Guinea pig advise

Anshua

I am planning to get a guinea pigs ( rescue, donedeal or petshop) as my pet. I've read and look at internet for some information as I want to prepare myself . I know it will be a commitment and big responsiblity. Can you advise on cost of vet doctors, vaccines? Would a pet insurance cover guinea pigs? What kind of vaccines would they need and how often checkup do i have to bring them. Thanks in advance for the advise

Knine

Guinea Pigs are not usually vaccinated. However they do get spot on treatments for parasites regularly. They also need their nails clipped very regularly. Vet fees vary & there is a guinea pig specialist in Bray called Bairbre O'Malley. She has a great reputation & if you are not in Wicklow/Dublin she will advise your own vet.

Piggies are best kept in same sex pairs. However males must be bonded from very young. Unlike rabbits it is not a good idea to neuter males. Many don't survive or end up with incontinence issues afterwards. There are lots of different types of piggies. From long, smooth, rough coated & even hairless. Never ever keep them with rabbits. They cannot communicate with each other & have totally different diets.

They are best kept indoors as the damp Irish outdoor weather is not great for them. Diet wise they must have access to hay daily. Complete pellet food is best to prevent selective feeding. They need plenty of Vitamin C in their diet. Pellet food usually has extra added.They should also have access to fresh fruit & veg. I don't give apples as it can cause mouth issues. Bedding can be shavings, straw, shredded newspaper or fleece. They do appreciate a bit of comfortable soft fleece to lie on. Anything else feel free to ask away. If you are on Facebook there is a fantastic Irish Rabbits & Guinea Pig page where reputable breeders sell their stock. Often pedigree Piggies. Rescues are also often available.

Anshua

Knine wrote: »

Guinea Pigs are not usually vaccinated. However they do get spot on treatments for parasites regularly. They also need their nails clipped very regularly. Vet fees vary & there is a guinea pig specialist in Bray called Bairbre O'Malley. She has a great reputation & if you are not in Wicklow/Dublin she will advise your own vet.

Piggies are best kept in same sex pairs. However males must be bonded from very young. Unlike rabbits it is not a good idea to neuter males. Many don't survive or end up with incontinence issues afterwards. There are lots of different types of piggies. From long, smooth, rough coated & even hairless. Never ever keep them with rabbits. They cannot communicate with each other & have totally different diets.

They are best kept indoors as the damp Irish outdoor weather is not great for them. Diet wise they must have access to hay daily. Complete pellet food is best to prevent selective feeding. They need plenty of Vitamin C in their diet. Pellet food usually has extra added.They should also have access to fresh fruit & veg. I don't give apples as it can cause mouth issues. Bedding can be shavings, straw, shredded newspaper or fleece. They do appreciate a bit of comfortable soft fleece to lie on. Anything else feel free to ask away. If you are on Facebook there is a fantastic Irish Rabbits & Guinea Pig page where reputable breeders sell their stock. Often pedigree Piggies. Rescues are also often available.

Thank you!

mymo

Great advice above.
They love herbs as treats, grow your own in pots if you like, I did, and they also like being bathed in warm water occasionally (there are special piggy washes available too, handy for boars if you have one that gets a bit whiffy sometimes like one of ours did) but be careful to keep them warm and away from draughts until completely dry.
They are incredibly social, will welcome you home with squeaks and whistles, love to run around and play, I used to spread food around, in toys, on the floor, in tunnels etc for them to find.
There is some fantastic advice online, keep an eye on teeth, and find a good vet, mine rarely got ill, but most vets here don't know much about looking after them.

Outkast_IRE

Another expense alot of people dont factor in is the cage, for a pair of guinea pigs at the minimum you want the largest cage you can get in the pet shop, and even with that i used to create a closed off large play area and give them access to that twice a day with their toys and fruit and veg hidden around it.

Ideally people should get at least a 4x2 c&c cage, i got my cage ordered from here they will do delivery to ireland for a reasonable price, most of the others wont deliver. But they are far superior to any pet shop cage in my opinion, i wish someone had told me about them years ago http://www.candcguineapigcages.co.uk/

Any guinea pigs i have gotten have needed to get a mite treatment course from the vet, which cost me about €35 for a full check up plus the drops to be applied every ten days for a few weeks. Other than that if you ensure they have plenty of hay, water, food, fresh fruit and veg and they are usually pretty healthy.

As above poster said, keep an eye on teeth, if they go wrong they can be an expensive fix, but i have not had any of those issues yet, i think access to the right types of hay/food/ fresh food and wood to chew on help an awful lot.

Clipping their nails is a skill i have developed over the years, if they have dark nails you need a very powerful small torch to see how far the blood supply goes in the nail, if they have clear nails its pretty obvious in good light. I find i need to trim at least once a month when they are young to keep them at the length i like. I put them up on the counter top and my partner feeds them carrot to keep them distracted as i clip the nails. Once the guineas get comfortable around you distract them easily with food.

