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Q. I am booked in for a cavy show in a weeks time, i`m a new fancier so its all new to me, three of my pigs have gone down with a nasty cold like virus, not the ones i intend to show, i have been advised not to take my pigs to the show but is this really necessary, i`ve paid my money and prepared them now. What do you think.
A. There is no question you must NOT take your pigs to the show.Many viruses get spread this way and it can cause devastation to peoples cavy studs. I personally know cavy friends who have had nearly there whole studs wiped out with virus and have not been able to attend shows for two years. Also you must not sell or breed until the cold has cleared up. It may be nothing more than a common cold but do not take any chances. You should get antibiotics and use vick as a reliever, keep the affected pigs off the grass and separate from all other pigs preferable in another building and fed lots of vit c rich foods
Q.What age can i breed my sow?
A. Firstly you should only breed your sow if you are prepared to keep all the babies or know you can find good homes for them,there are alot of pigs out there needing good homes.
Sows should not be put with a Boar until she is 5 months old and then only if completely fit and a good size.Gestation is 70 days (10 weeks)
Remove the boar as soon as you see she is pregnant or at 60 days. If you leave the boar in with the sow until she gives birth they will mate again and this is bad for the sows health. Do not allow her to get overweight and she should be allowed to exercise as much as she wants.Feed plenty of good quality fresh foods ,in the later stages of pregnancy she should have non fattening foods available at all times.
Litter size can be between one and six babies, Be prepared.
Q. One of my pair of same sex guinea pigs have died, can I introduce a new guinea pig to the one left on its own?
A. Yes, but there is a right and wrong way to go about this, if you want to introduce boars the best mix is an older boar and a baby between 8 and 12 weeks. The older Boar should not have an aggressive nature and of course must never had been with a sow.
Clean the hutch out and spray with an appropriate guinea pig friendly spray to disguise the piggy smell.
Dab a little bit of Vicks rub on the rumps of both pigs, put plenty of hay in and interesting food, when you put the pigs together they are going to be very interested in each other and mount and chase, this is not fighting.
Keep an eye on them, but let them get to know each other . Once they have settled ,do not separate them and never let them get the sniff of a sow.
This is the method I use and advice owners to use and never had had anybody say it don’t work.
With Sow’s, you use the same method , sows can be very bad tempered when you first introduce them, again keep an eye on them. You can separate sows and reintroduce them without much bother.
Q. What are the best foods?
A. Guinea pigs must have constant supply of foods rich in Vitamin C. Best provided in carrots, dark greens and raw beetroot. Feed a good quality dry food with added Vit c ,but remember that once you have opened the bag of dry food the Vitamin C starts to degrade,do not buy more than what you can use within a week or so.
Grass is one of their favourite foods and a very good conditioner, it must only be picked if you know its not been contaminated by animals or chemicals.
Hay is a very important food, it helps them to digest their food and keep their back teeth in shape.
Q. I would like to enter my pet guinea pig in a show, but have no idea what to do.
A. First of all you need to be able to answer the following questions: what sex is the pig? How old is the pig?
Is it a smooth coated,rough coated or longhaired? This will enable the secretary to enter your pig in the correct classes for you.
Any type of pig can be entered in the the pet classes but must be prepared properly to stand a chance of winning awards. Firstly ou must bath your pig a few days before the show,my method is lay a towel next to the sink, with your shampoo and nail clippers at hand.
Sit the pig on the towel and examine its fur, if it has any bald or sore areas it is not suitable for showing and will proberly need to be treated for a skin problem, if it has insects in the fur it will need to be sprayed with a mite spray especially for guinea pigs,or bathed in the anti mite shampoo.Assuming it has no problems you can continue with the bath. Dampen the fur with warm water and lather up the shampoo taking particular care to clean the area at the base of the spine which can get very greasy especially in boars rinse,lather up again then rinse well, you must remove all traces of soap from the coat.
