Guinea pig myths?

Status
Not open for further replies.
CiaraPatricia

CiaraPatricia

Adult Guinea Pig
Joined
Apr 26, 2010
Messages
3,227
Reaction score
6
Points
0
What myths about guinea pigs have you heard? E.g. guinea pigs are good companions for rabbits.

Ones I've heard are

Guinea pigs can't eat lettuce.

Guinea pigs need to be in a tiny cage about 2'X1' or else they'll be wild and scared.

If you pick them up by the tail, their eyeballs fall out :))

Male guinea pigs can't live together.

Any more? :)
 
I had somene say to me yesterday "ewww i couldny have an animal with tail" so i said actually they dont have visible tails, they have a vertibray (spelling?) at the end of the spine which could only be seen via xray etc which at some point in time was more than likely an actual tail but no, they dont have a tail. i do like being right!
 
zarapiggie said:
I had somene say to me yesterday "ewww i couldny have an animal with tail" so i said actually they dont have visible tails, they have a vertibray (spelling?) at the end of the spine which could only be seen via xray etc which at some point in time was more than likely an actual tail but no, they dont have a tail. i do like being right!
Click to expand...

Haha, my mom is kinda the same, she hates rodents but will just about tolerate guinea pigs because they don't have tails! :)) I don't see anything wrong with tails, but each to their own
 
zarapiggie said:
I had somene say to me yesterday "ewww i couldny have an animal with tail" so i said actually they dont have visible tails, they have a vertibray (spelling?) at the end of the spine which could only be seen via xray etc which at some point in time was more than likely an actual tail but no, they dont have a tail. i do like being right!
Click to expand...

Just like humans then? :)) we have a tail bone, would like to know their reaction to that hehe
 
zarapiggie said:
I had somene say to me yesterday "ewww i couldny have an animal with tail" so i said actually they dont have visible tails, they have a vertibray (spelling?) at the end of the spine which could only be seen via xray etc which at some point in time was more than likely an actual tail but no, they dont have a tail. i do like being right!
Click to expand...

I had someone say eww do they not remind you of mice lol Eh yeah, sure those huge mutant mice you see running about the place rolleyes

But people in general do seem to think they are like smaller rodents in appearance and behaviour xox
 
Lady Kelly said:
Just like humans then? :)) we have a tail bone, would like to know their reaction to that hehe
Click to expand...

Hah! Next time someone says "eugh, I cant stand rats, those tails are HOORIBLE!" I'm going to quote you and let them know that actually, HOOMINS have tails too!



I heard the one about if you hold a guinea pig by it's tail it's eyes will pop out. I didnt ever get the joke till I held my first guinea pig and was looking it over, it was like "wtf they dont even HAVE tails, and why would someone do something so mean anyway?" (I was 12 at the time..)






It's more a tip than a myth, but when people say you cant introduce an old pig to a younger pig 'cause they'll fight, that's not allways the case. It does depend on the temperament of the pigs in question!



I heard a myth that some guinea pigs eat their own.. you know, poop. Thus far, I've never seen any of my pigs do that! Perhaps they've just go so much nice eh unrecycled food around they've never had to bother?
 
When I was in the shop buying the cage for my boys, another customer told me that guinea pigs SHOULD NOT be kept indoors. They are outside animals and it just isn't fair on them. She was adamant she was right because she'd seen it somewhere :))
 
Minehave the offer of fresh veg, pellets (which they don't touch!), muesli and unlimited hay but when it comes down to it they always eat their poops!
 
When i was little a few people kept trying to tell me their guinea pigs had changed gender! Now that i'm older i've realised they always seemed to have baby guinea pigs, maybe they were telling everyone this to justify their breeding by saying it was a mistake. It still makes me laugh though, they managed to convince me until i looked it up.

I too, have poo hungry guinea pigs!
 
all piggies eat their poo - they digest it twice to get all the goodness out of it as plant matter is hard to digest
 
It's hard to believe that you can be cute and still eat your own poop! :))


I heard that males can't live together.

I heard that they can't eat cold vegetables. You have to let your veggies reach room temperature before feeding.

Um...

The bigger the cage, the worse it is for them because they don't like lots of space.

It's a bit worrying, really.
 
Boars always fights, esp. if their not blood related.....
You cannot feed them lettuce.
They cant climb.
They arent clever like dogs, or cats....yet Harvey and Artie has learnt to come to you when you tap the floor.

:)) silly really!
 
carrot_and_parsnip said:
I had someone say eww do they not remind you of mice lol Eh yeah, sure those huge mutant mice you see running about the place rolleyes

But people in general do seem to think they are like smaller rodents in appearance and behaviour xox
Click to expand...

Yeah my mom things they're like rats. They're really very different aren't they :) No offense to rats, I like rats, but guinea pigs are a lot different. They're rodents sure, but not that close to rats or mice really
 
MommaPiggy said:
I heard that they can't eat cold vegetables. You have to let your veggies reach room temperature before feeding.
QUOTE]

Yeah I've heard it's better if its at room temperature, maybe something to do with enzymes working or something, dunno how true that is :))

I don't bother letting them warm up too much . . .
Click to expand...
 
