General We found a lost guinea pig in the front yard and need some advice...

edifyme2 · Aug 17, 2013

Hi, my mom found a lost guinea pig in her front yard, he's been out there for at least 2 weeks. She was feeding him and giving him water, but couldn't catch him. My husband and kids and I went over today and were able to catch him. We took him to a vet's office to see if he was chipped, he wasn't. (I say him but have no idea if it's male or female at this point). My daughter has read a fair amount about guinea pigs before (learning about animals is her hobby) but we are far from guinea pigs experts. Anyway, my mom said she had bought him guinea pig food, but when I went over I saw that it was, in fact, hamster food. I know she also gave him carrots and lettuce, though I'm not sure if it was iceberg or not. We have gerbils and bunnies at home, so we brought him home and put him in an extra cage with a hidey box and some fluff. We gave him some timothy hay and some kale, and even cut up a strawberry since I figure he probably wasn't getting the necessary vitamin C while on his adventure. I'm sure he must have escaped from his home (I HOPE someone wouldn't dump him, but I know it happens). He's just hiding right now, but he did eat the strawberry and some of the kale. I put hay in the box, so I don't know how much, if any, he's eaten. We've been doing a lot of reading on this site, but all the reading in the world can't substitute for experience. Is there anything I need to do or be concerned about that I haven't thought of? We were going to take him to the local SPCA, but I know that they always have so many piggies & bunnies, and I know he'll probably live out his life in a small cage there. So, I guess we've added a guinea pig to the family! The rule in our family has always been "No pets until you've researched & learned all you can about the animal", but in this instance the pet found us first! I know from past experience that there's always a lot of bad information out there, and I don't feel like we have the time to sort thru it all at the expense of proper care for this piggy. We are big adopters and always try to get our friends to adopt rather then purchase, so I feel this place is a good fit for us. Any help or advice will be much appreciated. Thanks!!

edifyme2 · Aug 17, 2013

Oh! I would also like a recommendation on a good quality food. It took us forever to find bunny pellets that we were happy with, I'd like to avoid that and just get a good brand right off. Thanks!

cheshirekris · Aug 17, 2013

KMS hayloft pellets if the best one and they are also quite cheap. Also I was wondering what is the "fluff"?

edifyme2 · Aug 17, 2013

carefresh, the uncolored one. it's what we use for the bunns & gerbils.

RodentsRus · Aug 17, 2013

When you say the fluffy stuff do you mean the kind you buy at the pet store. If so I would remove it.. What kind of bedding are you using? I would put poster up around. Maybe someone has lost it. Good for you to have caught him..Just give him time he must be very scared right now..

bpatters · Aug 17, 2013

Take out the fluff, QUICK! S/he'll eat it and wind up with an intestinal obstruction, and that'll be a medical emergency.

There's some good information at www.cavyspirit.com, in the stickies at the tops of each of the forums on care and bedding, and here: https://www.guinealynx.info/healthycavy.html. Read those and then post back with any questions you've got -- that'll be easier than someone writing a book on here when the info is already out there.

See www.cavyspirit.com/sexing.htm for how to tell which s/he is.

Thanks for rescuing the little guy -- we need pictures!

Also click on the Main tab at the top of this page for suggested cage sizes and types.

spudsthepiget · Aug 17, 2013

Oxbow pellets are good quality, too. How is his weight looking? Does he look skinny, or underweight? My first thought is if he's very underweight, then he was probably a stray.

Congrats on the new arrival! Welcome to the forum!

cavy_jdas · Aug 17, 2013

@bpatters, @edifyme2 - the "fluff" is just Carefresh. That's absolutely fine. You just don't want to put in any of the stuff that is for hamster/gerbil nesting material.

And welcome to the forum! And thank you for gaining this guy/gal a loving home

alphilip77 · Aug 17, 2013

@edifyme2: Welcome to the forum! Glad to see someone reach out to help a guinea pig in need! To answer you pellet question KMS and Oxbow are two high quality pellet brands, so I would highly recommend them. If you cant get either of those, make sure that whatever you feed him/her is a plain, timothy-based pellet with NO seeds, dried fruits/nuts, and no preservatives/colors. The simpler, the better.

Make you sure you dont give him/her too much fruit. Guinea pigs can become obese or get diabetes if given fruit too often or in large amounts. I believe its roughly 1 tbsp per day, no more than twice a week for each guinea pig.

One of the old moderators came up with an EXCELLENT produce nutrition chart for guinea pigs. It has all of the fruits and vegetables (as well as some forage material) color coded based on recommended feeding frequency. It has helped a lot of members on this forum and I recommend you look it over when you can and print a copy for yourself to have on hand. There is also a list of poisonous plants (with respect to guinea pigs) included. Very useful!

