"This is how we do it!"

Sorry for the lame title, but thinking about what I should call this blog, that is the song that popped into my head. Anyways, I just wanted to give an overview of all my care techniques (most of which I've learned from this site and the people on it). It's not meant to brag or instruct, but just to share and get it all off my chest. Since we all love talking about our guinea pigs, let's consider this just me talking about what I do and how I do it. To anyone who is interested, feel free to read on and get some ideas, or even to suggest some of your own (be nice, though). I'm just going to break it down into several popular categories of care: Diet/Nutrition, Cage/Accessories, Floor Time, Lap Time, and Medical Care.

Before I begin, I have owned six guinea pigs in a time period of six years, three pairs to be exact. I've also worked for a veterinarian who cared for small animals, and have worked at a pet store that deals with selling guinea pigs (no criticism, please). My first pair of guinea pigs was Romeo and Juliet, a male, female pair, each with red and white Dutch markings and American shorthaired breeds. Romeo lived to be about six years old and Juliet lived to eight years. I adopted them from a veterinarian where they had been abandoned by their owner. The second pair were babies Nutmeg and Tipsy. Nutmeg was a calico teddy and Tipsy was a black American Satin. I obtained them from a breeder at a guinea pig show and due to overwhelming allergies and not knowing how to care for them properly, I found a new home for them. The third pair (which I currently own) is Brownie and Muffin. Brownie is Peruvian with white and dark brown bands and Muffin is a Peruvian with red, black, and white bands. Both are just babies and are about 2 months old. I adopted them from a private party.

Over my six years of owning guinea pigs, I've learned a great deal through experience, experts, books, websites, and especially this website. It's unfortunate that guinea pig care is so stereotyped and pigeon-holed into specific guidelines for the average person. In my experience, people believe that guinea pigs can be kept as lone pets in a small cage (I've had people think that 2 square feet is roomy for two guinea pigs), fed only pellet mixes w/ no hay or veggies and don't have to have free time to run around. While everyone on this site knows better now, when I first started out, I too had these mistaken notions. So as comparison, I will use both "before" and "after comparisons of how I cared for guinea pigs, with "before" being with Romeo and Juliet when I first got them six years ago and "after" being with Muffin and Brownie currently.

Diet/Nutrition
Before: Romeo and Juliet were fed a Walmart pellet mixture and Kaytee Timothy hay with occasional veggies.
After: Muffin and Brownie eat Oxbow Cavy Cuisine and Oxboy Timothy Hay mixed with Oxbow Alfalfa Hay (they are babies). They also get daily veggies: Romaine Lettuce, Spinach, Cucumber, Parsly, Cilantro, and Baby Carrots (every now and then I give them a peice of fruit and a different variety of veggies to try). In the morning, I take out all their dishes and water bottle, throw out old pellets, wash and dry their water dish, food dish, and water bottle and refill them all with fresh pellets and water. Their veggies go on a special plate and are given to them in the morning. I also give them Romaine as treats during lap time and floor time. Their hay is put in a hay rack with some on the floor underneath (in case they don't want to reach up for it, which sometimes they dont).

Cage/Accessories
Before: Romeo and Juliet lived in the "My First Home- Extra Large" Petstore cage. I used pine bedding from Walmart. In their cage they had one wooden hidey hut and their food bowl and water bottle. Their cage was cleaned weekly, where it was scrubbed with soap and water and filled with newpaper and fresh pine bedding on top.
After: Muffin and Brownie live in a 2X5 CC cage lined completely with fleece. They have two pigloos, a fleece tent (just fleece hung over some strings), fiddlesticks as a tunnel, a fleece cozy, and a fleece tunnel as well as food, water bowls and a water bottle. Every five days, the fleece and layer of two towels underneath are taken out and laundered. I have three sets of fleece/towels that I interchange. Once the fleece is out, I clean the coroplast out with a half vinegar, half water solution and paper towels. Then new fleece/towels and all their toys are put back inside. The fleece is fastened down to the sides of the coroplast to prevent burrowing. I wash the fleece tent weekly and the cozy/tunnel bi-weekly. Their poops are cleaned twice daily (morning/evening) with a handbroom and dustpan especially for guinea pig use. Because I am allergic to my guinea pigs, any time I handle them or their laundry, I have to wear a particle respirator and special clothes (sweatpants and a turtleneck) to keep the fur off me.

