My Guinea Pig Page

These are my pets as well as family members. We currently have 5 but will soon be down to 4. Hopefully we can increase the number soon!

Here is my mamma pig Bandy

This is Tigger our first Guinea Pig

Pumpkin & Patches...Patches will soon be a class pet for my daughters class.

This will hopefully be the next daddy...Gizmo

                   Feeding:
Most people who have Guinea Pigs know that they need vitamin C added to their diets.
   I have found a very good way to provide this to them without having to make any extra trips   to the pet store. I contacted a local vet and was told that TANG orange drink mix will provide a sufficient amount of vitamin C when given as you would drink it. I have been using this for 6 months now and my cavies seem to be healthier than they were when I first got them!!
   I also make sure that my cavies have a good supply of alfalfa as well as pellets. We feed our babies cucumbers quite often because they are very PICKY eaters!
                    Housing:
  Currently I have 3 cages for our cavies. We have found that Rubbermaid storage containers work quite well for cages. We have 2 cages joined together with 4 inch P.V.C pipe so that the male and female can see each other when they want. In the P.V.C. we have cut a slot so we can block passage due to the fact that the female gave birth 2 weeks ago and the male was very aggressive and we didn't want more babies right away!! If anyone uses this type of housing I strongly recommend that holes are drilled in the sides of the cage. This type cage is good for 2 reasons.. 1) They are MESS free!! you don't get the bedding strown over the floor. 2) These cages are see through so that kids can see the animals without being able to put fingers and people food in the cage! This is a big plus in my home since we have 5 small daughters!!
Each day we take the cavies one at a time and place them in a playpen so that they can get some exercise. This is also a big plus for us. The kids no longer use it so now we let our new babies have fun!!
                    Bedding:
  The best thing i have found locally to use for bedding is Aspen Bedding. It is very absorbant and odarless. This is safe for the cavies if they decide to chew on it. Most pet stores in my area recommend pine shavings but I personally don't recommend or use it. Cedar shavings are definately not what you want to use as bedding!! The strong odor and oil from the shavings will make the cavies very ill. there are several other type beddings that can be used, but as I said, we have a limited selection here.
                     Breeding:
  Breeding is something that should be done by people that are expierenced with cavies. There are times that breeding cannot be helped though. I don't currently have the links for breeding or any links for that matter, but i will say that you can get good information from other sites. I have mated my cavies but it was by accident! We thought we had 2 females...OOPS someone couldn't tell the difference!! We are happy with our babies and we do intend on breeding again since we have gone through it already. Make sure to check this page again to see if we have any new arrivals!!

These are just some of the things I do with my cavies if anyone has any more suggestions for housing, feeding etc.. please feel free to put a message on the message board!! or you can e-mail me at   mom2fiveus@yahoo.com  Thanks for visiting my page and come back soon!! A.J