Advice

[paulus]

I have recentley agreed to have two of my neices newly born guinea pigs, now they are only a week old so I have to wait until they are around six weeks old before I can have them off her.

So have plently of time to look at what type of cage to house them in, I am planning on keeping them in my flat and have room for a cage of upto 24" * 36". Now is this enough room for the little chaps, and at what age could I look at making them a cavy cage, as i can see them escaping from one if they are too small (not sure what size they will be at 6 weeks).

Any advice?

[C&K]

I have recentley agreed to have two of my neices newly born guinea pigs, now they are only a week old so I have to wait until they are around six weeks old before I can have them off her.

So have plently of time to look at what type of cage to house them in, I am planning on keeping them in my flat and have room for a cage of upto 24" * 36". Now is this enough room for the little chaps, and at what age could I look at making them a cavy cage, as i can see them escaping from one if they are too small (not sure what size they will be at 6 weeks).

First and formost, Welcome to the group!
You certainly will get a lot of advice, try to take it all in with as much of an open mind as you can!

I is wonderful that you have lots of time to prepare for their homecoming, always better then scrambling at the last minute.

The first question I have that comes to mind is why do you have to wait to 6 weeks? Guinea pigs are not like dogs, while they will not be full grown any time very soon, they can be fully sexually mature at 3 weeks, and are ready to go home at that age if they are healthy. If your nieces don't want to let them go then, I can understand that, but there really is no reason at all to keep them past 4 weeks, other then for your nieces pleasure!

Please let them know though that if any of the babies are boys, they could get their sisters or mama pregnant again if left in the cage past 3 weeks! Not a good situation. Guinea pigs stand a 1 in 5 chance of dying from pregnancy related complications, especially true when they are very very young, or have litters close together.

Now, as for the cage, 2x3 feet is NOT enough room. You really need to reconsider where you are putting the cage, and get some creative thinking going on, possibly some furniture re arranging. They need a minimum of 7.5 square feet, 10.5 square feet for two pigs is much better. This would mean a 2x3 or 2x4 C&C cage, this is not measured in feet, rather the size of a standard storage grid, RubberMaid is a well known brand, much more on this topic at www.Cavycages.com

You can build the cage right from the start,only you are right about escaping, you need to baby proof it, by either making higher Coroplast sides, or making temporary sides out of cardboard, you can attach it with zip ties very effectively.

Also, have you considered what food and hay you are going to be feeding? Until they are 6 months old, the will do best on an alfalfa based pellet, Mazuri plain pellets, Oxbow Cavy Performance and KMs Hayloft makes a good alfalfa pellet. Oxbow and KM would be best, Mazuri is ok as long as it is a plain pellet, not the one with other stuff in it. I strongly advise against all other brands then these three, they typically have nasty stuff in them that is not good for guinea pigs, some even have cancer causing perservatives! Yike. If you have questions about the pellets you are thinking about, feel free to post them here. Alternately, visit www.guinealynx.info and read up on Diet in the Care Guide. It gives really great information.

The little boogers will also need unlimited hay, they should get plenty of alfalfa at this young age (until 6 months again) but you can also give some Timothy or another grass hay variety.

And veggies and fruit. They needs lots of these, well, lots of Veggies at least, not so much fruit. About a cup a day. Good everyday veggies are Sweet bell peppers (red are best) Romaine lettuce, red or green leaf lettuce, cilantro, and a baby carrot, maybe a small tomatoe or slice of one.
NEVER feed iceburg lettuce! Not even in a pinch, better to go without then then to have iceburg.

Other veggies you can feed are Kale, parsley, dandilion greens, spinich, just to name a few. But not every day, only a few times a week. Again, the above link to GL has the best information.

I hope you enjoy your new pigs! Post pigtures when you can.

[Percy's Mom]

Actually, if any of them are boys, they need to be away from Mom at 3 weeks, or there is a very real possibility of them getting her pregnant again. If the father is still with her, she is most likely already pregnant again, and that could be very dangerous.

As far as your actual question, the size cage you mentioned is a big two small for 2 pigs, even babies. For 2 pigs, you want to look at something around 30X36 or larger, especially if you have boys. I would go ahead and make them the C&C cage before you even get them. You can use extra strips of coroplast or cardboard to make the walls 10-12" high while they are little and then remove the extra strips to lower the walls as they get bigger. You can also get mesh cube grids instead of the ones with the larger squares and leave the walls of the tray lower.

Originally Posted by Cavies-and-kids

The little boogers will also need unlimited hay, they should get plenty of alfalfa at this young age (until 6 months again) but you can also give some Timothy or another grass hay variety.

