Vasundhara
Member
Cavy Slave
- Joined
- Nov 3, 2016
- Posts
- 11
- Joined
- Nov 3, 2016
- Messages
- 11
Hi guys!
My name is Vasundhara and I am currently based out of Bangalore. I have been researching and reading about guinea pig care for the past month on this forum and Guinea Lynx and I am finally going to go ahead and adopt two female pups on Tuesday. I have been speaking to owners in India on both the forums to understand how they are managing given the resource limitation in the country and I just want to say how grateful I am that these forums are there. I feel like I would have been completely lost if I had not found them! I am really excited about getting my two babies and while I feel that I have read a lot about them, I thought it would be better to reach out to the community at large to also get inputs on the arragements I have made!
1. The pups I will be adopting are about 50 days old. Until I asked the owner, he had not really checked their sex but he says that they are female. I have read about the process of sex determination in guinea pigs so I will confirm it for myself when I go to pick them up. However, my only apprehension is whether they would have become pregnant by now because it was a litter of 8. He says that all the others pups were adopted about a month back so there is no way they would have become pregnant but I have also read on Guinea Lynx that females can become pregnant as early as 3 weeks. What do you think is the likelihood that the sows are already pregnant?
2. I have been searching high and low for a decent cage in India. I intend to give them a lot of floor time but since I am at work for around 12 hours, I wanted to make sure they have a spacious cage as well. The owner of the pups has a wire mesh cage which is 4ft by 4ft. I was thinking of picking that up and then putting one layer of plastic, followed by two layers of towels and then a final fleece layer. Do you think that would be a good option? Also, I have been reading a lot on this forum about the towels smelling bad - what has your experience been? I think puppy pads might not be the most cost-effective option for me.
3. In a lot of pictures, I have also noticed small floor mats in the cages. Are these kept for pee absoprtion? What are they made off?
4. I was speaking to another guinea pig owner and he mentioned that his piggies often 'squirt' the urine so it lands outside the cage? I don't know what his cage setup is but is that something common? Should I be putting up boards on the side of the cage to prevent the urine from squirting outside?
5. I am pretty sorted on the nutrition aspect - the threads and food charts have been very helpful. However, hay is not easily available in the country. Do you think I can substitute hay with grass? Would that be okay?
6. Do you think if I give them enough capsicum, it should be an ample substitute for the pellets?
7. I am also a little confused about the litter tray. I understand that it should be next to the water bottles and hay, and that is where I should do most of the feeding to litter train them. However, I wanted to ask what to put in that try? Will paper shreds be enough?
I really look forward to hearing from you! And apologies in advance if I have posted in the wrong thread or asked too many questions!
Best,
Vasundhara
My name is Vasundhara and I am currently based out of Bangalore. I have been researching and reading about guinea pig care for the past month on this forum and Guinea Lynx and I am finally going to go ahead and adopt two female pups on Tuesday. I have been speaking to owners in India on both the forums to understand how they are managing given the resource limitation in the country and I just want to say how grateful I am that these forums are there. I feel like I would have been completely lost if I had not found them! I am really excited about getting my two babies and while I feel that I have read a lot about them, I thought it would be better to reach out to the community at large to also get inputs on the arragements I have made!
1. The pups I will be adopting are about 50 days old. Until I asked the owner, he had not really checked their sex but he says that they are female. I have read about the process of sex determination in guinea pigs so I will confirm it for myself when I go to pick them up. However, my only apprehension is whether they would have become pregnant by now because it was a litter of 8. He says that all the others pups were adopted about a month back so there is no way they would have become pregnant but I have also read on Guinea Lynx that females can become pregnant as early as 3 weeks. What do you think is the likelihood that the sows are already pregnant?
2. I have been searching high and low for a decent cage in India. I intend to give them a lot of floor time but since I am at work for around 12 hours, I wanted to make sure they have a spacious cage as well. The owner of the pups has a wire mesh cage which is 4ft by 4ft. I was thinking of picking that up and then putting one layer of plastic, followed by two layers of towels and then a final fleece layer. Do you think that would be a good option? Also, I have been reading a lot on this forum about the towels smelling bad - what has your experience been? I think puppy pads might not be the most cost-effective option for me.
3. In a lot of pictures, I have also noticed small floor mats in the cages. Are these kept for pee absoprtion? What are they made off?
4. I was speaking to another guinea pig owner and he mentioned that his piggies often 'squirt' the urine so it lands outside the cage? I don't know what his cage setup is but is that something common? Should I be putting up boards on the side of the cage to prevent the urine from squirting outside?
5. I am pretty sorted on the nutrition aspect - the threads and food charts have been very helpful. However, hay is not easily available in the country. Do you think I can substitute hay with grass? Would that be okay?
6. Do you think if I give them enough capsicum, it should be an ample substitute for the pellets?
7. I am also a little confused about the litter tray. I understand that it should be next to the water bottles and hay, and that is where I should do most of the feeding to litter train them. However, I wanted to ask what to put in that try? Will paper shreds be enough?
I really look forward to hearing from you! And apologies in advance if I have posted in the wrong thread or asked too many questions!
Best,
Vasundhara
