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| Your Guinea Pig |
| Here are lots of good tips you can put to use. Don’t forget that the entire team of the LaSalle Veterinarian Clinic is at your service to help you, 6 days a week. Do not hesitate to contact us, you are our reason for being! |
The Guinea pig is a herbivore, a member of the Caviidae family, in the order of rodents. It originates from South America (the Andes Cordillera). There are three types of Guinea pigs and many varieties of colour:
- Peruvia : long-haired, soft coat (they have short hairs at birth).
- Abyssinia : with rosettes English or American: short-haired.
- Recently, other types have been recognized such as the Texel, Terry, Silkie, Skinny and Baldwin.
If you are adopting a Guinea pig for the first time, we recommend that you take the time to read a book on these animals. You will be better able to understand his behaviour at home and his way of interacting with other members of his family.
General Information [top]
A Guinea pig is easy to take care of, has a rather docile temperament and gives off very little odour. On the other hand, if it happens to be a highly stressed animal, he will be very sensitive to environmental changes as well as changes in his diet. The average lifespan of a Guinea pig is between 5 and 6 years. He will weigh about 1 kg (a little more for the male and a little less for the female) at adult age.
The gestation period lasts about 70 days and the litter can vary between 1 and 4 offspring on average. The little ones are born with their fur and teeth and their eyes are already open. They eat immediately after birth but the mother will breastfeed them for three weeks.
In the wild, the Guinea pig lives in groups; it is therefore preferable to have many of them unless you are willing to pay them lots of attention and keep them active since these animals are very sociable. It is docile and rarely bites. He is very sensitive to stress (noise, comings-and-goings, etc.). You must never lift him by the skin of his neck but use both hands instead.
Captivity Conditions[top]
Your Guinea pig needs a cage which is at least 100 square inches per animal. He needs a cage with a bottom made of durable plastic and wire sides which resist corrosion (a cage designed for Guinea pigs is best). Avoid wood and other such materials.
The ideal cage is 65 cm x 40 cm x 35 cm. Your Guinea pig will also need a shelter within his cage where he may hide. We do not recommend cages with wire bottoms since such could hurt his paws. The ideal litter is paper granules (Yesterday’s News) or newspaper sheets. Wood chips can cause respiratory problems. Sawdust can stick to his genital parts and irritate him.
Nutrition [top]
It is very difficult to change a Guinea pig’s diet once habits have been created. To avoid this problem, you should offer him a wide variety of foods while he is still very young. His diet includes:
- Granules for Guinea pigs: buy these in small quantities and keep them in the refrigerator.
- Timothy hay: fresh, of good quality and available at will.
- Daily Vitamin C supplement: in water, about 200-400mg of Vitamin C/litre. You can purchase Redoxon (effervescent Vitamin C) at your local pharmacy. Put ¼ of a tablet in his water bottle and change the water daily.
- Various vegetables, if possible those rich in Vitamin C: parsley, spinach, peppers, broccoli, beet leaves, cabbage.
- Fresh water should be available at all times in a plastic bottle with a stainless steel pump.
Rabbit feed is not recommended. The Guinea pig, unlike the rabbit, needs a daily intake of Vitamic C. Avoid raisins, since they are too rich in carbohydrates and may cause dangerous obstructions.
