New to this Guinea Pig Lark Help!

[Briony_S]

Hi,

I have had george now for about 3 weeks & he is my first piggy. I thought I had everything sorted but then started reading the internet & got more & more confused.

Firstly do indoor piggys need bedding material as well as wood shavings? I read that they do and started putting hay in his sleeping section but he poos & wees in it then eats it so don't really like doing it. He has a hay rack so has plenty of hay without the stuff in his bed.

Also I am yet to buy an in-door playpen/run. Does this have to be a certain size?

He is only about 3 months old max, how often can I feed him half a carrot I am doing this every 3 days as per petshop's advice when can I increase it?

I brush him once a week etc.. give him strokes & cuddles twice daily & will soon have a running area for him is there anything else he needs other than food & water?

I worry about him all the time & it is getting silly can't seem to find the answers anywhere & am scared I will have missed something!

Thanks :{

 

[helenllama]

Yes indoor piggy's need a non-woodshaving bedding.
For example I had my first two piggys on woodshaving and their paws got red and sore.
My pigs are now (I have 4, Blaze one of my original pair, Cinder, Flame and Spark) on fleece as all except Blaze are long haired.
The indoor playpen/run, well as large as you can make it would be good. With Blaze and Cinder I piggy proof the area and let them run on the carpet (shhhhhh) or they run on the sofa where they can also run all over me and up and down hills. they love it. But always supervised
Veggies, a selection (there is a shopping list in the food section) should be given at least daily, perhaps twice daily.
Is he a long haired or short haired? That will say how often you need to brush him, long haired's need to be brushed at least everyday, and some of my guys love loads and loads of hugs... well at least in Blaze and Cinders case a three way hug.

 

[Briony_S]

Thanks he is short haired so only do once a week he doesn't really like it and gives the piggy brush evil looks. I do stroke him with the other hand whilst doing it & he is still eeks even though he looks cross!

Could never let him loose on carpet as his is only a baby and in the three weeks he has pooed on both me and my partner & also wee'd on my partner too. I never keep him out more than 15mins as I read that is how often they need to poo/wee but he still managed it those times. He might get better with age.

Also he poos so often I clean him out nearly every day which is drive me insane I once left him for 3 days to see how bad it would get & see if I was being over the top with cleaning but he has wading through all the poo! It was discusting!

Thanks again

 

[helenllama]

One type of bedding is called Profleece and you can hoover it, I use it over wood pellet cat litter. Makes a big difference. I have 4 in two cages that are approx 150 cm x 75 cm. Some beddings are better than others at drawing away wee's and yes for such small animals they certainly poop alot.

My two I let loose, closely supervised, are Blaze and Cinder, they are now 14 and 8 months respectively. I tend to really only let them on the sofa as it is single bed size lengthways, plus they can scramble and such. Blaze loves it.

I can also keep Blaze and Cinder out for a good hour or even more, even when Blaze and his Brother Spice were small I could keep them out for the length of one TV programme. The weeing could be because he is scared, and you find that you can brush the poops off clothing easily because they are more of a pellet. I used to have them both out together when very small.

 

[helenllama]

Some other points to consider.
Have your Piggy registered with a Guinea Pig savvy vet ASAP. I found mine by e-mailing the practice.
I found my vet before I needed him, and I think I have built up a good relationship with my vet
This is the e-mail I sent

Hi
I am a new guinea pig owner, living in Edinburgh. And while at the moment my boys are fine, I am trying to find a vet with experience in treating guinea pigs, so if they need a vet I can find one for them.
Does any of your vets have experience with guinea pigs?

In the end it was a wise decision as I knew where to phone and who to see (I got the name of the vet to see within the practice) when my Spice first became ill

Also company A guinea pig needs the company of it's own kind if at all possible, ok my piggy was older and needed seperated from the group, but when lonely they can become depressed and have behavioural issues and stop eating, part of the reason piggy no 4 Spark came, is because of the issues with Flame stopping eating due to lonliness, and partly because he ex cage-mates Blaze and Cinder could torment him. The way I got to get him to eat again was a combination of hand feeding veg, syringe feeding Critical Care and lots and lots of attention, like 4 or 5 times a day for half an hour. Spark has done him the world of good. He now is eating with a lot less attention and is a more confident piggy all round.

