Here I intend to outline a few of the many different things that can befall a Cavy, and also end with the joy they can bring a household if cared for properly and a little Cavy history and list of relatives.
One more note: My Vet, a long time Cavy keeper and healer and very knowledgeable in Cavidom I might add, has approved my Instructable...That definitely makes me feel good about it.
(Pictured is one of my assistants < a silkie Teddy white but not albino piggie> helping me with this Instructable: this pretty little girl is Snuggles and she will be doing the typing / proofreading).
One more note: My Vet, a long time Cavy keeper and healer and very knowledgeable in Cavidom I might add, has approved my Instructable...That definitely makes me feel good about it.
(Pictured is one of my assistants < a silkie Teddy white but not albino piggie> helping me with this Instructable: this pretty little girl is Snuggles and she will be doing the typing / proofreading).
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Signing UpStep 1: Some Basics
My background is with raising these fellows for the past 18 years or so, and also quiet a bit of insight added by our Vet, who has raised them for much longer. Normally she had between 15 and 20 of them at any given time. Both our vet and my wife and I rescue these guys from the local Humane Society where they get turned in regularly.
A few generalized things to note:
They are small, so they lose body heat faster then we do. Keep the temperature within the proper range for the animal (between 65o & 75o if possible). Catching colds is a dangerous thing for these little guys.
FEEDING:
Another thing about being so small: what seems diluted to us may be very concentrated to them. Be careful with anything new introduced to their diet. Please avoid things that have been prepared in any way (cooked, or factory mixed in any way), or sprayed, or fertilized. They ARE vegetarians so they are accustomed to veggies and fruits. Some cavies will become picky however. Avoid "root / tuber" vegetables. Do NOT make major changes to their diet (different brands of pellets, etc.) abruptly. Mix in the brand you are changing to, a little at a time until you are giving them (within a week or more) all of the new brand. Avoid HARTZ, as it is reported that their foods set around for long periods of time, and vitamin C has a fairly SHORT shelf life. Also, because they need Vitamin C, do not use Rabbit pellets.
In addition to the hay and pellets, a variety of fresh vegetables, particularly leafy green vegetables should be offered daily. Avoid Iceberg (head lettuce) as it has very little nutritional value. Good choices include kale, spinach, turnip greens, parsley and dandelion greens, all of which provide vitamin C. Carrots, carrot tops, and just about any other fruit or vegetable can also be fed. Leafy greens should make up the bulk of the vegetable supplementation, and fruits and other vegetable can be offered in moderation.
Water: it is best to use Distilled water, or at least low mineral spring water, mostly because the concentrations of chlorine & fluorine in tap, can be harmful (and if the tap is also hard water, the non-organic minerals are not at all good either).
BEDDING / HOUSING:
Do not use cedar shavings; period. It causes many a small animal to have rashes and raw spots, and it causes severe respiratory problems in cavies. The recycled paper based product is best, although my Vet has also informed me that Aspen bedding is ok.
Also, with 2 or more cavies per cage, it is probably going to be necessary to clean the cage about twice a week (every 3 to 5 days).
Some small animals (for instance: rabbits) do not mind 'wire mesh' floors of their pens (allowing excrement to drop through and not dirty their floor); but cavies do not like them; they have VERY sensitive feet. Please give them a solid floor to stand on.
There are pluses and minus' to the arguments between aquarium or ventilated cage (wire sides only)'
On the one side is the lack of ventilation in the aquarium.
On the other side is that the drafts are cut down (cavies CAN be sensitive to a drafty environment). I haven't found one to be superior to another.
GENERAL HEALTH:
Cavies, like many small rodents, have a history. With cavies and mice and rats, the history may be somewhat spotted: that is, they may be sons and daughters from a lineage bred in labs for certain purposes. This is sad, but it means that these rodents are not always going to be simple to take care of. I personally have had 3 that developed cancer, one of them was ovarian cancer; several got kidney & bladder stones, two had horrible, yet benign cysts; and two had severe seizures (similar to epilepsy). The latest one died overnight, not having suffered anything before hand *shrug*; he was getting a bit old however (they live between 5 & 7 years on the average, and Shadow was 6 +) .
