I am new here

Hi, I am new to rearing guinea pigs. Because of that, my pig died not even a day. I got it in the afternnon and the next early morning he was lying down with his feet stretch out to the side. That time I knew something is wrong.

I am from malaysia and is hard for me to get a decent cage. All the cages I come across have wire bottom and they are bird cages, even though they are quite roomy and spacious. I search alot of info thru the net and found out that guinea pigs environment would be around 18 to 24 C but over the weather can sometimes reach up to 30 to 32 C. Will it die because of the heat. And because that day I got my first guinea pig, I put it in my room with my fan running. Can this be the problem that it died.

Sorry to hear about your loss .

If you come from Malaysia it must be really hot and humid! I've been to Malaysia ALOT of times (nearly all my relatives come from there ). Because Malaysia is a hot and humid country your guinea pig must of died of heat stroke. Also, guinea pigs streach out when cooling themselves down. If your guinea pig died in that position it most likely died of heat stroke. The last time I went there I could hardly breath because it was so hot!

Do you keep them outside? If you do, be careful about airpollution because most of the time it's heavy in your country. If you keep them indoors.

If you are wanting to raise more guinea pigs, to cool them down, it is best if you but a frozen water bottle wraped in a cloth. This should cool them down. Other wise you can put the airconditioner on or something like that. Instead of an airconditioner, you can use a damp towel, cover half of the cage and blow the fan directly into the towel.

If the temperature is more than 25 degrees C you try using ways to cool it down. It's some where on this website is where you can find cooling tips. Sorry if I'm not really helpful.::

Next. Please do not use a wire bottom cage, because it will cause discomfort to your pet . Try to take out the floor wiring or put a sheet of hard plastic ontop of the wire. This might prevent discomfort. If your are keeping it indoors, you can try to use some kind of guinea pig fencing you could use as a type of cage. And because heat rises it would be best to put your cage on the floor.

I would also advise you to keep your pet indoor because Malaysia has LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of ferral cats which might want to eat your guinea pig . It would be much safer indoors.

I hope I helped you

~Octoberborn

Thanks for the tip. RIght now I am gathering more info before I raise another pig. It was around I think 4am to 6am it was laying there not moving. I thought it was resting at first so I didn't have worries. It was about 8am when I woke up and saw him laying down with his head resting on the ground and his back legs stretching out to the side (usually the feet would be below his tummy) that was when I started to get worried. One of my friend says that I am not suppose to switch on the fan during the night. Also that night was quite cold, around 28C. Could it be the fan that causes drafts. I took out the wire bottom, at least it has a pull out tray at the bottom which I can lay some bedding in the future when I start raising them again. So you think I sould install an air conditioner? Thanks Octo for your advice.

I'm glad to hear you're getting a new guinea pig .
I have to type this again because I forgot to enter my password and click "Add Reply" :: . So they made me write my letter all over again. I might not get all the facts I wrote before, but I'll try again...

Ok, the temperature. It's really hot in Malaysia and really humid aswell. When I went it was really 28C but it felt like 38C because of the water in the air. I felt like I was swimming when I was just walking around outside in the shade 8o . Be careful when it get just slightly uncomfertable for you. Guinea pig hate the heat and die really easly. Your idea of installing an airconditioner is a great one. It will keep the temperature stable and at your choise . Especially installing one for only your piggie's comfort! Wow 8o ! That's really good of you! I'm not so sure about the draft the fan causes, but that's wouldn't be enough to cool down a guinea pig. I was to good atempt though.

It's good that you took out the bottom of the wire thingy. If would be more comfortable for your future guinea pig.

When you say "raising them again", this sounds like you're getting 2 or more guinea pig this time ! Only one concern, how big's your birdy cage :: ? normally, bird cages are pretty small, if you have a small one, you have to give it some floortime to exersice. This is very important! If your cage is too small, you will find your guinea pig eating out of bordome and becoming fatter and fatter and fatter. Well, this isn't very good for your guinea pig. The solution is to just give it some floortime. Are you keeping them indoors? Well of course because you are getting an airconditioner for them. Anyway, just get a room for them and let them run, and don't for get to block off any holes and fence them. Take out any hazards (poisonous house plants, electrical cords etc.) it's really simple. Just get down on your knees and put the side of your hear on the floor and find any bad stuff for your guinea pigs. The solution is easy and it's much common sence.

