Ask the Cavies

Steve Gloyeske (steveg@one.net): Hi - My female just gave birth to three babies on 1/22/99. All are doing fine. I was wondering if I should give her anything extra to eat other than the usual while she is nursing? She's eating and drinking fine, but she's starting to look a little thin. Also, I had our male neutered 3 weeks ago, so my question is, even though he is neutered, will he still continue to try and mate with her when she comes into estrus?

Wheeker: We are not experienced with having pregnant piggies here, though we have heard that you should increase the vitamin C in her diet. Also, if she is getting a bit thin from nursing, you might try to add a bit more of the foods that she enjoys eating. As for your little boy ... yes, he will most likely continue to try to mate with her. He probably does not know he cannot make any more children.

Wheeker: No, guinea pigs do not have "baby teeth" like human children do. However, they do have teeth that continually grow, so your guinea pig will probably grow her teeth back within a couple weeks. However, loosing teeth may be a symptom of a deficiency in her diet (or they may have just broken off in a fall). If you haven't been supplementing her diet with vitamin C, you should conscienciously include this in her diet daily. My favorite is parsley, but most dark green veggies are rich in vitamin C (I also like a bit of spinach, but not too much). If Butterscotch continues to lose her teeth, you may want to take her to the vet and have him do a profile on her to see if she has any deficiencies.

Wheeker: Well, this is certainly a touchy subject. Some piggies just decide to do this. You may try to make it so he needs to move around to get to food and water. That might encourage him to move around a bit. Also, he may be bored, so perhaps giving him things to play with (a paper roll, bells or other things hanging from cage walls, hard plastic cat toys, etc.) may get him out of that corner. Of course, that may make him decide to use the whole cage as a bathroom as well ...

Kerry Kastle (kkastle@worldnet.att.net): I am trying to locate a really good home for my guinea pig, Fluffy.Ê Right now I have him in a 20 gal. low aquarium but I've read that they need to have a place to play and eat aware from their potty location.Ê I've heard of a guinea pig crate that is about 30" long, 20" wide and 18" high with a low loft.Ê I haven't been able to find one like anywhere.Ê The ones that come close have wire floors.Ê I want to expand my cavy family but don't want to until I'm sure I have the right set up.Ê Any suggestions?

Maggie (saltnpepper@btinternet.com): I have a guinea pig who seems to have lost a little weight. She is fine in herself, eating and everything, but she is just a little skinny. What can I feed her to make her gain weight? Also, another pig has flaky skin. It is not mites, and it does not bother him, but I have tried everything to get rid of it. Can you suggest anything?

Wheeker: What does she like to eat? When I started losing weight, mama and papa started feeding me more of anything I liked. Some of my favorites are Shredded Wheat and most vegetables and a bit of apple. Mama also noticed that I ate more when I drank more so she started holding the bottle for me. I like drinking more when mama holds the bottle for me.

The flaky skin might be from low humidity or something like that, so you might try getting a humidifier. We have one in our room now but now that it is raining, it stays off most of the time. Or it could be from not getting enough good food. Make sure he is eating a good healthy diet with a quality pellet and good fresh veggies. If he starts scratching alot or losing hair, you should consider going to the vet.

Wheeker: You might want to have it looked at by a vet if it remains for more than a week. It could just be that he poked himself on a piece of hay and it might heal on its own. However, it could be an infection or something else, so keep an eye on it (your eye, that is).

Wheeker: We do not think you can give piggies too many veggies, but then, I would write that regardless of the answer since mama sometimes reads this column and I would not want her to use it as an excuse not to give me veggies. Just make sure Olive eats some of her pellets and lots of hay and you should be okay.

As for the vitamins, he may just not be used to the taste. You might try giving a really small amount at first and then increase the dosage until it's the recommended amount. Mama just told us that she is going to switch our vitamins today since she just finished the last bottle. I think it is called Poly-Vita-Sol (made for human babies). We will let you know how we like them.

Wheeker: Yes, it is relatively safe to neuter a guinea pig that is older than three or four months. Of course, complications are always possible, but if you take some precautions, you can minimize them. Find a vet that is experienced with performing surgeries on guinea pigs if you do not already have a vet. Ask about his experience and success rate with guinea pigs. Ask for additional instructions to follow after surgery if he does not provide them. Keep the incision place clean and watch for any sign of infection or irritation.

Stephanie Houser (RSKJRAK@aol.com): We got the guinea pig for our daughter for Christmas and we were wondering how long it takes til he gets used to us and enjoys being held and petted. Right now he seems to not want anything to do with us. I don't know what to tell my daughter.

Muriel (muriel-schipper@wxs.nl): Hi, I just got a new cavy of about 12 weeks old. He's adorable but really wild. How do I tame him? Another thing is that for the past two days he's been acting real wild and when I cleaned his cage I noticed a bald spot above his eye. Also, he keeps shaking his head. Could he have earmites? How do i get rid of them?

Wheeker: Taming cavies just takes time and patience. Just keep handling him gently and talking to him quietly. It can take weeks or months before he trusts a big person like you to pet him.

As for his other problems, it sounds like he might need to go to the vet. A shaking head can be a sign of mites or an ear infection. Your vet will be able to tell you what it is.

Wheeker: Maple is not too young to give birth, but her brother might be lonely if all by himself. Since Maple is going to have babies soon, you probably do not want to get a friend for him. However, you can keep his cage by the others so he can at least talk to them, even though he cannot snuggle with them.

Wheeker: You can try to train her, but it's most likely just a reaction to being startled. Instead of trying to get her to change her behavior, it would better to make sure she knows you're coming.

Wheeker: Well, Wheet-Wheet, telling your mom and dad that only girls have two teats was a great way to get another friend. All guinea pigs have them. The way mama checks to see if she's looking at a boy or girl is by gently pressing right above the anus and seeing if something pops out. If it does not, then it is most likely a girl. It becomes easier to tell when you get older (like you, but it might be a little difficult to tell on Coco).

As for the sniffing and rumbling, all guinea pigs do it, especially with a newcomer. But if you are doing it all the time you are probably a boy.