Beginning Research

[BrunosMama]

So, my husband has decided he would like a guinea pig. So I’m beginning research on piggie care. I had them as a kid, but now I want to be sure we take care of them as well as we can. I know many members have guineas, so I was hoping you guys could share some basics. Thanks!

[Animanga_addict]

Hey! I used to be a piggy owner so I can reccomend a really good website. Its guineapigcages.com , its a forum with alot of valuable information. Also guinea pigs must be kept in pairs and are very vocal. I could hear my piggies wheeking for veggies at 4 am from 3 rooms down. They are not like rabbits when it comes to litter training. Everywhere is a litterbox. And i do believe the minimum for 2 pigs is 16 sq ft or a 2×4 c&c cage (cubes and coroplast). Like rabbits pet store cages are not suitable for pigs. I reccomend using nic grids to make a cage and use corrogated plastic underneath. You can even place orders for second level cages and already cut and scored coroplast at guineapigcages.com. like rabbits they have open rooted teeth and need hay. So since you own buns that part should be easy!floor time for them was harder because I had to lay down fleece and puppy pads so the floor wouldnt be ruined. Overall piggies are wonderful pets with funny personalities! I hope you adopt and post some pigtures!
*EDIT: i just noticed I was rambling.. sorry about that I tend to ramble-type (is that a thing?) Whwn it comes to animals lol. But i really do recommend guineapigcages to back up everything I said*

[BrunosMama]

Pigtures, I see what you did there.

I’m curious, because I read a few articles saying you could litter train piggies. The process sounded an awful lot like bunny training.

Thanks for the page, I will check it out!

[Azerane]

I watch a few guinea pig youtubers, I don’t think a single one has litter trained pigs. Can be done, but much less reliably than rabbits.

Keep in pairs as a minimum, generally only 1 pig in the pair needs to be desexed. Some people have small herds with 1 neutered male and 3 or so unspayed females. Very similar diet to buns regarding quantity of hay/veggies/pellets. Guinea pigs need added vitamin C or can get scurvey. Good pellets and veg such as capsicum with their greens are a good way to make sure they’re getting enough. They love to run around and popcorn so space is important, as mentioned minimum 2×4 (grids, not feet) for a pair. If you have hideys, 2 entrances are important so one of the pigs doesn’t get cornered in it. They’re also not as big chewers as rabbits and can be kept on fleece without any risk of chewing.

Have a look at Skinnypigs1 and Little Adventures on youtube.

[Gina.Jenny]

I’ve never managed to toilet train a piggy, but many are natural corner goers, meaning they like to back into a corner to go. Choco was a corner goer, and it makes cleaning easy, Latte unfortunately isn’t a corner goer As Azerane says, the biggest difference between piggy care and bun care is that rabbits can make their own vit C, whereas piggies are like us and need a daily supply. Piggies can have much more veg than buns too, Latte gets almost unlimited greens as well as unlimited hay. Neutering boy piggies means they can go in with girls, it doesn’t mean their behaviour changes, like it does for a dog or a bun, so two boars can end up fighting even if bonded and neutered, and like rabbits, they hold long grudges.

[Reesebun]

This is now how I imagine everyone with guinea pigs! lol

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