Caring For Guinea Pigs – Playful Pets
Caring for Guinea Pigs – Playful Pets
Guinea pigs are a great pet for any child over the age of five. Although, an adult will have to help their child with caring for guinea pigs. While the children will enjoy playing with this rodent, someone will have to take the responsibility when it comes to guinea pig health and well-being. You’ll need to understand the preventive measures that you can take that will keep the guinea pig healthy, and avoid guinea pig illnesses. Do you have a new guinea pig that was gifted to your child? Would you be able to recognize the signs of illness in your guinea pig? Then the article below will help you with the basic guidelines in caring for a guinea pig.
Aquarium or cage?
The good news for the owners of guinea pigs is that they do not need a lot of room in their home. Pet stores sell guinea pig cages at a reasonable price, but you can use a ten gallon aquarium that will work just as well. When buying a cage, you will want to make sure that it has a solid floor so the guinea pig does not trip up and injure their ankles accidentally. The cage or aquarium will need bedding that includes pine shaving, hay or straw, and paper pellets lining the bottom. Avoid using cedar chips because of the way that cedar absorbs urine, and this will cause problems for the guinea pigs feet. Newspaper strips will also need to be avoided because the ink used in the paper may harm your pet.
Feeding your pet
Your local pet store will carry nutritious guinea pig food mixes that you can feed your pet. While purchasing the guinea pig mixes from the pet shop will be good for them; you will also have to supplement their diet with fresh fruits and vegetables to keep them healthy. Most guinea pig mix is high in alfalfa, the mainstay of their diet, but they also need vitamin C to prevent the guinea pig from becoming ill. You need to keep their immune systems strong by adding this supplement to their water bottle. Vegetables to avoid include, broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower, because this will cause the guinea pig to have gastrointestinal problems.
Allergies
Guinea pigs are very susceptible to the same germs as humans are especially upper respiratory infections. If you or any other family member has a cold or the flu, they will not want to be handling the pet. In addition to passing the germs to your pet, guinea pigs are also allergic to the medications humans use to combat the colds and flu’s we get, and penicillin can kill them. A sure sign that the guinea pig is ill is a sudden weight loss of your pet. Another sign that indicates that the guinea pig is ill is if you begin to see any discharge from their eyes or nose. Proper treatment for a guinea pig that is ill should be conducted in conjunction with your veterinarian.
Your child can be responsible the general caring for guinea pigs such as feeding and cleaning the cage. On the other hand the guinea pig health issues will need to be monitored by an adult who can take action. The important thing to remember is that your veterinarian will need to treat any guinea pig illnesses that may arise.
