Article From SubmitYOURArticle.com: The Challenge of Raising Guinea Pig Babies

You brought your guinea pig home from the
shelter, pet store or breeder. Now what? Don't
worry, your adventure is not as scary as it may
seem. Here are some simple steps to making sure
your guinea pig develops into a healthy, loving
and wonderful pet. Environment is a key to first
step health.

Baby guinea pigs have small feet and heads.
Cages are made for all kinds of rodents, not just
guinea babies, and their heads can get easily
stuck in the wire mesh on the sides or bottom of
a cage. Therefore consider first a cardboard box,
or solid floor small mesh cage. Avoiding a trip
to the vet will be so much more enjoyable,
believe me.

Next you must feed your little guy. It is not
hard to figure what to feed them, if you know two
rules, they are vegetarians, and they are not
humans. Veggies are a great source of pleasure
that is right, pleasure for guinea pigs.

The guinea pig will show signs of happiness, when
squealing and popcorning. Consider the various
noises they make during the day. Soon you will
be able to identify their noises as happy or sad,
but to be sure, consider a book or article about
their noises.

Feed them lots of cucumber, carrot, celery,
lettuce and even some fruits like apple and
orange. They love hay so pile it in their cage
at least two times per day so that your little
pig gets lots of vitamin "c". They cannot
produce vitamin C just like you and need it in
their diet. However, they can not eat like
humans, so do not feed them meats, processed
foods or other sugar or potato like manufactured
foods or you may find your pig with an upset
stomach and a messy cage.

The baby guinea pig will immediately bond with
its mother after birth. There is great
controversy about holding the young before they
are fully independent from the mother. It is now
widely practiced, that you leave your pig to
acclimate for several days after bringing it
home. This will provide your pig time to adjust.

Guinea pigs are inherently shy at first.
Therefore caution is in order. It usually takes
several days for a guinea pig to acclimate,
depending upon where you purchased it, and how
long it had been in that environment. Never
trick your guinea pig into coming to you with
food or other instruments. Instead, build a bond
by patience and slow, careful steps toward trust.

You may hear the squeal of death, as if you were
torturing the poor thing. Instead, slowly entice
your pig toward you each day. Finally one day
put the food down just inside the cage and when
your pig approaches, lightly reach out and stroke
her. Then after she trusts you, with two hands
scoop her up like you would a two handed splash
of water for your face. You did it. Look forward
to enjoying your guinea pig for many years to
come.

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Jim is an author and guinea pig enthusiast. You
can obtain tons of advice on raising guinea pig
babies and help from his site Guinea Pig Babies.
http://www.myfirstguineapig.com/guinea-pig-babies
You can also select names, review other helpful
hints and even sign up for free guinea pig care
course at My First Guinea Pig.
http://www.myfirstguineapig.com If you need
guinea pig special advice, contact the author at
one of the above sites.

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