With buying guinea pig food, hay, bedding, etc., my family and I are always looking for ways to save money. I discovered the use of fleece for bedding while browsing on YouTube. It saves you money, plus you can get really cute fleece that will look great in your cage.
Here's how to use it.
Source: YouTube
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I have a guinea pig in a wired, open cage. My guinea pig frequently chews the metal bars and it is rather a nuisance. I was wondering if it was safe for him to chew on that and if it is detrimental if I spray his nose with a spray bottle when he does it to get him to stop.
I'm sure it's annoying to listen to that all day long, but as opposed to spraying him to stop the behavior, I'd look at what's causing the behavior to begin with. Does he have sufficent play toys, tubes and wheels to run in, and possibly a mate to to keep him entertained? Solitary pets in confinement are often lonely and bored and develop nervous ticks and habits as a way of expressing it. (Bears have been known to swim continuously till exhaustion without proper stimulation when in captivity.) Perhaps a more central location or extra human attention would help also.
Just a suggestion! I know from experience that if an animal's bad habit is caused by the above problems, "punishment" makes it worse, and while they may stop THAT habit, they will quickly develop another...
Good luck!
A guinea pig chews cause it needs to. Their teeth are always growing and they need to chew hard things to wear them down. One of my old pigs teeth started to grow in a circle almost back to the roof of its mouth befor I noticed it. His mouth wouldnt close right, they had to be filed at the vets. He was in a wood sided cage and had no place to chew. Maybe if you put in a large piece of branch or make him a wood house that he can nibble on and hide in too. I know that annoying sound you mean, my guinea now tattles her tip of the water bottle and it goes thump against the cage. Good luck.
I have raised guinea pigs for many years. We even had a mother /daughter set that lived to be 10 and 9 1/2 yrs old.what mant people do not realize is that guinea pigs have two sets of teeth both which grow constantly, they need to chew all the time so that the teeth do not grow into each other causing the pigs to not be able to eat. They are not chewing to be annoying, they need to hone their teeth down. giving them chunks of wood to chew on..placing a brick in their cages,and giving them hard foods like carrots all help somewhat..Always make sure they have something hard to chew on, and do not feed them things like iceberg lettuce which is nothing more than feeding them water...it has no nutritive value.Also adding liquid vitamin C to their drinking water helps keep them healthy.
Your guinea pig needs a nice chunk or branch of
fruit wood (never wood which has been treated) so
that he can keep his teeth worn down enough to
continue eating. The teeth never stop growing, and
if they are not worn down, they will actually cause
your pet to starve to death.
If you find this is not the case, then he just needs
more attention, something or someone to play with and maybe a wheel for exercising as well as some
nice interesting toys. They have feelings too.
Good luck.
Julia in Orlando, FL
My two guinea pigs chew on their cage alot. Should I do something about this?
Hi people, i have had my guinea pig for 2 years and although he plays with my little dog, he still seems very lonely. Do any of you know what i could put in his cage to cheer him up, because sometimes he looks so fed up and i feel pity for him. i do let him out, but he makes so much mess, as you can imaging. I dont know if he will go in a wheel, to be honest he probably wouldent know what to do with it.
Any suggestions???
im planning on getting a guinea pig can anyone help me!
When you have a male and female guinea pig and she is going to have babies, do you have to remove the male from the cage? Or will he not eat his young?
You will definitely want to take the male out. This isn't so much for the safety of the babies as for their welfare. The male and female may be agressive to one another with baby pigs around and it will just add a lot of stress and danger to their environment.
YES! and do not touch the babies for 2 weeks. remove from mom at 1 month or you will get more babies. also if you put the male back just know that the female can get pregnant at just 1 hour after giving birth. and the babies can start to get pregnant after 2 months. i use to breed them so if you need to know anything more write me at tlcdsfit AT yahoo.com i am a bird, rodent and reptile expert and i run a rescue for them too. darcey
I need help with my 2 adopted guinea pigs. First of all, I know nothing about them.
They are both very shy, will this get better? Also, I put their cages in my daughters room, and they were just cleaned, but they smell. It's not an offensive smell, but not very good either. Would Marshall's By-Odor be good to take care of this? Is it safe for the pigs? I want to litter train them, any tips ? Lastly, when I bring them out of their cage to roam around, they never move from the spot that I put them in.
I have some links I hope are helpful to you. I too have a new guinea pig. I've had her about 2 weeks now. I have found out everything I know from these sites..
www.diddly-di.fsnet.co.uk/
www.exoticpetvet.com/
I am not a Guinea pig owner so this is just from knowing a few. Guinea pigs I've known like to have a place to hide. It is normal for them to look for a place to burrow, especially if they are feeling insecure. A friend of mine had one that liked to hide in the wood pile. That's just how they are. Anytime they are out in the open, they will not feel safe so it might be a natural thing for them to freeze. Try to find places where they can feel protected.
Susan from ThriftyFun
I had six guinea pigs. They were fun wonderful pets. First you should know that they tend to be cautious by nature. You cannot litter train a guinea pig. They will go wherever they are whenever they have to go, and that includes in their food dish (I know, yuck.)
Using cedar chips will help with the odor, but they have to be changed no less than once a week.
They need lots of fresh fruit and vegetables (they are vegetarians) and something to chew on all of the time, or they will chew on your wires, your shoes, your furniture, etc. Fruit tree branches are excellent if you have any available. And don't forget to check the water bottle every time you refill it to be sure those little balls in the sipper tube are working properly. They can get stuck and your little ones won't be able to get any water.
The rest is a lot of common sense and figuring out as you go what they like and don't like. Have fun! If you want more information, just let me know.
I have got my piggie in a large cage. When I try to touch him he hides in one corner and makes noises; is that normal? Also he makes noise when I touch his rump should I be concern about that?
By Danielis
My guinea pig bites me. Any ideas why?
Victoria from Wales
I bought two Guinea pigs and they are "so" scared of me. They hide whenever they hear footsteps and they barely eat. How can I get them to warm up to me? Help.
By hannah from Duncansville, PA
Is it possible to train Guinea Pigs to poop in one part of cage?
How long is the Guinea pig supposed to be fed and how much? Does a Guinea pig need a shower before and after it awakes. Does it need a bath in the night?
By Valentina
My guinea pig keeps biting my shirt and doesn't let go when I go to put him in his cage. He has a brother that fights with him sometimes and they're the same age as each other.
Why would he do that?I have a bin cage which is connected to my old hamster cage. I wanted to ask if during the day can I keep the cage door open so he can get out of it and roam in my room and at night close the door of the cage so he can sleep.
Please get back to me as soon as you can.I just recently have become the mini guinea rescue in my town. I somehow became the lucky owner of 7 piggies, 4 males and 3 females. I'm trying to figure out the best way to house them using the grid cages. I am not sure of their ages and really would like to let them all "see" each other, but would prefer to separate the girls and boys that people have already had paired. I am trying to avoid fighting and babies and cages taking up too much room. Please help.
By Kelly
I just got a Guinea pig, my first one ever. I have noticed that he likes to stay in one corner of his cage, he also uses the bathroom in this same corner, is this normal? I'm worried he's going to get sick from being in his own waste? I clean that area more than once a day, but why is he sitting in his own pee like nothing's wrong?
By Ashley