Place the pig back on the towel and clean the ears by gently wiping with the towel,they can get very dirty,do not probe inside,dry the pig off as much as possible with the towel and finish off with the hair dryer as long as it does not upset the pig. Trim the nails,if its a very cold day leave indoors for a couple of hours, if its a warm day you can put the pig back into a clean hutch with hay.On the days leading up to the show give it a brush through to keep the coat dust fre. Pets are judged on good preperation,friendliness and must be in good condition
Q. Can i keep a guinea pig with my rabbit, the pet shop said it would be ok and he does seem lonely?
A. Guinea pig and a rabbit kept together in the same hutch is not advised, even though you will get owners say that theirs live together fine, in a few cases they are but most they are not,and usually its the guinea pig that gets bullied.Rabbits thoughts turn to breeding at 6 months,and as there is no other rabbit it turns to the guinea pig who resents the attention and gets stroppy which frustrates the rabbit which makes them lash out with their front feet and their very powerfull back legs and its the guinea pig gets it which leads to injury even death.
Its best to get two same sex rabbits and get them neutered, or go to a local rabbit shelter, you can often get rabbits that have already been neutered.
Q. My guinea pig keeps scratching, i have looked in his/her fur and there is small wriggly insects in the fur. What can i do?
A. It sounds like its lice, you need to go to the pet shop and buy some spray or shampoo that deals with lice, spray the area with the lice are taking care not to get it into eyes and ears repeat every day until lice have gone, Only spray on unbroken skin.
( i use johnsons spray its really good as it kills them off instantly then i bath the pigs. webmaster)
Q. My guinea pig is losing fur and i have noticed scabs and sores and keeps squeaking when i brush her, i have washed her with guinea pig shampoo but its not helping.
A. Your pig has picked up mites, these are insects that burrow under the skin and cause intense itching, its very unpleasant and needs to be treated without delay aswell as hutch companions as without treatment can leed to convulsions then death, take your pig to the vet where a course of ivermectin will be administered.You can always contact the club for advice on this matter.
Q. I am worried my guinea pigs are cold in their outside hutch.How can i give them extra warmth?
A. There are a few things you can do to keep them warm. Clean them out regularly so they do not get damp, line the hutch with thick newspaper and deep woodshavings and use lots of hay, keep hay topped up as they eat alot of it.
Turn Hutch away from wind and situate hutch close to house in a sheltered position,at night cover with a blanket or sacking and a waterproof cover,cover down as soon as it gets dark. They must have a good supply of dry food these heat them up and i personaly feed mine on the following hot food twice a week.
Recipe:
Bran mash, you can buy it in the cereal aisle in the supermarket or if you have alot of pigs you can get it from a horse feed store.
Boil up an appropriate amount of carrots when softened mash up well,stir into the bran using the water from the carrots to make a damp mash,you can also mix in some of their dry mix to encourage them,mine love it and they always clear the dishes.
Do not allow the mix to go stale,remove what is not eaten each day and watch it does not freeze, make sure there is always water available.
If possible it would be better for the pigs to put a hutch in a shed for the winter,but there should be a window for light,electric light and ventilation
Q. In am worried that my pigs will suffer from the heat, i lost two in last summers heat, what advice can you give me/
A. You are right to be concerned about the heat, the weather changes so quickly it can catch you unawares and can becomevery hot very quickly, it can be very dangerous for the animal.
Guinea pigs are not able to pant or sweat, they can easily die from heat exhaustion, prevention is better than cure.
Do not site the hutch/run in the sun, Restrict the amount of Hay they have and keep hutch clean,dirty bedding builds heat.
Give pigs plenty of room to move about,do not over stock the hutch,if they live in a shed open all windows and shade them , open all doors and put some fans in to keep it cool, Wooden sheds get very hot inside to the point of like being in an oven.If you cover the shed door/s with wire frame,leave open throughout the night if its safe to do so.
Give plenty of fresh foods (cucumber is a good one as its mostly water) make sure water bottles are full and working, in the heat the spout can easily become blocked and you may not realise this has happened. Boil the spouts to remove any blocks,scrub the bottle to remove green build up.
One good way to keep your guinea pig cool is to buy some small plastic bottles (coke bottles that sort of thing)
when empty fill with water and put them in the freezer,once frozen place inside hutch and they can lay next to the bottle to keep cool. And you can refreeze them as neccesary.
If the worst happens and you find your guinea pig with heat stroke, you must act quick, remove pig to a cool area, lower into a bowl of cool not cold water, dribble cool water in to its mouth being carefull not to choke him/her. Wrap your pig in a damp towel if no signs of recovery get him/her to a vet urgently
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