Which kind is best and what's best for it?

NEVER buy a wheel. It is bad for their feet and back. The gender is really your choice. Both have their ups and downs. I've heard that un-spayed females are particularly prone to cysts in their uterus that can cause death. Whatever you get, make sure it has a friend.

There is not much different between males and females. Males are not smelly contract to popular opinion.

You need two. They do best in pairs.

I'm sorry, but from your post, you need to do some more research. They do not need a wheel. Those are bad for them and can break their backs. They are not hamsters.

If you have a C&C cage (see the main page www.guineapigcages.com) then they will get plenty of exercise.

Please read over this page for basic care: https://www.guinealynx.info/healthycavy_orig.html

Go to www.petfinder.com to look for guinea pigs to adopt.

Hello!

My first question is are you adopting your pig? Its really a good way to go . Males and females both require about the same amount of maintenance. I have two males right now, (I have had females) and notice no differance in "messyness" or one being easier to take care of than the other.

Its great for guineas to have a buddy, they are very social animals and enjoy each others company. If you are just getting one, its really your decision to get a baby or an older one. If you decide to get two, you need to get two males or two females. It usually makes intros go better if you have a very young one and one that is older.

Hair length is another personal choice, you DO have more maintenance on a pig with long hair, brushing, keeping clean, etc.

Wheels are a big NONO. They can seriously injure a pigs legs and feet. They will get plenty of exercise in a large enough cage.

This is totally my opinion here, but when I adopted my pigs, I was not worried about the color, sex, size, hair length, breed or anything like that. I went to the shelter, held each pig they had, and picked the one that suited me best. He was a male, so when I went to adopt my second pig, all I needed to make sure of was that the second one was male as well. If you are looking to have the piggy for a companion, try not to be picky, they all need good homes and lots of love!

Male or female does not really matter, they both are good pets. Baby or adult, that is personal decision, just keep in mind that most people prefer a "baby" so adopting a adult pig is better seeing it may have taken longer for him to find a home. A long haired guinea is going to require much more work on your part, trust me I have one. You will have to brush their hair and do haircuts frequently, but if you do not mind that than again personal preference. DO NOT, no matter what you decide to do give your pig a wheel. Guinea pigs bodies are not made for running wheel and they are very likely to hurt themself or damage their backs if you were to use one. Instead think about making a play excersize area where your pig can come out of his cage and play on the floor. Many people make cages on the floor that are large, others let their animals explore with supervision. That is really the best excersize you could ever get your pig (with the exception of getting two pigs to chase each other around). I think it would be very good for you and your pig if you were to do more research. You came to the right place and made a good choice to do your homework before adopting your new family member. Good Luck!!

Well, I didn't know for sure whether to get a wheel. I figured they wouldn't sell something at the pet shop that was bad for an animal. When I had the other guinea pig I didn't have a wheel. I did have a box with a door cut out, and the guinea pig loved to run in and out of it. The cage I have looks like this one, except it is about 3 ft. long and 2 ft. wide, and I forgot it is about 1 foot tall.

https://www.guineapigcages.com/images/hottopics/httheoldway.jpg

I didn't know for sure. We have had both male and females, and I didn't notice any difference in smell, or otherwise sanitary being. I will be buying the guinea pig at the pet shop. I was just asking some questions about what is best. We HAVE raised several guinea pigs and hamsters. I do not know of any places around where I can adopt one. When we had the other guinea pigs, we had two in the same cage, but sometimes they did not tend to get along, and they would chatter their teeth at each other, but at other times they would both be "purring". They would both run around the cage about all day. We had boxes that we had in the cage, and they liked to hide in them.

Mattew, where do you live? There are MANY people on this forum that may know of rescues near you or could arrange for you to adopt a pig and do a piggy train. Pet store pigs can come home with all sorts of issues, so please adopt if you can.

I will be buying the guinea pig at the pet shop.

Please don't buy from a petshop! There are many pigs in rescues and on death row in shelters. If you let us know where you are someone can probably point you to a good rescue where you can adopt your pig. Additionally, petshop pigs are frequently sick and have parasites. Pigs in rescues have been quarantined and are much more likely to be healthy.

Guinea pigs are much happier in pairs, so you might also consider adopting a pair.

I live in a small town called Saltville, which is in Virginia. I would have to go about 25 miles just to buy one. Pet shops are very limited here in my area. Is adopting free? I would have to pay $20 to buy one at the shop.

Rescues charge for adoptions so that people understand these are not throw away pets.

If you post on the adoptions page that you are looking for one, or a pair, then frequently people will make every effort to help you find them and help with making arrangements to get them to you.

matthew88 said:

Well, I didn't know for sure whether to get a wheel. I figured they wouldn't sell something at the pet shop that was bad for an animal.

