How to Pick the Best Guinea Pigs!

by Ionic Hamster

106K1139

Intro: How to Pick the Best Guinea Pigs!

In this Instructable I want to tell you how you can pick an awesome guinea pig from any pet store and what they might like with some helpful hints on how to take care of them.

STEP 1: Where to Go

Petsmart is a great place to get your small furry friends but any pet store that sells hamsters or mice will probably carry guinea pigs too. I know there has been some accusations about large pet stores like petsmart and petco treat there small animals poorly and abusing them (YES I KNOW YOU HAVE NO NEED TO COMMENT). I think this is untrue seeing as my piggy (from petsmart) loves people, was in perfect condition, and was nice and plump. But as great as Spunky (my pig) turned out I still support small stores to get your piggy because most people there are very passionate about their animals.

STEP 2:

Once you find the right place you want to get your sweet piggy of joy from you should learn which ones will be most human friendly and will want to play.

Most pet stores may have a house or hut that the pigs like to stay in. Once you decide which one you like the best lift up the house if they stay still rather then scatter and you can pick them up they may be the right one for you.


*Pick one thats young so they grow up living with you and love humans*

STEP 3: Items...

your new piggy will need the obvious cage, food bowl, food, bedding,water bottle, Igloo (optional but they will be happier) and my piggy's favorite, timothy hay. Along with these essentials you might also want to get fruit and veggies for your pig such as lettuce, carrots, apples, raw corn, watermelon, banana, and pineapple. But people be smart if you think it might not be good for a pig, or any animal DON'T GIVE IT TO YOUR PIG!!!

STEP 4: LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER!

You and your pig should be happy now and please keep your piggy safe, don't lose it and don't let little children pull it's hair off.




P.S. Pur means they love whats happening, High piched squeel means they hate whats happening. If random squeaking occures and will not stop put pig in cage and add lots of food to food bowl teeth chattering means that they feel threatened and random chewing means nothing in particular .

P.P.S Piggys love lettuce and fruit!

STEP 5: My Inspiration

My inspiration is my piggy spunky who I picked and she was the best! On December 22, 2009 she will be turning 6

39 Comments

tcup 15 years ago

I've read that carrots are bad for cavies, what's you opinion?

Ionic Hamster 15 years ago

Ummmm... I don't believe that they are bad for guinea pigs. I read a couple of reliable guinea pig care books and they say nothing of that.

tcup 15 years ago

I am heartbroken, I think my guinea pig has ovarian cysts, she is losing hair on her sides and there are crusty patches on her nipples. I have an appointment with the vet on Thurs. I don't know if I can afford the surgery and I can't bear to have her put down, I can't bear to see her suffer either. I'm her 4th owner, she has a problem trusting and I can't blame her. Cross your fingers that I'm wrong. Anyhow, I've read that Vitamin A in carrots can cause liver problems in cavies so feed them in moderation. I've removed Poppy's salt lick and mineral lick. She wasn't pleased but I don't want to cause anymore problems for her. Thanks for your advice.

tcup 15 years ago

I'll let you know what the vet says, I pray for good news. do you have any ideas how I can get Poppy to trust? She doesn't like to be picked up or held, I think it's because she's had so many owners that she doesn't trust people anymore. After all, how many times can you give your heart before you finally shut down?

PiggiesRock 7 years ago

I have the same problem with Lucky. a lot of the time it's that they don't get handled enough so they aren't used to it and freak out.

Ionic Hamster 14 years ago

I'm sorry I haven't responded but I haven't seen this comment the best way is to hold them and play with them every day! if just holding them while feeding them there favorite food, or just watching TV with them! Best stated spend more quality time with your pig and they'll trust you more.

daltonpearson 13 years ago

the best food to feed them is romaine lettuce and most other lettuces just stay away from ice berg lettuce (it won't kill her but it has a high water content so there isn't a very high nutritional value and to get her to like you the best thing to do is constantly be in or near her cage try moving stuff around and talking to her

tcup 13 years ago

Thank you all for your advice, it was most welcome and appreciated. Unfortunatey, Poppy died last July, she had a large tumor in her abdomen and b the time we found it it was too late. I was heartbroken. Poppy and I had time to become good friends. It has been a year of losses for me, my husband in March, Poppy in July then two weeks after Woody my hamster. Losing Woody and Poppy only added to my grief for my husband.
You have all been wonderful, keep up the good work.

