Guinea Pig Trivia – A Quiz About Our Cavy Friends

Just how much do you know about the guinea pig? Take this short test of cavy knowledge to find out.

1. What are baby guinea pigs called?

a. Puppies

b. Guppies

c. Sprouts

d. Forest Gump



2. Guinea pigs need to be given supplements of which vitamin?

a. Vitamin A

b. Vitamin B

c. Vitamin C

d. Flintstones chewables

3. Which of these animals is the most closely related to the guinea pig?

a. Rabbit

b. Penguin

c. Beaver

d. Forest Gump

4. Where do guinea pigs originally come from?

a. Africa

b. South America

c. K-Mart

d. Their moms

5. When guinea pigs spring into the air, it is called…

a. Percolating

b. Tiddly Winking

c. Popcorning

d. Springing into the air

And now for the answers:

1. Oddly enough, baby guinea pigs are called puppies. You might expect them to be called piglets in order to keep the pig reference consistent – because adult male guinea pigs are called boars and female guinea pigs are called sows.

2. Guinea pigs must be given daily vitamin C supplements because they, like humans, lack a particular enzyme needed to manufacture this vitamin in their bodies.

3. The beaver is most closely related to the guinea pig. (Forest Gump is most closely related to the summer sausage.)

4. Guinea pigs are originally from the Andean region of South America which consists of modern day Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru. Tribal peoples raised them as food. (I hear they had a guinea pig meat loaf that was to die for. It was great smothered in cavy gravy.)

5. When guinea pigs spring into the air, it is called popcorning. Those of you who answered springing into the air get extra credit for your tremendous grasp of the obvious.

Guinea Pigs – The Importance of Vitamin C

You and your guinea pig may have more in common than you realize. Both you and your guinea pig must have vitamin C to survive. Unlike other mammals who manufacture vitamin C from glucose in the body, you and your guinea pig both lack a particular enzyme needed to perform this process. Thus, both human and guinea pig vitamin C requirements must be satisfied by external sources.


Your guinea pig must have a regular source of vitamin C or it will perish. Vitamin C is a water-soluble substance. Fat-soluble vitamins (like vitamins A, D, E and K) are dissolved by lipids – fat globules. Once these vitamins are absorbed by lipids, they are stored in your body’s tissues. Vitamin C, on the other hand, is not stored in the body. It is dissolved by water and any excess vitamin C in your guinea pig’s body will be excreted in the urine. Because vitamin C passes so quickly through your cavy’s body, they must be given supplements on a daily basis.

A great way to supplement your pig’s diet with the C vitamin is to feed them a diet rich in dark leafy vegetables such as parsley, kale or romaine lettuce. Be sure to avoid iceberg lettuce as it is mostly water and empty calories. It is essentially devoid of any nutritional value. As a general rule of thumb - the darker and richer the color of a fruit or vegetable – the more vitamins it contains.

To insure that your pig is getting sufficient amounts of daily vitamin C, it is also recommended that you supplement its diet with vitamin C supplements in the form of tablets or liquid drops. Tablets can be crushed and sprinkled on food or dissolved in drinking water. Liquid supplements can be added to drinking water or sprinkled on your guinea pig’s food.

Be careful when adding vitamin C to your pig’s drinking water. Vitamin C can be destroyed by substances found in tap water in certain regions. Your safest bet is to use distilled or purified water.

Your cavy needs vitamin C to survive. While supplementation is recommended, it should not be the only source of vitamin C for your guinea pig. Your pig’s diet should also contain plenty of dark green vegetables. Since vitamin C is water-soluble, there is little danger of giving too much vitamin C to your cavy. All excess vitamin C will be safely eliminated from the body in the urine.

Guinea Pigs – Who Are They and Where Did They Come From?

The cute and cuddly little guinea pig has anything but a cute and cuddly scientific name – Caviidae porcellus. The domestic guinea pig is a rodent and, among others, his relatives are the beaver, the mouse and the porcupine. Just where did this cute, cuddly little rodent come from? If you answered “the pet store”, you missed the meaning of my question completely.


The common guinea pig as we know it no longer exists in the wild. The domestic version is the only variety left today. However, relatives of the guinea pig still exist in the wild and from them we can better decipher the natural behavior of these types of animals.