One more question: If there is no suitable cage for your guinea pig, does that mean that there are no good guinea pig food? If not I'm not sure how to make your own. The important things to feed are fruit, vegies, pallets, hay and fresh water. Once you've got them, you'll have a healthy guinea pig (well only in the nutrion area).

Well I think I covered most of what I typed before (well maybe more).

Please reply

Octoberborn

Thanks for the help. I really appreciate it alot. Anyway, when I was saying about raising them again only when I get a new place to stay. Right now this house is no more belong ti my mother's and is given to my sister's husband. He doesn't like me or my mom having animals like dogs (cause we use to have dogs last time) in the house. I was thinking, if I use an air conditioner, it must be using alot of electricity especially during the day time when no one is at home while I am out working. Do you think I should just have the air-con switch on the whole day or use some other cooling method which you just describe.
As for the cage, I will get the measurements for you. I am also going to built a fun box so I can keep it for future use when I get my own apartment.
Yes, it is difficult to find a cage made for guinea pigs. All the cages they have all have wire bottoms and I ask the pet store owner for a cage with no wire bottom they say it doesn't matter. All the other pet stores also say the same thing. When I heard them say like this I was very dissapointed with them. Anyway, I did manage to find a whole sale pet store which have all kinds of branded animal pet food. At least I know when to go in the future. Also, this pet store doesn't have the cage I am looking for.
Hearing from you soon.

Well, I have got the measurement for the cage. 24inch fron and back and 16inch for the sides. I have heard about people using coroplus (I hope I get the spelling right) for making their own cages. Can I use it to make a fun box? or should I use wood. I also don't know where to find coroplus in my country. Now I am searching for it in some big stationary chain store. Also need to get some stuff there for my project.

I agree with you with the air conditioner using up alot of electricity. This would be alot of money.

With the fun box, you could make it out of wood but this will provide little air circulation. Plus, the guinea pig's urine will be absorbed in the wood. Using cloroplast will provide them with alot of air circulation and the urine wouldn't be able to absorb into the material because it's plustic . I would recommend cloroplast. The cage you are currently using isn't really that good :: . I mean, it's pretty small for a guinea pig. But, that can be fixed! If possible, (I'm going to try describing my idea now. [NOTE: I'm bad at discribing]. Sorry if your immage of it is abit foggy) anyway, you can put your lil birdy cage on the end of a "shaped" cloroplast wall. Discribing isn't going so well. Imagine a circular cage mad out of cloroplast (or a rectangluar cage, what ever you fancy). Then you can sought of join the cage to the side to that there is an entrance facing into the cloroplast cage. Errr..I'm not sure if you understand me. Well, your birdy cage is sought of attatched to the cloroplast cage so that you can use that cage as a sleeping area only. Then you can not only have only one guinea pig, you can have more because now the cage can be bigger. I'll give you a link. Just so you can see what I'm talking about . www.cavycages.com/recycling.htm . I hope you can click on it. If not, highlight the address and copy it then paste it in your address bar. Once you get there, scroll down to "Cage as Sleeping Quarters Only". Then click on the pictures and you can (I think) see them in a bigger size. I would strongly encourage you to do this.

Hmmm....what else. Oh yeah, the cooling tips. Sorry, I'm not the one to find cooling tips from. I found those cooling tips somewhere in this web site and gave them to you. I forgot where. When I cool a guinea pig down, I just put a frozen bottle wraped in a cloth or towel and place it into the cage. That's my way. And yes, guinea pig don't like drafts.

Well, that's all I've got to write. I'll come back to you if I can think of more cooling tips of find them. You might have to ask those "super professionals guinea pig owners". They might have more ideas. Sorry.

Phewff...I've written alot. Hand starting to hurt.