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Ideally, this would be true, but unfortunately pet shops are there to make money and often don't know much of anything about the animals or supplies they sell. Definitely avoid wheels, balls, harnesses and leashes at all cost, no matter how cute they might look. A guinea pig's back doesn't bend the right way for any of them, and they could get badly injured. The wheels and balls also have a risk of a toe getting caught in them. Even for my hamster, I stay away from all except the solid surface wheels.

The measurement on that cage is probably taken on the outside I would guess, and is still going to be much too small. Check out the how-to-build information on (broken link removed). Building a big cage that your piggies can run around in and be MUCH happier is extremely easy and much cheaper than trying to find a large enough store cage. The minimum requirements that we try to stick to are 7-10 sq. ft. for 1 piggy and 10+ as you add on more little guys (or girls). Building can be fun as well.

As far as not being able to find a rescue, if you can give us your city or zip code, I'm sure several people would be happy to find you some places to adopt piggies from. You can also check out https://www.petfinder.com. If you go there, check the classified section as well. I've had great luck with personal adoptions from that part of the page.

My zip code is 24370. City is Saltville, VA. Hopefully these will help you find something, or you can give me the links to rescue sites. I went to one that was cavyrescue.com, but it said the only one in Virginia was in DC / Northern VA.

matthew - I did a quick search on petfinder.com for you and came up with several piggies at Cave Spring Piggie Rescue in Roanoke and Save Them All Animal Rescue in Greensboro, NC. If you go to petfinder, there is a link at the top for Shelter and Rescue Groups. You can find both addresses and phone numbers as well as links to their animal lists and their adoption policies.

As you've seen, buying pigs from petshops is a sore topic. In addition to petshops generally not knowing how to take care of most animals, and the animals being sick a lot of the time, they are often missexed. They also get the animals from breeders or animal mills who are more in the business of making money then caring about the wellfare of animals. When a petshop animal is sick, they are often frozen or killed in some other fashion. When a space comes open because 1 animal dies or is sold, they will usually go back to the breeder and buy 2 more to take it's place. The animals are basically viewed as merchandise and not animals. Please try to adopt from a shelter or rescue if at all possible.

In my case, this animal shop is in the animal hospital called Highlands Animal Hospital, and the website is (broken link removed). Would it make a difference if it was located in the animal hospital?

That cage is too small. Please look over www.guineapigcages.com again .

and this page: https://www.cavyspirit.com/petstores.htm

Pet stores give out a lot of bad information and do sell products that are bad for animals. They are only out to make a buck.

Teeth chattering is normal. They weren't fighting. As long as there is no bloodshed, leave them be. You need a bigger cage for a pair. They will get along better if they have space to move about and play.

matthew88 said:

In my case, this animal shop is in the animal hospital called Highlands Animal Hospital, and the website is (broken link removed). Would it make a difference if it was located in the animal hospital?

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That COULD be different. If they sell supplies and adopt out animals that people have abandoned there or brought to them because they were found, I'd say it's fine.

I don't buy online, BUT is there some kind of store I can go to to find the correct size cage? How much do you think the correct size cage will cost? Remember, I am very limited on what I can buy here. And if I do build one, what materials should I use? Are any harmful to guinea pigs? Seeing that these are at the animal hospital, wouldn't they be taken care of? I don't think this is a place where people bring them there. I think they breed them. I wish I could find an adoption center.

The cage I have is probably more similar in size to this cage? Would you still say I need to get a new one? just checking...

(broken link removed)

That cage is a 2X3 grid cage, each grid is usually 14 in by 14 in. It is good for 1 piggie but I believe you can put two in it, I think thats the recommended, please correct me if I am wrong. Also, I found it pretty hard to find the coroplast and grids but if you look around a bit you can find them, I called every sign store in the phone book and finally found one that would sell the coroplast and then I found the grids at Costco, which I believe you can order them online too (from both Costco and a other places). There are also many alternatives, if you go to the Photo Galleries and go to alternate cages (or something like that) you can see what other people have come up with, there is also a forum for cages on here too and I believe there is already a post on alternatives you can use.
Someone (sorry whoever this is, I dont remember your name ) used those spongy giant puzzle things that are for kids and I think she/he said it is working pretty well. I would think you would need to line it in newspaper, shavings, fleece, whatever you choose.

Its pretty fun to design and build your own cage, I always think of new ideas and hurry and sketch them out for future references.

That cage you last linked to is 28"x42" not 2ftx3ft. You will definately need a larger cage for two boars. It's pretty cheap and easy to build a cage that meets size requirements.

I figured they wouldn't sell something at the pet shop that was bad for an animal.

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Petstores are always selling crap that is bad for animals. They do it to make money without the safety of the animal in mind.
Things they sell that guinea pigs don't need:
Wheels and balls
Vitamin C drops that go into water
Treat sticks with seeds and nuts
Yogurt drops
Mite and flea sprays that can harm the pig instead of curing the mites/fleas
Pellet mixes

Those are just a few things they sell that are bad for piggies.

Also I have to ask you to please stop using the colors and bold for all your posting.