About Guinea Pigs

This page will tell you about Guinea Pigs.

Guinea Pig Info

Guinea Pigs can live up to 8 years.

In the wild Guinea Pigs live in grassland and rocky places.

They come from South America from Peru to North Argentina.

They live in underground burrows in family groups. Wild guinea pigs eat grass and leaves.

Guinea Pigs are food in their native country.

Guinea Pigs belong to the rodent family

Guinea pigs are awake throughout the day. Guinea pigs like to live with other Guinea Pigs.

Caring for Guinea Pigs

Check your guinea pigs everyday for illness, check with your vet if you are concerned about guinea pigs

About guinea pigs

Feeding guinea pigs

What do guinea pigs eat?

Guinea pigs need Guinea Pig food containing vitamin C.

Foods your Guinea Pig can eat:

Carrots, broccoli, red, orange and green peppers corn, celery parsley, cucumber, and tomatoes Small amounts of: apple, melon, banana, grape, oranges can be given.

We give our two guinea pigs a bowl of fresh vegetables in the morning

They then have a bowl of hamster food in the evening.

guinea pigs should then graze grass or have hay to freely munch on through the day.

Guinea Pigs should have fresh water daily via a sipper bottle.

Remove seeds from vegetables and fruit, the veg and fruit does not need peeling but does need washing Chop fresh food up into small pieces before giving to your guinea pigs.

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About Guinea Pigs Teeth

• Guinea pigs have 20 teeth.
• Guinea pigs teeth continually grow. They will need wood such as willow to gnaw on.
• A free supply of clean hay gives your guinea pig something to grind their teeth down.
• guinealynx.info has lots of information about medical problems that guinea pigs may develop.

So what else do you need to know about Guinea Pigs

Bathing guinea pigs

Guinea Pigs can be bathed a couple of times a year unless they are very smelly.

• Put a few inches of warm water in a bowl then gently place Guinea in.
• Scoop up water over your guinea pig to dampen the fur then use a little pet shampoo.
• Rub shampoo info fur avoiding the Guinea Pigs face.
• Put warm clean water into a cup and slowly pour over Guinea pig until soap is out of fur.
• Lift Guinea Pig out of water and towel gently dry.

Brushing Long Haired Guinea Pigs

Long haired Guinea Pigs will need gently brushing every day with a soft brush to keep hair from tangling.

Nails

Guinea pigs nails will need cutting Go to guinealynx.info for clear instructions

About Guinea Pigs Noises.

Guinea pigs use noises to communicate with each other.

One of ours makes a purring sound a bit like a cat when her back is being stroked.

They both make a loud calling wheek when they hear me getting their food ready.

When they are in their cage together they make soft wheeks to each other.

Sometimes if one is out and not the other they make a loud calling wheek to the missing guinea pig.

If you hear your guinea's teeth chattering either at the other guinea pig or at you it is a warning to be left alone.

Chirping sound a little like birdsong.

There are probably more guinea pig noises, get to know about guinea pigs well and you will get to know what the sounds mean.

About Guinea Pigs Behavior

Guinea pigs rarely bite. They need to be handled gently and supported well to feel safe.

One of our guinea's will nibble at our clothes when she wants to go back in her cage. The other will purr gently when held with a towel covering her head.

Guinea pigs do something called popcorning when they are happy; they run and then jump then turn and run in a different direction

Guinea pigs will come to the edge of their cage to see you.

Sometimes guinea pigs eat their own poop to get the nutrients left in it. It is called coprophagy.

One of our guinea pigs chews the cage bars when she hears us getting food or sees us walking by. Make sure your pig is not bored or stressed though if they do this

Our pigs lick our skin, this could be for the salt or affection.

Guinea pigs sniff the air and each other especially when reunited.

Nose nudging is something our piggy's do to move each other out the way or to nudge our hands to stop stroking.

Our pigs like to lay fully stretched out to sleep.

For more information about behavior see jackiesguineapiggies.com Habitats

Guinea Pigs can live indoors or out side in a hutch.

If guinea pigs live inside they need very large cages the biggest you can find. Even with this they will need access to protected floor space or a run indoors or out. Guinea pigs can be kept outside in a hutch with a run. keep in a protected area out of direct sunlight and wind.

Bedding

Bedding should be aspen or a nontoxic wood shavings.

• Another type of bedding you can try that we use is this:
• 4 layers of newspaper, then two layers of towel followed by a piece of fleece.
• Buy a fleece and wash several times to help absorbancy.
• We then take piggies out each day
• Shake poops and hay and food off fleece and towels.
• Take out paper that is soaked.
• I then put bed back together reusing towels and fleece if not very wet otherwise it is washed and another set replaced.
• A thorough clean should be done once a week.
• This works well for us and is much easiers than cleaning shavings indoors.

Try guineapigcages.comfor really good advice about cages and habitats

Toys

Guinea pigs like to play

Try hay filled socks or cardboard tubes.

Ours love their towel tunnel.

Another hit is tennis and ping pong balls.

How about a piece of vegetable or frit wrapped up in a knot of plain paper.

Ferret tunnels and hammocks are great too

Guinea pigs love hidey houses.

A big pile of fresh hay goes down well too as they like to eat and play in it.

Cardboard boxes are great if they can be hidden in.