Introductions Guinea pig questions from a beginner

I wouldn't recommend for a 7 yo. Guinea pig are not starter pets

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Jadyn said:

I wouldn't recommend for a 7 yo. Guinea pig are not starter pets

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I would be helping her, it will be "her" pet but I'm taking main responsibility. She is also reading on what guinea pigs needs. I'm not going to get her a guinea pig and have her not understand what goes into owning a pet.

Itskay10 said:

I would be helping her, it will be "her" pet but I'm taking main responsibility. She is also reading on what guinea pigs needs. I'm not going to get her a guinea pig and have her not understand what goes into owning a pet.

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Good

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Guinea pigs are better in pairs so if you get it make sure you get two

ThePigAlchemist said:

Changing out the fleece daily would be excessive in my opinion. You can get away with about a week between cage changes. Towels and fleece work great for me, but some people prefer U-Haul pads as their absorbent layer instead of towels.

As @scoottie said, guinea pigs are social animals and are much happier in pairs. Males and females are both great, although you may experience more squabbling between a male pair, especially when they're in their adolescence. This isn't universally true, though. I've had many male pairs that did wonderfully together. Make sure to research proper cage sizes, because they may be bigger than you expect, but I can tell you firsthand how important all that extra space is.

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Thank you. I would love to get a c&c cage, just not sure where to look. We are definitely going to get a big one. I've been told that males spray, not sure how true that is or not. I was going to do the fleece and towels but I was thinking if sewing it all together but it sounds like it's a bit much. How many layers of towels do you do usually? I'm assuming they get changed everyday, do you use a special detergent?

Sorry for all the questions, I just want to do things right.

Although males are more likely to spray, both sexes mark areas when there is two.
i would get two and tell your girl, "this one is mine (maybe let her name both) and the other is hers so you both have a social activity togeather. Just a thought. Let your little girl decide what sex to get. Males do need more space than girls. Please adopt. Don't get petstore piggies. If you like to know why not, there is a lot a info on this site. If you adopt, you might get a already bonded pair and won't have to worry about introductions.

Here's some reading for new pig owners:

https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/113176-Information-for-new-guinea-pig-owners
https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/107827-What-NOT-to-do-for-your-guinea-pigs!

Getting kids pets like guinea pigs is not a smart idea. It will truly and 100% become yours. You will have to change the bedding, feed it, make sure he has water, take him out for floor time, give him his veggies, pay for vet bills, and anything elce that would come with owning a pet. Guinea pigs are not good starter pets, for adults or children. I suggest something you can leave at home if you go on vacation or something. You can not leave a guinea pig at home all alone, so you're going to have to pay someone to watch him too.

Lizards and fish are animals that can be left home alone for vacations, and they dont need to be fed every day.

For C&C cages you need 2 things: cubes (wire storage cubes/grids) and coroplast.

Coroplast: local sign shop, Home Depot, Amazon maybe, coroplast shops online, etc. Home Depot is where I got mine. 8ftx4ft piece for about $21. Big enough to make a 3x6 C&C cage (the walls will be about 3-4 inches, hay and poop will fall out easily so I'd recommend getting a second sheet so you can make the walls higher if you're going for a 3x6)

Cubes: Kmart, eBay, Amazon, Bed Bath & Beyond, Target, Walmart, Sears, Ikea, https://www.storesupply.com/pc-12194-518-14-x-14-white-mini-grid-panel-30101.aspx

Here are the most common bedding options:
-Fleece with towels/u-haul pads/wood pellets. Wood pellets need to be bought over and over again but I heard they last anywhere between 8-10 weeks and are the best at odor control. If you go up to the search bar on this site and you type in "wood pellets" you will see there are a bunch of threads on the topic with great advice and lots of feedback. You can find them at Lowe's, Home Depot, Tractor Supply. U-haul is in 2nd place in terms of odor control. You only need to buy them once. You can use 1 layer underneath the fleece but 2 is preferred. https://www.uhaul.com/MovingSupplies/Protective-stuff/Furniture-Pad?id=2670 Towels smell very quickly and I wouldn't recommend them. Thicker ones are better but those are more expensive. With towels/u-haul, it has to be changed at least one a week with the fleece.

-Paper bedding/wood shavings. Not great at odor control, IMO. Also, very expensive in the long run.


Here are the guinea pig basics:

-They need to live in pairs or groups. Guinea pigs are social animals and are happier and tamer when they have piggie friends. No matter how much attention you give them, you are not a replacement of a piggie friend. Guinea pigs feel safer in numbers and unless you have tried him/her with several piggies and cannot bond them successfully, you can have it live by itself. Here's everything you need to know on how to bond guinea pigs successfully: https://guinea-pigs.livejournal.com/3002707.html
Here's more info on why guinea pigs shouldn't be living by themselves: https://guinea-pigs.livejournal.com/2982433.html

-They need quality hay 24/7. This promotes healthy digestion and is 80% of their diet. It also ensures that their teeth do not overgrow, front and back.

