Basic Guinea Pig Care & Facts
I'm going to get a guinea pig soon and i would like to know some basic care,facts,toys to get, and maybe even games to play with it!
Thanks!
Answers:1. Guinea pigs can not make their own vitamin c and without vitamin c they will get scurvy which leads to death. Tablet supplements can be used but avoid the drops you put in water. Even easier though is using different fresh produce, the following site includes a chart and how much you need of each food to get the 10mg a day that they need:
http://www.aracnet.com/~seagull/guineas/...
2. Guinea pigs live for 4-7 years, although the guiness world records is 14 years and 10.5 months.
3. 1 guinea pig should be housed in a 7.5sq ft cage, guinea pigs are herd animals by nature thus why they should be housed in pairs (please consider getting 2, of the same sex), 2 guinea pigs need a 10.5sq ft cage. Avoid pet store and commercial cages, they are wayy to small. C&C cages (cubes and coroplast cages) are the best thing out their for guinea pigs. They are easy to build, modify and clean plus they are cheap.
4. If you use the correct bedding then you will only have to clean the cage every 5 days or so. Aspen is great, it soaks up the urine and has no aromatic oils, it is quite expensive. Carefresh has been known to cause respiratory problems so I would avoid it, just to be on the safe side. Fleece is also becoming increasingly popular, what fleece does is wicks the urine to the bottom of the cage, this is why you need matress pads, towels or puppy pads to soak up the urine which is wicked through the fleece. It is also cheaper in the long run.