guinea pigs...

3 guinea pics are being admitted into my rescue tonight. They have been living outside the whole summer and they seem to have some kid of dieses that is making them loose there hair. Sadly, there were 4 piggies but one died last night, we think it got to cold to them :(

The 3 remaining sister have a vet apointment this friday and hopefully we will get whatever is wrong undercontrolle and hopefully none of my other animals will get it.

O, I dont' know ANYTHING about guinea pigs, so any info is apreciated!

Ashley

Oh......:( That's so sad. Poor piggies.:( Guinea pigs NEED lots of vitamin C every day. They need fresh water (preferably in a sipper tube), fresh vitamin C pellets and a big space/cage (especially for 3). Guinea pigs need supervised daily or regular activity our of their cage to run around, have fun and explore. If you have a long-haired guinea pig, they need daily brushing (I use a plastic slicker brush). Hideaways are always fun for a guinea pig, although this is not absoloutley crucial. Tree bark (non -poisonous) is good for their teeth to chew and wear them down, as they grow constantly. Nail care is also a necessity for piggies. I think if you ask your vet to teach you or do it for you would be just fine. Hope this helps!:)

I have the wood for there cage. They are acctually going to be living in a NIC cage made for my bonded rabbits. It is large enough for 2 rabbits to fit in comfortably, so I'm hopeing it will be enough for 3 lil piggies. If not, the women is also going to be giving me 2 cages, but I think they are glass aquariums, which I'm sure is not good.

Do I need to buy them something for the vitamin C?

I'm not sure what kind of food I will be feeding since I am getting 2 large bags of it for free from the lady.

I figured they would need out of cage time, they have taken over my 4 to 4:30 slot of out of cage time with mom. Bunnies are 3 to 3:30 and then 3:30 to 4, they get time with just me, then time for play, but the piggies will be supervised since I can not use a play pen with them.

I'm not sure what kind of toys they will get. They most likly will get almost no toys till Friday (there apointment) because I use the toys for my other smalls animals also and can't take the risk of the skin dieses being passed on. I do however have "Destructable toys" that they can have and play with till then.

Thank you so much!

My biggest question is though, Will the three of them need to stay together? Do guinea pigs forum bonds like that? Or could 2 go to a home together and the third go to a home with another piggie?

Thanx a bunch!

Ashley

This site might be of some help... :) it has lots of helpful info on proper care for Guinea Pigs.

http://guinealynx.info/main.html

Will they be housed inside or outside?

The skin problem could be from mites, ringworm, or lice (humans can't catch the type of lice that they have so don't be worried, Taffy has had if before, nothing a vet can't treat) they can catch mites and other bugs outside, so since they have been housed out there its probably some sort of bug.

Make sure to sex them when you get them. Double check they are all females! That is really important so you don't end up with baby piggies! THIS page has very good well written steps on sexing a guinea pig.

Have your piggies on a pellet diet, they don't need seeds! Some brands have the 'colorful' food. They don't need that either! Food coloring isn't any good for them, and I've seen that most piggies just spit the colored pieces out! They will need 1-2 salads of fresh fruits/veggies a day. Try spinach, lettuce (just not iceburg), carrots, apples (not the core or seeds, seeds are toxic), red, green, or yellow pepper, strawberries, oranges (good for vitamin C), and pretty much whatever veggie you woule eat. But don't give them grapes or mushrooms! I'll try to find the whole toxic food list, but those are two pretty common foods that are toxic to a guinea pig, one mushroom can kill them within 48 hours!

Make sure that they always have a fresh supply of timothy hay, if they are under a year or under weight put them on alfalfa. Alfalfa has too much calcium for grown piggies unless they are pregnant or underweight.

NEVER put them on cedar bedding or non kiln dried pine! You might already know that because I beleive it is the same with rabbits. Kaytee Pine brand is kiln dried and works very well if you can find any. :)

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions. I'll post some links for some good guinea pig sites:

cavyspirit.com- good general care tips
cavycages.com- how to make your own cage, very helpful and the cages are easy and cheap to make, too!
http://www.guinealynx.info/forums/index.php- great forum, especially their emergency forum, they have helped me out with Taffy when I really needed it!

I'll try to think of more of my favorite sites for you later, but if you go to google and search Cavy Care lots will come up.

Good luck! I have to see pictures of your piggies!

Quote:

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Originally posted by Aspen and Misty
I have the wood for there cage. They are acctually going to be living in a NIC cage made for my bonded rabbits. It is large enough for 2 rabbits to fit in comfortably, so I'm hopeing it will be enough for 3 lil piggies. If not, the women is also going to be giving me 2 cages, but I think they are glass aquariums, which I'm sure is not good.

Do I need to buy them something for the vitamin C?


My biggest question is though, Will the three of them need to stay together? Do guinea pigs forum bonds like that? Or could 2 go to a home together and the third go to a home with another piggie?

Thanx a bunch!

Ashley

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Glass aquariums are a big no, there is no way for them to get the ventilation they need.

You don't need to buy anything for the vitamin C unless the vet says that they need it. The vitamin C powder int he water gives off a bad taste and then the guinea pigs will drink less.

Preferably a guinea pig should NEVER be by themself. They will be bonded and might cry out when seperated. In the wild guinea pigs are in groups from (I beleive) 3-10 or more. The only reason I house Taffy by himself is because he is older and might not accept a new companion.

Sorry to double post, I didn't see the past two until after I posted mine!