Help please, general guinea pig advice

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shannon321

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Ok so i don't own guinea pigs (i have rats/rabbits/dog/hamster etc so have good general knowledge of pets) my sister does and i hate the way she keep them , they are fed watered and cleaned but thats about it.
SO i come back from holiday to find them in my living room and they will be with us for an undetermined amount of time which means i can make lots of improvments to there living conditions!

Ok so they have a stupid indoor guinea pig cage which isn't big enough but obviously i cant afford to just buy them a new one so the idea i've had is to put a full second level in, has anyone done this and is there any pictures anywhere of how they did?

secondly i've read somewhere about alfalfa being bad?! is this right or wrong, they are fed on science selective pellets, are these ok or should i change them?

I need as much basic knowledge on them as possible and as many ideas to improve there life that can be taken with them when she takes them back!

Diet wise, I'm giving them lots of veggies and i know of the importance of vit C in there diet but should they have any suppliments of anything?

What about cage enrichement? They just had this stupid huge wooden thing to hide in which i have taken out and popped in an igloo a tunnel and i hidey hole, theres not room for much more than this.

any help will be gratefully recieved :-D
 
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Well you sound like you know lots already.

Alfalfa is for babies and pregnant and nursing mums - too much calcium otherwise. Timothy hay is best but meadow is okay too - just make sure it's unlimited.

Yes sounds like a much bigger cage is in order. You can add a second storey to the cage lots of us have but not normally the whole length of the cage - can't see how you would do it but half of it maybe?

You can buy a 120cm cage from zooplus for about £40 incl postage - not sure if you have any budget at all.

Science selective is good if they are eating it leave them on it - it has vitamin c in it already so that and veggies and you wont need to supplement anything.

Sounds it's the environment needs enriching not anything else. So maybe give floor space in the evenings for a while - section off a safe area in a room (no cables, wires etc) and let them explore.

Don't forget this time of year you can pick grass and dandelions from the ground for them and they love them!

Good luck.

Post some photos of them - we would love to see them.
xx
 
Thank you for your reply, well i don't have a budget as such but £40 is very reasonable so i may just shell out for it myself at least then ill know when they go back they'll have some extra room and probably simpler than trying to add a second level!the cage they are in now is 98cm x 49cm :(

They'll be getting a good amount of out time every evening and through the day though they are very very shy so don't like to come out too much unless i pick them up an put them out! ones a baby (petsat home :)>>> ) and a bit nuts the other is older and very timid, he also seems a bit skinny? Can i give them anything extra to feed him up? His back seems to sink in the middle a little aswell is this weird?

I shall get some photos later or tomorrow :)
 
well i've ordered it anyways just gonna order some more toys for the litle mites now
 
I would recommend going for the XXL cage, too - you would be amazed how much of a difference even a few inches more make!

Many of us have switched to fleece with an underlay of newspaper and towels. You can get fleece bed throws from as little as £2.50, and towels for under £1 in many places like Primark or Asda if you look around a bit. It's much less messy to change, even though you have to go and pick up the droppings as least once a day. You always need tp wash the guinea pig stuff without any softener and need to prewash any fleece at least 2 ot 3 times. But that way, the fleece wicks away any pee and the piggies are always on a dry surface. It is also cheaper in the long run. You may prefer to wash everything in an old duvet cover, so any hair and hay bits won't mess up the washing machine and filters.

AS for feeding: Timothy or orchard hay is best; alfalfa contains too much calcium and should only be given to pregnant and nursing sows. Give as much hay as they will eat - it should be the biggest part of their diet; up to 80%.

Here are tips on a good piggy diet:
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=37030
 
i have rabbits so luckily know the importance of hay, though they don't seem to be big hay eaters.

I've just ordered £80 worth of stuff for the little mites and some timothy hay so by mid next week they shall be much more comfortable, i'm tempted to keep them myself if I'm honest. I'm sick of it.

I'm considering swapping them to fleece though, i know theres no way my sister would keep it up so I'm not sure its worth it, she keeps them on sawdust :)>>> despite her last pig dying of respitory problems, i've popped them onto shredded card board that i have for my rats for now!
 
i've just read through the link you posted and i noticed spring greens aren't mentioned on there anywhere? are these good or bad for piggies and what sort of calcium do they contain?

thanks for everyones help.
 
shannon321 said:
i've just read through the link you posted and i noticed spring greens aren't mentioned on there anywhere? are these good or bad for piggies and what sort of calcium do they contain?

thanks for everyones help.
Click to expand...

Spring greens are one of the foods you should give only occasionally, like kale and spinach. Sweetheart cabbage is better.
 
You really DO have it under control!

I used to have the cage you just bought but sold it when I got more guineas. I put an upstairs on it - here it is

cage.jpg


We used correx, grids and cableties. But others have used ply for the base and then correx for the box. It has to be watertight.
 
Just thought i would update this and show you some pictures!
The cage arrived today and i'm so pleased i got it, the size difference is huge and the little ginger piggy was going nuts when i put them in popcorning madly and running around it was so nice to see!

heres a few pictures

001-10.jpg


002-9.jpg


003-12.jpg


004-8.jpg
 
Popcorning, a good sign that they like it:)). I would be tempted to keep them yourself, sounds as if they would have a better mummy.x>>
 
Would your sister be ok with keeping them yourself? Sounds like you love them!

They must be really happy :)
 
So pleased that you and they like it.

AWW they look so happy in there. I do hope you can keep them

x
 
I am so chuffed. They look very comfy in that cage.
It's amazing what space can do for them, huh? Their personalities really shine through if you can give them the space they need.

I actually hope you can somehow keep them. You seem to have really taken a shine to them...All the effort your making to make sure they're happy. You should be proud of yourself. You're giving those guys a really good chance.
If I were you, I'd try and keep them if you're able...You can give them the life they deserve.

Good luck. Keep us updated :)
 
AWWW - they look like two piggies in Heaven!

I hope that you will be able to keep the girls! Fingers crossed!
 
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