Took on a soon to be homeless guinea pig

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Genie

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Hey all,

Today I became the proud owner of a long haired guinea pig! The family are moving to Cypress, and were giving away the GP and hutch for free. I owned fish, gerbils and hamsters in the past and currently have my 1 year old Border Collie.

So this guinea pig business is new to me! I've been reading around, and will post some photos when he's settled in. I've left him as he was (owners live about 10 doors down from me).

The hutch, is full of insects! I had to get OH to carry down the street, crawling with spiders and forky tails (earwigs?) I'm going to clean up the hutch anyways, but are these bad for my pig? I know he'll be outdoors, but imagine lots of insects will be a bad thing?

We're lucky to not have mant cats come into the garden since we got the dog, but keeping my eye out. Any advice?

They don't seem to have had any hay/newspaper/wood shavings in the hutch, unless theyd cleaned it out just before i turned up, but i doubt it as there was poop in the hutch. So I'll be adding these for the little thing.

Will be giving him a good bath! His long hair looks scraggly, and Ive been reading about their grease glands needing cleaning and stuff, but dont want to give him a heart attack!

Any other advice would be appreciated, but think I'll be spending my night reading around here :)
 
I would recommend visiting http://www.guinealynx.info/ as it's a great resource for all things guinea :)

My guineas are shorthaired and are both kept inside but maybe the other members on here could give you their advice.

Welcome to the forum! Feel free to ask any questions, everyone's real friendly here
 
welcome to the forum!

it doesnt sound as though he has been very well kept the hutch deffinatly needs a very good clean

as for the long hair i think you may have to start with a bath if its realy bad and give the hair round his bum a trim as they can get messy, and brush him everyday so it stays nice.

sorry i dont have any advice on keeping them safe outside but I'm sure someone will have some sound advice for you soon!

welcome to the world of GP slavery!
 
Thanks, I'm learning so much from reading around here.

They were pretty honest tbf. The little girl had been bought the GP as a present a year ago, so the parents couldnt say no, but although the little girl loved him, her parents didnt really have the time to do more than basic looking after.

He seems very nervous, but hoping he'll come out of his shell in time :)
 
The poor little guy. That's sad he had to live with bugs.

I'd definitely reccomend washing him and checking for any knots in his coat. Try to give him some veg to calm him. It may not work as hes still new and nervous but it may help. It's best to try.

I'd definitely reccomend getting him a little friend to live with as piggies are herd animals.

Well done you on taking in the little guy.

I'd suggest taking him to the vet for a general checkup, too.
 
poor baby, thanks for taking him in. you could use johnsons inceticidal shampoo for small animals when you bath him, it gets rid of fleas/lice etc. post some pics when you get a chance :))
 
Will do! Wanted to take it slowly with him, but he desperately needs a bath and a cage clean, so thats what hes getting today! Will see if I can pick up that shampoo.
 
Genie said:
We're lucky to not have mant cats come into the garden since we got the dog, but keeping my eye out. Any advice?
Click to expand...

Sorry in advance if this upsets any cat owners on the forum, but we have a real problem with cats when my 3 are outside in the summer months. They jump on the hutch and scare them half to death, try to put their paws through the bars and are generally a pain and make me very nervous. When we are out we cover the top of out hutch in a piece of plyboard with 'Cactus spikes' nailed on. Often the cats just have to look at the board and decide to leave, and since using them we've had a lot less trouble and not one cat has jumped on.

Something like this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-GARDE...den_Structures_Fencing_CV&hash=item2a208e6972
 
Thanks for the advice!
Ive seen cats hanging around my front, but not in the back garden. Should take the precaution though, that looks good!
 
Not very good with computers lol Kinda thought if I could click on the link and see it, so could everyone else.

Lets try this:

20120723_172236.jpg
 
Aww he's lovely! x)
Has what we call "ham tabs"! Haha.
 
Oh he's so adorable! What a beautiful little guy. I'm in love <3

I'm very happy hes found his feet with you. :-)
 
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