Hope to hear from you soon
Octoberborn

Sorry for troubling you until you have have to type till your hands hurt. I am not familiar with the words you use in your country like what is the meaning of drafts. I look into the dictionary but couldn't find. I tried looking everywhere for coroplus and the shop people would go "Har? What is coroplus? " I found something in the stationary giant store that look something like plastic. It writes on the tag which says "corru B" (I think it means corru board" Can it be the one I am looking for? As for the cooling method, I think I have an idea. Instead of gettin and air-con, I found a substitute to it like the air cooler. It is rectangle and it has wheels at the bottom, and it blows out cold air. Some sort like a mini air-con even though it won't be as powerful as an air-con and it's much cheaper, what do you think.


I just came back from viewing the pictures from the website you send me. I think the meterial which I bought is the same as the ones I saw in the pictures from Jade's website. I can recognize it because the material has this linings. I get the meaning of your idea. Your idea is very great, thanks alot. Now, all I have to do is find the grids for the outer side. Hear from you soon friend.

It's ok when my hand hurts. I like typing, I think it's kind of fun . Drafts is when cold air gets blown. It's a kind of wind that's goes along the floor. Your idea of the little airconditioner, it is suppost to be kind of a box fan? It might give cold wind to the guinea pig. I'm not too sure about that. I just guessing not to blow the fan directly into the guinea pig's cage. Is it the type of fan that cools the room?

Coroplast are some times called "cubes" and "grids". My mum knows it more as "cubes" (She's from Malaysia). Maybe the store people will understand the term cubes? Anyway, you can find them at stores that sell storage things. I mean, cubes are generally used to store things. Here, I'll give you a link from this website www.cavycages.com/cubes.htm . I hope this link works out ok. Just wonder around this website. It sould give you alot of ideas.

I'm glad my idea (well, it's not my idea, it's the website's idea) helped you. It should make your guinea pig/s much happier with a bigger cage .

Hope you reply
Octoberborn

It is not a fan, but it acts like air-con, except I think cause I'm not very sure it doen't have gas pump into the it just like air-con has. It doesn't have a blade spinning like what you see in table fans. It looks like a CPU tower casing but is much taller and bigger than a CPU. I went to have a look at the elecctrical store and one of the units has some sort of slot at the back and it writes their ICE CUBES? I didn't went in to ask so I don't know that compartment is use for what purpose. As what you said coroplast is sometimes called cubes. I thought the two are totally different things. As for the cubes, I haven't seen one of these before. I will just have to go look around. If you do come to malaysia maybe you try pay a visit to HSL (an electrical chain store). They have many models on these air cooler, and might give you a treat for all the help you have given me. One more thing, what is floor time means. As for drafts, is it the kind of wind which blows in from windows and doors? I think I get your meaning. Thanks alot.

So your air cooler is like a small air conditioner? It sounds fine. Just don't let the wind blow directly towards the cage. Yeah, drafts are wind when they are blown along the ground. Example, when you shut the door and feel the wind blow under the space between the bottom of the boor to the floor.

I don't come from Malaysia. I just visit it alot. I come from Australia. I don't think I've been to the store called HSL. I've only been to things like "Sunshine Square" and those big stores.

I'm not much of a computer person and I don't know much about CPU....yes I do, I just remembered what it stands for (Central Processing Unit). I'm not sure what you mean by it. I can just imagine a CPU tower and written behind it are the words "Ice Cubes". I don't know what you mean. So the fan is like a CPU tower?

Waiting to hear from you again...
Octoberborn

At the back of the air cooler unit it has a compartment, and it written there ICE CUBES. I'm not sure what is it for but this option is only for some selected units. Maybe you can get ice cubes there or you have to put ice cubes in to to get the cool air. Anyway, if I do pay a visit to the store, I will ask them. Since you do visit Malaysia sometimes, do you know where I can find the cubes. Can I find it in departmental stores like sunshine square cause I always go there with my friend.

u could probley find the cubes at ( I've never been to malaysia)I don't know..but ask someone about cubes that go together and you can put stuff in there,their like shelfs..well hope I helped a lil btw,I am 12 yrs. old hope 2 hear from u soon

It's really nice to hear that you're trying hard for first gathering concrete knowledge before getting another one I just butt-in to say few statements on the air-conditioning thing. I don;'t have any idea about other countries electricity works. But I have confirmed on our local Meralco Electricity that Air-conditioning is half the price of Using a personal Computer.

