Stop… Dinner time!
Everything needs energy to live and guinea pigs have special needs for food.

Let’s begin with the most important piece in both our diet and a guinea pig’s diet: water! Fresh clean water in a pet bottle with a metal drinking tube is important, and bowls of water often get dirty too quickly. Change the water every day and attach the bottle to the side of your cage to keep a healthy guinea pig.

Next, it’s time to buy food, since only you can provide it for your pet. Guinea pigs are plant eaters, also known as herbivores, and never eat meat in their lives. The start of a guinea pig’s diet is a guinea pig pellet that can be found at the pet store. While this is very important, adding fruit, vegetables and hay is important, too. (Especially fruits with lots of vitamin C.) Adding slices of orange to your pet’s diet will keep it happy and healthy. Make sure to wash these plants before feeding them to your pet. Timothy hay will keep your guinea pig chewing for hours. This lets them keep healthy teeth and give them something to do. Add a handful of hay every day.

Adding enough food so a guinea pig can eat its fill is good, and with regular exercise and space, they will stay healthy. At the Zoo, our guinea pigs get about ¼ cup of pellet food each day. Other items, like chew blocks, can be purchased to help keep teeth clean and shortened. A ceramic or stone bowl is best to prevent bowl chewing and regular feeding and treats will help your guinea pig learn that you are a good friend. This will help build a bond between you and your pet.

Here at The Toledo Zoo we feed our animals pellet food, orange slices and apple with a handful of timothy hay every day. Small pieces of kale and broccoli are also given on occasion throughout the week as treats. Sometimes they get other types of fruits and veggies as enrichment or treats.

Stay away from these foods!
• Anything with milk
• Seeds or nuts, which could cause choking
• Candy/people treats
• Meat
• Plants from outside, which could have poisonous sprays on them
• Treats made for other animals like dogs or cats

A healthy pet is a happy pet.
Just like us, our pets can get sick and need to go to the doctor. Before bringing any pet home it is best to make a couple of phone calls to veterinarians. It is good to be sure there is someone in your area that could care for a guinea pig if sickness or injury happens.

Here is a list of signs your guinea pig could be sick:
• Runny nose
• Cloudy eyes or milky eyes
• Difficulty breathing or wheezing
• Bald, scaly, sore looking skin including on the bottom of the feet
• Loss of appetite or energy

Remember, a good veterinarian will be happy to talk about your animal’s health, so don’t hesitate to call if something seems wrong.

Beauty School
While a guinea pig will never need to go shopping for new clothes or shoes, there are a couple of things that will keep them looking good and feeling great! Especially important with long haired guinea pigs, brushing their fur will keep it clean and untangled. Start slow and easy with brushing until your pet gets comfortable and starts to enjoy the extra care.

Also, sometimes their toenails can get too long and a little trim can do wonders for your guinea pig. Small animal nail trimmers can be found at pet stores, but be careful! Inside their toenails is something called a quick (a small blood vessel). When trimming the nail, don’t cut too far back or the quick will bleed and could cause pain or lead to infection. Many times the blood
vessel is slightly visible in clear nails, but otherwise taking the tip off and staying away from the toe and fur is best practice. A vet may be able to do this for you or teach you how to trim your animals in the future.

Could I have some space please?
What does a guinea pig live in? Most often pet guinea pigs will live indoors year round and require an enclosed space to call home. For two guinea pigs, an enclosure or cage measuring about 24 x 48 inches will be satisfactory, but a little extra space will allow a more diverse
space to live and play. Cages made of a plastic base and wire siding will be suitable, but stay away from wire floored cages as these can cause foot problems. Place this cage in a space that has consistent temperatures in the range of 60-80º F (average indoor temperatures).
Cold weather or hot sun could harm your pet guinea pig, so check the cage area for cold drafts, hot sunshine from windows, etc. Guinea pigs, like us, can suffer from heat exhaustion or frostbite, but a calm indoor space away from doors and windows will work well.

Now let’s decorate! First, add some bedding or floor covering. Use old newspaper on the floor, and then add hiding areas and bedding to make it comfortable and safe feeling for your animal. Shredded newspaper, old cereal boxes, corn cob bedding, hay or store-bought hide boxes work great. Make sure to remove stickers, plastic or tape from anything in the cage as it could make your guinea pig sick.

Now add the water bottle, ceramic food dish and some hay. Looking ready? Just take one more look for anything dangerous like sharp cage edges or dangling power cords, and you should have a very nice home for any guinea pig.

Clean up time! Now that you have a living, eating, pooping guinea pig, it’s time to clean up. Every day you should remove any wet bedding, bits of old food, and any other mess your guinea pigs has made. Once a week or so, strip everything out of its cage and wash and dry your guinea pig’s cage. Replace clean hide areas and bedding. This not only keeps your animal healthy, but saves you from a smelly house.