Cavies or Guinea Pigs

watty

Any Cavy (Guinea Pig) fans here?

koneko

We used to have them a long time ago.
Very cute pets. Very docile. Great for someone that wants a pet that you can sit around with and cuddle. My sister used to have one on her lap (on a blanket) while watching tv. They loved it
They make the cutest little happy noises.

Illkillya

ya my sister used to have a pair of them, but then she decided they were lonely without females so she got another pair of those and soon had about 20 of them, that would clear an acre of grass in about 40 minutes.

Falkorre

If u are thinking of getting one of these, it is vital you get the nutritional balance exactly right (a lot of the brands dont have this).... cavvies have a problem where their bodies are incapable of producing certain vitamins and minerals, most important of which being vitamin c i think,.....
things like fresh apple (not waxed or sprayed) raw cabbage, carrot and some will even take a tiny bit of sliced orange!

never ever ever put a male and female together, they breed so quick it is impossible to control and they are harder to raise than kittens or puppies should u need to take over from the mother (trust me, trying to feed a baby cavvie, morning noon and all night thru a dropper is not easy,..... and the cute noises they make dont become so cute at 4am after 30mins sleep lol

beautifull pets, wonderfully, naturally not aggressive (iv never been bitten an kept loads of rescued ones)..... but need to be treated with kid gloves coz... and this is the most important thing, one drop, or even just a loud noise and they can die of shock!

B

watty

we buy Gloria Guinea Pig food by sack (for 5 piggies) as the Rabbit & Hamster foods they don't like so much. It has added vitimen C. You can actually give too much V C, but we give one tablet crushed in feed esp during winter when they not eating fresh grass.

We have bred, but complications can arise. We had a scheme of only having one female at a time pregant in with male, but even that is a bit much.

Piggies get used to niose, it is sudden unfamilar noise when they used to quiet is the prob.


You need eith lots of piggies or give you piggy lots of attention as they are very social.

I'm convinvced they have close to a language as they have so many more different sounds than any other animal I know.

They rarely sing. Many people never hear the Song. It is like bird song, I kid you not. The other piggies freeze. It lasts a few minutes. Very Very rare. One of ours sang twice when pregant.

Lpfsox

have 2 piggies - Egg & Onion. Don't be fooled by the old "they don't bite" - I've been on the receiving end more than once and it feckin hurts.

I think the problem was that they weren't socialised properly and just weren't used to people.

They're much better now - I can handle them OK but I know that when they start tossing their heads up when you're petting them that it's time they went back in their cage - it's their way of letting you know they've had enough. Ignore them and they'll bite.

Lovely critters though.

PS: How big do they grow? Mine are about the size of kittens at this stage. Any others I've seen are much smaller.

Hellrazer

Cavies are one animal that Ive never been able to keep.They just keep dying on me.Usually within a week or so of buying them.
Anyone got any ideas??????
They just start to lose weight and then usually cold like symptoms and then die.This has happened 4 times in the last 6 months.So Ive given up.

watty

They need fresh hay daily for bedding
Space to roam in (Caged run in Garden or else loose in house)
Get checked at Vet. They can have Mange and die quite quickly, but treatment is effective
Fresh water every day
Access to dark hutch
Proper diet, Avoid Brassica (Cabbage etc). Gloria Guinea Pig food or other. Few Rabbit or hamster mixes are palatible to Guinea Pig.

If they arnet feeding on grass daily, 1/4 a small chemist's plain white Vitimn C tablet crushed in to food (never the water) per pig

Carrot, cucumber are good.
Lettuce has little value. only give a little.
Chopped apple can be OK but check it is not affecting gums
They are mad on Dandilion and ChickWeed. Aviod using any that might be sprayed or near traffic. Dandilion is good fro them

Parsly in small quanity is good and liked.

They also like to eat the hay.

They like to "hide" so piggy toys are small "huts", dark tubes and dark tunnels. A favorite position is nose only exposed to sunshine.

Two females is safest arrangement. Two males can work but trickier. With a Male & Female you are knee deep in pups.

You need more than one or else give it hours of attention every day.

They are happier to live in hutch and "wire run" outside all year round (Make sure hutch is in shade in hot weather).

They like snow but hate wind. Rain they tolerate or even ignore if there is no wind and it is light (They have very oily fur).

A large rabbit hutch is minimum size indoor cage.

Make sure Rooks, Magpies, Cats and Dogs can't get at them.

Falkorre

Originally posted by Hellrazer
Cavies are one animal that Ive never been able to keep.They just keep dying on me.Usually within a week or so of buying them.
Anyone got any ideas??????
They just start to lose weight and then usually cold like symptoms and then die.This has happened 4 times in the last 6 months.So Ive given up.

Sounds to me like stress,...do u position them in a noisey place? And you have to let them run outside in grass from time to time, I dont care what any1 says, a cavvie kept 100% indoors, will not be happy and will get stressed.


Losing weight tho, can be a sign of intestinal problems or stress, if you are feeding them right then it is probably stress.
Just as a matter of interest, what are you keeping them in?

B

Hellrazer

They were kept indoors in a rabbit hutch about 3 ft long x 1.5ft wide.Ive never let them outside but they did have the run of the house when we let them.
Im sure they were fed properly but they all lasted only a week at most.
I cant figure it out at all.

watty

When or if you buy a "piggie" again get it checked by Vet. Not all vets are suitable for Cavies. You need an "Exotic" specialist (VET term, not mine!).

If it is not doing well take to VET AT ONCE.

