New Board Member with Questions

[Sam0214]

Hello I have been reading through your board for awhile. I am probably the last person that you want to have here...lol. I bought my guniea pig from Petland and the cage too. It has two levels.

You have a very great site here with loads of info. Petland seemed like a good store but now I am not to sure. They didnt even tell me the sex of my guniea pig. I am leaning twards a girl now. I read up on your site here (telling the sex) and I tried to get the penis to extrude. I was pushing with my thumb and really didnt see anything come out. ( I didnt push very hard I didnt want to hurt him/her.) I am not sure on the age of my pig. I am going to call in the morning and find out. I know its a baby because I have seen adult pigs before and this one is much smaller. I have had a guniea pig before but its been a lot of years since then. I was just a kid and I dont remember much.

I have some questions..it seems to love carrots. (gosh I feel terrible for saying it but I am really not sure on the sex yet....)

So how many carrots would you give in one day? I was just giving baby carrots that are already peeled, very small.

What is the best food as in like pellets?

Does my pig need to see a vet for a check-up or anything like that?

Ok if I think of more questions I will post them...thanks in advance for any help you can offer me.

Jennifer & piggie....stilling waiting to name it

 

[morrigan]

One baby carrot a day is enough. Don't feed him/her too much. And its much better if you don't peel them.

For the pellets, check out www.guinealynx.info forum site on what kind of pellets is recommended.

You need a vet (on exotic animal) just in case something bad happens to your pig. www.guinealynx.info

 

[Sam0214]

Its a girl

Morrigan-

Thanks for replying...I found out that my Guniea Pig is a girl! So we still stuck with the name Sam ...just because my daughter can say her name now...so we just stuck with Sam.

I went to Petco tonight and got her a ton of stuff! I was so excited when I got home. I got this Huge ball that has holes in it....its made out of Hay. Got her some toys...one of those leash things, and some treats too ;-)

She is sooo friendly..she purr's when I pet her. I have been sticking my hand in her cage everyday so she gets used to me. I dont want her to think that everytime I put my hand in her cage that she has to run from me.

Jennifer & Sam

 

[Treen]

Don't use the leash - guinea pigs have very delicate skeletons coupled with tubular bodies (no neck) and you can't get the leash on securely without making them uncomfortable, or risking injuring them. They're not anmals you can 'walk' either - they go where they want and hate being pulled at all. So it's best for exercise to be an area they can wander around in freely.

I would chuck the 'treats' in the bin too - they treat the pet shop owner's till, but aren't good for guinea pigs to eat. They contain hydrogenated fats, sugars, additives - all sorts of things they don't need and you shouldn't be encouraging them to like if you want them to stay healthy. There are so many veggies they can eat, and if there's anything a guinea pig loves, it's veggies! So use bits of their favourites as treats and forget the junk.

Have a read of this page on what they should be eating https://www.guinealynx.info/nutrition.html - lists lots of veggies they can eat too so it may give you some ideas. They love variety, so a little bit of several different things is ideal for them and means you don't have to worry so much about what too much of anything can do. Remember to introduce new foods slowly so you don't upset their tums.