Ive done went and done it now!!

[Floof]

Great advice from Nudist. As far as the food, were you advised that it's the "best" by the pet store, or did you do some research first? Remember, these pet stores are the same places that will tell you a tortoise can live in a 10 gallon tank its whole life and tell you that corn-based crap diets are the best for your cat and dog, so take everything you hear in a pet store with a grain of salt, no matter how knowledgeable the employee seems.

 

[DanaLachney]

I did my research and didn't even ask Petsmart which brand of food to get. I bought the best they had which is made by Kaytee and is also the same maker of the bedding I chose which is clean and cozy odor control small pet bedding (no cedar, pine, or Aspen) the food is a Fortified Diet Pro Health with DHA OMEGA-3 it also contains vitamin C as well. It contains crude protein 18% crude fat 3.5% crude fiber 14% asorbic acid 100mg/lb omega 3 fatty acids .4% and some other stuff. Also has probiotics and prebiotics. I'll also post a pic of the cage and the other stuff I bought if you like? I will say this much my sister in law has had a Guinea pig for about 3-4 years in a normal sized cage with cedar/pine bedding and fed a daily diet if Walmart brand guinea pig food, Timothy hay (occasionally) and carrots and he looks great. A little small but beyond that is doing fine

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[NudistApple]

Oxbow is available at all Petsmarts, and Kaytee is very much a complete crap food. No offense meant, you're still learning, but it's not good. See how Alfalfa meal and corn are the first two ingredients? Corn is highly indigestible (just a cheap filler) and alfalfa isn't appropriate for guinea pigs. It is too high in protein and can lead to kidney stones.

The bedding is safe, but won't do much for odor control, and the fact that it is white will have the cage looking dirty long before it is. I also wouldn't buy it, personally, because I would never give Kaytee one red cent of my money. They are not a good company, they have shoddy practices, and they use a preservative in their seed mixes that is a known carcinogen.

As for your sister's guinea pig if it is "small" that is actually worse than if it were overweight. It means the food it is being fed has caused it to be malnourished. )-':
With proper care guinea pigs should easily live to be 8, and I know of a few that made it to ten. It sounds like hers probably won't see his 6th birthday...

Especially with pine/cedar bedding. It's been quite proven to cause a menagerie of health issues over long term exposure, including inhibition of kidney functions. )-':

---x

In fact, if you had asked Petsmart for their recommendation, they either would have suggested Kaytee (which is what they feed the animals) or their proprietary brand, Grreat Choice.

 

[Floof]

+1 Nudist. I know I've always heard completely terrible things/reviews regarding Kaytee, but I wasn't sure about their Guinea pig food so wasn't going to say anything. It's good to know their awful formulas aren't just restricted to rat/mouse food (the only small animal food I've done any real research on, admittedly).

And, yes, Petsmart DOES carry Oxbow, so next time you go in, you should seriously consider picking up a bag and start on switching your guinea pig over to it.

Just because your sister-in-law's Guinea Pig LOOKS healthy, doesn't mean it IS. To put it in terms we can both understand: Look at tortoises. You can put, say, a couple Russian tortoises or a Box turtles in a 10 or 20 gallon tank on sand, or pine, or reptile carpet, or whatever inappropriate substrate, never offer water, feed only iceberg and romaine lettuces, deny UVB or even any lighting at all, only heat the tank with an unregulated heat pad, and never clean out the poop, and they can still come out looking pretty darn healthy, but that doesn't mean they ARE healthy, let alone happy.

Animals are designed to withstand whatever Nature throws at them. After all, if they couldn't handle inappropriate conditions from time to time, how would the species survive? Moreover, animals take a long time to start showing sickness. After all, sickness = weakness = easy prey. An outwardly sick animal is an easy target for predators. So, yes, her guinea pig may LOOK healthy (to your untrained eye, no less--it probably wouldn't LOOK healthy to someone who really knows guinea pigs), but that doesn't mean it IS. It is likely extremely depressed, malnourished, has weak muscles, and has kidney & liver problems (if not kidney and/or liver disease), but you just can't see it because that pig's instincts are to hide those pains and illnesses in order to avoid attracting the attention of a hungry predator.

