Guinea pig manual

The author discusses feeding, breeding, caging, health care, and much more. Guinea Pigs care guide presents information for non-specialist animal owners and prospective owners, with facts about each animal's origins and traits, as well as advice on purchasing, housing, feeding, health care, and much more..

Guinea pigs are sweet-tempered, expressive, and cheerful pets. They are inexpensive and pretty easy to care for, compared to a lot of pets. However, they do require certain supplies to keep them healthy and comfortable. To enjoy their love and affection you must first give them the necessary care and attention they deserve.

This book shares all the basic information you need to know to successfully own a pet guinea pig. It is an extensive care guide for first-time owners who wants details about guinea pig care. The authoritative information and advice you need, illustrated throughout with full-color photographs--now revised and redesigned to be even more reader-friendly! The book "Guinea Pig Care " is written by keeping the practical aspect of caring for our guinea pigs in mind.

We have owned guinea pigs for several years now and we understand how hard it can be for a new owner to get it right! We never knew if the cage we are keeping them in is of right size or not? Can I use cat litter or aspen bedding? We were unsure! What would be the ideal diet? Mature males, and especially strangers, will fight. However, two males raised together from a young age or a group of nonbreeding females do not develop dominance problems. Social problems are diminished with castration and ovariohysterectomy, but learned behavior in adult males after castration may still make them antisocial.

Guinea pigs require a constant source of water that must be changed daily. They dirty their water bowls or sipper tubes with food when they drink. They do not lick sipper tubes without training, defecate indiscriminately, and are prone to sit in and soil their food bowls and sleeping areas. Guinea pigs are neophobic, ie, afraid of new things, especially with regard to food and water. Any changes in appearance, taste, texture, etc, can put guinea pigs off feed or water.

Guinea pigs develop food preferences early in life and may not recognize new food items as food if introduced later. This is why it is important to expose young guinea pigs to a variety of foods, especially a variety of vegetables, early in life. Guinea pigs produce two types of fecal pellets: one nitrogen-rich intended for cecotrophy, and one nitrogen-poor delivered as fecal pellets. However, when food is limited, guinea pigs ingest feces during parts of the day when food is unavailable.

Guinea pigs are easy to hold and restrain. Although they do not bite, very young guinea pigs may nip. Fatigue, lack of interest in surroundings, and light body weight are often general signs of illness. Sick guinea pigs may show evidence of weight loss, hunched posture, abnormal gait, drawn-in abdomen, scruffy fur, or labored breathing.

They may be lethargic or unresponsive to stimulation. Respiratory and GI conditions are most commonly encountered; thus, ocular or nasal discharges or diarrhea may be present. Feet should be examined for sores or broken nails. Teeth may sometimes overgrow and should be checked. However, the mouth is small, and examination of the oral cavity is difficult. A nasal speculum attached to an otoscope handle is an invaluable tool for examination of the cheek teeth in an awake guinea pig. Ears and eyes should be examined for discharges or inflammation, and the submandibular area should be examined for swellings.

Venipuncture can be difficult in guinea pigs because of the lack of obviously accessible peripheral veins. The lateral saphenous vein and the cephalic vein are useful to draw small amounts of blood.

For large amounts of blood, the anterior vena cava can be used while the guinea pig is under anesthesia. This technique requires practice because, if performed incorrectly, there is a risk of death associated with intrathoracic, pericardial, or pulmonary hemorrhage. Streptococcus equi subsp zooepidemicus previously S zooepidemicus may be carried in the nasopharynx as a latent infection.

Abrasions of the oral cavity eg, molar malocclusion allow bacteria to be transported to draining lymph nodes of the head and neck, causing suppurative lymphadenitis. Clinically, guinea pigs present with large, unilateral swellings in the neck. The affected animal is often in good flesh and shows no other signs of disease.

The differential diagnosis should always include cavian leukemia. Treatment is surgical excision of the affected lymph nodes and systemic antibiotic treatment. Bacterial culture and antibiotic sensitivity should always be recommended. Streptococcus pneumoniae may be carried in the nares as an inapparent infection.

Predisposing factors for development of bacterial pneumonia are changes in environmental temperature, humidity, or ventilation. This always occurs in winter in guinea pigs kept outside. The young, old, and pregnant are the most susceptible. Clinical signs of pneumonia are dyspnea, wheezy breathing, sneezing, nasal discharge, and coughing.

The affected guinea pig becomes depressed and anorectic. S pneumoniae infections are nearly always associated with middle ear infection and head tilt. Increased radiodensity of the affected tympanic bulla may be seen on radiographs. A major differential diagnosis for pneumonia is Bordetella bronchiseptica infection. Rabbits may harbor B bronchiseptica in their respiratory tracts without developing disease.

However, this organism is an aggressive pathogen in guinea pigs, causing pneumonia, conjunctivitis, otitis media, abortions, and stillbirths. Clinical signs include anorexia, inappetence, nasal and ocular discharge, dyspnea, and often sudden death this could also include S pneumoniae and S equi zooepidemicus infections.

Rabbits and guinea pigs should not be housed together as pets. B bronchiseptica possesses a beta-lactamase and is resistant to many penicillins and cephalosporins and mostly resistant to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. Most isolates are sensitive to doxycycline 2. Salmonella infections were historically common in guinea pigs in research colonies.

With present standards of husbandry, rodent control, and good quality feed, the disease rarely occurs. It is most likely seen when guinea pigs are kept outside and wild rodents have access to their feed.

