I just bought 2 guinea pigs
@craftyqueen2007 (151)
United States
January 6, 2007 1:36am CST
I am so excited. My husband and I after work last night went and purchased our very first 2 guinea pigs. One was an English male and the other is the very long A name and he's a male too. My husband looked at them and named one who is pure black but has a couple spots of brown "Toupee" and the other who is pure white (an albino actually) "Almond". I love the names. I'm not sure why, but I do LOL!!!!!
I am looking for some information about them. Do you know of any really good guinea pigs sites that have REALLY good information about them?
I owned one when I was 7 and now finally have purchased them as an adult and love them like I did when I was a kid before my adoptive mom was rude and sold him to the highest bidder. So when someone is that young they don't know a whole lot about an animal they didn't get much time to bond with. Any helpful tips and advice would be well appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
4 responses
@pebbles724 (642)
• United States
7 Jan 07
Guinea pigs are wonderful pets. They are easy to care for and very gentle. Whatever you do, do not put 2 males together in the same hutch. Males are very territorial and will fight. You can find books about guinea pigs at your local library. You can also do a search online for information about them.
@Pigglies (9329)
• United States
8 Jan 07
That's a myth that two males won't get along. You're probably using too small of an enclosure, in which case, two females won't even get along. And you shouldn't use a hutch because wire floor damages piggie feet.
Beware of books, a lot of them have very old information. I can't personally recommend a single guinea pig care book currently on the market.
@Pigglies (9329)
• United States
8 Jan 07
The only thing with males is, if they are the same age when they hit adolescence, things can get a bit tough. But I've had several pairs that were same age that did just fine. If they started to fight, I'd give them some space away from each other by adding a loft to the cage. I found that if I separated them though for non-serious fighting, it seemed to make it worse. On the CavySpirit link you can see what signs are serious and what aren't on the introduction page, as it relates a lot to fighting as well.
As long as you are keeping them in a cage larger than 6 square feet though, they should have plenty of room to not fight.
I've adopted out several pairs of males and it was very rare for any to come back due to fighting. Out of fostering probably 20-30 male pairs, I don't remember any of them coming back for that, and can only think of one other foster's pair that did. So yeah, definitely a myth. Don't make males live alone. :)
@craftyqueen2007 (151)
• United States
8 Jan 07
My guinea pigs are both males and are currently in the same cage. They are fine in fact they don't fight. They may if I've put them somewhere together (like the chair tonight - a big overstuffed chair, they were both wanting the same area). But mostly they huddle together and are buddies. They've really been wonderful. I've fallen in love with them. As far as their cage goes, I have them in a large dog cage. I have their food dishes and water bottle in there along with a hiding spot for them. I remembered that they love to hide if they can, so I have a little hide-out for them and they both can go in there and hide together. It's really cute watching them.
But yeah, I agree it's probably a myth with the 2 males fighting. Mine haven't and they both were in different cages at the store, but only for different breed purposes.
@lilmamaparker19 (35)
• United States
12 Jan 07
the best one that
i remember is iloveguinueapigs.com
it is very cool
oh and also petco.coom has alot of
info that you
could use hope that i helped talk to
you soon
@Pigglies (9329)
• United States
13 Jan 07
I wouldn't follow much you read from Petco's site. Their in store care sheet is horrible.
Never heard of the other one. There is something out there called "guinea pig secrets", beware of that one. Although it has some good info, the good info is just stolen from other sites, especially www.cavyspirit.com where you can read it all for free.
@knights_of_honour (348)
• India
7 Jan 07
Hi if you have any problems or you want to buy any products for your guinea pigs I can help you. I have experience on them you can visit my site you can find it helpful to buy any products for your guinea pigs or any other pets . You can also tell your relatives and freinds to buy from www.indipets.com we supply all over USA and Europe
@Pigglies (9329)
• United States
7 Jan 07
One really good informative site on guinea pigs would be: www.guinealynx.info They have information on absolutely everything!
Another place with a lot of information is www.cavyspirit.com (a guinea pig rescue that also has put up tons of information pages).
My main advice would be:
1. Weigh your piggies weekly on a gram scale - when they get sick, they deteriorate quickly. You'll notice weight loss much more quickly if you weigh them. By the time you can see the weight loss, it's usually too late.
2. Feed a diet of mainly hay. Watch what veggies you give them. And don't feed pellets with the little treats in them. See Guinealynx for more information on proper diet.
3. Cage space! Make sure they have enough room. See www.guineapigcages.com for information on building your own guinea pig cages.
Best of luck to you!
@craftyqueen2007 (151)
• United States
8 Jan 07
Thank you very much for these informational sites. I will definitely check them out.