Like most rodents and smaller animals, Guinea pigs are very prolific at reproducing. Due to their high mortality rate in the wild, this ability to reproduce rapidly is necessary to secure the survival of the species.

Guinea pigs are very social creatures. This is why it is highly advisable to keep pet guinea pigs in groups or, at least in pairs. In the wild, guinea pigs lived in groups called herds with a single male as the dominant leader. As with many herd animals, only the dominant male is accepted as mate by the females in the group. This insures that all offspring will be descended from only the strongest of males – another strategy designed to maximize chances for the survival of the species.

When domestic guinea pigs are housed in multi-level cages, they can be seen to scurry quickly down the ramp to the lower level when startled. This behavior is most likely left over from wild herd behavior when the rodents would quickly scamper into the cover of their underground burrows at the first sign of danger.

Guinea pigs originated in the Andean region of South America which consists of modern day Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru. Around 5000 B.C. the Inca Indians domesticated the guinea pig and used it for a food source. Eventually, they we imported to Europe from South America where the rich kept them as pets during the 17th century. In fact, England’s Queen Elizabeth I kept one herself. It was not until the early 20th century that the cavy made its way to the United States.

The guinea pig has gained a large following in the United States. It makes an idea pet for older children because of its docile and friendly nature and also because it is relatively easy and simple to care for. This adorable little rodent has been around for many centuries – from its existence in the wild - to its early domestic beginnings as a food source for the Incas - until its modern day role as companion and pet for children and adults alike across the United States and Europe.

Guinea Pigs – A Great Pet for Animal Lovers

Guinea pigs are intensely social creatures. In the wild they used to live in groups called herds. If you are planning on getting a guinea pig, you must realize that, in addition to obtaining a new family member, you are also making a binding social commitment. As descendents of herd animals, guinea pigs do not do well in solitary situations. As such, you must be prepared to set aside significant time each and every day as a guinea pig owner to interact with your pet – an easy and enjoyable task for animal lovers. If you are more of a hands-off admirer of animals – or if your busy schedule prohibits rich daily interaction with your cavy, then it is highly recommended that you get a second or third pig to satisfy your pet’s social requirements.


As I wrote earlier, owning a cavy should be viewed as a commitment. Either you must commit to spending extensive time with your pet each day or you must commit to being a multiple pig owner. Anything less would be a disservice to the animal.

In addition, to maintain good health (like humans) guinea pigs need regular daily exercise. Guinea pigs generally do not tend to use exercise wheels like hamsters. Instead you must either provide a cage large enough for your pig(s) to run around in – or you must give them daily exercise time. They will need to run freely but supervised in a protected room or other large area.

If your guinea pig is sharing the house with a dog or cat, you must take special care to protect your cavy. Dogs and cats are instinctively both predators and may very well view your precious cavy as prey. You will need to insure that your guinea pig is adequately protected from these types of inherent predator animals as well as young children. Very small children, while not technically predators, can still cause great harm to your guinea pig simply by exercising their sense of curiosity and playfulness.

One of the greatest pleasures in life is the joy of pet ownership. Guinea pigs can provide both entertainment and companionship. They can be very playful – especially in groups – racing around the cage, popcorning in the air like tiny Thomson’s Gazelles or nudging one another with their snouts. They can bring a smile to your face as they stand up against the cage wall in the morning and call to you with their squeaky “weeking” noises as they beg for their breakfast. Best of all, they can bring a warm glow to your heart as they relax and purr softly in your lap while you scratch them gently behind their tiny little ears.

Guinea Pigs – Cavies and Children – Are They a Good Mix?

If children are older and reasonably responsible, they can (and should) take on a role in the care of your family’s guinea pig. With the words: Okay, we’ll get a guinea pig – but you will have to take care of it, many parents are tempted to completely abdicate their pig care responsibilities and assign them all to the child. This is almost never a good idea. While caring for any living creature is a great learning opportunity (and the parent may even tell the child that they are totally in charge of the animal’s health, safety and welfare); ultimately, the final accountability should always remain with the responsible adult.


