Q. What should I feed my guinea pig?
A. Dry Food:- Gertie Guinea mix, Allen and Page mix, Supa Pellets or any good quality guinea pig mix.Your pigs MUST have fresh, good quality hay at all times.
Veggies:- Guinea pigs cannot produce thier own vitamin C, so they must have plenty of fresh vegetables every day. They eat carrots, cabbage, cale, brocolli, celery, parsley, cucumber, dandelion leaves, chicory, sprout leaves, sweetcorn cauliflower leaves.
Fruit:-Apples, Bananas, grapes, melon. Apple should be given in moderation as it is very acid and can cause mouth sores.
Feed lettuce only in very small amounts as it contains laudenam. Some guinea pigs like tomatoes.
Do NOT feed: Raw Potato, sweets, chocolate, anything containing high levels of sugar or salt.

Fresh water must be available at all times.

Q.What bedding should I use?
The best bedding to use is either newspaper or Carefresh, and hay. The pigs may chew the paper. but this is not harmful to them.

Q.How can I tell the sex of my guinea pig?

A.The diagrams below show the genital area of male and female.

Q.How do I know if my guinea pig is pregnant?

A.The average length of a guinea pig pregnancy is about 68 days. The guinea pig will develop large pouches or `saddlebags` on her sides as the babies grow. About 28 days from the birth it is possible to feel the babies moving by placing your palms gently on the swellings. You may even be able to see the babies move .
The sow should be picked up as little as possible during the pregnancy.

The birth is usually very quick and the guinea pig will not need any help in most cases. The babies are born fully furred and with thier eyes open. They will begin to pick up food within hours.
The litters are usually between one and six babies.

Male babies should be moved away from the females at around four weeks.

Q.How do I cut my guinea pig's nails?
A.The diagram below shows the correct way to trim the nails. Be careful not to cut them too short or they will bleed and this can be very distressing.

You should use either good quality human nail clippers, or specialist clippers from a pet shop.

Q.How can I tell if my guinea pigs teeth are over-grown?

This picture shows over-grown inscisors. The teeth should meet when the mouth is closed. They should be trimmed by a qualified rodentologist, or someone trained to do dental work without anaethetic. Never let a vet put your guinea pig under anaesthetic to trim teeth.

Q.Can guinea pigs and rabbits be kept together?

A.No. Rabits and guinea pigs should never be housed together. Rabbits have powerful back legs and a kick could break a guinea pigs back. Also the rabbit may try to mate with the guinea pig, causing serious injury.