Whether you make or buy them, your pets are going to love their guinea pig toys!

Why do guinea pigs love their toys? They are a great way to keep them active and give them something to do when they are bored. The activity as very important as it really is a way for your cavy to exercise. And like humans, they can get bored with the daily routine. Give them some variety and they will love you for it.

Selecting the Best Guinea Pig Toys

While you may be tempted to go out and buy lots of toys for your pet, you can actually find suitable items in your own home.

There are two types of toys that work best:

1. Something to explore
2. Something to chew

Just take a few minutes and observe after giving him the toy. Does it look like he is having fun? If yes, then you did your job correctly!

Guineas need to chew, not only is it healthy but they love chewing. The biggest impact chewing has on your pet is that it keeps their teeth growth under control. Their teeth never stop growing. Without chewing it would lead to a very uncomfortable situation for them.

You don’t have to buy an expensive chew toy. Common household items like cardboard or even tubing would work very well. In a pinch you could even use a discarded paper towel cardboard roll. When you look at cardboard items, think, can my guinea pig chew and climb into this and play?

Look at small cardboard boxes and let your imagination go wild. Cut holes in for doors. Make windows. Your guinea pig loves to hide and this box will provide him with a great hiding place and a chew toy.

Guinea pigs also go crazy over tunnels. You can make your own tunnels by getting creative with PVC pipe. By using PVC pipe and fittings you can create many different designs giving your guinea pigs a fun place to explore. Then every few days you can redesign their pipe maze.

If you have the time and creative ability you could even create a mini guinea pig jungle gym for them to play in by setting up ramps leading to different levels of PVC pipe mazes. Hide toys in various sections of the pipe and that will give them another fun activity to do searching for them.

Another benefit to many toys is that it helps to keep their nails in check meaning less trimming for you. A common item you can use for this is a small brick. They will enjoy climbing on it and in the process it will file their nails.

A guinea pigs life should not be confined to a cage. Getting out of the cage is a great opportunity for more fun and exercise in their routine. But don’t just let them run free! Make sure the area is confined and place plenty of toys for them to play with while enjoying their outside time. Ideally you want to have “outside time” daily if your schedule allows for it. Pick a time of day that works for you and try to stick to that time daily to give them a routine.

All of these ideas will help your guinea pig to be healthy and happy, making them a more loveable pet. Now do your part and get to work on finding them toys to keep them (and you) entertained for hours!

Guinea pigs are a wonderfully low-maintenance pet and are extremely easy to care for, regardless of what some people might say. There are however, some day-to-day tips on how to care for them.

The Nails

Believe it or not, guinea pig’s nails can grow long which can be painful for them, so they need to be trimmed.

Placing rocks, stones, bricks or other similarly rough-surfaced items in their cages can help wear their nails down, thus preventing you from having to clip them regularly. The best and the least expensive solution are bricks – make sure they are the type that do not have holes.

Guinea pigs nails have blood vessels in them just like other animals. The blood vessels are called the “quick”. When the guinea pig’s nails are clear, it is easy to see the “quick” as it is the pink area you that runs the length from the toe to the bone. The “quick” is nearly impossible to spot in guinea pigs with black nails.

Cut above the pinkish area with clear nails.

To be on the safe side, cut very little of the nail when your guinea pig has black nails. With time and practice, one can have much success cutting longer black nails without hurting your pet.

If you do accidentally cut the quick and it bleeds, find a way to stop it. A product that can stop the bleeding is called “Quick Stop”; it is sold in most pet stores. Use iodine instead if you don’t have “Quick Stop”.

EDIT — Thanks to reader Julia for the following tip:

It is very important you don’t cut into he pinkish area of the nail. Or stay as far away as possible from the pinkish area…or you will injure them , they will bleed and be in pain.

Guinea pigs do not like this process so they will most likely squirm. Having someone help you will make the task much easier. To prevent some of the squirming, wrap your pet in a towel, keeping his feet out. While you hold your guinea pig, have your helper cut his nails.

Helpful tip if you’re doing this alone: have your guinea pig stand on a tennis racket. This will allow for his nails to poke out below (for easier clipping) while your pet feels more secure.

The Teeth

Guinea pigs have two very long teeth called incisors. These teeth are constantly growing and are common in most rodents. Do not allow these teeth to get too long otherwise your guinea pig will not be able to eat. If this happens, you will have to take him to the vet to have them cut.

You can prevent this by giving him hard food eat. Also, keeping things like toilet or towel paper rolls in his cage for him to chew on will help.