Floor Time
Before: Romeo and Juliet only lived in their cage at night. During the day, they were put out in the yard to graze and taken in at night.
After: Muffin and Brownie get floor time daily or almost daily (depending on my scedule). They have two designated areas: The dining room inside the house, and the patio outside the house. It takes about 10 minutes to set up floor time inside. I have to fasten chicken wire around the base of the cage to keep them out of it, block off the kitchen with chicken wire, and block off the living room with extra grids zip-tied together. I put about four towels on the floor to cover most of the linoleum and then put random toys and obsticles around to keep them busy. I use a few items from their cage as well as a footstool, cardboard boxes, bent grids as tunnels, and a paper bag. They also get their food, hay, and water. To keep them moving, I scatter peices of lettuce around the room and then put the pigs down. They are supervised to make sure they don't get into trouble and usually stay out for about four to five hours. Clean up takes around 20 minutes: after piggies are in their cage, I take down all chicken wire and roll it up, shake out towels outside, sweep up any stray poopies, and completely sweep/mop the kitchen and dining room.

Lap Time
Before: Before I developed allergies to guinea pigs (ironic, right?) I used to take Romeo and Juliet out daily and let them play in the covers of my bed or sit on my lap during TV time. After I developed allergies, I took them out a lot less, and once Romeo died, I rarely ever took out Juliet because she hated lap time.
After: Brownie and Muffin get lap time usually every other day. I have to suit up in my special clothes and mask to take them out and layer the couch with towels. Now that I have their fleece cozy, they usually snuggle in there when I try to catch them, so I just pick the whole thing up and cuddle it as I walk to the couch. I have a couple lettuce leaves as I take them out and put them on my lap on the towel. I take away the cuddle cup so that they don't hide and let them munch on the lettuce, sometimes as I lightly pet or brush them. I keep them out for about 30 minutes, since Muffin pees if I keep her out any longer. When it's time to go back in the cage, I bring the cozy back and position it so that they can snuggle inside again. Once they are inside, I pick it up and take it back to their cage, letting them come out when they are comfortable. I then pick up the towels and shake them off outside.

Medical
Before: Beside when I got Romeo castrated, I only took Romeo and Juliet to the vet twice while I had them. Right after I got Romeo, I gave him a bath and trimmed his nails. When I trimmed his nails, I noticed a peice of poop dried and stuck on his foot. When I pulled it off, it pulled off some skin too and started to bleed. I took Romeo in to the vet to get it cleaned and got some powder to put on it to keep it clean and dry. Another time I took Romeo and Juliet into the vet because they had started getting symettrical hair loss on their back ends, and I felt a large lump on Romeo's back. The vet said they had mites and gave them each shots for the hair loss, but said Romeo's tumor was benign and not to worry about it.
After: Luckily, I haven't had to take in my new babies yet, but in my experience working at a petstore, I do know a little more about guinea pig health. First off, find a competant veterinarian that knows about small animals. At our store, the vet we took sick pets to didn't know much of anything and I never felt right taking them there. Second, if you think something is wrong with your piggy, DO NOT WAIT! Guinea pigs can hide their illnesses, which means that by the time you notice something isn't right, the illness has already progressed pretty far and there isn't much time. Do daily health checks and if you notice anything weird, go to a vet.

So, yeah, that's what I do. You can see just how much I've learned over the years and how I've changed my practices. I can see a huge change in the condition of my guinea pigs from when I first owned guinea pigs to now that I've gained experience and knowledge. Thanks for taking the time to read this!