Anyway, just some food for thought. I'm glad you're looking into a larger enclosure for yours, because even the largest commercial cage just isn't big enough for a guinea pig. Maybe you'll consider passing this info along to your sister, in the hopes that she might be willing to improve her guinea pig's life?

 

[DanaLachney]

I hope you guys don't think I have any intentions of housing/feeding my pig the same as her I was just merely offering the information up I will look for Oxbow the next time I go. Surprised I didn't see it but the foods were all mixed up. Man I really thought I did good by picking that food it was the only thing they had that wasn't full of seeds and treats which I know isn't good for them. As for the bedding goes I have a giant bag of the Kaytee bedding (unopened) the only other thing they had was Carefree and various brands of cedar pine and Aspen which do u recommend? The trips to Petsmart are killing me LOL it's a little over an hour away! But still it's ok. And I thought it was good food cuz it had vitamin C in it too.

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Oh and my sister in law won't change anything about how she feeds/houses her guinea pig. She'll just roll her eyes and make some smart comment. I've tried giving her pointers before regarding this thing (I say thing cuz we don't know what it was) they bought at a mall in Oklahoma the paper said it was a baby dinosaur thing. Anyway they kept it in a pet carrier for like a year and then eventually bout a 5 gallon aquarium for it right before it died. Maybe they had it longer idk but anyway I tried to give her advice for him and she just ignored me. Then she put a starfish in his aquarium that came out of a CANDLE! it dissolved and made splash really sick and he died....

 

[Floof]

Oxbow should be pretty easy to spot if it's in stock--IIRC, the bag is red. As far as the bedding, the Clean & Cozy isn't a bad bedding, per say--not dangerous to your pig's health--so if you have it, you may as well use it... I think Nudist was just saying she(?) wouldn't because she doesn't want to support Kaytee. Kind of like if you refuse to buy any supplies from a pet store because they treat their animals badly.

If you decide not to use Clean and Cozy (whether it's right now or after this bag), Carefresh and Aspen are both great beddings. Carefresh is "cozier" and nicer-feeling (the animals seem to enjoy it, too--I've heard of people doing half carefresh/half aspen for rats, and they often notice the ratties will poop on the aspen side and sleep on the carefresh side!), where Aspen is more economically priced. Either works. I currently use aspen for my rodents (and snakes) and it works great. Specifically, I'm using the Great Choice aspen since it's only $14 (well, only $7--my roommate and I split the cost) for the biggest bag, and you tend to go through a lot of bedding when you're using it for 5 snakes and a couple dozen rodents!

I'm very glad you don't plan on housing your pig like that. I didn't think so, but it never hurts to supply as much info as possible!

Ugh, your sister-in-law sounds like a real piece of work who shouldn't have any animals at all... That poor piggie! And for that matter, that poor whatever-it-was... What an awful way to live, and an awful way to die, as well..

 

[DanaLachney]

Ok well I'll keep the bedding. And I'll be on the lookout for the stuff to build his bigger home. I've seen the stuff on C&G's website so I know roughly what it is/looks like. Problem is their cages don't have anything over the top of them! They are just open and exposed. And now that I know what color the bag is I'm almost positive they didn't have it. I will call tomorrow and see if they carry it and may get a supply in. So does Oxbow have vitamin C in it?

 

[Floof]

Regarding whether Oxbow has vitamin C, I couldn't say, but I'd bet they do. You should still supplement with a good source of vitamin C (like Nudist said, high C veggies like bell peppers are great), of course.

Guinea pigs aren't exactly jumpers, which is why you usually see home-made cages being open-topped. If you have cats, or are worried about the kids or dog getting into it, you can make a top--they have a couple ideas for that on Cavy Cages, too (I was on there the other day trying to get ideas for my roommate's rabbit... For obvious reasons, no top doesn't work for bunnies!). I think one idea was to get wire storage shelves at Walmart and put them over the top (might even be able to work it so that the top hinges, using zip ties), or you can use more cubes over the top, though that might make it a little harder to get in and out.

