Care For Your Guinea Pig

It is pretty easy to care for the lively and interesting pet guinea pig. Guinea pig care essentially consists of cleaning the guinea pig cage, supplying decent, healthy food to your guinea pig and creating an optimal cage environment that fosters supreme health and well being.

Here are some helpful suggestions for providing proper guinea pig care:

- Provide a large enough cage. If you have a single guinea pig then a 2- 3 square feet should be adequate. If you have more then you’ll need to add 2-3 more square feet per guinea pig. Cage floors should not be wired. If they are wired then you’ll need to glue felt onto the wires to protect the pig’s sensitive feet. Rugs and towels may also be introduced to the floor for added protection and/or traction.

- Make sure that you maintain an appropriate temperature that is neither too hot nor too cold for optimal health.

- Clean the cage once every two days or so. Droppings need to be removed promptly. You’ll also need to remove any leftover foods from the previous day. Lastly, your guinea pig’s water should be cleaned too and the hay must be replaced as well.

- Beds for guinea pigs need to be made of cob pellets and tissue paper. These will serve as suitable bedding for the guinea pigs.

- Your guinea pigs may be washed in order to eliminate any odors and prevent any spread of diseases. Guinea pig care shampoo as available at pet stores may be used too. You must also carefully clip their toenails while avoiding blood vessels so as you don’t hurt them during their grooming session. This can be done on a monthly basis.

- Provide enough grass for munching. Grass is the natural diet of the guinea pigs and all kinds of grass hays like Timothy Hay can be given to guinea pigs. Like humans guinea pigs also cannot synthesize vitamin C in their system. Hence, to make sure they get at least 10 mg of vitamin C, they should be given raw fruits or vegetables or some supplement.