Guinea Pig Babies: How to Raise A Loving and Healthy Guinea Pig

You first purchased your guinea pig, do you know what to do? Were you concerned about what to feed it, how to care for it, and make it happy and healthy. Focus first on their environment.

Baby guinea pigs have small feet and heads. Cages are made for all kinds of rodents, not just guinea babies, and their heads can get easily stuck in the wire mesh on the sides or bottom of a cage. Therefore consider first a cardboard box, or solid floor small mesh cage. Avoiding a trip to the vet will be so much more enjoyable, believe me.

Feeding your guinea pig is not as difficult as it seems as long as you follow certain rules. First remember that they are vegetarians and need lots of fresh veggies. Also they cannot produce vitamin C, and therefore need Timothy hay and other foods high in vitamin C to avoid scurvy.

They will squeal, jump, popcorn and all kinds of other actions showing pleasure when you feed them veggies. If you want to know more about their signs and signals of pleasure and unhappiness, see the links under our bio section.

Feed them lots of cucumber, carrot, celery, lettuce and even some fruits like apple and orange. They love hay so pile it in their cage at least two times per day so that your little pig gets lots of vitamin "c". They cannot produce vitamin C just like you and need it in their diet. However, they can not eat like humans, so do not feed them meats, processed foods or other sugar or potato like manufactured foods or you may find your pig with an upset stomach and a messy cage.

Be careful when you bring your guinea pig home. Remember they probably were bonding with the mother, and will need some time to adjust. Also you are a scary person, so big and you move so fast. Consider moving slowly, and do nottry to pick up your guinea pig too soon after bringing him or her home. Instead use a careful and slow approach to building a bond.

Guinea pigs are inherently shy at first. Therefore caution is in order. It usually takes several days for a guinea pig to acclimate, depending upon where you purchased it, and how long it had been in that environment. Never trick your guinea pig into coming to you with food or other instruments. Instead, build a bond by patience and slow, careful steps toward trust.

You may hear the squeal of death, as if you were torturing the poor thing. Instead, slowly entice your pig toward you each day. Finally one day put the food down just inside the cage and when your pig approaches, lightly reach out and stroke her. Then after she trusts you, with two hands scoop her up like you would a two handed splash of water for your face. You did it. Look forward to enjoying your guinea pig for many years to come.