While full responsibility for your pig’s welfare should never be given to a child, it is actually a good learning experience to assign specific tasks to the children in the family. If the tasks are a life-critical – such as those involving food, water or supplements – the responsible parent must monitor the situation to make sure these duties are not being neglected. Your pigs’ lives depend on it! The parent should give occasional praise and positive reinforcements when the job is well done and they should give reminders and negative consequences when the job is neglected, forgotten or done poorly. Owning a pet is an excellent learning opportunity for your children – but it should never come at the expense of your pets’ health, safety or well-being.

If the task is less life-critical – such as cage-cleaning or giving the guinea pig daily attention and exercise - then monitoring does not need to be as diligent. However, this does not mean that you can simply delegate the task and walk away. Remember that ultimately the responsibility for your pigs’ safety and happiness falls on you - the parent. Also remember that the monitoring of tasks is for two very different and important reasons: 1) to insure the care, safety and comfort of your pet(s) and 2) to teach your kids to be responsible, caring and respectful pet-owners. So even if the task is not critical to your pigs’ health or safety, it is still an important part of your children’s transformation into responsible adults and community members.

It goes without saying that tasks assigned to children should be age-appropriate. That is, life-critical tasks should be assigned to older and more responsible children. Less critical tasks can be assigned to younger and less capable children. In either case, stretch your child by letting them do everything that they are capable of and by periodically adding new and harder tasks, but also be sure to give parental aid, coaching and guidance with any portions of the job that your child is not able to perform correctly.

It is a great learning experience for kids to be involved in the raising of a pet. However, all tasks assigned should be based upon your children’s age and ability. And at no point should you as a parent abdicate your responsibility in the situation. Ultimately, the responsibility for your guinea pigs’ health, safety and welfare rests on your shoulders.

Guinea Pig Cages – Where to Locate Your Cavy’s Home

You’ve brought home your new guinea pig(s), chosen a suitable and roomy cage – now, where do you put it? A) Garage, B) Closet C) In front of a window D) None of the above. The correct answer is D) none of the above. Among other requirements, cavies must be kept in a room with a stable temperature - free of drafts and out of direct sunlight. Finding a suitable location for your guinea pigs’ cage is a task that requires careful thought and diligence. When placing your pigs’ new home within your home, several factors should be considered.




Extreme Temperatures Should be Avoided.

You pigs do not tolerate extreme heat or cold very well. They should be kept in a room-temperature environment – a range of approximately 65 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit (18 to 24 degrees Celsius). This requirement immediately eliminates several areas in the home. Avoid placing the cage directly on heat registers, directly in front of a window, next to a radiator or fireplace or next to the oven. Also avoid putting your pigs any place where they may be exposed to cold drafts. The garage is out – too hot in summer too cold in winter. (The garage poses an additional hazard in that your pigs will be exposed to toxic carbon monoxide gas on a regular basis.) In terms of temperature: a rule of thumb is that your pigs like to live where you do. If you are too hot or too cold, chances are your guinea pigs are too.



Avoid Humid Areas

Guinea pigs’ respiratory systems are not the most robust. Cavies tend to be overly sensitive to upper respiratory infections. As such, placement in high-humidity locations such as your laundry room or near showers and baths should also be avoided. Also be cautious about placing your cavies in a basement area unless a dehumidifier has been installed and the area is well lit.



Avoid Isolation

Guinea pigs are social creatures. As such, they generally prefer to be around activity. Place your pig in or near a fairly high activity area. Great places are generally in the kitchen, living room, great room or family room – or wherever your family typically congregates in the home. Avoid placing your pigs’ home in rooms where it will undergo long periods of isolation or low traffic such as a child’s bedroom, in the basement or in a back hallway.



Choosing a high quality guinea pig cage is only the beginning task in creating a safe and healthy environment for your pet. Selecting a suitable location in your home is an equally critical task. Choose a location with a stable and moderate temperature and low humidity. In addition, chose a location in which your family can share their daily activities with your pigs. Don’t forget – your guinea pigs are family members too.

Guinea Pigs – Guinea Pig Sounds – What is Your Pig Saying to You?

Unlike rabbits, guinea pigs are not quiet animals. Guinea pigs make a lot of noise – especially in groups – and are in constant communication with each other and with their owners. As a guinea pig owner, you may be interested in the meaning of some of these sounds.




