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General Looking for accurate books describing guinea pig care

CavyEngineer

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Hello, all. My son is writing a research paper regarding the care of a pet, so he selected guinea pigs, of course. He needs actual books, not just internet sources, for his research. Can anyone recommend 2 or 3 books with correct information? I'm willing to buy used copies if someone suggests an out-of-print title.
Thanks!
 

bpatters

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Well, there aren't many. And most of them have a good bit of incorrect information in them. I never recommend books because I haven't found any that I like.

Over at Guinea Lynx (www.guinealynx.info), the medical sections have a number of links to veterinary references. Those might help you.

There's a care guide over at GL -- it's online, but can be printed. It's recommended by the SPCA and a number of other organizations for its medical information, as this site is for cavy cages and living conditions.

I wouldn't bother with the kinds of pet care books that you can find in book stores. Those are really riddled with incorrect stuff -- it's just gotten repeated over the years, and hasn't nearly kept up with recommended changes in care.

Peter Gurney (now deceased) wrote a lot about guinea pig care and has some books out -- you should be able to google them up. But even he is out of favor for antiquated advice in some circles.

Good luck, and let us know how your son gets along.
 

PeanutnCookie

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I haven't found any accurate books either. I have found some relatively accurate books, but they have too small cage recommendations, or they suggest using a food mix that is full of seeds and other things. What I hate most about books is the "how to breed" sections. Breeding is dangerous for all pigs involved and if a book puts the wrong idea into someone's mind, things could go really bad. I hope your son's project goes well otherwise!
 

sabrinaxceleste

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Hmm. Can he still use internet sources alongside his book resources? If this is the case, I'd probably hunt down a few easy-to-find guinea pig books and scour them for any details that are indeed accurate and use online sources for everything else, personally. Even if it's something small. I've done similar things when trying to write papers for my college classes, haha,
 

Field-of-Dreams

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These are the books I have. Lots of good info in most with some "um, no" stuff hiding in there, too.



(broken link removed)

(broken link removed)

(broken link removed)

(broken link removed)
 

CavyEngineer

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Thanks to you all, including spy9doc. I'll get some books and help my son sort through the good and bad information. He's so excited to be the only student researching guinea pigs in his class.
 

bpatters

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Here are a few suggestions. The books may (will?) have incorrect information about:

1) Cage sizes. See the Main tab of this site for the recommendations. The ASPCA agrees with these, and many GP sites and vets link to it.
2) The role of vitamin C. Scurvy is not nearly as prevalent as the vet textbooks make it out to be, partly because so many more GP owners feed fresh veggies than they used to.
3) The need for a guinea pig friend. They're not solo animals, and they do much better with a buddy.
4) The competence of small animal (read "dog and cat") vets to care for them. They aren't even similar to either one, and regular vets get little to no education/training in the care of exotics. Some do actual harm to them, and we never recommend that someone take their pig to a dog-and-cat vet except possibly for eye emergencies. Eyes are pretty much eyes are pretty much eyes, so the vets can't do much harm there as long as they don't attempt surgery.
5) Guinea pig weights and diets. The recommendations in vet books are made from observations of lab animals, many of which are sacrificed or given to rescues at a fairly young age, not family pets. They are normally heavier than the vet books recommend/observe, and their diets need to be much more varied.

Guinea Lynx is another excellent site, with many medical references, and many vets and rescues also link to that site.

Good luck!
 

WheekingPiggies

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I have and recommend this book: (broken link removed)
It's full of information at over 130 pages long. There are great pictures and it is both informative and understandable for kids. There are a few things in there I disagree with, but I think it does a pretty good job going over all aspects of guinea pigs, giving a clear message that they are a big commitment.
 

CavyMama

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Honestly, I wouldn't trust any hard copy books. Most are full of out-dated or just plain inaccurate information. It's not their fault, they are simply going by the same information that's been cycled about since probably the '50s. A lot of the info is supplied by breeders who aren't exactly looking out for the best interest of the pigs. Or by vets who really don't get a whole lot of training on guinea pig care.
 

LifeAsItMayBe

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I really like this book: (broken link removed)

It may have "Training" in the title, but it also has a lot of care information in it that is similar to what you will find on this site. C&C cages and fleece included!
 

LifeAsItMayBe

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That's weird, I posted a link from AmazonSmile and it turned into a link for WalMart. Any ideas why, Moderators?

Let's try the regular Amazon: (broken link removed)
 

Rywen

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I have "My Guinea Pig" by Immanuel Birmelin My Guinea Pig (My Pet Series) (broken link removed)
(broken link removed)
Is pretty good except for the advice about feeding bread to sick piggies.
 

Fay

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Hm, I would have assumed there was one made by now but then to be fair guinea lynx and cavy spirit are probably way too busy to write one.

I would be happy to write a book about proper guinea pig care but I would need permission from guinea lynx and [MENTION=1]CavySpirit[/MENTION] to use its sources as I obviously learned everything I know from this place and it would be disingenuous of me to claim to be the source of this information.

Especially since I don't have any actual qualifications or proof of expertise regarding guinea pigs aside from owning them. I would just be repeating information found on here.

But it's true that a lot of people rely on books as the main source of care information so it might help to spread good care information if there was a book compiled with all this info in it. Which I could do as I currently have plenty of time.

I would of course make sure the final drafts are approved first before trying to get it published but I would need people on board if I were to do this. I can't start on this kind of project without approval.
 
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pinky

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Perhaps it would be better to write a paper on all the bad information about guinea pigs you find in book.
 

Fay

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Perhaps it would be better to write a paper on all the bad information about guinea pigs you find in book.

Sure but when people buy pigs they often tend to just grab a book about general information rather than a sheet of paper with 'what not to do'. People tend to consider books to have a level of expertise even if undeserved. I know that for myself that I initially relied on these books because I thought they would have accurate information in them. Same with trusting pet stores and vets (the one I first went to didn't have a clue about guinea pigs). If the books out there right now don't have the right information or not enough then that should be amended.

The reality is that a lot of people don't go out of their way to go online to find the best sources of information. The people who visit this forum and guinea lynx are just a portion of guinea pig owners. So, if we can make a book that can be sold in physical stores and online stores like Amazon (I could also make an e-book version of it). And if we can get vets to recommend this book then we will reach people who wouldn't otherwise think to go online. I personally think it would be a good idea, I will try to contact Cavyspirit and Guinea lynx to see how they feel about it. It would be entirely down to them.
 

LifeAsItMayBe

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Huh, yesterday it was WalMart, today it's fixed. Anyway, ditto [MENTION=30078]Rywen[/MENTION] about "My Guinea Pig" by Immanuel Birmelin. I have that book too.
 
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