Hey Everyone,
I'm considering adopting / buying (preferably adopting) two guinea pigs. It depends on whether the shelter in my area has guinea pigs or not.. they only really advertise for cats and dogs.
This would be the second time for me, I've had 2 in the past, one who lived for 8 years and would have lived longer but we came home one day and he was gone

I can't remember what they're like so I'm wondering how they differ from rabbits personality and activity wise.

Obviously rabbits don't make as much noise, but thats about all I know.

I just recently got a GP.Apolla is awesome.She is cuddly and friendly and she talks to me.She has a really nice personality.

I don't have her litter trained and she poops alot.They can be litter trained tho,I just didn't really try too much.They usually choose a corner anyway to do their buisness.

They need fresh hay daily and vitamin C daily,as well as fresh veggies and fruits.They also need a good quality pellet.The pellets should not have anything they can pick out and also rabbit pellets are not good for GP's,as it doesn't contain the right amount of vitamin C.Guinea pigs cannot produce their own vitamin C.

They are very social and do best in pairs.I am looking into a friend for mine.She came to me alone.

This is a really good site.It has helped me out alot.So you should definatly check it out.I am still learning myself,as I am still pretty new to guinea pigs.
Guinea Lynx :: A Medical and Care Guide for Your Guinea Pig

Adopting is a great idea!

Like stated before, make sure you implement vitamin C into their diet. Rabbit pellets won't do, so stick to strictly guinea pig pellets. Pellets should be available at all times. Giving a 1 to 1 1/2 cup salad daily will also help with this. Some good veggies are romaine lettuce (usually the staple), red/green leaf lettuce, any and all colors of bell peppers (my guinea pigs LOVED them!), cilantro... anything high in vitamin C. Cabbage, brocoli, and cauliflower should be fed sparingly (if at all) due to the high gas content (don't want a bloated piggy!) Fruits should be fed as treats as they are so high in sugar (and as much as oranges might be hailed the "vitamin C fruit", steer clear of since they provide little vitamin and have a high acidity which can hurt your piggy). Another thing that should be kept constant is hay; guinea pigs are grazers and need the hay to keep their digestive tract smooth. If the guinea pig you get is less than 3 months, alfalfa hay should be fed (high calcium content for strong bones); older than 3 months, switch to Timothy hay.

And yes, guinea pigs are far more social than most small animals, so making sure you adopt a pair would be best unless you spend a lot of time with your cavy! On this note, guinea pigs are extremely adventurous and active, so allowing some time each day for "play time" is a wonderful idea. Sectioning off a part of a room and placing fun toys for about a half hour or so (depending on how long your guinea pig(s) likes to play!) will be great for your pig and your family to watch!

There should be at least 2 square feet of caging per pig (something to keep in mind), and it is possible to potty train them. Like Vanilla_Rat stated, they tend to poop a lot and will usually do their business in corners, so keep that in mind and do spot cleaning daily, and clean their cage about once a week.

Hope this helps!

Thanks very much for the advice !


Unfortunately all shelters within 3 - 4 hours driving time from me have no guinea pigs at the moment and don't get them very often so my only choice is to buy them. I will make a last check before I do at the shelters but its not likely to happen !
I'm waiting for a week or two before getting them as there is some very hot weather coming up, 104Fº & 105Fº for the next two days.

For the fun factor, with my rabbits I used to take them for walks daily, do guinea pigs tend to enjoy that as much? I will have to buy a smaller harness though x]

Also, my rabbits (as they were outside animals) were kept in what most of you guys would call a sort of 'day cage' I guess but it was very hard to clean it out properly so I'm going to hopefully buy a hutch, however I've been looking and don't really know how to tell if the wood is the right type or treated etc as I've heard you need to have un-treated wood. I guess the best policy is to ask the shop-owner!