Loud Squeaking

Loud, piercing squeaking (often referred to as “wheeking”) is generally a cry for food. Your pigs are informing you that they are hungry and asking (actually insisting) that you feed them – NOW. This sound is most often heard around your pigs’ regular feeding time and often starts when your pigs first see you or when they hear the sound of plastic bags “crinkling” or any other clue that sounds like you might be preparing food for them.



Purring

Just like a cat, purring is a soft low-level rumbling sound that generally indicates contentment and comfort. Your pig will often purr when being petted. Listen to the purring for feedback as you scratch your piggy behind the ears or between the eyes. She will tell you when you hit the “sweet spots”.



Rumbling

Rumbling sounds similar to purring but is a deeper, stronger, more intense sound. While purring represents relaxation and contentment, rumbling is more associated with excitement – sexual excitement. You most often hear this sound from male pigs when they are around females who are in season. The rumbling sound is often part of a mating dance commonly called the “rumble-strut” in which the male struts and parades around the female - all the while emitting the rumble sound.



Chattering, Burbling, Muttering

This is a hard sound to describe, but a common one to hear if you own guinea pigs. This is the sound of guinea pig activity. It is kind of like the background din of chatter and conversation you may hear in an office or workplace. You will hear it when your pigs are engaged, active and content. You might hear it when you let your pigs out of their cage to exercise. After they relax and get used to their environment, they often start their low-level muttering as they wander and explore. It often sounds as if they are just muttering to themselves as they focus on different activities.



Teeth Chattering

When your guinea pig is chattering their teeth, it is not a good sound. It is the sound of an angry, frightened or otherwise upset pig. This is the sound of a pig who is annoyed and grumpy. Teeth chattering is a warning. He is saying, “Stay away! Leave me alone!” Two males may chatter at each other as they try to establish dominance over each other. Or your cavy may chatter at you as you try to pick them up – or “annoy” them in other ways.



Guinea pigs are not a silent pet. In fact, their rich, varied and frequent communication is one of the properties that makes them so endearing. The longer you own your pets, the more attuned you will become to the nature and meaning of their auditory messages.

Guinea Pigs – 7 Interesting Facts You Should Know

As a guinea pig owner, you no doubt have a keen interest in learning about their origins, habits, behaviors and characteristics.


1. Guinea pigs are herd animals – that is, their wild ancestors used to live together in groups called herds. As such, guinea pigs are very social creatures and do not do very well in solitary situations. Consider purchasing more than one guinea pig rather than a solitary pig. Two pigs is only slightly more work than one and your pigs will be very much healthier and happier if they live in the company of other cavies.

2. When housing two pigs together, a male a female couple make the best combination – just be sure at least one of them is “fixed” or you will soon be looking at your own private herd. Two females are the next best choice and almost always get along. Two males can sometimes be confrontational and aggressive toward each other unless they were raised together. Be very cautious when introducing two boars to each other as they may not initially get along.

3. As social animals, guinea pigs also enjoy the company of human companions. Your cavy may be shy at first and hide from you - that’s okay. Remember that this was a very useful trait out in the wild where almost everything they encountered was trying to eat them. If you are gentle and affectionate with your pet, they will in time, come to enjoy being petted and spending time with you.

4. As you interact with your pigs, try to do so at their level. Make an attempt to avoid towering over them as you stand near their cage. Remember, in the wild all predators came at them from above. They were assaulted by either ground-dwelling animals that loomed above them, or birds of prey that struck from out of the sky. On the other hand, friends and companions approached them at their own level.

5. Just like humans, guinea pigs need regular exercise. In general, standard pet store cages are too confining and are the equivalent of you or I spending our entire lives living in a bathroom. Larger cages – especially C&C (cubes and Coroplast) cages are preferred by many today and are a much healthier environment for your piggies. Good guidelines for cage size are to allow between six and seven square feet for a single pig and at least 7.5 square feet for two pigs living together. When it comes to living space, more is better.

6. Humans and guinea pigs share a common physiological trait. Neither can manufacture vitamin C within the body. Unlike many other mammals who synthesize vitamin C from glucose in the body, humans and your cavies are both missing a particular critical enzyme needed to carry out this process. Thus, guinea pigs and humans must both satisfy their vitamin C requirements through external sources.

