guinea pig care weekly
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Guinea Pig Weekly Care
Cleaning
You will want to completely clean out your guinea pig’s cage once per week. Take all bedding out and place it in a garbage bag. Look at the cage. Do you see any stuck on bits? If so these will need to be scraped off.
Once solid matter is remove you will need to sterilize the cage. Here you have a couple choices. You can either wash the cage in soapy water or you can use a spray disinfectant specifically for use with animals. These types of products can be found online or at your local pet store. Personally, I am not a big fan of chemicals and I prefer soap and water. The choice is up to you.
After the cage has dried, go ahead and refill with clean bedding.
Water bottles and food bowls should also be washed and sterilized. Hot soapy water should be fine. Water bottles especially need to be sterilized as they hold standing water day in and day out. This can lead to the growth of all kinds of unwanted things.
Health
Every week you want to check your guinea pig for health problems. What should you be looking for? Weight gain or loss, if the coat is clean and shiny, clear eyes and nose, any kind of skin problems like lumps, cuts, scabs and bugs. Also check nail length – if they are too long, its time for a trim.
Grooming
Go ahead and use a regular nail clipper. You don’t really need special equipment. If your guinea pig has transparent nails, look for the vein running part of the way through. This is called the “quick” and you do not want to cut this as it will cause pain and bleeding. If you cannot see the quick, do your best to estimate. You will find that having a good grip on your guinea pig will be important as you will want to hold each toe still as you cut to avoid accidents. If you do cut the quick there are products that will stop the bleeding such as “Kwik stop.”
Shorter hair guinea pigs will need to be brushed once per week. This is a pretty easy task and will make their coat shiny. Just make sure you brush the hair in the direction it grows naturally as brushing “against” the grain, so to say, can be unconfortable.