I just recently get my Guinea Pigs, last week. And before everything, I need to learn numerous and uncountable study and gain enough-to-start knowledge about over-all consideration for Guinea Pigs. I raise them on an Air-conditioned room as I'm from the Philippines, plus an air-moisture absorber to lower-down the humidity. Air-conditioning does help alot. I have eight new guinea pigs to start of and this is the time I waited for like three years now.

[OFF TOPIC = mlkuan, do you know the TV program "pangako sayo"? it's a new TV Program in Malaysia imported from the Philippines. Let me know, thanks.]

I think you might be able to get coroplast in stores that sell things to tidy up your house. I'm not that sure though. You know, like furniture stores? I'm not sure. I think you might be able to look around sunshine square. Try to find it in the part of the store that sells things to "put away and tidy" the house. Coroplast is used for making shelves. Errrr....how do I explain this? I'll just add a link. You can look through that. www.cavycages.com/cubes.htm . Here you go. Just read it through. It should give you an idea. I'll get back to you later.

Octoberborn

I ask around about the air cooler, it is quite cool but looses to air-con alot. I think it works best in small houses like apartments. To get cooler air, you can put ice cubes. Some units just put water in it. They can bring down the temperature to about 26C. As for the air-con bill, here in Malaysia it cost around 1.60 to 1.90 for 8 hours, plus other stuff the bill comes to around 200 over. For a person like me who is earning just enough for himself, it will be difficult for me to pay this kind of amount of bill.
As for the cubes, I have look everywhere including hard ware stores but they don't have it. I don't think they have it in departmental stores or hard ware stores becuase if they do have, I would have seen it long time ago. Furniture shops only sells wooden stuff mostly like chairs, beds, tables, cubboard for hanging your clothes, etc. I am at a dead end now. Coroplus I have found it in popular book store. They come in board size. Now I'm just looking for cubes. Coroplus is it the plastic like material and has many types of colours?

Angel, do you use the air-con for 24 hours? For me in this house I am staying (which doesn't belong to my mom anymore cause the will has pass down to my sister) we don't use the air-con even though we do have an air-con unit in each room because my sister's husband has been complaining about how much electricity we use so since we are not paying hin anything for staying here I don't dare switch on the air-con. The show you mention, I will look up in the newspapers. Mostly our country is showing korean and japanese series.

I don't use it 24 hours, by 5:30 pm I start lowering down the temperature and until 6:30 it was completely shut down then. It's then Opened by 8:00 in the morning. I pay for the electricity since it's my pets, naturally I'm getting the budget from my kennel income.

When the airconditioner is off I still use an air circulator to let the air not stay in one place but circulate. Thank anyway for looking for my other question

I have decided to get an air-con instead of the air cooler because air cooler is not that effective.

I was thinking when I go to work in the afternoon and have the air-con switch off to save electricity and while it is off I use the bottle freezer to cool it down. Do you think this method is ok? and would it make the temperature fluctuate since I came across an article that they can't tollerate rapid changes to the environment.

I have found a shop that sells the cubes but it's not sold in a set but by pieces (1 pc = $10) and the locks are sold seperately. It is chrome and the material is quite thick. I am still looking elsewhere for thinner material and with other colors. I also found a shop that sells large pieces of coroplus sheet. It is a sign shop and the measurement is around 51 X 96 inches. Thank goodness, I have found most of the stuff after looking high and low.

I still have a question on bedding. The went looking every pet shop and all of them have pine shavings. However, this shop is the only one that sells other types of bedding as well and is called wood flakes. They also do sell timothy hay. Is wood flakes safe?

Oh ya, the tv series which you mention, they are airing in channel 2 at 2.30pm. Normally I don't look up for shows which are in the early afternoons so I didn't realize they were airing this series.