Cavies love to be held and paid attention to (despite their 'complaints' when trying to catch them), they seem to thrive on the attention. The more given, the more love will be given back. They can be and become very timid, unless handled regularly. As seen in the picture of Snuggles peering out of the cage, some just have an outgoing personality (that is Marshmallow; or Marshi in the background).
A few generalized things to note:
They are small, so they lose body heat faster then we do. Keep the temperature within the proper range for the animal (between 65o & 75o if possible). Catching colds is a dangerous thing for these little guys.
FEEDING:
Another thing about being so small: what seems diluted to us may be very concentrated to them. Be careful with anything new introduced to their diet. Please avoid things that have been prepared in any way (cooked, or factory mixed in any way), or sprayed, or fertilized. They ARE vegetarians so they are accustomed to veggies and fruits. Some cavies will become picky however. Avoid "root / tuber" vegetables. Do NOT make major changes to their diet (different brands of pellets, etc.) abruptly. Mix in the brand you are changing to, a little at a time until you are giving them (within a week or more) all of the new brand. Avoid HARTZ, as it is reported that their foods set around for long periods of time, and vitamin C has a fairly SHORT shelf life. Also, because they need Vitamin C, do not use Rabbit pellets.
In addition to the hay and pellets, a variety of fresh vegetables, particularly leafy green vegetables should be offered daily. Avoid Iceberg (head lettuce) as it has very little nutritional value. Good choices include kale, spinach, turnip greens, parsley and dandelion greens, all of which provide vitamin C. Carrots, carrot tops, and just about any other fruit or vegetable can also be fed. Leafy greens should make up the bulk of the vegetable supplementation, and fruits and other vegetable can be offered in moderation.
Water: it is best to use Distilled water, or at least low mineral spring water, mostly because the concentrations of chlorine & fluorine in tap, can be harmful (and if the tap is also hard water, the non-organic minerals are not at all good either).
BEDDING / HOUSING:
Do not use cedar shavings; period. It causes many a small animal to have rashes and raw spots, and it causes severe respiratory problems in cavies. The recycled paper based product is best, although my Vet has also informed me that Aspen bedding is ok.
Also, with 2 or more cavies per cage, it is probably going to be necessary to clean the cage about twice a week (every 3 to 5 days).
Some small animals (for instance: rabbits) do not mind 'wire mesh' floors of their pens (allowing excrement to drop through and not dirty their floor); but cavies do not like them; they have VERY sensitive feet. Please give them a solid floor to stand on.
There are pluses and minus' to the arguments between aquarium or ventilated cage (wire sides only)'
On the one side is the lack of ventilation in the aquarium.
On the other side is that the drafts are cut down (cavies CAN be sensitive to a drafty environment). I haven't found one to be superior to another.
GENERAL HEALTH:
Cavies, like many small rodents, have a history. With cavies and mice and rats, the history may be somewhat spotted: that is, they may be sons and daughters from a lineage bred in labs for certain purposes. This is sad, but it means that these rodents are not always going to be simple to take care of. I personally have had 3 that developed cancer, one of them was ovarian cancer; several got kidney & bladder stones, two had horrible, yet benign cysts; and two had severe seizures (similar to epilepsy). The latest one died overnight, not having suffered anything before hand *shrug*; he was getting a bit old however (they live between 5 & 7 years on the average, and Shadow was 6 +) .
Cavies love to be held and paid attention to (despite their 'complaints' when trying to catch them), they seem to thrive on the attention. The more given, the more love will be given back. They can be and become very timid, unless handled regularly. As seen in the picture of Snuggles peering out of the cage, some just have an outgoing personality (that is Marshmallow; or Marshi in the background).
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Grrrrr, mad at myself for forgetting the nails (I did include the teeth IIRC).