Nutrition chart link: https://www.guineapigcages.com/foru...vy-Nutrition-Charts-amp-Poisonous-Plants-List

Finally, make sure you provide fresh, green timothy hay 24/7 as it not only keeps their GI tract moving, but also helps to wear down their molars, which are continuously growing. Also, make sure you find a cavy savvy vet in your area as most vets only deal (or have experience) with cats and dogs (which are VERY different from guinea pigs & other small animals as far as health needs). Here is a link to some recommended guinea pig vets by state: https://www.guinealynx.info/vetlist.html

If you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to post, as someone will usually respond fairly quickly (whether it is a moderator or another forum member). Enjoy your (hopefully) new family member and good luck!!

UchihaMickey · Aug 18, 2013

well, im so glad that that guinea pig found you, its a miracle in progress <3 but I see your new to this site, so I would just like to say welcome, and I agree with @alphilip77,
im Skae ^^ Im a 'mommy' of 2, 1 year old boys, Uchiha and Mickey. if you need anyhelp, just let us know ^^ I hope you enjoy being here and learn with us!
~Skae

Inle_Rabbit · Aug 18, 2013

Poor little pig. In glad he found a good home.

PiggyLove1 · Aug 18, 2013

Aw! Poor little guy/girl. You probably want to get it weighed to make sure he/she is a healthy weight. If you don't have a guinea pig scale, you can take your new pig back to the vet to get it weighed and there, they can sex it for you too.

edifyme2 · Aug 18, 2013

Thanks, everyone, for your advice and encouragement. We haven't been able to get a picture yet because he runs and hides as soon as we walk in the room. He is coming out to eat & drink, and the kids said he was making a lot of noise last night when they were in the next room. They said he was almost as loud as the bunnies

We have a busy work day today, but we're going to try to get him/her to the vet today for a general check up. We have a clinic nearby that takes exotics, we use them for our gerbils, bunnies, and parakeets. Did I mention we live in a zoo? lol!! 3 Chihuahuas, 3 parakeets, 2 bunnies, 5 gerbils, 2 hermit crabs, and fish (2 bettas, a goldfish, a tetra, and an algae eater). And now, 1 guinea pig. I know it sounds crazy, but I assure you that we are NOT hoarders - lol! It's a lot of work, but I have very responsible kids who do a vast majority of it. We're homeschoolers, so they have a lot of extra time to spend with everybody. We also care for friends' animals when they're out of town, so right now we have 2 extra dogs, and we're feeding goats & chickens 2x a day. My kids get paid extra money, and get to spend time with things like goats & chickens since they can't have their own. (That's actually their dream, to have goats & chickens, too) I'll post a picture of Momo (the girls think that's what they're going to name him/her) as soon as we can get one. From what we've looked up, s/he appears to be a tri-color Abyssinian. Thanks again, everyone!!

edifyme2 · Aug 18, 2013

Oh! One more thing, any recommendations for a good book on guinea pig care would be appreciated. My daughter usually checks out everything she can at the library and weeds thru the bad ones (of which there are always many) so that we have some kind of reference at home for each of the babies. She usually likes Barron's but is always looking for more. Thanks!

bpatters · Aug 18, 2013

There aren't any good books on guinea pig care -- they've all got some glaring mistake(s) in them. Your daughter will do better to read here, www.cavyspirit.com, www.guineapigzone.com, and www.guinealynx.info. You'll get the best advice availabe on those sites. There are some other good ones, but not as comprehensive as those.

edifyme2 · Aug 18, 2013

@bpatters We find that to be true of most pet care books. We usually rely on a combination of books & websites. We've already bookmarked the ones you guys have mentioned. I figured it was worth a shot on a book. You never know, right? It would be nice if these book writers/publishers could get it right. So many people read the books and don't research any further and the animals don't get the proper care they deserve...sad..Thanks, though, for your quick reply.

Weluvpigs · Aug 18, 2013

It's great you're opening your heart and home to help this little one. Your house sounds like ours. We have our own mini zoo, 11 Lineolated Parakeets, 2 dogs, 3 betas, and 2 guinea pigs, and we love them all. Can hardly wait to see pics of him/her.

edifyme2 · Aug 18, 2013

We took the guinea to the vet...it's a girl!! The vet said she's a little light, but not unhealthily so, and appears overall to be healthy, especially considering that she's been running wild for at least the last 2 weeks. She guesstimates her age to be about 2yrs old. She was very sweet and didn't fuss while the vet was checking her out. Her eyes and ears look good, no sign of mites or other external parasites, her heart & lungs sound good, no protruding bones...Let me see if I can figure out to add a picture...

We found a lost guinea pig in the front yard and need some advice...

edifyme2 · Aug 18, 2013

Apparently I added each picture twice - sorry!!

PiggieGuinea · Aug 18, 2013

She is so pretty! Now that you know she is healthy will you look into adopting a friend?

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General We found a lost guinea pig in the front yard and need some advice...

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