Any Gp Keepers Here?

[Spishkey]

just been given 4 baby guinea pigs (seems like 2 male 2 female) and to be honest i know nothing about gps only the 'basic' care. can anyone recommend some good gp sites...is there any out there with a forum too where i can chat to other keepers?

also these four have 'apparantly' been kept seperate since birth (boys in one hutch girls in the other) yet the person brought them round all together in one box, ive seperated the 'lads' but..at what age do they breed? am a little shocked at them being in the same box for the trip here (i do NOT want babies..have enough with the baby chinnys!!)
now everything was a little rush rush (owner had to get rid fast for whatever reason) so i have two in an old chinchilla cage for now and the other two in a large wooden crate until i have a look around and see what i can make for them

do they need a water bottle or will they drink from a bowl for now? i have GP pellets that the woman brought with her but can they eat veg and fruit too? is there anything to avoid?

 

[aly_starh]

well, Gp are just like caring for rabbits, or chinchillas, so caring for them is easy!

this might help all your questions!

Click Here!

~betta_246

 

[The young one]

I used to keep guinea pigs, and if I can remember correctly, they prefer a water bottle, and can eat fruit and veg and you can buy guinea pig food from most pet shops. They are normally kept in wooden hutches, with hay as a base I think? You can also buy hutches to put on the ground so they can feel the grass in the summer.

Thay also like eating dandelion leaves.

 

[kj23502]

The reason I didn't click to read it earlier was b/c I had no idea what a GP was


We had water bowls for ours. Fed them guinnea pig pellets and timothy hay (think it was timothy). It was over 10 yrs ago that we had guinea pigs.

 

[emma12321]

I have always seperated my babies at 4 weeks but i once got a 5 week old female that was pregnant already and i have read that young males can breed from 3 weeks. some breeders seperate babies at 3 weeks. i have 10 guineas at the minute they are great

 

[lisajane1969]

hiya, i have 12 guinea pigs at the moment, only started off with one,lol, they tend to try & knock bowls over, so id recommend a drinking bottle, about £1.50 from pet shops, mine love gerty guinea pig food, they dont like their food changed from one brand to another, & tend to be fussy eaters, i feed mine, cucumber, no nutritional value, but they love it & it contains loads of water, fresh carrots, mine love the green carrot tops, can but them from most good supermarkets, any type of cabbage, broccoli, kale, butternut squash, sweetcorn, bell peppers, remember to remove the seeds!!, apples, remove the pips, tomatoes, grapes, no pips, sprouts, cauliflower, romaine lettuce, no other lettuce, as it can give them the runs, not too much fruit, as it can give them sores on their mouths.
Its trial & error as to what they like,mine change their minds all the time, lol, dont give them nuts, potatoes, meat, as they are vegetarian & it will make them poorly, guineas love to be out & about in the garden, just make sure they have a secure run, prefrably with a net or cover over the top, as ive had a crow try to take one of mine, they are great little lawn mowers, they love dandelion leaves, but not too many as it will give them the runs,.
Mine used to live indoors, but theyre outdoors now, there are plenty of sites you can get a second hand cage from, at half the shop prices, line it with newspaper, a covering of sawdust & hay, hay helps them digest their food, so should always be available, they love tubes to gnaw on & play in, i was really cheeky & asked a council workman for the unused offcuts of brown pipe, they love running through them, they also love cardboard boxes, not washing powder boxes, they will sleep in these, hope this helps, lisa

 

[lisajane1969]

www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/
www.rodentswithattitude.co.uk/
www.nationalcavyclub.co.uk/

try some of these, lisa

 

[chesterscot]

basically dont use straw use hay feed a complete dry food if possible not a complimentary food so you wont have to supplement their diets to much like us they have a problem with needing vitamin c and for this reason you should not use rabbit food i seperate my little pigs at 3 weeks to avoid early pregnancys as about 5 months is a good age for a first litter but i have known piggys to get pregnant by there brothers in pet shops at 4 nearly 5 weeks old
feed veg in moderation a few times a week is good dandelion leaves are a fave as well as grass i cant pick enough for mine lol avoid lettuce and feeding veg that you think is too watery and of little nutrition to avoid tummy trouble (if you want to see pics of my last litters check out my thread)
any probs pm me and ill help if i can the cavy club is a good source of info as said in an earlier post good luck they are great little characters
regards scot