I've been told to get 2 girls instead of 2 boys, however I've had two boy cavys before that lived together and they got along fairly well but every shop just shoots me down when I mention it so I will be getting 2 females I guess.
Took me a while to find a good pet shop though. Its good when it comes to guinea pigs and rabbits. I saw the most adorable rabbits x]! But I don't want to go through Myxo again.. I was fairly annoyed at how they treat their Betta fish though, they were extremely depressed and were in the tiniest containers I've ever seen! I was so surprised at how opressed these fish were as my Betta seems to be hyper all the time, I love him to death! Its hilarious to watch. Anyway, off topic here! I rant too much!

Pet shops are notoriously ignorant. They all believe that males will fight to the death. That's only true if they're not given enough space. A pair of guinea pigs needs a minimum of 7.5 square feet of living space, and 10 or more is better.

I've got boys and girls, and boys and girls (fixed) living together without problems. Our rescue religiously pairs male animals and we have very few problems. It's a personality issue, not a gender issue.

I would not recommend the harnesses for guinea pigs. Their spines are very fragile, and leashes, balls, and exercise wheels can damage them. I make a pen for mine out of the cubes used to build these cages (http://www.guineapigcages.com) and supervise them when they have outside time.

I agree...I honestly would not take the advice of a pet shop employee unless you either knew it was right,done your own research or got second opinions.Many pet stores only want to make a buck and give false or wrong information out.

Yeah, I thought as much. I had bad troubles with both of my female rabbits. One would assert her dominancy and continually bully the other. Proof that females are just as nasty as males if their personalities clash.

Agreed with the petstore ignorance, but don't take the stereotype too seriously until you've talked with the small animal caretaker at the store and have determined (based on prior research) that they either know, or don't know the material.

As for two boars vs. two sows, you are more likely to get 2 sows comfortably together, but that isn't to say 2 boars won't be fine if young and/or mellow

my sister has two boys, and two girls. The girls came into a local shelter together, and so my sister "adopted" them (they were actually just given to her for free because they had somehow slipped through the system and had no impound number). The boys came individually, both as mature males. There was absolutely no fighting, just a bit of dominance humping, lol. Guinea pigs work better in same sex pairs than rabbits do. I highly recommend C&C cages, they are just so much cheaper than buying a petstore cage, and you can seriously make them as big as you want... both of my sister's pairs have two story cages (with a "tunnel" ramp, so they can't fall), and they really enjoy running around and having space. they have so much more personality than the piggies we kept in outdoor hutches when we were kids...

A C&C cage?

http://www.guineapigcages.com/photos...o/3105/cat/515
http://www.guineapigcages.com/buycc.htm

That gives you an idea.

I have had two Guinea Pigs and a pair of rabbit, I have noted that the girl gets along quit well with her companion, besides the ocasional asserting of dominance, while my bunny used to fight his mate, this I have been told was because they could smell the girl guineas, so i would make sure you get the same sex as your bunny or there could be problems... however you could just keep them in different areas. i used to have a guinea pig harness, but mine always hated it and would just sit on the ground with a attitude (she seemed to say "you can't make me move with this thing!") so i would jut suggest a little guinea fence for outside frolics.

Hey, time for an update.
I've bought a large hutch for them to sleep in and there is a run I have for the daytime when I'm at school
And, after days searching newspapers, websites, shelters, petstores I finally found 2 female guinea pigs in one store.. Although I haven't taken a proper look at their rears yet. It was almost like rescuing them though as the cage they were kept in was tiny!

I named them Pepper and Ziggy They're adorable and can't do anything without each other x]
I'm not sure if they're just a little tubby towards the back of their body or if they're pregnant though, it's a little worrying :S they are apparently 6 - 8 weeks old, so its possible.
Do you have any advice on how to tell if they're pregnant or just overweight?
I can't feel anything in there atm, I know its a 'wait and see' sort of issue but I really hope they aren't.
I know Guinea pigs are in high demand around my area so it would not be a problem to re-home them but I'm afraid for my 2 little pigs' health since they're so young..

Anyway! I'll post pictures soon if you'd like.