Other ideas to help keep your pet’s teeth in check are hay cubes or old stale bread. However, these items need to be inspected on a regular basis.

Check for chipped or broken teeth on your guinea pig as this is not good for him. Contact your local vet if you suspect any teeth are broken or have fallen out.

Brushing

Brush your guinea pig regularly to keep his coat shiny, healthy and clean. Short haired guinea pigs only require brushing a few times per week – long haired guinea pigs require daily brushing.

Using a nice soft baby brush will ensure your guinea pig enjoys the brushing experience. Use a metal-toothed comb for longer haired pets as this will help loosen tangles and lessen shedding.

Bathing

Do not bathe your guinea pig – they hate water. Putting them in water makes them very upset and can quite possibly lower their immune system.

Guinea pigs can go the whole life without ever taking a bath, that suits them just fine. ONLY bathe them if your pet has gotten into something really smelly or dirty or unless your vet has instructed you to do so.

If this is the case, make sure to use a very mild shampoo like baby shampoo or a shampoo made for kittens. Do not use a medicated shampoo unless your vet recommends it.

How To Select The Perfect Guinea Pig

When purchasing guinea pigs, you should put some serious thought into purchasing two or more — even though one guinea pig is probably enough to keep you entertained and alert.

As extremely social creatures, guinea pigs love the company of others. If left by themselves, they get lonely and their health will suffer.

Your guinea pig needs attention and is going to get lonely very fast and cry for your attention more often if you have just one. You don’t have to spend quite as much time with them if he or she has a partner or playmate to keep them entertained.

The Sex of the Matter

Should you get two men, two women, one of each, or three men, or three women or three… My Word! When you get up to higher numbers, just imagine all of the combinations you can think of.

Sex doesn’t matter too much if you’re going to get just a guinea pig. Male guinea pigs have more energy and need more exercise by nature, while their female counterparts are going to be more docile and less active.

A common misconception is that if you put two male guinea pigs in the same cage, they’re going to fight to the death. While it sounds like something violent you would watch on Pay Per View, it’s nothing but wrong.

If two male guinea pigs don’t have enough cage space they will fight but given plenty of room, each will have his own territory and be content with it.

You cannot introduce a female guinea pig to a cage if you already have two male guinea pigs. A fight for dominance — and therefore the female — will ensue between the males and the loser would have to be removed from the cage immediately. The dominate male will keep the loser away from both the food and water if he’s left in there and he will starve to death.

You will find that two females will get along well in the same cage, though they will ‘bicker’ a bit of food and water (Please, no ‘typical female’ jokes from the men!) It’s very unlikely that major fight will break out, however, because of their docile nature.

A female and a male will actually get along best in the same cage. The male accepts the female as his and acts peacefully towards her because she acknowledges that he is dominate.

This peaceful situation’s only problem? When you leave a male and a female unattended, the puppies (The term for baby guinea pigs) can happen.

I’ve very possible that two lively guinea pigs can give birth to literally dozens of puppies in just a year because the female cycle is only 18 days, and the gestation of guinea pigs are only two months, which is relatively long for rodents.

I’m Staring at my Guinea Pigs… Help!

Many pet stories will have a least one if not two or more cages of guinea pigs. There is a demand for the puppies guinea pigs produce, and they give birth a lot.

Make sure to get two from the same cage if you’re purchasing more than one. This will resolve many issues that might come up from fighting in their cage.

Related posts:

1. Beginner’s Guide to Breeding Guinea Pigs

Most of the time people don’t have room for any extra guinea pigs and don’t wish to breed them. Others know they don’t have time or money to care for guinea pig babies.

But if you do want to breed them first make sure there aren’t already numerous breeders in your area. After all, that would be competition for you and you want to be able to sell the guinea pigs you breed.

It’s vital you learn all requirements for caring for guinea pigs and their needs, you’ll want to pass this knowledge on to your potential buyers, after all. You’ll also need to be able to provide them with a list of all the things guinea pigs can’t eat, no one wants to accidentally poison their pet!

Thousands of guinea pigs needlessly die each year because they are allowed to breed excessively or pet owners simply don’t know how to care for them. When you breed guinea pigs you may want to have a number of families in mind to sell to so that you know they are going to a good home.

The Mating

A female guinea pig can give birth at 4 to 6 months of age.

Let nature takes its course and give the guinea pigs plenty of space, don’t interfere too much. A female guinea pig has a cycle of about 16 days but there is only an 8 to 24 hour window in which she can successfully mate.