Actually, even the babies need to have access to unlimited grass hay. The alfalfa is great for them for their quickly developing little bodies, but it doesn't do much for them to wear their teeth or for fiber content.

[paulus]

Wow thanks for the informaton, its interesting you mention the 1 in 5 pregnancy fact, as their mother did die shortly after she gave birth.

The size part of things I've looked at my front room and have decided that infact (with a bit of moving around) have a cage (made up of grids as you've said) of around 60 * 24, although am unsure what size the grids normally are.

I think whilst they are smaller I'll off set the bars so they can't escape, have to work it out when i get all the grids (going to pick them up tomorrow).

[paulus]

Found a local place in the UK where I can get a around 25 of the grids for £20 (around $34), so i'll have time to plan what I am going to do. All I have to do is try and persuede a little 8 year old that I can have two of her guinea pigs!

[jdomans]

Yes and persuade the 8 year olds mom that there may be more pigs on the way. Hopefully you can do a bit of educating with the parents.

[paulus]

The parents are dog breeders and she (my neice) knows all about the birds and the bees, and has already sexed them and seperated them (on her own).

[salana]

If the mother died, is your niece giving them milk products? If she is, try to stop her. Guinea pig milk is very different from anything on the market (cow's milk, kitten milk replacer, etc.) in terms of protein and fat content, etc. Baby guinea pigs can eat regular guinea pig foods like hay and vegetables within a day of birth, so it's best to give them a normal guinea pig diet (grass hay, high-quality alfalfa pellets, vegetables, alfalfa hay).

How many babies are there?

[paulus]

There were 5 babies, one was still born and another died the other day. She was telling me today how they are weaned a day after birht so is giving them normal food, carrots, dry food etc.

I am really impressed at how quick the advice has been, I'll be sure to post pictures and updates on building thier new home.

[jdomans]

paulus- sorry to hear about the mother GP. Hopefully there was a lesson learned in all of this. Make sure you do a double check on your piggies sex! We will be looking for pigtures.

[jdomans]

Paulus don't be surprised at our quick replies. We all have the cavy fever and it is very contagious! You just wait and see. LOL

[paulus]

Originally Posted by jdomans

paulus- sorry to hear about the mother GP. Hopefully there was a lesson learned in all of this. Make sure you do a double check on your piggies sex! We will be looking for pigtures.

Nah she breed them especially for myself and some others to have some little gp's, as the ones in the local pet shop are a bit old and not at all tame.

[Percy's Mom]

Whoa. So these guinea pigs were bred especially for you? You realize this forum is extremely anti-breeder right? Hopefully, you were able to get something from the advice that we gave you so far, but I'll give you one more piece. If you want more pigs, go to a shelter or rescue and adopt them instead of having someone cruelly force animals to have babies for you. This often leads to the mother's death (as you have already seen) and adds on to the animal overpopulation that usually keeps the shelters and rescues overflowing. The pigs in the store are usually not at all tame because they've been dumped into cages that are much too small with little regard for their care.

[WEAVER]

Too add to everything Percy's mom said I also want to ask what is wrong with a older guinea pig. Do you even realize how quickly guinea pig's grow? Yours will be "old" in two months, if that long. It really was stupid of you to breed a animal for the simple fact that you wanted "a baby".

[paulus]

Originally Posted by Percy's Mom

Whoa. So these guinea pigs were bred especially for you? You realize this forum is extremely anti-breeder right? Hopefully, you were able to get something from the advice that we gave you so far, but I'll give you one more piece. If you want more pigs, go to a shelter or rescue and adopt them instead of having someone cruelly force animals to have babies for you. This often leads to the mother's death (as you have already seen) and adds on to the animal overpopulation that usually keeps the shelters and rescues overflowing. The pigs in the store are usually not at all tame because they've been dumped into cages that are much too small with little regard for their care.

Its gotta be said the pet shops we have here in Wales aren't particulary good, many of the animals are kept in mixed sex cages (a lot of people end up buying pregnant animals, and the pet shops won't take back the offspring). There isn't any shelter or rescue type charities here either, I guess your a lot luckier living in the US!

[paulus]

Originally Posted by WEAVER

Too add to everything Percy's mom said I also want to ask what is wrong with a older guinea pig. Do you even realize how quickly guinea pig's grow? Yours will be "old" in two months, if that long. It really was stupid of you to breed a animal for the simple fact that you wanted "a baby".

No i don't want a baby as such, its just the animals supplied by the pet shops here aren't very well looked after and as I said are often kept in mixed sex enviroments.