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nawbie has questions!

  • Thread starter Cute Cavy Queen
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Cute Cavy Queen

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I have only had my piggy for 3 days. I am already sick of the bedding and want to switch to fleece. How do I do this? Can I potty train her and how? Also, when i pick her up and hold/ pet her she makes these squeaky noises. I don't know if that means she's scared or happy. She fell between my bed and the wall once and I'm terrified she hurt her back. Any other tips or homemade cage decoration/toy ideas would be appreciated.
102_2557.jpg
Me and Piglet
 

arionat799

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Welcome to the forum!! TFS the pigtures, Piglet is very cute, as is her name!!! Switching to fleece shouldn't be hard. Buy the fleece, wash it ad least 3 times, cut it to fit her cage-speaking of which, what kind do u have? just curious-and put towel(s), newspaper(s), puppy pads, or-the best-a uhaul furniture pad underneath. Wash it once a week-or more frequently if you want- There is more info on this on the "stickie" under the bedding category titled: Fleece:The Study I believe. As for litter training, is there a certain place in the cage you've noticed she "eliminates" in alot?

When you pick her up, those squeaks can mean alot of things. Usually it means they're happy, but there are lots of differnt kinds, do u have anymore of a description for them? usually they are just chuts though which means she's happy. (Ive had my piggie for a little more than a week now and she does this too)
 

sfrangu

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What a cutie! The pic is gorgeous.
 

Trega

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Hey welcome to the forum! I really like the picture :) If your guinea pig did fall recently, please make sure you monitor him well for signs of injury. If he isn't walking or eating, etc, it may be a good idea to take him to a vet for exotics to make sure he is ok.

Fleece is really great for bedding and there are a lot of fleece related topics in the bedding portion of the forum for help. Guinea pigs often can't be 100% potty trained, but often people put litter boxes near where their pig eats because often that is where he goes to the bathroom.
 

bpatters

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Well, you should read some more about fleece before you make a commitment to that. Some of us got awfully sick of fleece and changed to something else.

The size of your cage has an awful lot to do with how much smell there is. If you've got her in a small pet store cage, it's going to smell no matter what bedding you use. If you have her in a cage of the recommended size, or preferably larger, you'll have less problem. Click the Home button above for recommended cage sizes.

You can't potty train her. You can train yourself to put litter boxes where she pees and poops the most, and underneath her hay rack, and that will catch most of it. Those can be emptied more often than you change the whole cage.

The squeaky noises are likely just her talking to you. They chatter to people and to each other.

As far as care goes, read the articles on the Home page of this site, and at Guinea Pig Education, Care, Rescue and Adoption at Cavy Spirit. She needs long strand grass hay all the time to keep her back teeth ground down and to keep her pooping properly. Grass hays are timothy, bluegrass, orchard grass and brome, and you'll probably have to buy them online as they're not southern hays. She needs fresh veggies to give her vitamin C -- red and green leaf lettuce, bell peppers, and cilantro should be staples in her diet. If she's less than six months old, she needs alfalfa pellets, and if she's over six months, then timothy pellets. No additives to the pellets -- no seeds, corn, colored bits, etc. Just good plain pellets. The best ones come from (broken link removed) or Oxbow. Fruits are only an occasional treat. Read the "read me" sticky on the Diet and Nutrition forum for what she can and can't eat.

No hamster-like wheels, no salt licks, no leashes, no treats that have grains, seeds or a lot of sugar in them. The best treats are fresh herbs -- mine are absolutely wild for fresh dill, cilantro and basil, and will eat several others as well.

Watch her carefully on any higher surfaces. Guinea pigs have almost no depth perception. Their eyes are on the sides of their heads, and they'll walk off the edge of something without realizing what they're doing.

Welcome to the forum, and enjoy your pig.
 

Fizzlepop40

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Welcome, CCQ! (Remember, I gave you that nickname when we were chatting. :D ) Fleece is WAY better than bedding in my opinion. Way easier to maintain and cheaper! Yes, do monitor Piglet for signs of injury and take her to a cavy-savvy vet right away if you notice anything unusual about her. Some toy ideas that my pigs LOVE: TP roll stuffed with hay, Shoe box obstacle course sort of thing for floor time, and little stuffed toys to toss around/cuddle with.
 

Cute Cavy Queen

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Thank you very much.
 

Cute Cavy Queen

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I do not have a store bought cage. I happened to stumble upon this site a while back and found the size recommendations and while searching the internet for cages I was thoroughly disappointing with the sizes. Anything even close was around $135. Right now I have a c&c cage but instead of coroplast in the inside we have a this tarp secured with cable ties on the outside. My c&c cage is 2x3 but im hoping to expand to a 2x4 with a 1x4 upper deck as soon as I get more cubes from target. I have noticed she doesn't have a place, there's poop EVERYWHERE in the cage. This is why I've decided to switch away from bedding.Not only do I have to dig to find and clean the poop for spot checks, My cage takes One 10L bag of corncob and 8L of wood shavings to get it to a nice depth. I cannot afford to buy a new 10L bag of corncob and 10L bag of shavings every week. Her squeaks are short and kind of quiet. I just tried to find a video on youtube of guinea pigs squeaking to show you and the second I turned it on Piglet went crazy in her cage. The first five seconds of this video is the sounds she makes.
Wheek! Wheek! Wheek! - YouTube
Thanks
 

Cute Cavy Queen

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I do not have a store bought cage. I happened to stumble upon this site a while back and found the size recommendations and while searching the internet for cages I was thoroughly disappointing with the sizes. Anything even close was around $135. Right now I have a c&c cage but instead of coroplast in the inside we have a this tarp secured with cable ties on the outside. My c&c cage is 2x3 but im hoping to expand to a 2x4 with a 1x4 upper deck as soon as I get more cubes from target. I have noticed she doesn't have a place, there's poop EVERYWHERE in the cage. This is why I've decided to switch away from bedding.Not only do I have to dig to find and clean the poop for spot checks, My cage takes One 10L bag of corncob and 8L of wood shavings to get it to a nice depth. I cannot afford to buy a new 10L bag of corncob and 10L bag of shavings every week. Her squeaks are short and kind of quiet. I just tried to find a video on youtube of guinea pigs squeaking to show you and the second I turned it on Piglet went crazy in her cage. The first five seconds of this video is the sounds she makes.
Wheek! Wheek! Wheek! - YouTube
Thanks
 

arionat799

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Well I'm very happy that you did your research and already have a C&C Cage! Yes, that is normal chutting which means that she is happy, my pig does the same thing. If she is pooping everywhere, putting a litter box under her hay rack and where her pellets and water is should catch most of it. If not, i have a mini broom and dust pan that i use to sweep up the poops-she mostly poops in her litter box but sometimes there are a few under her hidey-and i find it very easy! Hope this helps! :)
 

Cute Cavy Queen

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Yes it does, thank you so much.
 
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