When a make guinea pig is ready to mate he will lower his head and walk towards the female. His steps will be deliberate to indication his intentions to his mate.

They make a distinct rumbling sound as part of their mating ritual so do not be alarmed if you have never heard it before. He will even wag his bottom side-to-side a few times.

Some males go as far as to do a mating dance of sorts where they put their front legs up on surrounding objects to attract the female’s attention. This move might also include some sort of waving or wiggling.

Sure it’s funny to watch, but this ritual is important to the guinea pigs. So spare the piggies’ feelings and leave the room if you need to laugh!

The female will show interest by squeaking, she’ll squeak louder the closer the male gets to her.

If she is by chance uninterested, because she isn’t in heat or at least not at the right part of her cycle, she will instead snap and bite at the male or run away. If the male continues to persist she might even urinate in his face to send a clear message.

If the male is not aroused and the female is ready to mate she will sometimes walk toward the male using the same steps and stance he would use to approach her.

Sometimes a female will even back up against the male to encourage him to mount her. This is perfectly normal, don’t worry about any of their actions and just let nature take its course. The guinea pigs will know what to do.

A male can successfully mate with up to 10 female guinea pigs in one period of time, it may seem excessive but is something for a breeder to consider.

Related posts:

1. How To Select A Guinea Pig

Compared to other pets, guinea pigs are very fragile pets and prone to illness. I have outlined the most common health problems your guinea pig may experience.

Runny Nose and Sneezing

Is your guinea pig sneezing? If you have noticed your guinea pig sneezing a lot lately, then it may be allergic to its bedding.

Quick Tip: Change your guinea pigs bedding and see if that solves the problem. Further action would be to remove him from the area for a few days and see if that helps.

If you notice your guinea has a runny nose or rubbing her nose a lot, you should bring her to the vet immediately to get it checked out.

Coughing

Coughing is a serious condition especially when combined with wheezing or heavy breathing. This could be an infection that will need to be looked at by your vet.

Wheezing and Heavy Breathing

Like coughing, wheezing and heavy breathing can indicate a serious health problem that should be looked at by your vet. Wheezing could indicate congestion in the lungs that could become pneumonia.

Scratching

If you notice your guinea pig scratching more than usual then it might have lice or some sort of fungal infection.

First, brush through the hair slowly and look for any small bugs, these could be lice. Your vet can provide medicated shampoo for your pet. You should also clean and disinfect your guinea pigs home.

Milky-White Urine or Sludgey Bladder

Guinea pig urine normally has a slight milky color to it. If you notice extremely white or even clear urine, this could mean that the calcium level in his diet is too high.  Thick urine is also a symptom of this.

Pink or Red Urine

If your guinea pig has pink or red urine you need to take him to the vet immediately. That is blood in the urine. One cause of this is bladder stones.

Again, a trip to the vet is necessary at once.

Excessive Diarrhea

Diarrhea can be a serious condition for your guinea pig. Excessive diarrhea can lead to death within hours.

Usually diarrhea in guinea pigs is just because he has eaten too many wet foods or veggies. Increasing hay intake can solve this issue.

Lactobacillus acidophilus is another option to help. You can get it over the counter in capsule form.

If your guinea pig has excessive diarrhea, contact your vet.

Guinea Pig Hair Loss

There can be more than one reasons why your guinea pig is losing hair.

Any time there is a wound the hair will fall out until the area has healed.

Mites and ringworm can cause massive amounts of hair loss all over the body. Ovarian cysts can also be a cause. In short, you should visit your vet any time there is extreme hair loss from anything other than a cut.

Watery Eyes

Allergies, dust, and dirt can be causes of your guinea pig having watery eyes. Your vet can provide instructions on how to best rinse your pet’s eyes.

If you notice sores or little cysts around the eye, you will want to visit your vet to have them removed. These can be very painful and should be dealt with immediately.

Stiff Joints

Scurvy is the most common cause of stiff joints. A lack of vitamin C and calcium can cause this. You should visit your vet at once to start treatment.

Tilting Head

Have you noticed your pet having issues walking or constantly tilting her head to one side? This could be a middle-ear infection and affecting her balance.

This should be treated at once by your vet to prevent any hearing loss or worse.

My Guinea Pig is Having Seizures

If you notice a seizure where your piggy has his head straight in the air, NOT tilting at all, this is a sign of mites. Mites can affect the nervous system by burrowing under the skin.

Seizures where the head is tilted to the side can be caused by any number of issues.

Either type of seizure needs to be treated immediately. Your vet may want to conduct blood tests as well to find the cause.