Soon to be new guinea pig mom

[SammiT234]

Hello everyone. I have been discussing with my parents and little sister about buying or adopting two baby guinea pigs and finally they have agreed. I work at a pet store and while it has guinea pigs for sale I would prefer to buy babies that were sure to be healthy and fit. I also had a few questions. Can and should guinea pigs eat fresh orange slices? What should I look for should one of them become ill? If anyone has some general info it would be much appreciated.

[PrayerWarrior]

[FONT=Georgia]I recommend just doing your homework. I did what had to add up to at least 100 hours of research on guinea pigs themselves, their common illnesses, what's safe and not safe for their cages and bedding, fruits and veggies they need, what types of pellets and hay, etc. etc. etc.

Obviously I'm not suggesting you do 100 hours of research (although if you can, that'd be great!), you should definitely check out these links.

http://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/...arts-info.html
Ly's awesome food chart.

http://www.guineapigcages.com/
The home of this forum; lots of good information.

Index of /
Awesome site.

Guinea Lynx :: A Medical and Care Guide for Your Guinea Pig
You should totally read through the care guide: fully. It does get tedious, but great to know.

Petfinder.com: Adopt a pet and help an animal shelter rescue a puppy or kitten.
And last but not least, once you've done your research, you can type in your zipcode and find tons of rescues near you.
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[ginger12508]

I don't have any answers to those, but please adopt! Many guinea pigs need homes, and pet store bought pigs don't get the proper care.

[erikahand83]

Yes, they can have orange slices and you don't have to worry about taking the peel off either (they eat that part too). As far as getting babies make sure they are at least for weeks old and if they are a litter of mixed gender don't get any females that have been with the males in the litter after four weeks of age cause they could already be pregnant and so could their mom if she has been exposed to the males in the litter.

[Ly&Pigs]

They can have oranges but it's not something to feed every day. They need 1 cup of veggies (primarily leafy greens) per day to ensure vitamin C. Contrary to popular believe, oranges don't have all that much vitamin C. They also need high quality pellets and grass hay.

Please do research and don't buy while shelter pigs die.