any guinea pig money saving tips?

top_drawer_2

hey, can anyone tell me how to insert pictures? The help pages mention an attachment icon which I cant seem to find .....

Thanks

Jen

helping_hubby

top_drawer wrote: »

I am feeding them some sort of multi-supplement food (small brown balls) as the shop said that this is what they fed them and I didnt want to upset their digestive system by changing it.

This sounds good to me. I don't have piggies, but have rabbits but I think the idea will be similar in that the 'pellet' style foods are often considered better than the muesli style food. As with the musli they pick and choose their favourite bits and don't necessarily get all the nutrition they need.

I measure out the pellets for my rabbits, so it may be worth looking into doing this for guineapigs too. I feed them twice a day so it's spread out a bit as they pretty much gobble up their food in 5 minutes.

http://www.burgesspetcare.co.uk/pet-care/guinea-pig-feeding.html This is the piggies equivalent of what I give my rabbits. There's some advice on there about good and bad fruit/veg near the bottom.

beachbeth

top_drawer wrote: »

hey, can anyone tell me how to insert pictures? The help pages mention an attachment icon which I cant seem to find .....

Thanks

Jen

If you click reply on the thread, which is what you normally do to add a comment, then you will find you have a white box in which to type your reply. If you hover your mouse over the icons above this white box there is a picture of the earth which says "insert link" and 3 icons across from this there is a picture of what looks like a mountain in a yellow box. If you hover your mouse over this it says "insert image".

Click this and you then get a little box with "please enter the URL of your image". You enter the http address in this box of your picture. I upload my pictures on the website www.photobucket.com and then if I right click on my pictures it gives me the http address of my picture. This will then appear on MSE.

This is how I do it. I don't know if anyone can explain it better?

BindyB

I've only owned guinea pigs myself for a month now, but I did alooooot of research before I got them, and have continued to read up on them since.

With that in mind, I would advise against using straw as bedding. It is too big, hard and sharp for guinea pigs - the ends can poke them in the eye, obviously doing them a fair amount of damage! I use wood shavings (not to be confused with sawdust which is not good for their respiration), with shredded newspaper in the bedroom area. I will add extra hay in there for extra warmth when the weather gets colder.

As for their diet, I also wouldn't put the vitamin C in the water. The nutritional value within it depletes to around zero within just a couple of hours. And besides that, all the decent brands of guinea pig pellets/nuggets or museli will have the right amount of vitamin C in anyway.

Food-wise, they do need the guinea pig food (don't give rabbit food, it has different ingredients that are no good for piggies), and as others have said, nuggets are usually a better bet as it prevents selective feeding (ie, eating the bits they like and leaving the rest). The packet should tell you how much of it you should feed them daily, but as a general idea it will be somewhere around 30g to 50g per pig per day. Whenever you change their food though, you need to do this over a period of time - at least a week - start by adding just a bit of the new food to a bowl of the existing food, then increase the new each day whilst putting less of the existing in, otherwise it's too much of a shock to their digestive system. They need a constant supply of hay, don't scrimp on this - it is essential for their health and wellbeing, they need the fibre, it helps to keep their evergrowing teeth ground down and it gives them something to do. They also need a good sized handful of raw fresh vegetables every day. Do google this and make yourself a list of what's good and what's not. Some veggies are not so good for them, some have no nutritional value and some are completely poisenous. And as a rule of thumb, fruits are okay but in moderation.

As you also asked of anything else you ought to know, make sure they get lots of exercise - put them in a secure run outside as often as you can. Preferably daily, as long as the weather is suitable. If it's sunny, ensure they have shade as they can die of heat stroke in as little as an hour. Make their run area as big as you can and make sure they have their food bowl and water bottle and some form of hidey house available. When the weather gets colder, try and make an area indoors where they can get their exercise - it's not fair to keep them couped up in their hutch/cage 24/7, they need to be able to stretch their legs, get some exercise and have something to do.

I know I've waffled on here but I feel there's no such thing as too much info if you want them to have a happy life. I would definitely recommend reading up as much as you can, either online or get a book or 2 (go to the library if you can't afford to buy )

Hope to be of some help and enjoy your piggies!

SimbaSimon

PLEASE don't use straw in your guinea pig cages! The straw isn't absorbant and can get into their eyes and cause irritation.

We tried toilet training ours and it just wouldn't work. They are much harder to train then rabbits.

You don't need to put vitamin C in the water bottle if you have a good quality food, like burgess Supa Guinea excel which has added vitamins. Water should be changed daily regardless (and guinea pigs love filtered water!).

