best buddy the American guinea pig, Wilmur!









And than I have my neutered American male pig and my rescue Abyssinian female pig together. 









If you have any questions, send me a message! I can answer them all and recommend the best things for them


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