Aragneer

I have 7 piggies and vet bills can get kind of crazy!

Make sure that when they sex the piggies in the shop they are DEFINITELY malexmale or femalexfemale. We had an incident with our boar and we had two litters of piggies from my two other females (that is how we got 7 pigs :P). I wouldn't recommend neutering a boy but the females can be, however I think it is 60-80-120 euro around that bracket for them because of their tiny organs.

For health - I recommend (like many others) to get a vitamin drop solution that you put in their water as it really helps their fur, nails, teeth and just overall health.

Also you're probably very revised on the piggy diet by now but if you have ANY doubts then look it up, especially if you are putting them outside to graze in a pen as people believe clover is your piggie's friend but really, one bad plant can cause kidney problems

Vet bills won't be extreme as long as you take good care of your pigs. Nails can be done at home but with advice from the medical provider/internet and of course, some practice. Teeth are often fine as long as you keep an eye on them and if you bathe and clean your guinea's they shouldn't really get abcesses or cysts (my pig had one once...he lived outside in the barn and that is why but he was alright after a drainage).

A big recommendation of mine is talk LOADS to your piggies, they love it and will try communicating back really..They are so sweet!

Good luck with the new members of the family and feel free to message if you need any more advice

maireadH

We always let ours have outdoor time too and they loved it. We made a moveable cage with chicken wire and a plywood roof and put them out in the garden whenever the weather was dry. They loved dandelions too so we'd try and find a spot with some for them so they also did the weeding for us :-)

We never brought ours to the vet for check ups or anything. We cut the nails ourselves. They each got one visit to the vet with bladder stones which resulted in them dying. They were both 5 when this happened so had a good innings. Apparently though, bladder stones can be a problem if your water is very hard, so maybe consider filtering the water if this is the case.

Anshua

mymo wrote: »

Great advice above.
They love herbs as treats, grow your own in pots if you like, I did, and they also like being bathed in warm water occasionally (there are special piggy washes available too, handy for boars if you have one that gets a bit whiffy sometimes like one of ours did) but be careful to keep them warm and away from draughts until completely dry.
They are incredibly social, will welcome you home with squeaks and whistles, love to run around and play, I used to spread food around, in toys, on the floor, in tunnels etc for them to find.
There is some fantastic advice online, keep an eye on teeth, and find a good vet, mine rarely got ill, but most vets here don't know much about looking after them.

Can a groomer do the nails, hair and bathe? I have one peruvian and i want to know if a dog groomer can trim his hair too even for the first time, just to see how its done. do you know also if c&c cage are available in ireland already? Thanks for your tips!

Anshua

Aragneer wrote: »

I have 7 piggies and vet bills can get kind of crazy!

Make sure that when they sex the piggies in the shop they are DEFINITELY malexmale or femalexfemale. We had an incident with our boar and we had two litters of piggies from my two other females (that is how we got 7 pigs :P). I wouldn't recommend neutering a boy but the females can be, however I think it is 60-80-120 euro around that bracket for them because of their tiny organs.

For health - I recommend (like many others) to get a vitamin drop solution that you put in their water as it really helps their fur, nails, teeth and just overall health.

Also you're probably very revised on the piggy diet by now but if you have ANY doubts then look it up, especially if you are putting them outside to graze in a pen as people believe clover is your piggie's friend but really, one bad plant can cause kidney problems

Vet bills won't be extreme as long as you take good care of your pigs. Nails can be done at home but with advice from the medical provider/internet and of course, some practice. Teeth are often fine as long as you keep an eye on them and if you bathe and clean your guinea's they shouldn't really get abcesses or cysts (my pig had one once...he lived outside in the barn and that is why but he was alright after a drainage).

A big recommendation of mine is talk LOADS to your piggies, they love it and will try communicating back really..They are so sweet!

Good luck with the new members of the family and feel free to message if you need any more advice

Any tips on bathing? How often do you bathe them? Too early stage for me as we are still on the getting to know each other stage but any tips on this will help in the near future

Outkast_IRE

Anshua wrote: »

Can a groomer do the nails, hair and bathe? I have one peruvian and i want to know if a dog groomer can trim his hair too even for the first time, just to see how its done. do you know also if c&c cage are available in ireland already? Thanks for your tips!

The website in my previous response will send you all the necessary parts to put it together yourself, i priced purchasing all of them elsewhere and it cost similar if not more.

Honestly just watch some youtube tutorials on clipping their nails, its not that hard just dont attempt it until they are comfortable around you, and as i said distract them with fruit and veg when you do it.

Same goes for clipping their hair, get a sharp scissors and work away, and if you have a long haired guinea get a little grooming brush too.

They dont need a bath too often their skin doesnt like it very much, a few times a year is fine, the bigger the cage you have and the cleaner you keep it the less likely they are to pick up any smells. Alot of the time my two smell like fresh hay because they like to snooze in a hay bundle i make for them