Guinea Pig Care

Guinea pigs are prey animals, so they’re instinctively very skittish. You can try to pet them if you want, but they will probably run and hide. I’ve found that they seem most comfortable when the lid of the cage is closed.

Feeding

• 1 vitamin C tablet per day fed by hand. Edsel really likes eating these. If he doesn’t take it out of your hand, you can leave it in the blue feeding bowl.
• 1 scoop of pellets each day served in the blue food dish. I usually feed him in the morning, but this is flexible. Don’t go longer than 36 hours if you can help it.
• A handful of romaine lettuce once per day served in the blue food dish. I typically feed him some lettuce once in the morning, on top of his pellets.
• Unlimited timothy hay strewn out on the floor of the cage. He probably won’t eat all of it before you have to clean the cage the next day.
• Unlimited water in the water bottle. Note the “maximum fill line” printed on the bottle.

When adding food to the blue food dish, pick out any turds that were kicked into it (or just dump everything out into the trash). Edsel grazes on the pellets throughout the day, so if you’re giving him a second serving of lettuce in the evening, don’t be surprised if there’s still some pellets left over.

Cleaning

Once per day (or every other day, if you don’t have time to do it one day), you’ll need to clean the droppings from the cage. The easiest way I’ve found to clean the cage is to fold the bottom lining in half (hot-dog style) and funnel it into the garbage can. You’ll probably need to shake it a bit to get everything. Then, use the little broom and dust pan to sweep up any remaining droppings that are still on the floor of the cage.

Long-Term Care (7+ days)

The cage lining needs to be washed once a week. When washing the lining remember these rules:

1. Cold wash only. The lining is machine washable, but only in cold water. The material can be damaged with too much heat.
2. Free & clear detergent only. The guinea pigs are sensitive to the perfumes and dyes used in most typical detergents.
3. Low heat dry only. You can also air dry, if you prefer.

After you do your daily cleaning, I recommend taking the lining outside to whip off any stubborn hay, hair, or droppings. Keep whipping it until no more hair or hay shakes off (alternatively, you can vacuum it off). After that’s done, you can toss it in the washing machine.

Contact

If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch with me. You have my contact info.

Thanks!

-Avery