Guinea Pig Care

Safety

Always wash and dry hands before and after handling piggies. Cover wires and disinfect floors (make sure its dry) before piggy goes on it. Remove air fresheners from the room and take care to use cleaning products safe for animals. Make sure piggy has a SAFE SPACE such as a pen or cage for bedtimes and when no one is home. Use water bottles and clean them regularly with a bottle brush. Water bowls get tipped over easily and contaminate very fast with things like dust and urine. Use wire mesh to secure the bottom of piggy runs, they do dig, and they will escape! If piggy is too hot you can use fans, tiles or frozen water bottles, all great ways to keep piggy cool. If piggy’s home gets below 0, I suggest an animal friendly heat pad, extra bedding, oil filled radiator next to cage or a small animal fabric bed. Remember… piggies don’t do well with heat but can cope with low temperatures. Piggy’s must be kept in pairs or groups as they get lonely very quickly.

Toys

To stop piggy chewing things, you don’t want them to, give them plenty to do. A piggy friend is ALWAYS the best option as it gives them a playmate of the same species (sorry humans you’re not the same as having a piggy friend)! You can give them wooden gnawing blocks (I recommend natural colouring and flavouring as dyed wood can cause urine infections). The best toy ever… a toilet roll middle stuffed with feeding hay that has a treat (such as a bit of kale/spring greens/parsley) in the middle. The cardboard helps wear the teeth down, and it’s a fun game to keep them busy for a while. Tunnels can be used to make a small piggy playground.

Feed

Most important thing- Timothy hay is 80% of your piggy’s diet! DON’T OVERFEED THE NUGGETS!!! If you overfeed with nugget they won’t eat as much feeding hay, leading to sticky poos. Feeding hay is high fibre and keeps your piggy’s gut healthy. Occasionally there may be a piggy that doesn’t eat the feeding hay (very rare) you can buy high fibre supplement pellets to replace the fibre missing from the hay. Never use muesli feeds it encourages selective feeding, meaning your piggy isn’t getting all the vitamins they need to keep healthy. Veg can cause more harm than good; piggies don’t eat root veg in the wild! Some veg such as carrots are actually very bad for piggy’s, they are high in sugars and water leading to runny bottoms. Runny stools can kill your piggy! Never feed iceberg lettuce it is TOXIC TO PIGGIES. My advice is stick to a small cup or kale or a leaf of spring greens once a week. When you first introduce veg start with a bit the size of your thumb and gradually increase (if stools go moist and sticky stop the veg). Piggies have very sensitive digestive systems (although they eat like pigs) and veg often causes problems. Never give piggy grass cuttings it causes bloat and can kill piggy. Piggies don’t need grass they need timothy hay for the fibre. I feed mine- ½ egg cup nugget per ½ kg in body weight and feeding hay mounted to the size of their body daily. Small cup of kale or a leaf of spring greens once a week (smaller amounts for babies). Take care with piggy treats they are full of sugar!

Grooming

Piggy’s often need grooming mostly during moulting season; however, long haired piggy’s need their fur combing 2-3 times a week. Keep an eye on the length of piggy’s teeth and nails as they continuously grow and may need clipping at the vets. I run my piggies on hard flooring outside to wear nails down and use toilet roll middles and straw to wear teeth down. Keep an eye for sores on the bottoms of their feet a tiny bit of Sudocrem on them helps to sooth and heals fast, contact a vet if persistent. I recommend worming every 6 months unless needed before. I also recommend ear drops to kill ear mites after every clean out. Flea treatment only as and when needed. I also use an eye drop to cleanse the eyes once a month. Please do ask for details on drops I use.

Photo taken from Petsathome.com cage is £50.