Caring for Guinea Pigs – The Basics

A great pet for a child over the age of five is a guinea pig. On the other hand, the child will need some help from you with caring for guinea pigs. Guinea pig health and well-being will have to be your responsibility to keep the guinea pig from becoming sick, so your child can enjoy a healthy animal. And the best way to avoid guinea pig illnesses is preventive measures that helps keeps them healthy. Do you have a new guinea pig that was gifted to your child? Do you have any idea how to care for a guinea pig? Then the following tips on things that you will have to do in order to keep both the pet and your child happy.

Guinea pig homes

Fortunately for the owners of guinea pigs, they do not need a lot of room in their homes. Most pet shops sell special guinea pig cages for a reasonable price, but a ten gallon aquarium will work just fine. If you do decide to use a cage you will want to make sure that the bottom is solid, or you will risk the rodent breaking a leg if it gets caught in the wire mesh. The guinea pig home will need to be provided with bedding that includes paper pellets, pine shavings and straw or hay, at the bottom of the cage or aquarium. Do not use any cedar chips in the bedding because the cedar will absorb the urine and damage the guinea pigs feet. Newspaper strips will also need to be avoided because the ink used in the paper may harm your pet.

Feeding

Food for your pet can be provided by any pet shop in your area that has guinea pig food mixes that are healthy for them. However they will also need some fruits and vegetables to keep them healthy. The guinea pig mixes that you buy at the pet shop contains alfalfa, the mainstay of the pet’s diet, but Vitamin C is also important to their dietary needs to help keep them healthy. You need to keep their immune systems strong by adding this supplement to their water bottle. Vegetables to avoid include, broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower, because this will cause the guinea pig to have gastrointestinal problems.

Allergies

Guinea pigs usually fall ill to upper respiratory illnesses. If you or any other family member has a cold or the flu, they will not want to be handling the pet. In addition to passing the germs to your pet, guinea pigs are also allergic to the medications humans use to combat the colds and flu’s we get, and penicillin can kill them. You will need to watch for weight loss in the guinea pig that could indicate a problem with its teeth, and will need to be addressed quickly. Another sign that indicates that the guinea pig is ill is if you begin to see any discharge from their eyes or nose. The treatment and advice of veterinarian is strongly recommended for a guinea pig that is ill.

Caring for guinea pigs can be shared with your child when it comes to feeding and cleaning the home. However, when it comes to guinea pig health issues you need be carful handling the pets if you are ill. The important thing to remember is that your veterinarian will need to treat any guinea pig illnesses that may arise.