Ionic Hamster 12 years ago

I can finally understand how you feel. It saddens me to tell you this but Spunky my piggy passed away last April, at the age of seven. I am going to college soon and thus cannot care for another Guinea, but i am assuming that as with poppy and woody, Spunky took a piece of me with her. I am even more deeply sorry for the loss of your husband. Whilst any death is terrible, that of a spouse is one unimaginable to me, This subject is out of my area of knowledge so all I can say is, Stay strong, and if you are religious, don't fret as you will all be reunited some day, best of luck to you, and may the coming years bring joy and happiness to your life.

tcup 12 years ago

So sorry to hear about your Spunky. Isn't it funny how attached we become to our pets? Sinced then I've added and lost pets, I now have two dogs a cat, a rat, a hamster, a mouse and two parakeets. My family calls my home a petting zoo. Thank you for your kind comments about the loss of my husband. I'm quite sure we'll be reunited when my time is up. This past 19 months has had a lot of ups and downs for me, it seems that everything in my house has decided to break but I view every setback as the means to make me stronger. Soon I should turn into a female Hercules. lol. Congratulations on going to college, you can't lose when you have a good education. I often wish I had gone to college but now I"m too old, it would be a waste of time and money. Good luck with your studies.

tcup 15 years ago

Good news! I had Poppy to the vet today and she has a clean bill of health. The vet complimented me for taking such good care of her. I'm patting myself on the back :). I am so relieved. Now I need to work at establishing better trust from Poppy. I just found out that I'm her 4th owner. Poor thing, no wonder she is backwards about getting close. Any suggestions? I try to hold her often and I am trying the Ttouch and I also give her Reiki, she seems to love the Reiki, she gets very quiet and still. Thanks

AussieAnglerGal 12 years ago

all our guinea pigs love (and loved) carrots
as long as they aren't strong in pesticides etc they should be fine
but , if your worried you can always find other things

PiggiesRock 7 years ago

Yes, I totally agree. Mine all love, or did love, carrots and have lived for a long time. Sometimes if you feed them too many they may get sick of them but otherwise it's fine.

tcup 12 years ago

Thank you for your reply.

breadcrumbz 15 years ago

I'm a long-time cavy owner and I happen to disagree with a few of your suggestions. Getting a cavy from a petstore is actually a very bad idea. PetsMart and Petco actually have a reputation for mistreating their smaller in-house pets, buying from illegitament breeders. Cavies bought from places like PetsMart and Petco are often sick, which is unnoticable to an untrained eye, and die with in the first few weeks. The best place to get a cavy is from a local animal shelter or from legitament (and well-known) breeders. Also, cavies need access 24/7 to timothy hay (unless they are nursing mothers or very, very young babies), not cubes. The hay helps them digest their food and also grinds down their teeth so they don't grow to long. Cubed hay does not do that, therefore really has no benifets. I do like your other comments though, and goodluck to anyone getting their first piggy.

mylittlepiggy20 12 years ago

hi... so u mean buying from any petstores is not good idea??? maybe u have point but .. we have a shelter here but only for dogs and maybe cats..

Ionic Hamster 12 years ago

I'll be perfectly honest. I bought my guinea pig from a pet store and she was one of the greatest things to hit our family ever. she may not have been "Normal" But she was docile, loved to be held, and was essentially potty trained(She would squak at us really loud before she had to go). So overall, No one really knows if petstores abuse these animals but even so, If you buy one from there whats the worst thats going to happen you SAVE it? You have to do what you think is best, but that is my personal point of view.

PiggiesRock 7 years ago

It is true that a lot of them turn out great, live for a long time, but many others have been abused, die early, etc. And if you 'save' it, you are only encouraging the pet stores, so in the long run you are really not doing the species a favour, while that may be what you think.

breadcrumbz 12 years ago

I know this is a few months late haha, but anyways. I too, when I was younger, bought guinea pigs from pets stores and had some great pets. However, saying that its good to buy them to save them is wrong. When you buy a pet from the store you are supporting their business and encouraging them to bring in more stock. While I know that everyone wants to save a hurting animal, buying is only contributing the more pain. When business dies down they tend to stop stocking and in the end it helps stop the business.
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