Yes, our vet raised them for YEARS and learned a lot about them. Her experience and ours (my wife and mine) are compiled above in synopsis. So much that people never knew about them (one thing I don't remember including was that they don't tolerate well (read: come out of) anaesthesia. The vet confided in us that their skin is extreemly thick for their size and drawing blood for a test is a major task too :-)
I am SO glad you found some use in my instructable.
Last cage I had was one of those big under bed rubbermaid containers with the target brand wire shelving thing (plastic bits that connect it all together in many different ways) around the container. Container fit perfectly withing the wire frame, and extras could be sued to make shelves, a maze for them, or whatever you could think of. No lid needed, and it worked really well.
Until I ended up being quite allergic to them, that it.
Sadly, being so small, they can "turn" so quickly. One day eating and running about and the next not moving much (but when they stop eating or begging for treats, that is a SURE sign of distress).
She needs plenty of clean water and also other greens with Vitamin C in them (collards, parsley, dandilion {pesticide free}, etc.) It keeps their digestive track moving well. Lettuce of any kind is mostly water, so is of little nutritional value.
Doesn't the vet have any suggestions?
Carrots are considered junk food for Cavies. They are very high in sugar content.
Broccoli and cauliflower are of the species Brassica oleracea, and although are ok, they are also full of minerals that may adversely effect your cavy (bladder and kidney stones can be common) unless they are given in moderation with a lot of other greens (the Timothy hay is good, and the parsley, collard greens, and dandelion greens are great too, with an occasional sprinkle of spinach - our gals LOVE spinach LOL but it is high in calcium and so again, moderation).
Hopefully they don't have bladder infections.
Because the cavy is a prey animal its instincts are to hide pain or illness so you do need to be watchful.
One of the lists I normally give out includes: Parsley, turnip greens, kale leaves, collard greens w/o the stems, spinach, dandelion greens and orange slices if they will have them. Some piggies can be a little fussy about high acid fruits. Any of the white, what most humans consider bitter "peel" between the orange colored peel and the fruit itself is appreciated by most piggies, as this contains MOST of the Vitamin C of the fruit, and they seem to know this naturally.
Don't feed them the orange colored portion of the peel however, as these are orange only because they were gassed.
We give ours the cardboard tubes that oatmeal comes in (with the label removed of course) and they happily chew on that to help wear down their always growing teeth. And they use it as a hiding place for awhile too.
Any cardboard containers that you do use though make sure there is no "printing" on them as they will ingest the ink along with the cardboard. The colored tubes for guinea pigs bought in most pet stores "SHOULD" only be dyed with organic dyes.
Hey I am happy to help with anything you need on the subject. I am just so glad you want to make your piggies as happy and healthy as you can. Happy Holidays to you and yours also.,
I'm definitely favouriting this 'ible for future ref, though ;)
Here's a couple of pictures that I took of children's guinea pigs at the school where I teach; I made them into computer jigsaws (the pictures, not the guinea pigs!)
But yes, the luck (or lack of it) of the draw can get you some really potential problems sadly. We still have 3 we saved from the shelter (yes, people turn them into the animal shelters when they are tired of them.....although a few idiots turned some loose into the wild over the summer....and this is just not an evironment they are accostumed to.
That being said, I did give in to impulse last weekend and buy two gorgeous little zebra finches at a pet shop when we stopped in a little country town... but I will definitely look after them - I have a bird cage and a good spot away form our cat! I don't usually buy from pet shops, we usually get pets that have been dumped.
I hope your remaining guinea pigs turn out OK- it must be really sad when they succumb to conditions that have been inflicted on them by people.
I have seen this kind of "gift giving" with animals and with inanimate objects too, believe it or not....people "don't" think ahead.
Someone I know gave us, and her parents, and brothers and sisters cell phones for gifts (back when they were still promoting them this way) and although none of us had them, we could also "not afford them" which, btw (here comes the thinking part) is why we "didn't have them". She unloaded her two for the price of one, sales on all of us, and within 6 months we had to cancel or start paying for a phone, we didn't want.
Yes, many people just do not think. Never give a gift to someone that is going to cost them money (or time, or both, like a pet would) unless it is absolutely certain that they ACTUALLY WANT IT. :-)
/end of rant