anyone have a guinea pig?

[amy_dub]

Ok, so i did something completely random about 3 weeks ago.. I adopted a guinea pig! Long story short - I work at a locally owned pet store and we have local rescues that bring in animals available for adoption. We have a GP cage set up for the GP rescue. There was this one long haired calico boy that I began taking care of and he grew extremely attached to me, and me to him.. so I adopted him.

Now, I''ve never had any kind of "small animal" before.. i''ve always been a cat & dog kind of girl. So anyway, I''m kind of learning as I go about my new guinea pig, Zack. He''s got this radical hair all over the place, complete with a mohawk! I''m making sure to feed him the highest quality food & Hay (Oxbow) to keep him healthy.

So my question is, what fruits/veggies have you found that your pig really enjoys? He loves Parsley, carrots, apples & romaine lettuce. I''ve tried kale, cherry tomatoes and dehydrated bananas & strawberries, but he won''t touch them. I feel like he must get tired if eating the same 4 fruits & veggies over and over.

Also, what type of bedding do you use? I was using pine shavings, but they make such a mess.. i''m trying Carefresh now. I don''t really like the smell of the carefresh though.

 

[Elmorton]

I think pine is also harmful to their little respiratory systems. I used to have a gerbil and I used the recylced cardboard pellet bedding - it''s great for them, soft, and good for the environment, too.

 

[IrishAngel7982]

Congratulations on your new furbaby! My g-pigs have always loved celery...and I can''t think of anything you didn''t mention...so maybe you could try that. Leafy greens are good, and healthy for them. You might want to try some chew/treat sticks once in a while...it''s a yummy treat and helps keep their teeth filed down. I''m sure you know this from working at the pet store but make sure he''s getting vitamin c drops either in his water or food. As far as bedding...it seems like the only two options I''ve seen lately are pine or carefresh. I like the carefresh because it''s softer, but sometimes I use the pine. That''s all I can think of for now...HTH!

 

[bee*]

oh I used to have lots of guinea-pigs! I love them. Ours were always kept on straw bedding and they loved building little nests on it. I fed ours a commercial guinea-pig food as well as plenty of fruit and veg. Also guinea=pigs can''t produce their own vitamin C so we always put a supplement in their water to make sure that they were getting enough. They''re such great pets.