In the second part of this series we look at what do before and after you arrive home with your Guinea Pig.
Before bringing home a guinea pig make sure that you have in place these essential things;
Being prepared for bringing home a guinea pig
Get a good Guinea Pig cage
Do you house the guinea pig in a cage or do you have a hutch that the guinea pig can stay in?
They will need about 7.5 square foot of space each, which is a rough guide to the kind of cage you need to think about.
Also think about where you want to put the cage.
Obviously it needs to fit around your family requirements but what also needs to be brought into consideration is that Guinea pigs are very social animals and being on their own is not good for them.
If you can, having them around your family will be very beneficial for them.
If you have any pets in your home , think about whether they can handle having another pet in the home. Some may feel threatened by this so do take this into consideration for the benefit of your guinea pig and the present pet.
Guinea Pig food
Make sure you get enough food in for the Guinea Pig.
What i have found with Guinea Pigs is that they are always hungry and never tire of eating. So it is worth having a stock of food to feed your guinea pig.
Get some guinea pig food from a pet store and a stock of vegetables such as carrots to feed your Guinea pig.
Lettuce is also a favourite and worth stocking up on.
Water for your Guinea Pig
Purchase a water bottle as one of the first thing s you do so the Guinea Pig does not get thirsty and fill it and attach it to the side of the cage in an accessible place that it can get to it easily.
Hay
It is worth purchasing some hay to lay down in the cage for the Guinea Pig to eat and to make its bed on.
A Run
Guinea Pigs need exercise and love to run. Have a place where they can run around in.
If you have the garden to do this in, it might be worth making an enclosed area where they can run around in.
You can also purchase large grids that you can place on grass that will allow the Guinea Pig to run around in.
What to do when you get your Guinea Pig home
When you get home and you have its cage all ready to go, carefully lift the guinea pig out of the carrier and give it a good cuddle.
Its important that it gets to know you and what you are like as its owner, building up the trust is important.
It may appear nervous and wriggle around but that’s perfectly normal as it will be nervous and its first instinct will be to go and hide.
After a few minutes of holding it, place the guinea pig in the cage and shut the door.
Believe it or not, talking to the guinea pig will help it acclimatise and get to know your voice. This is important for the guinea pig in getting to know its new surroundings.