Cavies are very healthy
There is almost nothing we can catch or give (unlike dog/Cat) them.

There are hardly any things they can get (compared with other pets).
Top 90% ilnesses (which again are less common than sick dogs/ cats) in no particular order.

Mange Mites: Fatal if not treated. Responds 100% to course of 3 x weekly injections.

Bumble foot: Fatal if not treated. Requires added vitimin C, nursing, soft blanket, 1 MONTH special antibotic, foot bath. Response is poor and slow, but with early attention and lots of nursing complete recovery is possible (apart from any toe ends that might have been bitten off). Death by liver failure.

Bacterial pnumonia (sniffles). They can't catch our viral stuff like colds or flu but can get serious bacterial infection. Fatal if not treated by antibiotic.

Pregnacy Complictions: Fatal unless immediate vet intervention, often caesarian (yes one of ours has had).

Heatstroke: More likely than getting to cold. Fatal if not treated. Tepid (not cold) bath and drinks.

Heart failure from shock: If they are in a quiet / silent environment sudden noise can cause death. If gradually introduced or brought up with noise then they are fine. (Mine don't much like Hammering, Clanging, Drilling and Angle grinder, but they are used to noise so it is OK). Don't keep them in a too quiet area or sudden noise can kill.


Getting dropped: A broken foot or leg can go un-noticed by the human. Unlike RATs that can drop from 13ft or so, Cavies (Guinea pigs) have weak spine / legs and have aerodynamics of a cuddly brick. They have bad judge of height so don't let them jump from arms to hutch or floor. Paralysis is common from "jumps" or drops.

Conclusion:
Cavies are incredibly healthy and lacking in disease, but if they do get ill they die quickly if not treated at once.

Never listen to a VET receptionist who says "ring back in an hour or two if there is no improvement" Get VET and go NOW... Our VET understands this and came out and opened surgery at 10.30PM sunday night once..


Less common, but happen outside if you don't pay attention:

Ticks.
Blow fly strike near bum, just like sheep.
More ordinary Mites (not mange).

All these are easily treated, but get Vetinary Advice

Lumps due to build up of sebum (mad cavey Zits!). They have very oily skin.

If you find a flea it is probabily dying.. Fleas are species specific and Cavies are (1) From Peru, (2) Only related to Cavies.

Diet is VERY important, A bit of rabbit food, lettuce & Cabbage WON'T do..
They need hay (for fibre in diet) and best bedding. About €3 to €5 per BALE!

They need HARD food

They need food with Vitamin C. (Almost no other pet you can legally keep needs Vitamin C).
Too much Vitamin C causes a condition that looks like rickets (but isn't).

There is only one antibotic on market that can be given to Cavies. Anything else kills them.

Hellrazer

Originally posted by watty




Bacterial pnumonia (sniffles). They can't catch our viral stuff like colds or flu but can get serious bacterial infection. Fatal if not treated by antibiotic.





Heart failure from shock: If they are in a quiet / silent environment sudden noise can cause death. If gradually introduced or brought up with noise then they are fine. (Mine don't much like Hammering, Clanging, Drilling and Angle grinder, but they are used to noise so it is OK). Don't keep them in a too quiet area or sudden noise can kill.








There is only one antibotic on market that can be given to Cavies. Anything else kills them.

Ok looking back it could have been either of the above reasons.It did get like sniffles(see previous post)like a cold and the vet DID give anti biotics(he wasnt an exotic vet)so Im wondering if this could have caused the rapid decline in the cavy.As for noise we did keep it in a spare room where it was quite quiet.So this could have been a contributing factor in both their demises.Can you give me the name of the antibiotic thats used for them????

FAYESY

I have kept piggies for many years now & have had very little problems & not many sudden deaths! I use Burges Supa Guinea food high in vit c but has molasses, Gloria Guinea Pig is high in vit c & has no molasses (& is great also for Degus & Lemmings) I DO NOT agree with feeding any animal the wrong food! Hamsters get hamster food! gerbils get gerbil rabbits get rabbit! Rabbit food is bad for other species as they often contain growth hormones!

Hellrazor did you get all your piggies from the same person/place? piggies are often inbred through peoples ignorance! other wise piggies make great pets, are fun & very cute & squeak when hungry! Soon I will stick a care sheet on my website on piggies breeds & needs etc.

Fayesy
(seriously mad gal with over 211 animals or 212 if you include Bond James Bond!?!):p

watty

Originally posted by Hellrazer
Can you give me the name of the antibiotic thats used for them????

There are differenet "trade" names. If the Vet is expert in Guinea Pigs he will know the name. Because Rabbits and Hares have a simaler digestive system (initial pellets that are eaten, and reliance on Gut Bacteria to digest cellulose, the same antibotic is also used for Rabbit / Hares).

Cavies have a special rectum pouch where the edible soft (often greeish if on grass) pellet accumulates. They pop it out and eat it tucking head quickly between forepaws. They will try and steal each others. Those pellets are not left lying around.

The final pellet which is dark brown / black is dry and hard, only soft and squissy if the piggy is ill. They never eat those.

Dunno how they know which they are pooping, but they do!

Without the special "gut" bacteria they can't digest most of their food so waste away and die if given wrong antibiotic.


All our piggies are disgustinly healthy, but we have had "Vet" stuff in past.

Any new piggy would be in quarentine for a good while...

If wanting to breed (not to be taken lightly), we travel far to get a piggy unlikely to be related.

Mixed coloured are less likely to be inbred than an Albino (pink eyes and white fur). Inbred animals are often less healthy.