7. Guinea pigs like to eat many kinds of fruits and vegetables. Generally the darker and richer colored a fruit or vegetable is, the more vitamins and nutrients it contains and the better it is for your cavy. In general, avoid pale light-colored items like iceberg lettuce which provide only empty calories.

Guinea pigs are cute and lovable animals that make wonderful pets. They are generally good natured and relatively easy to care for. The seven facts presented describe just a few of the behaviors and characteristics that make the guinea pig such an endearing and lovable animal.

Guinea Pig Cages – Why Your C&C Cage May Need a Bottom

In today’s short article, we are going to talk about bottoms. No – I don’t want to discuss your bottom – or even your guinea pig’s bottom. I want to talk about the need for incorporating a bottom when designing and building your C&C cage.


Go online and search for web pages and articles on how to build a C&C cage. The vast majority of results returned will show how to build a cage that looks less like a cage and more like a corral. If you examine it closely, you will note that this simplistic class of designs consists simply of a Coroplast bin or tub surrounded by a wire grid fence.

And I am not knocking this system. It is an absolutely fantastic and innovative design. It is both effective and efficient in its simplicity. It provides a lot of space for the money. And in my opinion, of all cubes and Coroplast designs out there; this simple, basic “pig corral” is the most economical and cost-effective design that can be had. However, there is one caveat – and it is an important one.

In my mind, this class of bottomless cage is generally safe only when used on the ground. Let me explain why.

To make visualization easier, let’s ignore the litter bin for just a moment. Suppose we place just the “fence” on a table. That’s right; we would have just a wire grid rectangle sitting on a table. Here’s a common scenario: A standard folding table is 6-feet (72-inches) by 30-inches wide. A common size for C&C cage width is 56-inches by 28-inches. So there is plenty of room (8-inches to spare) on each side. There is only an inch to spare in front of and behind the cage.

If we nudge the cage forward until the front wall of the rectangle slips off, there is really no problem. The front edge of the fence will now rest on the two sides and these two sides still hold the structure on the table as long as it’s not pushed too far off the front edge. The same goes if it’s pushed off either side. The cage will sit on the front and back walls.

The trouble comes when the rectangle is bumped diagonally off the table so that it slides off one of the corners (for instance the front-left corner). In this case, the entire left side wall and the front wall are nudged off the edge. The remaining two walls (back wall and right side wall) are unable to support the cage so it falls off the table diagonally.

Now let’s put the Coroplast bin back into the corral. Slide the cage off the front or side – once again, no problem. The cage rests on two opposite sides with the litter bin still contained within. But, nudge it diagonally off the table and it slides off the table – and depending upon weight distributions and forces, it may very well pull the litter bin onto the floor with it. At the very least, it will probably create a large litter catastrophe for you to clean up. At worst, you could be looking at an injured pig.

Now let’s add a bottom to our cage. Nudge the cage diagonally off of the table and two sides no longer fall off the edge. Even with two edges off the table, the cage does not fall off the table because it now rests on its bottom.

If you are having difficulty imagining the situation I have described, see our descriptive BlueStoneCommerceYouTube video which very effectively exhibits this situation.
When considering a C&C cage design, many people consider a cage bottom to be an unnecessary addition. And if the cage is to be placed on the ground then, except for adding some structural reinforcement, the cage bottom serves little purpose. If, on the other hand, the cage is to be placed on a table, then a cage bottom can make the cage considerably more stable, more reliable and safer for your pigs. As an alternative, you can also fasten the cage to the table top to prevent movement or attach a lip to the table edges so that the cage cannot be bumped off.

Guinea Pigs – How to Exercise Your Guinea Pig

With a hamster, you can just toss a wheel in its cage and it’ll hop right on it and chug away – going nowhere – and he’ll be perfectly happy. It reminds me of the people you see at the health club - chugging away on their elliptical trainers – going nowhere – but getting healthier. Toss a wheel into your guinea pig’s cage and see what happens. Chances are she’ll chew on it – that is until she gets bored and ignores it.


You also know what to do with a dog. Put it on a leash and take it for a walk. When was the last time you saw anyone outside walking their guinea pig? What’s good for dogs is not necessarily good for guinea pigs.

