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Just discovered Guineas!

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CAM

Junior Guinea Pig
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I've just discovered guinea pigs at the age of 35 and absolutely adore them. I have 4 female guineas, Blossom, Winne, Daisy and Honey. The first 2 guineas I've had approx 6 weeks and the 2nd 2 for 2 weeks. What did I ever do without them. They are so cute and adorable.

I can't believe how much fun they are and that they each have their own personalities. However, Winnie is tricky to catch, she is so fast.

I've had a slight problem with Daisy and Honey, I had to take them to the vets for an injection as they say they have mites. Daisy scratched hers and she had a small raw patch on her back. It's looking better today though.

When I bought them I didn't ask how old they are. How can you tell?
 
Welcome to the club and to the forum! Aren't they just the best pets! Age is sometimes quite difficult to tell. Some of the people who do rescue might be able to help more. The claws are quite a good indication - if they're thick and longish they're older, young ones usually have small sharp claws, although one of mine has claws like this and the rest of her definitely looks older. Can you ask at where you got them from?

This forum is great for advice, just ask loads of questions!
 
Yes welcome, hope you enjoy it here. To help their skin heal after mites/fungal infection, lots of us on here use gorgeousguineas shampoos and melts especially for guineas.
www.gorgeousguineas.co.uk

Email Chrissie and ask her advice about the best one and how long after ivomec injections you can use them. They are fabulous!

Piggies are addictive arent they? I discovered them at 39!
Enjoy :)
 
Hello and welcome! :D
Piggies are just the most adorable, gentle animals you can own. They are also very comical! ;D I love them to bits :smitten:

Great news about the mite problem getting better! O0 Not sure about how you can tell their ages. If you got them from a shop (say Pets at home) they would be about 6-8 weeks I'd imagine (at the time of them being there) 98)
Lovely names by the way :smitten:
 
Thank you everyone for the welcome! I have heard of gorgeous guineas and will get them some pampering stuff.

As a newcomer to guinea pigs I am sometimes unsure if I am doing things correctly. I have 2 ginuea books with information in and I am always on the web reading, but can someone reassure me I am doing things correctly.

Feeding
I feed my guineas twice a day. First thing in the morning I feed them pellets and fresh veg, I unlock to back door and they start squeeking, they know its breakfast time. Then in the afternoon when I come home from work I give them some more veg. I have heard that they will eat and eat and eat and I want to make sure that they are having enough but not too much.

Cleaning
I clean out the hutches twice a week.

Does this sound O.K?
 
i may not be right either but this is what I do... ;)

With the feeding - what I do is similar to you. I put a bit of veg (not too much or they get poopy problems! ::) ). Just enough to have a different taste from pellets but enough to satisfy them. Then around teatime when they come in from their outside run, they have a bit more veg. The rest of the time they have their pellets and hay/timothy hay and of course water to fill them up. In terms of what they get veg wise - they get two slices of carrot (depends on the carrot size), a small piece of cabbage and half a slice of cucumber per sitting (just an example cos it varies). I just think about the size of their little tummies and what they would cope with. I want them to eat as much of their pellets as possible because they contain all the nutrients they need, along with hay for their fibre.

With the cleaning - mine live in an indoor cage. I clean mine out every other day and disinfect everything once a week. O0

I hope I'm doing it right too!
 
Thanks for the tips Piggyloon. It's great to be able to speak to someone with some guinea knowledge. I think I may be giving them too much veg then as I fill one of their bowls with veg. I've seen the timothy hay at pets at home, what is the difference between that and normal hay? :)
 
Oooh... I'm quite new to piggy keeping too - I learned everything I know from here and Peter Gurney (RIP 0:) ) His book is my bible! ;D Ive only had my first 2 for a just over a year. Learned loads in that time!

My piggies seem to prefer tim hay... it seems to be better quality and a different smell to it somehow. Must have a sweeter taste to it. They've got these fluffy grass heads in it which they always pick out first :D They do eat normal meadow hay though as well.

I give them a couple of handfuls of tim hay every so often, throughout the day, for them to eat, I wouldnt use it as bedding as its too coarse ...and expensive (for bedding purposes as you would need loads!) I just use normal P@H meadow hay in the big bag for bedding... although quite a few people have had problems using it. I havent though. Its just picking and choosing what materials suit you and more importantly your piggies.
 
hi cam, i would say if you piggies grow since you've had them they're under 6 months
 
ooh sorry forgot to say... with the veg... I give them 2 slices of carrot etc each per sitting. Ive only got 2 pigs so its a bit easier for me to control who gets what! ;)

sorry... wasnt able to edit my message ::)
 
hiya and welcome Cam!
this forum is great and piggies are just the best aren't they? your piggies sound adorable!
your doing the right thing by getting some Gorgeous Guineas stuff, it's great and really helps, they should feel a lot better after them. :)
with the feeding, i do the same. :) thats fine, and make sure they always have hay and water (as i'm sure you do)
and with the cleaning, i clean them out every other day, and i find this keeps them clean and healthy and not stinky! :D
i give timothy hay as a treat and they loooove it!, but as piggyloon has said it's too coarse for bedding really. i use local sweet smelling long hay for bedding. i would suggest getting long hay for bedding as they loove making tunnels in it. is there a local farm near you that sells bales/bags of fresh hay? i don't use p@h meadow hay as the stuff i've had is dusty, short cut and musty. :-\
Hope this helps, happy piggie keeping and let us know how you get on. :)
 
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