Newbie Intro

Read, read, read. Read the articles on the main page of this site, and at Guinea Pig Education, Care, Rescue and Adoption at Cavy Spirit. Read the stickies at the top of each forum, particularly the ones on bedding and diet. And don't go wild buying junk from the pet store -- there won't be much there that you'll actually need.

Watch your pig carefully -- many pet store are pigs are ill or have parasites or skin infections. If your pig is sick, take him to a good exotic vet, and not back to the pet store -- he may or may not get treatment there, whatever they may tell you about it.

One thing you'll find is that it's recommended to have two pigs, not one. They're social animals, and do better with a buddy of their own kind. If you do decide to get one, please look for one from a rescue or a shelter -- we'll be happy to help you find one.

Welcome to the forum.

Welcome! You've taken the first step to making your boy happy by coming here. With a C&C cage, diet with veggies from the chart here, and lots of TLC, he'll be a content piggy. Since you got him from a pet store, please watch him carefully for any signs of illness. I bought Mufasa from a pet shop before I knew better, and he came with a URI that killed him within 15 days. The symptoms were very subtle up until the end. Hopefully Grimm is healthy and you won't go through that same heartbreak.

One other way to make him happy is to adopt him a friend, since piggies are such social animals. After Mufasa, I adopted one piggy from a shelter and one from Craigslist. You'll benefit from that, too, as piggies are even more amusing with they're interacting with a buddy.