So how do you give your pig exercise to make sure he stays healthy and happy?

Simple – you let him run free. Find a safe area in your home that is confined and free of hazards like electrical cords. Guinea pigs are notorious chewers and, given the chance, can easily chew through the insulation on an electrical cord and electrocute themselves.

Cavies spend most of their lives in their cage. If your pig is confined in an area too small to exercise (such as a standard size manufactured cage), she will need to get at least 25 minutes of free-running exercise every day. If your pig is being kept in a larger C&C (Cubes and Coroplast) cage, then she may be already getting a fair amount of exercise.

If your cavies live in a large cage, watch them when they are in their home. Do they scurry around a lot? Do they run “laps” around the cage? Do you see a lot of popcorning? Do your pigs generally walk and move around much of the time?

If so, then you can be sure they are getting at least some exercise. My recommendation is that if your pig is generally active in its cage, then it should still get out to really stretch its legs and run free at least 25 minutes every other day. If you have a sedentary pig who generally just eats and sleeps, then - even though it may live in a large cage - I still recommend that it get out to explore and exercise daily for at least 25 minutes.

Even if your pig is “hyperactive” in his cage I still recommend that he get out at least every other day for nothing other than mental stimulation. Changing your pig’s environment and exposing him to new and exciting situations will stimulate his brain and cause new neural connections to form. Pigs are curious little creatures who love to wander and explore – sniffing and nibbling on new objects as they discover new things.

Guinea pigs spend most of their lives confined in their living quarters. If you have provided them with a large cage such as a C&C cage, then they will have a greater opportunity for exercise in their own home. Regardless, your pigs should still get out and explore daily, if possible, to insure that they get adequate exercise and mental stimulation. It is your responsibility as a caring pet owner.

Guinea Pigs – The Role of the Guinea Pig in Today’s World

Guinea pigs – we’re all familiar with this small rodent. We know what they look like and what they’re used for. They’re cute little rodents and they are pets. As far as most of us in the western world are concerned, that’s the complete story. But there is much more to the tale of the guinea pig’s history and its contribution to human society across the globe.


In the United States and Europe guinea pigs have become popular pets. Known and revered for their docile and friendly nature and for their cute demeanor, guinea pigs are adored by children and adults alike in the west. They have become the family pet of choice in thousands of households. They are relatively easy to care for and inexpensive to own. They are generally good natured and rarely bite.

Guinea pigs live an average of about five years and may even live to seven years. They are best kept indoors in a temperature-controlled environment. They do best in a standard “room temperature” setting (65 to 75 degrees).

In addition, serious cavy breeders raise these animals as show animals. Guinea pigs are exhibited in sanctioned events across the nation. The American Rabbit Breeders Association is the official registry for cavies in the United States.

Unfortunately, the common usage of the “guinea pig” label in our English language is derived from one of our poor cavy’s more unpleasant roles – that of the laboratory test subject. They were used extensively in the 1800’s and 1900’s as research test animals. So much so that the name guinea pig gradually became a popular idiom denoting a test or sacrificial subject. Fortunately for the guinea pig, this usage is decreasing as laboratories turn increasingly more to other rodents – most notably rats and mice.

In South America, the story is very much different and bleaker for our furry little friend. The cavy has a completely different history in this area of the world. The guinea pig originated in South America. Today there are no guinea pigs left in the wild. However, in years past when they did live in the wild – South America was their stomping ground. The originally came from in the Andean region of South America. Nowadays this region is made up of modern day Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru.

The Inca Indians domesticated this little beast around 5000 B.C. and raised it for food. Because of this unfortunate precedent, the cavy is still eaten today in this region of the world. In small Indian villages, people still raise the little rodent for food just as western farmers raise and eat barnyard animals.

Yes, we think of the guinea pig as only a pet – as a companion for our children and for us. But this creature has other roles – some familiar and some extremely foreign to us. They are raised and sold by breeders to be used as show animals. Some guinea pigs are specially bred and sold to research companies to be used as laboratory test subjects. And in South America, they are a food source. We should be grateful for the guinea pig. Over the years, this seemingly insignificant little rodent has contributed to the human race in many ways.

