Guinea Pigs as Pets


Guinea pigs make perfect pets.  They take a lot of time and attention but all of that work is totally worth it because guinea pigs are very nice and make you feel good.  Guinea pigs love to nap with you and are very snuggly.  They like to creep up under your chin to snuggle with your neck.  Guinea pigs are very talkative and are constantly chattering to one another and to you.  They are highly motivated by food and will call out excitedly when they hear the refrigerator door or the knife on a cutting board.  There are several things you must consider before adopting a guinea pig. 

Guinea pigs are very curious so it is important to keep their habitats safe.  Put all electrical cords up high out of their reach because the guinea pig loves to chew on things and cover any holes that Guinea pigs could squeeze through.  Guinea pigs love to go through tunnels and some love to push around a ping pong ball with their noses.

Guinea pigs nails and teeth grow throughout their lives.  Since guinea pigs have teeth that constantly grow they need to chew on things a lot.  Timothy hay is good to grind down their teeth and provide nutrition for their gut.  They may enjoy chewing apple wood too.  Their nails must be trimmed occasionally and some will need weekly trims.  It’s very important to do this without causing too much stress to the guinea pig because stress is not good for them and they may bite or run away very fast for defense.  Their hair can be short and slim or long and rough.  It comes in several colors like orange, black, white and brown.  Some guinea pigs are covered in swirls we call cow-licks.  This hair pattern is funny to me.  Guinea pigs clean themselves with milky tears that are a special soap.  They can squeeze out this soap by pressing on tear glands with their front feet and making a sneezy sound with their noses.  They do eat their own cecals (poops) but this is normal and healthy behavior.  The cecals contain many important vitamins.

As a baby guinea pig grows, it’s normal for them to loose patches of hair behind their ears.  Young piggies do popcorning which looks like a little rodeo as they hop straight into the air with their large back feet when they get excited.  Guinea its like to take short naps very often.  When they aren’t eating they are napping.  Since guinea pigs are herbivores, they must never be fed meat or human snacks.  They like to eat
cucumber, bell pepper, celery, carrots, parsley and more.  They need loads of vitamin C so the pellets made especially for guinea pigs is an important part of daily food but the vegetables are also important.

If you get more than one piggie, when together there will be a leader who is in charge of the others and might herd the others some times.  Watch your piggies to make sure that there is no bullying going on. Make sure your guinea pigs have lots of space and things to safely explore.  They can be trained to use a litter box of bedding and hay but be prepared to keep them in a non-carpeted area to avoid difficult cleanups.