How to Stop My Guinea Pigs Getting Sick?

Your guinea pigs need a sound nutritious diet a clean cage and the occasional chance to be able to graze. My pigs get an occasional treat with a short visit to the vegetable patch. They think that's party time.

I line my pigs' cage with a thick pad of the local newspaper on the bottom of the cage and then cover that with pine wood shavings. The paper tends to soak up any fluids and keeps the surface fairly clear. Their bedding area is kept the same way but on top of that there are about ten sheets of crumpled up newspaper which they burrow into and make tunnels in as their sleeping area. The paper tends to keep the chill out as well and I have fun every morning trying to find where they are hiding. The girls tend to stick together whilst the boys tend to have their own individual area. I've noticed the girls tend to trample their newspaper whilst the boys don't but the paper is easily replaced. We're fortunate here because we get two weekly local newspapers delivered free and one has a very thick real estate section ms other is no shortage of newspaper for them. I could always ask a neighbour of I run short.

My guinea pigs go out to a grazing run every day so they are constantly eating fresh grass and dandelion leaves. They seem to have gone off clover at the moment which is a bit of a shame because there is plenty of that about.

My pigs get fed some dried lucerne chaff which has plenty of fibre stalks in and so they get plenty of chewing which helps keep their teeth short plus a selection of fresh vegetables as well. I have four pigs at the moment and none of hem like any of the pre-packed foods. When I tried them on the pre-packed food all they would eat was the greenery or lucerne from it and they just ignored the rest.

You want to encourage your piggies to exercise and some toys will encourage this. They are not like hamsters where they will work with a wheel like a hamster, in fact it's advised that you not try to introduce anything like that. A few places where they can hide is ideal. We have a few pieces of plastic pipe that they can fit into comfortably in their area and they enjoy using those to play in although mine seem to be sleeping most of the time in them.

My guinea pigs have been fit and well all the time that I have had them and I have not noticed any sickness with any of them Have a great time with your piggies.

John Evans is a lifelong guinea pig lover. For more great information, visit my website.

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