Since we brought in two little guinea pigs into our home we have been paying a lot of attention to the brilliant experts online who discuss all things exotic pets. To be honest I have no idea what we would have done without the brilliant Rick Andreoli Montreal, exotic pet guru, who’s videos have helped us immeasurably. I know that there are a lot of you out there who have probably been thinking of getting a pet such as this for the home, which is why I wanted to do a quick piece on exactly what you need to know about owning these little bundles of joy.
Social Little Animals
If you do plan on getting a guinea pig then the truth is that you are probably much better off getting 2. This is because guinea pigs are in fact very sociable animals indeed and there has actually been cases of guinea pigs which have died on their own, because of the fact that they have no other guinea pigs to live with.
They Can Attack
Whilst having multiple guinea pigs is a good idea from a social point of view, it is important that you keep an eye out once they have grown up a little. Usually these animals are used to colonies with a dominant male, but regardless of gender they can still have fights from time to time. Be sure to separate fighting guinea pigs ad if you need to house them separately then so be it.
Smart Animals
You may not be able to teach a guinea pig tricks exactly, but there is a lot that you can show them and they will soon plan out their day based on your routine. This is something which we see all of the time and in guinea pigs that are older than 9 months especially, they begin to really attune themselves to your routine.
Clean Machines
Guinea pigs do not need to be bathed or cleaned as they have a very good habit of looking after themselves in this regard. The guinea pigs are not only good at cleaning themselves, but they are in fact very clean animals anyway. Very rarely do they get too dirty and this is why you don’t have to spend much time preening or cleaning.
Vitamin C
Much like humans, guinea pigs are not able to make vitamin C on their own and given that they have been removed from captivity and can no longer find it on their own, it is up to us to help them out and ensure that they get the right amount of vitamins each day. These little animals require 30 grams of vitamin C each and every day. If they fail to get the vitamins that they need, they will have difficulties both now and in the future, so it is essential that they do get the support from us that they need.
Any more questions, feel free to ask.