For the cage we previously used a product called megazorb, you won't find this in your typical pet shop but its great stuff and comes in big bags. Its not as dusty as sawdust and very absorbant. You can find a local stockist here http://www.northerncropdriers.co.uk/ and its known for primary use of horse bedding (thats how absorbant it is!). However we've now changed to carefresh, your more likely to find this in the local pet shops however its more expensive but in my opinion worth it. But if money is tight, megazorb is the cheaper option.

For food, we give ours either fruit or veg daily and fill up the bowl of dried food each morning. You can find a full shopping list here http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=42 however you'll need to sign up to the website to see the post. I recommend you do this, there are certain things guinea pigs should never eat and other things you wouldn't think to try!

Don't bother with insurance. A lot of vets don't know much about guinea pigs as they specialise in dogs and cats and if you look on some of the useful websites you'll get plenty of advice and home remedies.

If you really want to spoil them, lookup oxbow timothy hay. They go crazy for the stuff however its not cheap and is grown in america.

Rummer

We have a lot of guinea pigs and keep them outdoors in a specially constructed home. Their bed (a hutch inside the home) is filled with shavings and they have a plentiful supply of hay and dry food with fresh food being added daily. They love having places to hide so we added tubes and houses for them, plus they can go under the hutch. There is nothing nicer than having them singing to you in the morning!

foreign_correspondent

They are funny little creatures - I have never had one, but I can understand why people like them - my best friend at secondary school kept them, and did very accurate guinea pig impersonaltions (she was a strange girl) we used to get her to do the sounds of guine pigs mating which we found hilarious for some reason!

Rosie10_2

You can train them to use a recepticle as a 'litter tray' but it's probably too late now as you have to leave it in the place the 'go' first. Plus they do eat their own faeces as an essential part of their diet so it is necessary that some remains in the cage. Potatoes are a no no it causes the digestive system to become blocked and eventually death. But as for most other peelings go for it! As for comments like 'my pets are not dustbins' fair enough you care for them but why spend money on whole veg when they wont appreciate it any more than your left overs? I take in rescue animals, currently dogs, cats and guinea pigs and they all eat scraps, why waste perfectly good food!? I thought i was on moneysavingsexpert, oh sorry i am!

My piggies have not had any illnesses requiring vets, including my 7 year old Mr Jingles who we lost at easter. They can suffer from sticky bum though which you can easily remedy yourself, see vets on the web for free advice on this problem and more. If you feed your guinea pig a mixture of dry complete guinea pig food, not hamster or rabbit, with a sprinkling of fresh veg, dark greens and carrots i've found good and do not cause excessive peeing. Fresh veg will mean you have to clean the cage more due to more peeing than with dry but it's great for them and gives them variety. I also use dandelions when in season and let them have a run on the grass in clover/dandelion patches in good weather, they love it! Tubes and tunnels are a favourite too, they like to hide and should have a bed/nest area to retreat too. They are very cleaver little scamps to give them plenty to do by letting them out in the house/garden (but ensure the area is safe and escape proof first!) and changing the cage layout/toys etc to give them something to do and think about. Also keep them in a room where you spend a lot of time as they really do prefer it to being alone. My dogs love them, my rottie thinks they are her babies so mine get plenty of 'free range' exercise in the house and affection with my other animals but do be careful when introducing other pets as they are a prey species so may become a target!

I hope this helps!

Sirbendy

Agreed. I've had piggies for years and love 'em to bits...my last 2 were 12 and 13 when we lost them. Now I have 2 more, one smooth-hair, one rex that looks like a bogbrush. Both live in a big outdoor capable cage, in the kitchen of our 2 bed upstairs flat.

They have sawdust and hay, a water bottle that's constantly topped up, and daily feeding of the leftover food, carrots, celery, tomato, lettuce, strawberry, sweetcorn (try it, they love it!) and anything else we can find, including grass which the cats then try to steal and chew. Sigh.

Dry food is only given on cold days or times we don't have much else...they seem happy with it. Noisy little people mind you. Good fun though, and they LOVE the cats...both are kept seperated though. Cats usually sleep on the cage.

Ours have cardboard tunnels, bricks to jump on, a "pigloo" to sleep in and climb on, and are usually let out for an hour or so to explore the kitchen while we cook.

Rummer

We did a lot of research when we got our pigs and every sources said they didn't jump or climb. I can safely state that this is not true as we have a pig who can escape from almost anywhere! Make sure if you are letting them out in a playpen that it is a decent height!