hello, potential guinea pig owner here.

[fishandlilacs]

I started a thread in chat about getting some guinea pigs. A freind of mine as developed allergies to hers and wants to rehome her 3 yr old piggies. I'm seriously thinking about it.

anyway thought i'd pop in and say hi, any advice will be welcome.

toys- mine could not care less - but give them a twig off the apple tree and they will "play" with it, throwing it about, eating bark and leaves and generally looking like they are in heaven!

Cabbage and lettuce are fine in moderation - one lettuce leaf in the bowl with their veggies is good for keeping my girls "regular" - But to be honest there is soooooooo much they will eat it is not hard to avoid that sort of thing if you are worried...

My girl piggies are 5 now - and they have eaten pretty much anything veg wise that we do... they get the carrot tops, broccoli stalks, corn cobs - especially the green leaves and silks from outside, green beans, outside cabbage leaves, peppers, cucumber, celery - cauli - mine will only eat if it is all that's offered. Mine do not like sweet fruit, seems to give them tummy ache - but I know of others who love fruit.

thats great stardust I will try the apple twig.

they are so cute, i'm in love. I went and spent £17 quid today on them nice posh bedding, new gnaw thingy, some honey sticks, the posh hay, shavings and a mineral salt block.

marking my place....DD wants GPs for her 10th birthday in a couple of weeks...I am getting as excited as she is!!

I bought my boys a couple of those soft cat beds (washable faux fur) .Our GP2 loves them, but GP1 prefers a box of hay.

They don't have toys but love their tunnels in the outdoor run.

I give chopped kale or spring greens. Not ice-berg, but little gems, romaine, a few leaves from a salad bag.

My little boy still does the most enourmous droppings (think size of a Ferrero Rocher but more oval ). About one every day But he still managed to pass a load of normal droppings on my dressing gown last night.

Ours love a piece of watermelon , banana, strawberry or a grape.
I have to feed GP2 loads of weight gain food, he is quick small compared to his brother.

Anyone getting GPigs should make sure they are not allergic though..... I am - so ours are outdoor piggies and I have to wear long sleeves when I handle them or I get welts on my arms - 5 years of it is a bit wearing...

they are lovely -don't get me wrong.. but for the first month I didn't show any allergy signs. Apparently being allergic to cats meant I would "probably" develop a piggie allergy...

apple twig was big fat failure, couldn't be less interested. but they have a cardboard box now with a big hole in the side, and some smaller holes they seem to love that. I have stuffed it with hay.

hahaha - well they are all different!