My guinea doesn t drink much...

Question
My guinea doesn t drink much water, it s about 6 weeks old (that s what the pet store said, how do i tell it s age?) and i never seen it drink water really. How much do baby guinea pigs drink and eat? It eats quite a lot. Is it ok if i leave it s food in the cage all day and night? It eats whenever it wants and it doens t if it s full I realised. I think it drinks water at night when I m sleeping, do you think so? (I feed it fresh fruit and vegies that has been washed in water, could it possibly had enough water from these fruits and vegies? E.g. grapes have a lot of wate r in them? but arn t guinea pigs meant to drink MORE? i m worried it will get dehydrated. I tried mixing water with its pellets but won t work it likes dry pellets not wet, moist ones.)   

Is it okay if I give it Permeseam? (The orange fruit). I realised it likes carrots and grape). I give it cabbage, beans, permeseam and carrots. Are these foods okay for the guinea pig to eat? Which foods shall I avoid? I read on some website that it s not good to give it lettuce because it gets something called Calic? I m not sure.      

P.S: It s name is Crystal. (It s white and shiny like crystal).    

Thank you for your support.    

-kAt-

Answer
Hi Kat,

Telling a guineas age isn't always easy. If the pet store said that she is 6 weeks old, then you just have to accept her as that. Count back 6 weeks from the day you got her, and set her birthday in the week you come to. It's fun spoiling your little guinea on their birthday, even if it isn't the perfect date.

Make sure you have lots and lots of hay in the cage with Crystal. She needs this all the time; it is very important for her digestive system and for wearing down her teeth. Meadow, timothy, brome, oat, orchard-grass, bluegrass and rye are all good types of hay for piggies. Alfalfa is also ok as she is still young, but she only needs this until she is 6 months old.

You can also leave her dry feed in her cage with her all the time. She is only young, so a bowl full of dry feed is alright. Again, when she reaches 6 months old you should limit the amount of dry feed she has to just 1-2 handfuls rather than a bowlfull.

Often piggies drink when no-one else is around. Does the water level in her bottle go down at all? Even if it doesn't make sure you give her fresh water every day. Do you put anything in her water at all? She should only have pure water - no vitamin drops or anything else; these often make the water taste horrible and they are useless anyway. Some piggies barely drink any water at all anyway, yet they are perfectly healthy.

Veggies which have been washed in water often provide all teh water they need. Limit the amount of high-water veggies you feed though - so not too much cucumber, grape, apple or other fruit. Only give one watery veggie a day - say one chunk of cucumber. Fruit should be fed sparingly as they are high in acid and sugars.

Mixing pellets with water creates something known as a "mash". This is a nice treat for piggies, but as you have discovered it isn't good as every day use.

Lettuce is fine to feed. Avoid iceberg though as this is very high in water. Some lettuces to try:-

Romaine
Lollo rosso/red leaf
Red batavia
Little Gem
Loose leaf
Mizuna
Rocket
Lamb's lettuce
Endive
Escarole
Radicchio

Mine all get lettuces every day. Some do say that lettuces do contain a sedative, but I have fed mine a lot of lettuce every day for over a year, and they are just as active and healthy as ever.

As far as I know, Persimmon is good to feed. Limit the amount fed though as it is a fruit.

Replace the fruits with some of the following foods:-

Chard
Courgette/zucchini
Coriander/cilantro
Parsley
Dill
Cabbages
Broccoli
Celery (cut it up into small chunks, also give the leaves)
Sweetcorn with husks and silks (the leaves and stringy bits)

Carrot is fine, but high in calcium and vitamin A, so don't feed too many.

Foods to AVOID are:

Rhubarb
Seeds and nuts
Bread
Meat
Dairy products - milk, cheese etc.
Onion
Potato (SWEET potato is the only SAFE one)

I hope I could help!

Best Wishes,

- Laura