You need some entertainment in their Guinea Pig cage

Whilst we have spoken before about the importance of providing your guinea pig with a guinea pig hutch of sufficient size this is not the only factor in keeping a happy and healthy and well adjusted guinea pig as a pet.

Guinea pigs are social creatures, and it is best to keep more than one. If you are keeping more than one you need to consider which sexes go together best. Of course if you have a male and a female together then you will be unable to prevent them breeding unless at least one of them is desexed or you keep them apart.

Keeping two male guinea pigs together can lead to fighting, though they may eventually get on well. However if you are looking to keep several guinea pigs the best way to do this is to buy 2 females.

However there is still more that you can do to make sure that your guinea pigs are happy and well adjusted. Guinea pigs need things to do and if you provide a sufficiently spacious cage they will have room to exercise and run around, but little to do.

Therefore you need to consider providing them with a little stimulation. Fortunately this is not difficult. We provide ours with some plastic pipes around 4 inches in diameter for them to run in and out of, a few small boxes with holes in them so they can play in and out of the boxes, and some little hiding holes as well.

If ou give your guinea pigs a few things like this then you’re giving your guinea pigs things to do. And don’t forget that they need something to gnaw on to keep wearing down their teeth, or they will gnaw on something that you don’t want them to. A piece of wood or bark is sufficient. Read the rest of this entry

Housing Guinea Pigs indoors is fine as long as you follow some basic rules

Of course it is entirely possible to keep your guinea pig indoors. Whereas outdoors they are normally housed in a dedicated guinea pig hutch many people keep them indoors in a variety of different cages or other housing.

However just as for keeping your guinea pig outdoors, when keeping him, or them, indoors there are some things that you need to think about.

There are hazards for guinea pig’s indoors that do not exist outdoors.

The first thing to think about is the type of housing you will provide to him. Whilst it is perfectly possible to use the normal guinea pig hutch that you would use outdoors this does have some limitations. For example an outdoors hutch generally has an open floor to allow the guinea pig to graze on grass. This is of course not always the case but is common.

Using this type of cage indoors means that all the mess will end up on your floor. Of course you can always lift the guinea pig cage up and clean, however there are easier ways. One of the first things to think about when considering your guinea pig housing is how easy it is to clean. For example there are guinea pig cages solid plastic floors that are much easier to clean.

Some outdoors guinea pig hutches have a wire floor. We suggest that this is inappropriate in any case, however should also be avoided for indoors guinea pig housing.

Much better than using an outdoors cage for your cavy is using an open topped cage. This allows for easy cleaning as well as allows for the people to pick the guinea pig up very easily. There is no need for a roof on your guinea pig hutch where he is kept indoors. The sides should be around 30 to 40 centimetres high.

Should make sure that your guinea pig housing is not located under a window where it will be drafty or near any appliances such as the heater where there may be dangerous fumes. This is also better not to locate the guinea pig cage in direct sunlight through a window as that can get very hot in summer, and cold in winter. Read the rest of this entry

You need quality feed in his Guinea Pig Hutch

Feeding your guinea pig isn’t difficult. You can buy premade commercial guinea pig food in your pet shop and this should be provided in a dedicated feeding bowl in the guinea pig hutch at all times. However there are some other things you should feed your guinea pig as well.

Hay is a big part of the guinea pigs diet, and many people will use hay both as a lining for the floor of the guinea pig hutch as well as the floor of the sleeping area, and as there is hay in the cage already the guinea pigs will eat that.

However guinea pigs also like green leafy vegetables, (although you should avoid cabbage and lettuce as these can cause diarrhoea). They will also happily eat fruit and root vegetables like carrots, though it is better not to feed these in large quantities.

A guinea pig needs plenty of roughage in the diet which gets them chewing which helps wear down their teeth, otherwise the teeth can grow and cause dental problems.

Good vegetables to feed are the leaves of broccoli celery brussels sprouts and spinach and Asian greens. Read the rest of this entry