Guinea pig info and pics

[Blue Dragonfly]

I am looking for people who have actually owned a guinea pig. I was wondering if you could post any hints about looking after them, problems you have encountered, and any solutions you have found. Also if you have any pics, please post them too.

I am making a website to help people with their pet problems. i will use your posts as an article and post it on my website. along with any pics. This website is solely to help other animal lovers. If you have your own site, i will put up the link next to your article. If not, i will put your pet talk user name, and/or real first name.

If you want any other info included, or have any other questions please post on this thread.

[JuniorxMyxLove]

Guinea pigs start to smell really bad after about a month. To fix this, I give them a bath. I couldn't find any guinea pig shampoo anywhere, but I found out that you can use baby shampoo instead. So I fill up the bathtub a little bit with warmish water, and in go the stinky pigs. After their bath, to help them calm down and dry off, I take them outside and let them eat some grass :] But be careful, not all guinea pigs like water (pepsi and buddy dont!) and they might go crazy in the water. Which can hurt you. Especially if their nails are long. Ouch.

I don't currently have any pictures of pepsi and buddy on the laptop, but I will definitely put them on later :]

[Blue Dragonfly]

thanks so much for that. great tip. baby shampoo. i have just been using cat/dog shampoo.

[Catlady711]

I owned 3 guinea pigs;
Piggy (boar)- Solid Black American (aka English)
Sam (boar)- Dilute Agouti
Cinnamon (boar)- Tri-color American (aka English) *Cinamon's coat pattern was non-standard.


Guinea pigs are really sensitive to drafts and can catch pneumonia very easily. Any illness a guinea pig gets must be treated within 24 hours or they could die. I NEVER bathed my guinea pigs, and all 3 were boars (unneutered males). They only stank if the litter wasn't scooped frequently with a cat litter scoop and the cage bottom washed out once a week with a full change of litter.

I had cages exatly like THIS. My understanding is that aquariums don't have adaquate ventalation and will smell much sooner than an open wire type cage. Each guinea pig had it's own cage, no sharing and a new guinea pig got a brand new cage, no re using them because of the plastic deteriating from the urine and holding smells.

Guinea pig nails can be trimmed but they are notorious for not liking their feet touched and may bite. This was the one area I left for the poor vet to do for me! lol I'm told that long curling nails in guinea pigs come from having a wire bottom cage, allowing them to get too long, or always being in litter so they can't wear them down. I tried with Sam to have his nails trimmed every couple weeks but his still curled, although mine had their litter in the cage, and ran around on the carpet a bit each day (all soft stuff).

Guinea pig front teeth grow throughout their lifetime, so they have to have things to chew on to keep them worn down. If they don't wear their teeth down, they may interfere with their ability to eat, curl up in their mouths, or even keep their mouths from closing all the way. Sometimes a guinea pig may break off part of a tooth, it will grow back. I used to actually floss between my guinea pigs teeth so the lettuce or hay wouldn't look funny stuck there. LOL Guinea pigs will eat what they chew on, not spit it out like gerbils/hampsters. You shouldn't give them colored cardboard or stuff with print/dyes on it. I used to use an extra large lizard house like THIS for them to chew the bark off of. They could climb on and jump up on it, and hide inside it. Sometimes I'd have to replace it when they chewed all the bark off and it would be more fragile and break in two if dropped.

Celery LEAVES are ok to feed but celery stalks are a no no, they can choke to death on the 'strings'. I have a friend that lost her guinea pig of 9 years old this way.

I had a soft bristled cat brush for combing them out, even though they were shorthaired they enjoyed being brushed and would 'churrr' in happiness and 'hug' the brush by throwing their forehead up against it. Even short haired guinea pigs do shed, so brushing helps. When they are nervous they shed more.

Guinea pigs are the fastest back-er-uppers in the West! Reverse is a quick gear for them which makes them harder to catch. Guinea pigs usually need to be 'tamed' when you get them, and younger pigs are easier than older ones. I got two of mine at 4 weeks old and one at 9 weeks old.

Guinea pigs are born 'ready to go' with their eyes open, claws, and fur. Basically mini copies of an adult.

I owned guinea pigs for 10 years (my oldest being Sam who lived to be 7 with cataracts and arthritis towards the end). I don't have any pictures of them on my computer, all my pix of them were taken with film cameras. I should load them up and put them on here though.

Sorry I made this post so long. I miss my guinea pigs and could go on and on and on about them all day. Sorry again. I'll shut up now. lol

[Blue Dragonfly]

it is fine. i love hearing about other peoples animals. long posts are good. lol.

[Blue Dragonfly]

Hey, i am only just starting the site, this is where you can find your letters. I will be sorting out all the comments into individual topics later to help users to find info on a specific topic. thanks again.

http://www.freewebs.com/petinfo4u/guineapigs.htm