Guinea Pigs - Characteristics of the Common Guinea Pig

Over the past century, the guinea pig has become a popular pet in the United States. While we are all familiar with this common animal, there are many facts concerning it that are not necessarily common knowledge. Please read along as we discover and discuss some interesting facts about this common and loveable house pet.


The guinea pig has a very delicate bone structure. Because of this, guinea pigs bones break fairly easily. For this reason guinea pigs should be handled carefully and loosely. Never squeeze or hug a guinea pig tightly. Also, one must be very careful to insure that guinea pigs are not dropped from excessive heights nor allowed to jump from high surfaces such as tables, chairs or sofas.

Guinea pigs have a total of 14 toes. Each front paw has four toes and the back feet each have three toes. When guinea pigs walk or run, they do so only on these toes. The entire foot rests on the ground only when the pigs are standing.

Unlike squirrels, mice or many other rodents; when eating, guinea pigs do not sit on their haunches and grip food between their front paws. Their style is to feed more like a horse or a dog – simply standing on all fours and grazing out of a dish, a bowl or from the ground.

In general, guinea pigs are friendly, congenial and peaceful animals. Two females can easily live with each other with little or no conflict. A male and a female nearly always get along very well (although one of the pair should obviously be neutered in order to prevent an in-cage population explosion). Two males, if raised together will also generally make a good pair. However, if a new male is introduced into another male’s home, there will most likely be some hostile behavior – at least in the beginning.

Two males in the presence of one or more females are a bad idea. They can become quite aggressive and adversarial toward one another as they compete for the females. In the wild, guinea pigs used to live in packs. The pack’s dominant male was the only male allowed to mate with any of the females. This increased the chances of survival of the offspring because it insured that all of the children were descended from the strongest and fittest male available. Although guinea pigs no longer exist in the wild, this holdover behavior can still be observed in our domesticated pigs.

Guinea pigs have a very acute sense of hearing. Like dogs, they are able to hear frequencies or tones above the human range of hearing. Human beings can only hear frequencies up to 20 kHz (vibrations at 20,000 times per second) whereas cavies can hear frequencies as high as 33 kHz.

The guinea pig is very dependent upon its very keen sense of smell. The cavy’s sense of smell is one-thousand times more sensitive and discerning than that of a human being.

The guinea pig is an animal that is very common to most of us in the western world. And although it is quite familiar to us as a family pet and as a laboratory animal, there is much information about this little rodent that is not commonly known. I hope that the newly-gained knowledge from this discussion will help you to better understand the actions and behaviors of your own pet guinea pigs as you interact with them on a daily basis.

Guinea Pig Cages – Is Your Guinea Pig Cage Large Enough?

Your choice of cage is one of the most important considerations in determining the quality of life that your guinea pig will enjoy while living under your care. One must keep in mind that the cage is much more than just a container or enclosure to contain the cavy; it is the most major and important element in your pig’s immediate living environment. As such, the selection of a cage for your cavy is a serious matter and should be not be taken lightly.


When considering a cage, be sure that your pig has plenty of room to move around and be comfortable. Most importantly, your pig needs room to exercise. If the quarters are too cramped, your pig will not move around much and will not get its much-needed exercise. Guinea pigs do not use exercise wheels like hamsters. Because of this they need a cage large enough to facilitate walking, hopping, “popcorning” and other full-body exercise.

Also remember that the pigs will not be the only objects taking up space in the cage. You will need to provide them with a comfortable nest box or other similar shelter. In addition, your pig will need other accessories such as a food dish, hay rack, water bottle and perhaps some toys.

As a general rule, most standard pet store cages are too small and cramped to allow adequate living space for your cavy. And to make matters worse - once you place the nest box and all the other accessories we mentioned above in the cage, there is little room left for the animal.

How do you know if a cage is big enough? There are various guidelines for sizing guinea pig cages that can easily be found online. These criteria are based upon the number of cavies being housed. However, in my opinion, the best cage-sizing method is to simply use your own common sense: if your pigs look cramped – they are cramped. Put yourself in their place. How would you like to spend your entire life living in an enclosure the size of your bathroom? If you put a nest box, bowl, etc. in a cage and it leaves an area that is only one or two body-lengths long for your pig to live in; it’s only common sense that this cage is too small.

