How to care for guinea pig

Take care of the guinea pig can even children 6-7 years - it's quite easy. How to care for the guinea pig to provide the animal with comfort and conditions for a healthy full life? First of all, it is necessary to observe the zoohygiene: the room where the mumps live, should be clean and light, with a normal microclimate. Feed the animal twice or thrice a day. The food should be high-quality and nutritious, water - fresh. Daily clean the feeder and ventilate the cage. Put a clean bedding - once every three days. Once a week, perform a thorough cleaning of the cage. Every three days to carry out a control inspection of the animal. It is also necessary to comb the animal's fur (every two to three days) and cut its claws every six months. Even if you get two or three guinea pigs, you'll have to spend just a couple of hours a week to care for them.

To care for the mumps, you will need special tools: a rare scallop, a metal brush, a soft brush for small animals, and scissors.

Preventative inspection

Once every three or four days, you need to take a little closer look at the guinea pig and carefully examine it. When the animal is healthy, it is distinguished by its activity and appetite, its fur coat shines, it should not have a patchwork. Carefully inspect the animal and make sure that there are no wounds and scratches on the skin. Take care that the animal does not have diarrhea, runny nose, hoarse breathing, do not go pus from the eyes. If you notice the health problems of the animal in time, you can prevent the sad consequences.

Make sure that the mumps has enough room for movement. Every day, always let the pet walk around the apartment. Just do not leave the small creature unattended - all of a sudden, someone stepped in will hit the door. In addition, the pig, left to itself, can inadvertently chew on furniture. While the guinea pig walks, it is better to close other pets in another room. To hold the mumps on your hands, catch and grab it with a quick, determined move. With one hand, grasp the body and place the other under the backside. Do not take pregnant or newborn swine.

Combing

Personal hygiene rosette and short-haired guinea pigs are engaged themselves. With the help of their claws and teeth, they clean and comb the fur. But it is better, if you help them in this business, sometimes combing the fur and cleaning it with a dry clean napkin.

How to care for a marine short-haired pig.

Rosette guinea pigs and guinea pigs with normal fur can only be combed during moulting, twice a week. Moulting usually takes place in autumn and spring.

Care for long-haired guinea pigs.

Long-haired guinea pigs need daily combing with a brush and a comb. To accustom the animal to this is better from an early age, this way: put a towel on your knees, plant a small animal on it. Unravel the hair with a comb with long teeth. To the comb to pull the hair less, the animal's hair can be slightly dampened with water, sprayed from the spray gun. Comb the fur with a soft brush until the characteristic shine. Slumpy, twisted areas, especially in the back of the body, can be sheared with scissors, and washed with a special cat shampoo against the formation of hair lumps (you can buy it at specialized pet stores). After bathing, dry the fur with a hair dryer.

The most capricious of care for the fur is the Angora breed of guinea pigs (or Peruvian), because its wool reaches 20 cm in length. These animals will have to be combed with a soft brush from one to three times a week to prevent tangling and stalling of the wool.

Bathing

Try to bathe guinea pig less often - only in case of emergency. For example, if the animal is dirty in stool or ground and can not clean itself. If you still have to buy a pig, you need to do this as follows.

Fill the plastic bowl with water warmed to room temperature. The water level should be 2.5-3 cm above the bottom of the bowl. Then we must lower the animal into the water. Wash the guinea pig carefully, making sure that the head of the animal is always above the water. For bathing, you can use a delicate baby shampoo without touching, nevertheless, the animal's head. Rinse the shampoo thoroughly after the procedure. After bathing, remove the mumps from the water and gently dry with a towel. If the room is warm enough (temperature above 18 ° C), you can just wipe the animal, but if the room is cooler, you need to dry it with a hairdryer.

Long-haired pig should always be dried with a hair dryer, but only tuned to the lowest temperature. Completely dried animal planted in a clean and dry cage, the bottom of which is littered with hay. Remember that after water procedures the guinea pig is especially sensitive to drafts and cold, it can easily catch a cold, which will have a bad effect on her health.

Care of teeth

If the pig does not have enough of its solid food, then its teeth can begin to grow too quickly. Guinea pig is a rodent, and its front teeth constantly grow, however intensively it is used by them. This is quite dangerous, because too long teeth interfere with food intake, and their sharp ends can injure the tongue or gums. Then the animal generally stops taking food, and the help of a veterinarian is required. Therefore, in addition to solid food, it is necessary to give the mumps to gnaw various objects, such that they do not pose a danger to it.

Cutting claws

Clipping of claws in rodents is first done when they turn a year, and later - a couple of times a year. In nature, they stitch themselves by rubbing against sand and stones, but at home they grow excessively. This gives the pigs inconvenience and painful sensations. Ogrosshye claws must be cut with special scissors or forceps for claws, while trying not to damage the living tissue. You can not cut the claws too short - so you can damage the nerves and blood vessels that pass in the upper part of them. The pig should be kept carefully during the procedure, but firmly - it will surely burst from your hands. Try to ensure that the cutting edge is located across the claw. If the claw is cut obliquely, it can crack.

Cleaning the ears

Do not forget about regular checking of the ears of the pet. If you notice contamination, gently clean the ears with a paper shawl. Do not use cotton swabs!

Cleaning the eyes

In the corners of the eyes can form crusts, accumulate pollution. To remove them best with a paper handkerchief moistened with water. If the animal's eyes suddenly begin to strongly tear, this is a sure sign that inflammation or a wound has been formed. With such trouble, always seek help from a veterinarian.