Disease is more often seen in young or stressed animals. Infection may be subclinical, and diarrhea is rarely present. Clinical signs include conjunctivitis, fever, lethargy, anorexia, rough fur, palpable hepatosplenomegaly, cervical lymphadenitis, and abortion in pregnant sows.

Mortality is often high in epizootic outbreaks. If animals recover, organisms may be shed intermittently. Diagnosis is accomplished by isolating the organism from blood, ocular secretions, lymph nodes, or spleen. Because of zoonotic considerations and the potential for a carrier state, treatment is not recommended.

Chronic pododermatitis especially of the forepaws is a common condition usually seen in obese guinea pigs housed on wire or abrasive floors. Poor sanitation is also a predisposing factor. The feet are swollen and hairless with ulcers and scabs 1—3 cm in diameter on the plantar surface. Staphylococcus aureus is the usual causative agent and probably enters the foot through a cutaneous wound. Awns and straw in the bedding can also cause foot punctures.

Surgical treatment is often unsuccessful, because there is rarely an abscess to be excised or drained but rather a diffuse cellulitis that infiltrates surrounding tissue. Treatment involves housing the affected guinea pig on clean, dry, soft bedding; topical or parenteral administration of antibiotics; and foot bandages as needed.

Unfortunately, the condition may not respond to therapy. Chlamydial conjunctivitis is one of the most common causes of infectious conjunctivitis in guinea pigs. It is caused by Chlamydia caviae , an obligate intracellular bacterium. Clinical disease usually is found in young animals 4—8 weeks old.

Rhinitis, lower respiratory tract disease, and abortion can also occur. Concurrent bacterial infections can contribute to the respiratory signs.

C caviae can rapidly spread through a breeding or research colony. The organism infects primarily the mucosal epithelium of the conjunctiva and, less frequently, the genital tract of guinea pigs.

Asymptomatic infection can occur, but clinical disease most often results in mild inflammatory conjunctivitis with a slight, yellow-white discharge, conjunctival hyperemia, chemosis, and even severe conjunctivitis with profuse, purulent ocular exudate. Demonstration of intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies in Giemsa-stained conjunctival epithelial cells often confirms the diagnosis. The most sensitive and reliable method of diagnosis of chlamydiosis is PCR testing.

Guinea pigs develop short-lived immunity to C caviae and, after a short period, may be susceptible to reinfection. Adenovirus is species-specific for guinea pigs and may cause a primary respiratory pneumonia. The asymptomatic carrier state is thought to be common, but prevalence is unknown. Clinical disease, while rare, can be initiated by stress or inhalation anesthesia and occurs more often in immunocompromised, young, or aged animals.

Morbidity is low, but animals usually die suddenly without clinical signs. Other naturally occurring viral infections of guinea pigs such as cytomegalovirus and parainfluenza rarely cause detectable clinical disease. Serologic surveys indicate that guinea pigs will develop antibodies to rat and mouse pathogenic viruses but do not develop disease. Mange, caused by the sarcoptid mite Trixacarus caviae , is common in guinea pigs.

The clinical signs are dramatic: intense pruritus, widespread alopecia, and hyperkeratosis. T caviae is transmitted through direct animal-to-animal contact from sow to weanlings during feeding, and through contact with infested cage material such as bedding. The mites may be capable of existing subclinically, becoming active with stressors such as shipping or pregnancy , immunosuppression, or other underlying diseases.

In affected animals that exhibit hematologic changes such as heterophilia, monocytosis, eosinophilia, and basophilia, vigorous scratching may trigger convulsive seizures. The clinical presumptive diagnosis should be confirmed with several skin scrapings, usually revealing a massive T caviae infestation. Treatment involves ivermectin 0. The guinea pig should also have a whole body washing with fipronil repeated twice at intervals of 7—10 days. Fipronil should not be used when open skin wounds are present.

Other ectoparasitic diseases are infrequent in guinea pigs. Infestation with the fur mite Chirodiscoides caviae may result in pruritus and alopecia along the posterior trunk of the body, while underlying skin is relatively unaffected.

Subclinical cases may be asymptomatic. Lice infestation with either Gyropus ovalis or Gliricola porcelli is usually asymptomatic but in severe cases may lead to pruritus, alopecia, and flaky skin surfaces around the neck and ears. Lice may be observed directly on hair shafts with a magnifying glass. A single application of 0. Can Guinea Pigs Eat Corn? Guinea pigs are wonderful pets to have around, but they take a lot of care.

You must be thoroughly educated on how to care for them, particularly what to feed them and what not to feed them. If this is your first time owning a guinea pig or planning on getting one, you will probably have tons of questions. In this article, I will go through everything in detail about what you need to care for your guinea pigs. Guinea Pigs Food Nutrition is a key component in keeping your guinea pigs … Read more. If you own a guinea pig, you may be wondering if they can eat cranberries.

After all, cranberries are fruits, and they are usually safe for guinea pigs. In this article, I will give you the answer to the questions and more into other details about serving size, health benefits, and how to feed them … Read more. Guinea pigs are adorable pets and are very cute and attractive animals, and people love to have them in the house.

Guinea Pigs are rodents herbivores who love to eat herbs. When it comes to basil, you may wonder if guinea pigs can eat them. So, can guinea pigs eat basil? Yes, they can eat … Read more. Guinea pigs are fun to have as a pet.