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Small pets

A couple of questions about my new guinea pigs...

7 replies

ALovelyBunchOfCoconuts · 13/04/2011 16:42

Got two male pigs about a week ago, Iggle and Piggle . I think they are slowly settling in. For the first day or two they just hid in their house and presumably came out when I was out of the room. But now they are venturing out and exploring and loving their cuddles :)

They are eating fine, although I have never seen them drink anything, but I do give them fresh water every day in their bottle just in case they are sneaking some when I'm not about. I have read that they don't naturally drink alot anyway, is this true?

Also, I would like to know how I know when is time to trim their nails? I had a look today and they looked and felt pretty long and I gave them a little trim with DD's old baby clippers. I didn't draw blood so guess I did it right, avoiding the quick/kwik (sp?) but do they usually grow quickly? Is this something I should check on a weekly/monthly basis?

Finally, one of my pig's eyes looks a little clouded over, almost like the black is going white. There is no discharge so could it just be a possibility that he is blind in one eye? I will take him to the vet if someone thinks there is a problem, but he seems to be fine in himself.

I don't like to google too much as have been researching what foods they can and cannot have and have read conflicting opinions regarding grapes and runner beans so not sure what to believe and what not to believe.

Thanks for reading, that was a little longer than anticipated, and thank you for any responses :)

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AlmaMartyr · 13/04/2011 16:46

My guinea pigs took a while before they started drinking much. Now they get through about 50ml a day I guess, judging by their bottle.

Not sure about their nails, I should probably clip mine tbh.

I found some of the food information a bit conflicting as well so have erred on the side of caution. A vet friend of mine feeds her grapes as a treat if that helps. Mine haven't had any yet.

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ALovelyBunchOfCoconuts · 13/04/2011 17:44

Thanks Alma :)

I'm sure as they settle in more they will soon drink more. They are still only babies so I also assume the fluid intake will increase as they grow.

I tried mine on a grape the other day and they didn't much care for them so I won't include them in what I give them, just to be safe. They are really quite fussy things!

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Summersoon · 13/04/2011 17:56

Hi there, my GP drinks almost nothing at all (but produces plenty of wee - don't know where it all comes from ) so I wouldn't worry about that. However, I would get the eye checked out. There may not be anything that can be done about it but at least you'll know and can take it into account.
Re trimming the nails - I am afraid that I am too chicken to do that myself (he does have black claws and it is impossible to see where the quick starts) so I take him to the vets for a pedicure about 3x a year.

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schooltripworry · 13/04/2011 18:05

Mine love love love beans so I hope they are allowed. Also love carrot and broccoli. They need to have vitamin C supplement from somewhere.

Mine do drink every day - about half the bottle between them each day but they are now fully grown.

I wouldnt imagine you need to trim the nails that often - not unless they curl round. I took mine to the vets each time for the first year and they only needed doing about every 4 months at most. I was surprised how long the vet left them - but I went to 2 different ones and it was the same each time.

I would definitely get the eye checked out though. Was it like this when you bought him?

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ZZZenAgain · 13/04/2011 18:10

you can get special clippers for the nails which work very well, much faster than normal nail clippers. Those guinea pig nail clippers are cheap, worth getting IMO.

Be careful not to cut where the pink is inside the nail, you'll draw blood. If they get out and about, their nails will not get too long. If they are less active, you'll have to cut them occasionally (not that often) so they can still walk comfortably.

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ALovelyBunchOfCoconuts · 13/04/2011 18:16

I didn't buy him. I don't really like to 'buy' pets as I think it encourages over breeding. My neighbour has a menagerie of animals and also some guineas and she had an accidental litter and she gave me two. They are very healthy and she does a brill job caring for her animals :) so I trust that it isn't anything to do with the breeding. I have just seen her and she has looked at the eye and said she never noticed it before so I don't know if he had it when I got him, I didn't look Will get it checked, definitely.

My local pet store retail guinea pigs at £25 and I think this is extortionate, and I have had rats from there before and they were all in bred and poorly and my vet told me not to buy from there again.

Mine love cucumber and carrot, cabbage and celery also are high on their list :) They don't like grapes and don't care for green pepper. Going to get red next time and try that :)

I'll keep an eye on the claws, I'm sure I'll get the hang of knowing when to do it :)

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Carrotsandcelery · 13/04/2011 22:51

Congrats on finally getting the gpigs coconuts.

Mine love curly kale, carrots, celery, brocolli, spring greens, the odd grape and a little bit of apple now and again.

Are they indoor guinea pigs? I find mine grow very long nails and I have to try to trim them when they are indoors over winter but when they are on the grass in the summer they wear their nails down running around.

I would also get the eye checked out to be on the safe side. I don't think a pet guinea pig would suffer dreadfully if blind in one eye but it may be the vet can give you something very simple that would help him.

I hope you enjoy them, they are great wee pets.