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Food and water Cavies will eat a variety of foods, some are fussy and only like certain things while others will eat anything and everything!! With all of my cavies I tried them on a variety of foods and got to know what they liked and did not like. Here is a list of what my cavies like to eat: Carrot, apple, pear, watermelon, cantaloupe, celery, cucumber, strawberries, oranges, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, parsley, carrot tops and kiwi fruit and the favorite is grass. Cavies need to have fresh hay and pellets available at all times, the hay is a very important part or their diet as are the pellets. The hay aids in the digestion of their food, good grass hay is fine. Cavies do not store vitamin c in their bodies so a supplement should be added to either there pellet mix or water. This is very important as vitamin c aids in the resistance to disease. A good amount to give is 50 milligrams per day, I give one quarter of a 200 milligram tablet, crushed ie: 50milligrams for 1 bowl of shared pellet mix. Please remember to change your cavies water daily, they require a drip feed water bottle, which can be purchased from any pet store. It is important not to give them a bowl of water as these can be easily tipped over causing wet bedding or wet cavies!! The general rule of thumb for feeding fruit and vegies is: 2 fruit, one veg or vice versa. My piggies are fed their fruit and vegies at night, but always have their pellets to nibble on during the day. Cavies also require grass daily, my cavies are usually in there outside house during the day where they can happily eat as much grass as they like!! As a special treat I often give them a whole weetbix, which they all love!! Housing I keep my cavies in open houses inside and in a hutch outside. The outside cage needs to have an area in which they can get out of the weather and an area where they can happily run around and munch on grass etc. The run needs to be covered in with fine holed wire, top and sides, but NO wire for the bottom. This is very dangerous for a cavie as they can get their tiny feet caught in the holes and break or even tear there feet. For an indoor house we have used a timber called melamine, this is a coated chipboard, which can not be chewed and is very easy to clean. Cavies will chew anything and everything so it is important that their cage is not made out of anything that may make them sick if eaten. For each cavie you need at least 2 square feet of room, of course the more room they have the better, cause they love to run and play!! We also have a playpen for our cavies which we put them all in occasionally for play time. There is a picture of it on the Cages Page. Bedding There are all sorts of different beddings available to use, but the one I like is hay. Firstly I use newspaper to cover the bottom of the house then top this with a good quantity of hay. I usually clean my cavies house out every 3 days, with a complete wash out once a week. It is very important to keep your cavies house clean and dry, they are clean animals by nature and do not like being dirty. Also your cavie could get sick if the house is soiled and not cleaned properly. Bathing Cavies can be bathed if they become smelly or dirty. They do not usually need to be bathed very often, probably once or twice a year or maybe more often if they have a medical problem like mites. When you have bathed your cavie make sure you dry him/her off completely, by not doing so they may catch a cold of develop pneumonia, which can be fatal. Do not bath them on a cold day a warm one is much better. You need to have the water just warm and do not get water in their eyes or ears. I recommend "Fido's Free Itch" to bath your cavies, this smells heavenly and most importantly aids in keeping mites and other little nasties away. Nail Trimming This is one thing I hate having to do!! My cavies all dislike having there nails done and it is always a big fight to do it!! I wrap them in a towel nice and tight now so they can not move or see what I am doing. You can also give them a treat while you are doing it to distract them, which works sometimes!! You must be very careful not to cut the bloodline, it is easy to see this in cavies with clear nails but not so easy with black nails. What I do is just clip off the very end of the nail with a normal pair of household fingernail clippers. If you do happen to cut the bloodline have some plain flour near by and dip the cavies foot into it to get the blood to clot. Cutting the bloodline is very painful for a cavie and they can bleed quite a lot, sometimes it can not be helped if they accidentally move though. Cavies nails need to be trimmed about once a month. You just have to try and be very careful, but they do get used to it after a while, well most do anyway!! Exercise Cavies need to get a lot of exercise as they can become overweight which is dangerous for such a little creature. As I have already mentioned I have a playpen that I put in my loungeroom, this is just wonderful for my cavies. They have so much fun running and popcorning and squeaking around!! We usually take turns with this every day, we have 13 cavies and as they all live in different groups we prefer to let each group have a turn cause some of the piggies just don't get along and tend to fight if we have them all together!! Toys Yes there are toys for cavies!! The most common one is the old PVC pipe, this is used as a play tunnel for cavies. You can have lots of fun creating a little maze for your cavies out of PVC pipe!! The size you need is 4 inches in diameter, this should be plenty big enough for even the plumpest little cavie!!! You can also pick up baby toys from garage sales and markets etc. like the plastic keys babies have for teething. Just remember to wash the toys thoroughly before giving them to your cavie. Illnesses There are a number of illnesses that a cavy can have, the best thing to do if your cavie is off his/ her food, not drinking and not his/her regular self is go to an Exotics Vet Immediately. Pregnancy I have had a sow give birth to 2 pups, this was not an easy birth and not one that I caused, she was pregnant when I got her from the pet shop, I ended up having to take her to a vet for a c-section. Both her and the babies nearly died, this was mainly due to her age as she was only 4 months old. A sow must not become pregnant until the age of at least 4-5 months, any younger and her life could be put in danger. Cavies do not go well with anaesthetic a lot of the time most do not make it through it. Pregnant sows drink and eat much more than normal, so there must be plenty of fresh food and water available at all times. Gestation is usually around 72 days, but it is not easy to tell when the little one's will arrive. I have not had a great deal of experience with birthing and if you need to know more I recommend you go to Peter Gurney's web site, he not only covers this topic but many more on health issues. General notes Cavies are I think one of the most adorable little pets you could ever own, they love you unconditionally and give you so much joy!! There is not another pet in this world I would rather have on my shoulder or lap wheeeping at me!! I also have to say that I believe there is enough unwanted Guinea Pigs in this world and therefore the need to breed is not only dangerous but also not necessary. Please also remember that if you feel your cavie is sick get to the VET ASAP, I am not a vet and have written this page from my own personal experience. |
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| The Boys | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Piggie Links |
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Piggie Friends |
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Piggie Cages |
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Pooh Bear |
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