Good reference book for a child?

[PrincessPeanut]

Hello all! I was wondering if anyone had a recommendation for a good reference book for my daughter. She's an advanced reader, probably 4th grade or so, but only 6 1/2. Something with lots of cute pictures but decent advice about care would be very appreciated. Thanks!

 

[MoosesMommy]

Try a childrens book about guinea pigs. My daughter is 4 1/2 and likes cavy stories. It's not the same as reading a reference book but the stories usually teach a valuable lesson. I downloaded some books about guinea pigs on my iphone for my daughter to read.

 

[Catahoula]

There are very few books that accurately inform people about proper guinea pig care. The following link is to one of only 2 I've heard about.

(broken link removed)

I personally purchased and read this book and can vouche for its cute pictures, (mostly) reliable information, and easy read level. I think this would be a good choice for a child.

 

[sdpiggylvr]

The unfortunate thing is that most books, like Catahoula mentioned, have outdated and incorrect care information. The Animal Planet guinea pigs book Catahoula suggested is the best one I know of. If she can't read it herself, maybe you could read it with her.

I think the best way to learn is by doing, so perhaps you could get involved with a nearby guinea pig rescue or animal shelter and talk to them about volunteering or fostering.

Good luck! And I'm glad you're emphasizing the learning about how to care for guinea pigs before bringing some into your home. It's surprising, but far too many people do not do what you're doing!

 

[PrincessPeanut]

OK, good--that was one of them that I was debating on getting. I've done a lot of research myself before we are purchasing the piggie, but I want her to have something here that she can open up and read whenever she wants/needs to. My main concern is with what we can/cannot feed to the piggie, as I know this will be one of the first fun things she will get to do with him/her. But she needs to learn about the rest of the care, too. She loves to bring home animal books from the library, but again, I want something here for her whenever she has a question. Thanks for your help! I'm off to order the Animal Planet book.

 

[Catahoula]

https://www.guineapigcages.com/threads/22156/

Check out this thread for a chart you can print out to make menu selections for you and your little one easier.

You can post it on the fridge to use as a quick reference.

 

[pandaloki]

I recently bought the "guinea pig and me" book from barron's. It has pretty pictures of guinea pigs your daughter will love, very easy to read, but some of the information is either wrong or missing. I remember when I was small, I had a puppy, my mom would buy me reference books about dogs. Since I love learning about them so much, I didn't mind if it was a billion pages long with few pictures. May be the same could go with your kid.

 

[PrincessPeanut]

https://www.guineapigcages.com/threads/22156/

Check out this thread for a chart you can print out to make menu selections for you and your little one easier.

You can post it on the fridge to use as a quick reference.

That's a great reference! Thank you! I will post one on the fridge and one on the top of the cage. This will also go along whenever someone needs to pig-sit for us.

On a not so related question to a book, but more to diet--I notice they say to only give fruits a few times a week--I thought I was supposed to give my piggie a slice of orange every day for the Vitamin C. I purchased a Vitamin C supplement, but was told it was better to give in food form...should I be pushing veggies with high Vit C instead of fruits?

 

[HannibalLecter]

As fruits & things like carrots are higher in sugar, they are only appropriate to feed occasinally or as a treat in smaller amounts. Orange is far form the highest in vit C either. You need to begin feeding the daliy staples.

The daily staples include 1/4 yellow or green bell pepper, this will meet their vitamin C needs. Orange or red contain more sugar & should only be fed occasionally, or when teaching a pig to eat it. 1 slice of red bell pepper does however cover the whole vitamin C intake for the average pig.

2 kinds of lettuce, 2-3 medium/large leaves. Many red & green leaf varieties to rotate. No iceberg, romaine could cause sludge in some pigs & should in that case be avoided.

Cilantro, a great herb that also could be fed daily up to a handful. As well as a chunk of Zucchini if your pigs like it. Feed only these until your pigs eat them well, especially the bell pepper. Then add rotational veggies per Ly's diet chart. This will be the needed cup of veggies.

As well as a good long strand grass hay available 24/7. And a quality pellet, there are only a handful good ones available where most others are pure garbage & harmful. Kleenmamas (best brand, only available online), Oxbow, Sweet Meadow and a certain verison of Mazuri.

 

[PrincessPeanut]

Ahhh, ok, thank you! This is conflicting advice from what I have been hearing...I do know that peppers contain more Vit C than oranges, so that does make sense--good thing they are like my favorite veggie to eat, too! LOL In fact, it sounds like I have a similar love of food to the piggies--that should make it super easy! Are the water supplements ok, or not advised?

 

[HannibalLecter]

Oh the pigs have definitely made me eat a more healthy diet, as I rather eat it than let it go bad.

Vitamin C in water degrade within half an hour where the pig wouldn't drink enough, and makes the water taste different which in most cases results in the pig drinking less. A good diet makes supplements unnecessary.

But if your pig isn't used to vegetables at first or is ill, you could feed a human pure vit C tablet & water with a syringe, just check the amount & split it. Oxbow also carries an appropriate Vitamin C tablet - Daily C.
Oxbow Animal Health | Daily C