Discover the expert in you.
Discover the expert in you.
Female guinea pigs are prone to many of the same diseases that affect males, such as vitamin C deficiency, bladder stones, ringworm and heat stroke. In addition, the reproductive system of female guinea pigs often suffers from diseases specific to gender. Owners of female guinea pigs, especially those used in breeding programs, should remain aware of these conditions to avoid health complications that the animal may be unable to overcome.
The fluffy hair of a guinea pig makes it naturally appear chubby. Yet this cute, cuddly creature can have a weight problem. Most male guinea pigs weigh between 1.5 and 2 lbs. Most females weigh slightly less, from 1 lb. to 1.5 lbs. As they are voracious eaters, monitoring the fat content of their food and providing exercise opportunities are essential to maintaining a healthy weight.
Guinea pigs, or cavies, make playful pets. The pigs require only minimal maintenance to remain healthful and happy. An outdoor play area gives guinea pigs plenty of room to run around and explore their surroundings. Creating a safe enclosure for the pigs protects them from most outdoor dangers, but you should still supervise them when they are playing outside. Supervision ensures the guinea pigs are safe from predators, toxic plants and general injuries.
Guinea pigs, or cavies, must be housed in a large cage. Improper cage maintenance techniques can lead to bad odors and a sick guinea pig. Many cavy owners use wood chips, but the oil in the wood is harmful to the guinea pig's skin and respiratory tract, resulting in chronic illness, infection and early death. A dirty cage can lead to odor, skin and foot infections. The key to keeping a guinea pig healthy, happy and odor-free is daily cage cleaning and the use of recycled paper bedding and timothy hay.
The head of a guinea pig is connected to the body in such a way that its difficult to tell where one begins and the other ends. Draw guinea pigs with help from an artist in this free video clip.
A guinea pig is a popular small pet for children or apartment dwellers as they are quiet and easy to care for. When you bring a baby guinea pig home, it is likely to be frightened and will hide from you. In order to make regular grooming including brushing and nail-clipping easier, as well as enabling you to move your guinea pig in and out of its cage for cage cleaning, daily exercise and vet visits, get your guinea pig used to your presence and your touch. You can accomplish this quickly with baby guinea pigs, who adapt more easily…
Unlike many other household pets, your guinea pig’s teeth have no anatomical roots and will continue to grow throughout its life. This is typically not an issue because guinea pigs eat forage that wear down their teeth. However, guinea pigs that suffer from malocclusion may experience overgrown teeth. Malocclusion means that your guinea pig’s teeth do not meet evenly and do not wear down properly. If the teeth of your guinea pig aren’t allowed to wear down, they can grow to a length that will make it hard to eat or even cause starvation. There is no permanent solution for…
While guinea pigs are generally tidy little animals, they still need some grooming. Grooming your guinea pig on a regular basis is a good opportunity for you to bond with your pet and allows you to check for any signs of illness. Weekly or daily grooming sessions shouldn't take longer than a few minutes.
With the proper technique and tools, and with enough help from your friends or family, it is fairly easy to kill, clean and cook a pig. It is important that the pig be healthy, dispatched quickly and humanely, cleaned well and cooked thoroughly. The techniques used by farmers, ranchers, hunters and butchers are very different from the process used by large slaughter houses.
The first step to making sure your guinea pig always has a clean cage is to start as you intend to continue. A new pet is an exciting project, particularly for children, but maintaining a guinea pig cage can become a real chore if you do not set up a simple daily and weekly routine so that the job can be done quickly and efficiently.
Like all pets, guinea pigs require plenty of maintenance and care. The ASPCA recommends that guinea pig cages be cleaned well at least once a week. This weekly cleaning includes the removal of all the guinea pig's bedding, and a complete scrubbing of the cage bottom and accessories. Additionally, the ASPCA also recommends a daily cage "freshening" between the more thorough weekly cleanings in order to maintain the proper cage hygiene.
Guinea pigs, often called cavies by pet-owners, make excellent additions to any family. These animals, once they adapt to the presence of humans, become affectionate and loving. Because of their generally docile demeanor, guinea pigs are often a favorite pet of children. It is important to remember, however, that these rodents need a certain level of care to maintain their hygiene and prevent cage odors. Routinely cleaning and maintaining their home environment will ensure a relatively odor-free cavy.
Cleaning guinea pig cages should be a daily part of guinea pig care. It is best to remove wet spots every day and do a through change of the bedding once or twice a week, depending on how many guinea pigs live in the cage. According to the book "Guinea Pig" by Audrey Pavia, the cage itself should be washed once a week.
Guinea pigs are a popular pet for homes with children, however, the pet's cage cleanings usually become the responsibility of an adult in the household. The quickest and easiest way to clean a guinea pig cage when you don't have much time requires the use of a shop vac, a few old towels, sanitizer and about 20 minutes of time.
