More guinea pigs questions...

[SheWolf]

The pigs I bought for my 5 year old son were suppose to be two females. Well I just discovered that ones a boy and ones a girl. The store has agreed to rectify the situation, but I don't know which way to go. Boys or Girls? Is one better than the other?

Also, whats your favorite bedding? Thought my cage was pretty disgusting after only two days with pine shavings.

Linda

 

[randidiane]

I think girls are more loving IMO Use Carefresh bedding its the best for the guinea pigs , keeps odor away longer, and its soft, and no smell.
Randi

 

[delfin]

Ditto on the carefresh bedding... I use it all over the floor of our big cage, and also in their litter pan, which is in the corner. Warned ya about pet store not knowing the sex of their cavies! Anyway, as far as boys vs. girls, actually our boy is much friendlier than our female. He even runs over to greet our dog!

 

[Faithnveggies]

Sometimes boys don't get along well w/ each other as they become adults but there are also plenty of pairs of well bonded boars. I think it is less of an issue if they have plenty of room to retreat from each other.

I love Carefresh bedding, but due to expense I now buy my bedding from a feed store. It is horse bedding called cherokee and is kiln dried pine. More dusty than care fresh but works well, is safe and costs about 5.50 for a large bag. (3.5 cu ft expands to 7 cu ft)

Hope this helps

Ps, the girl you had is probably pregnant....their cycle is about 16 days and males can get mothers/other females pregnant as early as about 3 to 4 weeks of age.

 

[singinggoddess]

Delfin,
Hi, I also have pigs. Do you use the litter pan for them go potty in and do the just use that instead of the cage? I have my pigs for 6 months and the little girl pig has been pregnant 2 times already. The pet store said we were getting 2 girls and I guess they were wrong. It is a long story, but now they have to have seperate cages. I love them to death though. They are in my picture trail.

Susan

 

[delfin]

Susan, they do use the litter pan for pottying... but they also use other corners, too. I find, though, that having the litter pan means I have to clean those corners (and the cage) less often. I had to kinda tie it into the corner cuz Cinnamin (the male) enjoyed picking it up and tossing it around. Guess he thought it was a toy. Why don't you get your male fixed so they can live together? That's what we did, because cavies are happy together. It's probably not that much more costwise than having a another cage with more litter, cleaning, etc. Besides it's fun to watch the male "rumble strut" ;-)

 

[singinggoddess]

Delfin,
We took our male guinea pig to get fixed and he almost died. They only found one testicle and went into his abdominal wall to look for the other one and he almost bled to death. When we picked him up they said he probably would not live. It took him 4 weeks to recover and his one testicle was bruised for weeks. Anyway, probably too much info, but he is fine now and we have there cages right next to each other and they rub noses and paws through it.

Thanks for the info about the litter pan. I will give it a try, because I am constantly changing there cages.

Susan

 

[SheWolf]

What brand of litter pan do you have? I am willing to try anything to keep the cage cleaner.

Oh by the way, I now have two boys. The girl I had was akot more fun, she talked alot more. So far both my boys are quiet, though Cinnamon loves to cuddle.

Linda