-They need 10-15% of their body weight in veggies everyday (you can figure this out by using a kitchen scale that measures in grams or ounces. This is essential to have. It's not only great for weighing food but it's also need for weekly weighing. Guinea pigs are prey animals so they like to hide their illnesses from us until it's too late and usually the first sign of an illness is weight loss. A kitchen scale can really save your guinea pig's life. You will need to weigh them weekly on the same day every week and record it somewhere so you can look back on their previous weights). They need variety to ensure they are receiving all of the necessary vitamins and minerals. Guinea pigs, like humans, cannot produce their own vitamin c so they need to eat something that's rich in vitamin c everyday so they do not get scurvy. 1/8 of a bell pepper, any color, per pig per day will do the trick.

-Pellets are optional. They are supplements so they are not a must. You can believe what you want, but I and some other people choose not to feed pellets for many different reasons. You can feed them if you like but just make sure they are quality (Oxbow pellets or KMS pellets) and that they only get 1/8 of a cup per day if there are 6 months and older. Pigs under 6 months can receive unlimited pellets.

-Guinea pigs need lots of room. They like to run and popcorn and they live happier and healthier if they are not confined to a ridiculously small, overpriced pet store cage. See the main page of this site for cage size standards.

-Getting any sort of animal means saving up for vet bills. Do not get guinea pigs if you are not 100% you can afford potential vet bills. Every guinea pig will need some sort of medical attention/treatment no matter how well you care for them.

-Adopt, do not buy. Every person that buys an animal from a pet store or breeder is supporting animal cruelty with their dollar. There are thousands of guinea pigs of all colors, ages, and breeds in shelters, rescues, and foster homes. Pet store pigs are usually sick and well cared for. The sows are often pregnant. Shelters and rescues don't let anyone go home with a sick animal, unlike pet stores. They take care of the sick and provide all of the food each animal needs. Most pet stores I've been to confine their guinea pigs to a small glass tank (usually 5+ guinea pigs are in there) with small holes on the side. There is usually only one water bottle, God knows what's in there, there is little to no hay, and a bowl full of junk pellets (the ones with the colored bits, corn, nuts). By adopting, you help many more animals in need. Shelters and rescues use most of their money to buy supplies for their animals. When you buy an animal from a shelter or rescue, you are opening up another spot for a needy animal. When you buy an animal from a pet store, you are letting that pet store stock up on more animals that were bred incorrectly and have been treated and fed poorly. Your options for getting guinea pigs other than from a pet store or breeder are shelters, rescues, friends and family, craigslist, guineapigfinder.com, petfinder.com. Pet stores don't care while shelters and rescues do.


Hopefully, your daughter learns all of this so she knows what to do. Good luck to you!

As someone who was a first-time guinea pig owner a few years ago, I would like to echo that they are A LOT more work than you'd think. I'm glad that I was an adult with a job so that I paid out of my own pocket for the extra expenses. My two major mistakes, in no order, were:

1. I approached getting guinea pigs thinking, "they're like hamsters, but bigger and more awkward looking!" Nope. They're closer to rabbits. They don't burrow. They don't ration their food. They're free-roaming animals that eat whatever food is in front of them. They pee and poop where they please which makes constant cleaning a necessity (you don't have to change the entire cage out, just pick up the poop).
2. Buying stuff from a pet store. Cruelty aside, the store associates aren't particularly helpful. It's probably not intentional, but they're not in a position to give you the best advice. I bought a lot of crap that ended up being not used and thrown away. The quality is really just not as good either. I was throwing out more than half of their KayTee hay and it took them maybe 2-3 months to go through a small bag of pellets. When I switched to SPS and KMS Hayloft, however, it was almost a night and day difference.

And just to hammer home the vet costs a bit:

3. I had to bring one of my pigs in due to an eye infection a week ago. The visit and medicine cost $120. I remarked to the vet that I could go down to the pet store and buy 4 more or adopt 10 more at a local shelter for that price. She laughed and said, "Well when you have kids I hope you don't have that same mentality."

To give you an idea of the space you'll need, you'd at the very minimum need the size of a baby's crib to house two pigs. If they're male, you're looking at a space about half the size of a twin mattress. It'll definitely be worth it to give them as much as they need because you can see some interesting behaviors. One of the pigs I adopted lived most of his life in a small cage because his owner didn't know any better. I gave him a Midwest cage I had lying around and after a few weeks of getting adjusted, you could just tell he was much happier and was overall more active around the cage.

Recently, a co-worker put up one of his guinea pigs for adoption. I asked him why, and he said he got it for his daughter when she was 10 but she's lost interest in it and so he's had to take care of it for the past year. I couldn't take him in because I had no space in my apartment so the best I did was point him to a local shelter that did. It's great that you're doing your research ahead of time. As a parent, you should definitely be aware of the very real possibility that they will become YOUR pets. If you're okay with that and you're willing to learn, then you should go for it.

Pet store pigs are usually sick and well cared for.

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Pet store animals are not well cared for. Whoops.

As for the weighing of the veggies, you can use a kitchen scale that measures in ounces and/or grams. This is essential to have if you are interested in owning guinea pigs. Guinea pigs are prey animals so they hide their illnesses (really really well) until it's too late. Usually the first sign of an illness is weight loss so there's another reason why to get a kitchen scale. You will need to weigh them every week on the same day. A kitchen scale can save a guinea pig's life because once you see they have lost a significant amount of weight you'll know something is wrong and, hopefully, you'll bring them to a vet.