 

[Briony_S]

isn't it a bit late to get him a friend now? I have heard that boys don't like each other & I don't want to have to castrate him so I can get a girl!:0

 

[helenllama]

all my piggy's are boys.
I have had a successful group of 4 for 6 weeks, a group of 3 for 3 months, I currently have 2 pairs. As long as the new pig is younger you should be fine.

 

[nutmeg]

Hi Briony, welcome to the forum. Lots of good advice given already, sounds like you have a great little piggy. Hope you're going to post some pigtures for us to swoon over. There is info on just about everything here, including rescues if you are looking for a little friend for George?!
With the weeing and pooping business, I found that although they do it wherever, they do usually have a fave corner, so I use newspaper in this area, then use a little brush to sweep any random poops into this area and change just that newspaper daily. Then twice a week it's the full works, fleece change, anti-bac clean etc. I always put hay in hay ricks or hanging socks, this stops too much from getting stuck in the fleece. They do have some to rustle around in on the newpaper end of the cage though.
I have got a square outdoor run that I have brought inside, and as all my floors are carpeted, it put a plastic back kitchen rug in this so they can run round, and any wees don't go through on to the carpet. You can get good fold up play pens though if you don't have room for a solid structured one. xx

 

[Briony_S]

yes will have to get a folding one. Think I might wait a few weeks as he is a baby & still not settled for instance he will eat food off me when on my knee but he hides when I come near him in his cage as I think he thinks i'm a threat.

I sit still and he comes up to me & touches my hands in his cage and sniffs me but never takes the food if i scoop him up and put him on my knee still sat in same position he will then eat the carrot!

oh my avatar is him will post some more piccys but don't know how

Also there is no such thing a random poos? he poos everywhere all the time he does have a main wee corner but poos everywhere ha ha guess he will learn with time.

Thought about getting one of those plastic corner things you see to fill with dirtied bedding to see if he will go in that in his new play pen. it will be next to his cage so was hoping if i put it in same corner he likes in his cage that would work.

also recently he has decided that his wee corner is the one where the water bottle is should I move it? is this going to make him ill?

 

[Briony_S]

The weeing could be because he is scared, and you find that you can brush the poops off clothing easily because they are more of a pellet. I used to have them both out together when very small.

I don't think he was scared as he was eeking when he was stroking him just don't think he's learnt how to tell daddy he needs a wee. he normally pulls my clothes & I put him back in his cage and he has a wee straight away. he has never done this to his daddy yet & he has only cuddled him a few times think it is a case of bonding as I am the one who cleans him out and feeds him etc...

 

[Briony_S]

found out attachments here goes for george piccys he is too shy to get good ones yet sorry some are upside down but you can use your imagination

 

[Briony_S]

break through he was just on daddy and daddy said he needed a wee, was actually a poo but it was still time to go back in which is progress. It is wierd he tells me by pulling at my clothes but told his daddy by wiggling.

has anyone had simular situations when they use different ways of telling different people

 

[rw3399]

I hope your new piggie brings you lots of joy and happiness. We all worry about our piggies even when they are healthy. It sounds like you are doing a great job. It's not too late to get him a girlfriend as long as he's castrated. Neutering a female is supposed to have a lot more risks to it than castrating a male. He looks very cute and cuddly

 

[starla]

Aw he's sweet.

Pigs always need hay btw, it is your choice whether you want to keep in the hay rack or have some spread on the floor of the cage, but most pigs love it on the floor as they can hide in it and run through it. I would put a big pile of it on the cage floor and risk him soiling it, they love it so much.
You can always scoop it out everyday.

If he's not used to veg, which he probs isn't being small and from a pet shop, he should start on a bit of carrot (which you're doing) and gradually move onto things like pepper (not chili pepper!) and apple, then slowly introduce richer foods by giving him a tiny piece of 'green' food every day. E.g. Spring greens, Parsley

 

[Briony_S]

Thanks will try him on broccolli next I think as we also have it in will leave it a while though as he is only just getting used to the carrot took him about a week before he would eat it and now he will only eat in from me if he is on my lap or from his hanging kabob.

Think he tried it originally by accident as I put his mineral block on the kabob too and he was licking that and suddenly started eating the carrot.

They can be so mischivous some times!