Your Guinea Pig's Home

A guinea pig home is usually made of a wire mesh. This wire mesh should not have too big of holes or too small of holes. If the holes aren't just right the guinea pig may catch it's foot in them and may even break their foot. Also make sure that there is no sharp edges that may cut you or the guinea pig. I learned a very helpful secret if you buy those big Tupperware containers, the 18 gallon ones will due, they are very easy to clean up and give you an easy access to your guinea pig. Guinea pigs should have bedding.

Keeping Your Guinea Pig Clean

This can be the most complicated part of owning a guinea pig. First of all, what kind of guinea pig do you own? Each breed needs different bathing procedures. I will tell you how to bathe all of them. Abyssinian and Teddy: Never bath an abyssinian. It ruins the texture. If you need to, use a toothbrush and some corn meal. Use the toothbrush to smooth the corn meal over the hair of the guinea pig. American and White Crested: These short-hair breeds need to be bathed about every 6 months. Use luke warm water up to the top of their legs and baby shampoo. Wet the hair and place a small amount of baby shampoo on the hair. Rub gently throughout the hair and skin being careful not to get ANYTHING in the eyes. When you are done towel dry the guinea pig then blow dry on the lowest setting. Guinea pigs can catch a cold very easily so be sure to get them toughly dry fast. You should comb their hair daily to keep them tangles out and to give them a check-up for bugs of bald spots. Peruvian and Cornet: The long hair breeds of guinea pigs are possibly the hardest to bathe. They should have a bath about every month. Do the same procedure you would do for the short-hair breeds. When you are done, place the guinea pig on a sample of carpet or a flat table. Next to you, you should have 3 pieces of paper bags approximently 2 times the length of the hair and 3 times the width of the hair, rubber bands, hair clips, and a comb. Comb out the hair. Then, separate the hair into three sections. Next, place two sections up in hair clips to keep them out of the way. With the section that is remaining, place the hair on one of the paper pieces, fold the sides in, then fold the ends, finally place a rubber band around the wrap. Now, do this procedure with the other 2 sections. You should re-wrap them every day. Another important thing in grooming a guinea pig is clipping it's nails. Dog clippers, cat clippers, or human clippers will work. Only clip to the blood line, which is pink in color. It is nice to keep septic powder near by in the case of a toe bleeding.