You do need to clean the Guinea Pig Hutch regularly

Keeping a guinea pig as a pet is a lot of fun, but it isn’t all fun. There’s some work involved to keeping a happy and healthy guinea pig, much of it to do with cleaning the guinea pig hutch. And you need to pay attention to your guinea pig’s diet as well.

Piggie should be fed twice a day. He needs a range of fruit and vegetables for general health and for vitamin C, which we’ve spoken of before. And he also needs dedicated guinea pig pellets which also, if they are well made and fresh, should contain vitamin C.

Whether it’s cold, or raining, or you just don’t feel like it you need to go out to his cage twice a day, every day, and feed your guinea pigs properly.

And don’t forget to check whether they have adequate water as well.

If you’re guinea pig is suffering from low vitamin C you will notice weakness in his back legs. This is a sure sign that you need to increase his vitamin C intake. In this case you can use vitamin C tablets from a supermarket, crush one up and dissolve it in his water to give him a quick burst of vitamin C.

Of course feeding you’re guinea pig should be a pleasure, not a chore.

But there’s more work involved in keeping the guinea pig hutch nice and clean. Of course guinea pigs leave droppings in the hutch, and these need to be regularly cleaned out. How often this is done depends on how big your guinea pig cage is, of course bigger cages need to be cleaned less frequently.

However as there are many small guinea pig hutches available for sale many owners keep their piggies in very small cages. If this is the case you need to clean his hutch at least every 2nd day if not daily. Read the rest of this entry

Bumblefoot is a good reason to have a solid floor on your Guinea Pig Hutch

If you haven’t heard of bumblefoot before then it might come as a surprise to you to know that your Guinea Pigs can get a disease from wire on the floor of their hutch.

Bumblefoot is a disease that attacks the feet of your Guinea Pig. It’s an inflammatory infection and causes lesions and swelling on the pads of the feet of your Guinea Pigs. It is commonly caused by using wire on the bottom of the hutch, possibly because the wire causes cuts on the pads on the bottom of the feet. Then infection enters.

If  you suspect that your favourite pet has bumblefoot then have a look at the pads on the bottom of his feet. If you can see any dark marks or lesions then take him to the vet. Read the rest of this entry

The best home for your guinea pig

Always bear in mind that the bigger the cage, the better the condition of your guinea pig. For health and well-being regarding your guinea pig, it is important that you provide them a large living area as much as possible. There are cages that are easy and inexpensive as an alternative to the small cages used by breeders and those that are sold at your local pet stores.

The standard for a minimum cage is 7.5 or 10.5 square feet and you can see to it that your little pet’s behavior improves otherwise. You can deliberately enjoy new tricks of your happier, healthier, and much perkier guinea pigs when exposed to a proper environment.

Most panels are 14 inches square and allow the connector between the grids and one panel or cube is wider than a foot. It is important that you do not use grids with inner square spaces that are greater than 1.5 inches. Ensure that you are using the right kind. There are brands that have different size and will require you to measure differently or overlapping some grids using cable ties rather than connectors. Take note that you measure it twice, but cut it once.

There are also precautions that should be taken into consideration too. Babies, very young or very small guinea pigs, and pregnant mothers may require some temporary additional height that must be place on the sides of the cage. More so, any wire hay rack must be used with caution when it comes to very small guinea pigs.

There is also the old breeder-espoused cage standard that measures two or four square feet, but this no longer apply these days. The new standards set today have been proven over the years with worldwide adoption and success.

You might be asking why a big cage for your guinea pig is needed. Pet store-sized cages are glorified litter boxes. Animals should not be force to live in a litter box. Providing your cavy a bigger cage will promote exercise and exploration space that is very vital for their long-term health and happiness. Read the rest of this entry