[Gpdd] [ANNOUNCE] <New Guinea Pig Owner!>

[Margi Grant]

Hi AF,

Have you looked at the info on cavycages.com yet?  Lady will appreciate 
a large cage where she can get exercise.  She would also like a small 
house / pigloo where she can hide if she wants (classrooms can be pretty 
hectic).  What will you do on weekends/holidays?  Piggies need daily 
care -- fresh water, fresh greens, etc.  Ideally you will take her home 
-- I've heard horror stories of piggies sent to student's homes for the 
weekend.

Make sure her water bottle is working right.  Offer fresh greens such as 
romaine or other green leaf lettuces (not iceberg).  Green pepper is 
good, very small amount of carrot, spinach, etc.  If you feed the 
veggies soaking wet Lady will get some of her water that way.  Piggies 
need lots and lots of good quality hay as their main food.  If Lady is 
young, give her alfalfa hay; if she's an adult give her timothy hay.  
Unlimited quantities are best, with a guinea pig pellet food as a 
supplement.  Guinea pigs don't produce their own vitamin C, so a tablet 
or liquid vitamin C supplement given daily can prevent scurvy.

There are several good options for bedding; you may need to use trial 
and error and find what's best for you.  Just never put Lady in a cage 
with a wire bottom or on cedar bedding.

This site is great for info.  So is guinealynx.com    A search of the 
archives will yield many hits for info on food, cages, and bedding.

Congrats on the new piggy,

Margi

>Hi!  I just bought my first guinea pig, her name is Lady.  This is my
>4th day with her and its been a lot of fun.  I teach first grade and I
>love pets, but haven't had one in my classroom, until this week.  I have
>a great class, they love her so far and are very respectful of her and
>are anxious to learn all about guinea pigs.  Any advice for a first time
>owner would be great, including advice about her care.  We are still in
>that transition time, and she isn't eating and drinking a lot.  Should I
>be concerned?
> 
>Thanks!
> 
>AF
>
>  
>