My daughter wants to get a guinea pig for her new pet. She has had hamsters for years; but they have such a short life span, she wants a pet that will live longer.

I did research on line and got a lot of useful information. Including the suggestion that you should get two guinea pigs to keep each other company. That is fine with me - one for me and one for my daughter!

We plan to go to the pet store and get as much information as we can before we even think about buying them. Since they live so long (5-7 and up to 10 years) we want to be sure we know what we are getting into.

I was hoping if anyone has any experience with guinea pigs they could give the positive and negative aspects of having them as pets. Any information to share?

I've only been raising guineas piggies for 2 years, so I don't know much. they are friendly, and squeaky, and hoppity, and excitable when food arrives.

I feed them twice a day, at dawn and dusk, and they greet me with much chittering and bopping about.... I love it, because it makes me feel needed.

I raise them for sale, and have 22 right now, in large home-made cages, under an airy outdoor palapa. (I live in the tropics)

it can be difficult to tell guineas apart when they're very young (and you'd probably WANT to get them young, so you bond to them better)

so, if you're buying two, the chances are good, you might end up with one of each sex, and then... nature will take its course.

guineas are noisy about it, and the pursuit can get a little rowdy at times, it looks like fighting to a young child, and sometimes the female gets bitten... (sexist pigs, argh!)

then, you need to separate them right away, as an aggressive male may harm a female.

their young are born ready to travel with the pack, fully-furred, and able to eat solid foods almost immediately.

you may run into trouble if there's a big litter, as mama might not be able to feed them all.

so far, I've only lost one mama in childbirth (actually, three days later, with all her babies dying as well) and it made me cry, as guineas are very sweet...

it appears that the mom retained a baby (didn't fully deliver) and that caused the difficulties.

but otherwise, all the mating and birthings have gone well... eight litters so far...

I feed them vegetables scavenged from the sellers at the market.

they like broccoli leaves, carrot greens, carrot sticks, celery leaves, (sticks too, but they must be cut slant-wise, as the strings might give difficulty, and possibly choking.) cabbage leaves, Chinese cabbage, bok choy, beet greens, spinach leaves, and even bean sprouts... experiment, and have fun!

this site recommends AGAINST bok choy and cabbage, but my guineas love it, and get it every day, and eat every bite.


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every morning, I remove any scraps they didn't eat, and give them fresh hay, and rabbit pellets (guinea pellets aren't available here) and change their drip bottle's water.

and I give them salt wheels (plain, not mineral), and have learned to use a feeding dish that hooks FIRMLY onto the cage wall, otherwise... they knock it over, and that wastes the pellets.

one thing you should know, guinea pigs make special poops, with partially undigested food, which they NEED for good nutrition, and they save them, using their little paws to carefully place the poop pellets into their feed dishes, to save and eat later.

that grosses some people out a bit, but it's no big deal, after a while. this site explains about the Caecotrophs:


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hope that helped!

good luck with your guineas.

Geez, Karousel, if Kay's post didn't help you out, I don't know what will!!!

Hope you have fun with your new pets. They are cute little critters, aren't they? With lotsa cowlicks.

Sometimes you need to trim their toenails, if they don't have rough stuff to scramble over.

We bought two females from a pet store, Leah and Rachel. A few weeks later, my granddaughter said, "Grammy! Rachel had babies!" I whipped around and said to my husband, "I thought you were a farmer!" He said, "I farmed dairy cows, not guinea pigs." So they became Leah and Richard. Oh well.

Ours were spoiled rotten. They only liked certain kinds of apples, for example. Their very favorite treat was cucumber. We didn't give them much, because it doesn't have much nutritional value. But when they heard me peeling a cuke for my salad, the WHEEK WHEEK WHEEK chorus would begin in earnest.

They can eat almost anything you can, but do check the websites and books about the few things that aren't recommended.

There is nothing, but NOTHING, cuter than the face of a guinea pig.

Oh Piggies are the best pets. They love to have attention. When you go to the refrigerator and they hear you in a plastic bag..the Wheepie chorus begins. I had one pigger when I was in high school and we would let it out of the cage to come and get its treats from the kitchen. It would stand on its hind legs and beg for its food. I even had a princess pillow for "Arrow" and she would love to sit on it and watch tv. with me. I would take her to the parks in my hooded sweatshirt and put her in my pouch. Loved it.

Warnings: We had one pigger thats teeth were not aligned and I didn't know it. So she could not eat all of the food. They grind their food when they eat and with her teeth not being right it didn't work for her. A veterinarian can file down the teeth so they work better. I didn't know what was wrong until it was too late. So if they stop eating it could be a sign of that. I don't think it is very common. Good luck with piggie shopping. We want to see pictures.

Thank you everyone for all your great input. I went to the pet store with my husband to check them out. I got to hold one and almost walked out of the store with it but my husband spoiled my fun and stopped me.
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We are going to let her get one but she'll have to share it with me!!
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Of course, all of the pet stores we went to were low on all their animals. She wants a specific kind of guinea pig so we'll get the cage and everything and just wait until she finds the perfect little piggie!! I'm so excited!!!!
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Wow, this really brings back memories! Had guinea pigs as a child, EVEN as a young adult in my 20s, and then again when my daughter was a little girl. They are a hoot and a half!

And yes, they propagate like fury! Baby guinea pigs are just the cutest little things. I've heard guinea pigs when they are...ummmm, in the mood for love and it's impossible for me to describe the sound but trust me, it's cuter than all get out.

I love the noses...up down up down up down up down up down, they wiggle so fast. And there is nothing cuter than when they KNOW you are getting food and as Blessings said, they WHEEEEEK WHEEEEEEK WHEEEEEEK! What a perfect description of the noise they make, LOL!

However...I had NO clue that they had 2 poops and it grossed me out that they continually ate their poops! NO WONDER!
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And omg, I just remembered how it grossed me out that they would often catch the pooh as it came out!
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How they did that was beyond me, LOLOL!

I told my DD about this poop thing. She was grossed out but then we remembered that she had one larger hamster that used to pull his poop out and eat it! She is so excited that she is getting one and is driving me crazy!

I had a sweet black curly haired guinea when I was about 16. I bought it a collar and would walk it like a dog. Everyone thought it was a dog! She was adorable but mercy what a mess they can be to a teenage girl. I wasn't prepared for the full responsibility and had to give her away to a new family.

I bet your daughter is so happy!

Sandy, thanks for your reply! My DD keeps saying she wants to get hers a leash and take it for walks so it's nice to know it can be done. I told her this will be entirely her responsibility but I know I will end up doing most of the work (just like I did for all her hamsters and fish) but I really don't mind. So long as she does as much as she can. She is beyond happy, she is so excited but will have to wait since the pet stores are out of guinea pigs right now!