CiaraPatricia said:
MommaPiggy said:
I heard that they can't eat cold vegetables. You have to let your veggies reach room temperature before feeding.
QUOTE]

Yeah I've heard it's better if its at room temperature, maybe something to do with enzymes working or something, dunno how true that is :))

I don't bother letting them warm up too much . . .
Click to expand...

Lol I heard it was so they didn't get cold tummies and take a chill! Not sure of the truth in it as I feed straight from the fridge and mine sure aren't chilly :))
Click to expand...
 
They come from another solar system to enslave humans to do their bidding and feed them lots of fresh veggies 'nom nom's'. - Hang on that true, apart from the solar system bit....
 
Oh! The "They can't climb" one reminded me.

I once said about a Guinea Pig during bath time. "If he was that upset about, he'd have made a jump for freedom!" and someone told me "That's a myth, Guinea Pigs CANNOT jump."

Funny that. Especially considering Ralph has jumped clean out of his cage a few times. He likes to jump up and sit on top of anything I put in his cage and he's also jumped out of the bath and hit me straight in the face!

I love it when they're getting ready to make a big jump. They look like frogs. rolleyes
 
My very cynical brother always says that my girls don't understand me when I talk to them, but I beg to differ! The very mention of the word 'food' and they go crazy and start wheeking like mad! Only a true cavy-slave can understand these things!
 
MommaPiggy said:
Oh! The "They can't climb" one reminded me.

I once said about a Guinea Pig during bath time. "If he was that upset about, he'd have made a jump for freedom!" and someone told me "That's a myth, Guinea Pigs CANNOT jump."

Funny that. Especially considering Ralph has jumped clean out of his cage a few times. He likes to jump up and sit on top of anything I put in his cage and he's also jumped out of the bath and hit me straight in the face!

I love it when they're getting ready to make a big jump. They look like frogs. rolleyes
Click to expand...

Haha I know what you mean about the jumping! They look soo cute (:
 
MommaPiggy said:
Oh! The "They can't climb" one reminded me.

I once said about a Guinea Pig during bath time. "If he was that upset about, he'd have made a jump for freedom!" and someone told me "That's a myth, Guinea Pigs CANNOT jump."

Funny that. Especially considering Ralph has jumped clean out of his cage a few times. He likes to jump up and sit on top of anything I put in his cage and he's also jumped out of the bath and hit me straight in the face!

I love it when they're getting ready to make a big jump. They look like frogs. rolleyes
Click to expand...

To be honest, it's easy to see why people think that - guinea pigs have stumpy legs and an overly large body for their little legs, and are normally seen carrying themself low to the floor - I love seeing my piggies run full speed - they're so quick and agile! Jeff can certainly jump - I found him asleep on top of the pile of newspapers under the table lol
 
Amanda1801 said:
To be honest, it's easy to see why people think that - guinea pigs have stumpy legs and an overly large body for their little legs, and are normally seen carrying themself low to the floor - I love seeing my piggies run full speed - they're so quick and agile! Jeff can certainly jump - I found him asleep on top of the pile of newspapers under the table lol
Click to expand...

LOL!:) I heard the boys can't live together myth
 
I'd of though most people who have ever tried to bath a guinea pig discovered they can indeed jump! Mini kangaroos in my house! :))
 
katiepops said:
I'd of though most people who have ever tried to bath a guinea pig discovered they can indeed jump! Mini kangaroos in my house! :))
Click to expand...

One of mine got a fright the other day and tried to jump two feet out of a run (that had a lid!) :)) Poor baby.
 
There's a myth that aquarium tanks are suitable guinea pig cages. That is not true, because aquariums are poorly-ventilated, sound proof, and very small. I see Petco and Petsmart use these tanks often with their pigs, it makes me sad. :(

Yeah, guinea pigs sure can jump. My little Coco had jumped onto the wire surrounding her cage and I had to pry her off. She was clinging on hard. :)
 
Last edited:
sport_billy said:
They come from another solar system to enslave humans to do their bidding and feed them lots of fresh veggies 'nom nom's'. - Hang on that true, apart from the solar system bit....
Click to expand...

Hah, I actually agree with that one. Guinea pigs must be highly intelligent aliens from another universe, come here in fluffy adorable disguise, tricking us weird silly hoomins. They must be pretty smart considering how much love and attention we dote on them based simply on the fact they're frigging adorable!
 
shinyhunter101 said:
There's a myth that aquarium tanks are suitable guinea pig cages. That is not true, because aquariums are poorly-ventilated, sound proof, and very small. I see Petco and Petsmart use these tanks often with their pigs, it makes me sad. :(

Yeah, guinea pigs sure can jump. My little Coco had jumped onto the wire surrounding her cage and I had to pry her off. She was clinging on hard. :)
Click to expand...

I heard from some people that aquarium tanks are actually well ventilated because if they roof is open wire or whatever then the air gets drawn up and it circulated well . . . ? I dunno, I don't really like the idea of them though, being stuck behind a glass wall . . . I prefer cages, even for hamters and all :) and then you know there's loads of ventilation cos it's all open.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top