If you’re interested in bringing a new animal home, then guinea pigs are certainly a great choice. They make wonderful pets for almost every type of family! They are incredibly playful, and love to run around and spend as much time in your presence as possible. Guinea pigs are full of character and are guaranteed to brighten every single day.

Before bringing any animal into your home, it’s always a good idea to learn about the species typical behaviours and personalities. Guinea pigs are incredibly friendly animals, who greatly enjoy playing with each other and their human friends. They are extremely talkative animals and are always ready to have a conversation, and you will definitely hear them squeaking away any time you approach.

As far as domestic animals go, guinea pigs are one of the easier pets to take care of. Their welfare needs are rather minimal in comparison to other common pets. When it comes to the daily husbandry tasks for guinea pigs, there isn’t much to do at all. In many ways, guinea pigs are quite independent and can go about their day with little interaction from you or other people.

It’s pretty easy to tell if a guinea pig has been fully weaned from their mother. A nursing piggy will tend to stick quite close by to their mothers for safety, comfort and to feed whenever hungry. However, guinea pigs are born almost completely physically independent from their mother besides their need for milk, so once weaned, it’s pretty common to see young piggies venture away from their mothers and interact with them a lot less.

There are many factors to consider when looking for guinea pig bedding. Of course, the main factor is how comfortable the bedding will be for your guinea pigs. Guinea pigs have very sensitive feet, and a rough bedding can be quite irritating and can cause their paws to become sore and painful over time. They are also quite sensitive to strong smells and lingering particles in the air, so it’s important to find a bedding that has minimal odours and  dust.

Halloween is an exciting holiday for all, and getting our furry friends involved is always a blast. Although, there is some debate about whether piggies should be wearing costumes, some people love the idea, while others are quite hesitant. Both opinions are perfectly valid, and any choices should be made by putting the welfare of your animal first. 

Thankfully, baby guinea pigs don’t have any specific needs or requirements that you must see to. They are almost fully independent from their first day in the big wide world! Their only requirement is that they must be kept close to their mother as they will need to nurse from her. Guinea pig milk is full of healthy fats, vitamins, and antibodies to help the babies grow big and strong.

We are rapidly approaching the end of the year, and as we creep closer to October, Halloween feels just around the corner. Halloween is a great time for people to dress up, decorate their house with some spooky decorations and take the little ones trick-o-treating. However, who’s to say Halloween is just for humans? Guinea pigs certainly are an animal that can enjoy the holiday too! There are many great ways to include your furry friends in the spooky spirit.

When it comes to setting up an indoor guinea pig cage, there are some things that you need to consider. You may be tempted to pop it down as close to you as possible, so you always have your piggies by your side, but this isn’t necessarily what’s best for them. Guinea pigs can be sensitive animals and can become highly stressed from factors in their environment.

Much of the ease of guinea pig litter training comes from the fact guinea pigs can be completely litter trained in only a few days! Guinea pigs are intelligent animals and will thrive off of the safety and stability a litter box can bring. You may have noticed your piggies tend to pee and poop in the same few areas anyway, so adding a litter tray to their routine will be straightforward.

If you’re looking for a new animal, one of the main factors you should always consider is their ease of care. If you’re a busy individual who spends most of their days going out and about, getting an animal with high care needs certainly wouldn’t be the ideal option. Luckily for you, both hamsters and guinea pigs are fairly simplistic when it comes to their care.

Bladder stones are a common condition in guinea pigs and are found to be quite painful in most cases. Bladder stones are small masses of minerals that the body wasn’t unable to absorb which led them to crystallising in the urinary tract. They can be found in any part of the urinary tract, starting at the kidneys and all the way down to the urethra. 

Traditionally, sawdust was the go-to bedding for guinea pigs until owners and researchers noticed that guinea pigs were frequently developing respiratory conditions. It was quickly discovered the source of this was the sawdust, as it was extremely fine and far too easy for a piggy to inhale. Their bodies aren’t able to effectively filter out the dust, so it remains inside and can lead to discomfort and infections.

There is a common belief that you can’t touch a baby animal, whether that be a rodent or a bird, because it may cause the mother to reject the young. However, for most species, this is a complete myth! You are perfectly fine to handle a newborn guinea pig soon after birth, and this won’t cause the mother to reject the baby at all.

For the most part, juice is not safe for guinea pigs. Most juices are very high in sugar, calcium and phosphorus which can lead to a variety of health issues such as diarrhoea, weight gain, kidney and bladder stones.

Fruits are a great treat for your guinea pig. They are packed full of nutrients and vitamins that are super beneficial for your guinea pig to maintain their ideal health. If you’re interested in giving your guinea pig fruits, it’s important to know which ones are safe and ones to avoid.

Adult male and female guinea pigs are called boars and sows, which are the same names as a male and female pig. When it came to naming guinea pigs, they definitely kept a certain theme. However, this does not ring true for their babies. A baby guinea pig is actually called a ‘pup’, and not a piglet.

While most guinea pigs enjoy the company of other piggies and will become extremely depressed if they are kept alone for too long, there are some guinea pigs that just don’t get along with others. This may be simply due to who they are, or sometimes can be triggered by a certain event.

No guinea pig owner likes the idea of their precious guinea pigs falling ill, but sadly it is something that is bound to happen at some point in time. In the meantime, it’s always a great idea to learn about the common signs and symptoms of sickness, so you know exactly what to look for if you suspect your guinea pig is getting sick.

Guinea pigs are animals that contain a lot of energy and the best way for them to expel their energy is through playtime! A guinea pig requires a significant number of toys as they provide immense amounts of stimulation. Stimulation is incredibly important to the mental and physical health of your piggies.