guinea pig health and care

Question
Hey, I bought my son a guinea pig last christmas.
First I can't tell if its a boy or girl? I have lots of questions I hope u can help. Second I have a 2 story metal cage and I give it lots of celery and regular guinea pig food to Is this ok? Thirdly this rodent has attracted an enormous amount of flies and I don't know what to do I change the cage bedding at least monthly Is this not often enough? Lastly what is the temperature that it needs to be in all the time? Thank u for any answers u can provide

Answer
If the pig is a boy you will see a Y shape with a big dot in the middle, if you press ubove the dot it will extend, if it is a girl you will see a Y shape with a slit in the middle, the slit will also have some white near the bottom and 2 tiny dots beside the top of the Y's stem. Guinea pigs usually do not do well in metal cages, if the metal cage also has a metal grate at the bottom that the guinea pig stands on it should not be used, guinea pigs can get bubble foot and infections from metal grates, also metal tends to rust easily. The best type of cage is a plastic solid bottom guinea pig cage, most pet stores sell them and they are only around $20-35 depending on what kind you get and at what store, also guinea pigs kits can be bought with food, dish, and water bottles already in them for about $50. Celery is not very good for guinea pigs, it has no vitamins and often gives guinea pigs diarrea, the best treats for guinea pigs are carrots, romaine or green leaf lettuce, cucumber, green pepper, collard green, apple, orange, and kale. There are also some other veggies and fruits that are good for them, but avoid iceberg lettuce and celery. Give him lots of guinea pig pellets and he also needs lots of timothy hay, not alfalfa though, timothy hay can be purchased at any pet store or even walmart sells it. Guinea pigs need their cage changed every week at least, sometime they even need their cage changed twice a week depending on the size of the cage, do not use cedar bedding as it is toxic to guinea pigs and gives them upper respiratory tract infections, pine shaving and carefesh are the best types of bedding to use. Guinea pigs need to be at a normal human tempurature of around 65- 75 degrees, they do not do well in tempuratures over 80 degrees, nor below 60 degrees, but colder is a lot better than hotter, guinea pigs can easily have heat stroke if they get too hot. Let me know if you have any more questions,
Brittany