 

[NudistApple]

...I think Nudist was just saying she(?) wouldn't because she doesn't want to support Kaytee...

Yes, I am a she, and yes, that's why I wouldn't use the bedding, there is no reason you can't though!

I'd bet the "baby dinosaur thing" was a poor little anole. They are widely sold and mistreated under random names,

I use Aspen bedding for my cavies, and a mix of aspen and fleece for my rats. I find aspen to be highly economical and great at odour control. Grreat Choice from Petsmart is good, I bought it for a while. I now order Harlan Teklad Shredded Aspen from nationalpetpharmacy at the same time as my Oxbow because it helps save on shipping and is double the amount of aspen for almost half the cost of buying in store. Not too dusty either!

C&C cages don't need tops unless you have cats, or dogs I guess if you keep the cage directly on the floor. Guinea pigs neither jump nor climb. There are quite a few tutorials on how to build a lid out of the cubes online, or like I mentioned before, there are websites that you can buy the cages at, and they always give the option of a lid.

And of course Oxbow has ascorbic acid (vitamin C)! I don't honestly think there are any piggy diets on the market that don't. Pet industries can't count on owners to feed their pets fresh vegetables, so there would be a lot of piggers dying from scurvy if it wasn't already included.

 

[Cadance]

Well guys if I'm not here tomorrow it's cuz my hubby has killed me whilst browsing at Petsmart today I happened apon three Gerbils, yes Gerbils. And they were so darn cute I had to get all three I thought hey I've got an empty aquarium why not fill it with something well here are the new girls the black one is Ducky, the white/blonde one is Cera and the multi colored one is Petrie

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They are pretty cute. I can't have gerbils though when I was younger I had some and they where so mean we couldn't even open the cage to fees them we had to drop food from the top even then they tried to climb up and eat your fingers thank goodness we had a cage that you cleaned from the bottom tray because I might have lost a finger or two lol. They are way cute though!!

 

[DanaLachney]

They are pretty cute. I can't have gerbils though when I was younger I had some and they where so mean we couldn't even open the cage to fees them we had to drop food from the top even then they tried to climb up and eat your fingers thank goodness we had a cage that you cleaned from the bottom tray because I might have lost a finger or two lol. They are way cute though!!

That's crazy lol I've never seen a mean gerbil!!

 

[DanaLachney]

Omg Elvis just mounted the new guinea pig, does that mean it's female??!!!!! He seems happier now with the other two in there. I'm baby sitting my aunts new pig for her till she can pick him up. They are making all sorts of weird sounds and Elvis is creeping around the cage it's hilarious!!!

 

[NudistApple]

Males will mount each other out of dominance, but I highly suggest taking a look at both of their nethers to make sure they are both male. There are a lot of visual sexing guides online that you can look at if you don't know what you are looking for.

The last thing the world needs is more BYB guinea pig babies!

 

[DanaLachney]

BYB? I'm positive Elvis is male. The guy who sold me the other two said his were male. We'll see!

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Definitely all male

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I think I traumatized Elvis trying to catch him though :'(

 

[DanaLachney]

Ok is he EVER gonna stop trying to mate the other males?!!! He's terrorizing them!

 

[NudistApple]

BYB = Back yard breeder. Not suggesting you are, but if a litter resulted they could be considered the product of it.

He will stop, in time. He is just showing them who's boss. Don't worry about it, it's bothering you a lot more than it is bothering them.

 

[DanaLachney]

Well I just saw my sister in laws guinea pig again the other day and he's not as small as I thought lol but idk how big he's supposed to be at 3-4 years old

 

[Bow]

Well I just saw my sister in laws guinea pig again the other day and he's not as small as I thought lol but idk how big he's supposed to be at 3-4 years old

I have a friend who breeds show guineas. Most of his adults (I don't really know what ages they are, I mostly go so I can play with the babies) are roughly the size of a loaf of bread. Arguably most of the ones I see are breeder females, who are spoiled rotten, ergo sorta chunky...