Due to the fact that manufactured cages are generally too small to provide a healthy environment for your pigs, a new type of cage has emerged over the past few years and is rapidly gaining in popularity. This type of cage was invented by a pig rescue organization in order to economically house a large number of pigs. This type of cage is called a C&C or cubes and Coroplast cage. These cages are much larger than manufactured pet store cages and offer a much healthier environment for your pigs. These cages are being built from scratch by do-it-yourselfers or purchased as kits from a growing number of online C&C cage sellers.
C&C cages are constructed from metal wire grids and sheets of corrugated plastic. The metal grid panels are fastened together to form the walls of the enclosure and the corrugated plastic sheet is formed into a bin or pan to contain the bedding as well as your pigs’ waste materials. This combination allows an efficient and economical design which provides a large and spacious enclosure for your pets at a relatively low cost.

When purchasing or building an enclosure for your pet guinea pig, be sure to provide adequate living space to insure that your pig enjoys a healthy environment. Most manufactured pet store cages do not meet modern pet enclosure standards. As a result, people in increasing numbers are turning to C&C cages to provide the spacious environment that their pets need and deserve.

Guinea Pig Cages: The Most Commonly Overlooked Factor in Choosing a Cage

When you go shopping for a guinea pig cage, what are the things you consider? Color? Price? An attractive design? People choose their cages based upon many different criteria. However, there is one extremely important factor that often gets overlooked or ignored.


The most commonly overlooked factor in choosing a guinea pig cage appears to be cage size. Sure, people may think they look at cage size when purchasing a cage. But, judging by the number of small, “standard” pet store cages still being purchased every year, it is clear that people do not really look at cage size.

Let’s do a little thought experiment. The average guinea pig is about 9 to 15 inches in length. The average height for a human is roughly 5’4” to 5’10”. An average pet store cage is 24-inches by 16-inches.

Put yourself in your pig’s place. An equivalent size room for you would be approximately 8-ft by 12-feet - the size of a large bathroom or a small bedroom. So, living your entire life in a large bathroom or small bedroom may not seem horrible – but it would certainly be a challenge to get a significant amount of exercise in a space that small.

Another related factor that I’m convinced that people do not consider when sizing a cage are the additional accessories that your pig requires - such as a nest box, a food dish and a hay rack.

So let’s return to our hypothetical equivalent room. When we add a nest box to our pig’s cage, we are adding an item that is perhaps 10 to 12-inches on each side. That might be equivalent to building a seven-foot by seven-foot storage shed and placing it our hypothetical equivalent room with us.

Add a food dish to your pig’s cage (about half the size of your pig) and it’s like throwing a kiddie pool – three-feet in diameter in the middle of the floor in our room.

Of course we’re going to need a water bottle. This would be roughly equivalent to something the size of a hot water heater standing in the corner of our equivalent room.

A hay rack is has a footprint of approximately four by seven inches. So adding a hay rack to the wall might be roughly equivalent to pushing a couple of nightstands up against one of the walls in our hypothetical equivalent room and placing them side-by side.

Does this sound like a lot of room? Does it sound like someplace you would like to spend the rest of your life? Let us review.

We start by moving into an 8 x 12 room – an area roughly the size of a large bathroom or a small bedroom. Next we put up a 7x7 storage shed in the corner. This leaves us with an eight-foot by five-foot space in front of the shed and a useless one-foot by seven-foot narrow strip along the side of the shed.

Then, to make matters worse, we place a three-foot wading pool, a water heater and two nightstands in our remaining 8x5 living space. What does this leave us with? We are left with a very small and cramped area in which to live. And, worst of all, our health begins to suffer because exercise becomes a nearly impossible task.

When you buy your next cage, consider the situation from your pig’s point of view. Look – really look – at the space situation facing your guinea pig and select a cage big enough to provide an adequate and comfortable living space. Over the past several years, C&C (Cubes and Coroplast) cages are gaining in popularity for this very reason – they provide a spacious, healthy environment for a reasonable price.

Guinea Pigs – How to Care for Your Cavy

The guinea pig – also known as a cavy – is one of the more popular pets in North America. This is largely because they are friendly, docile and amiable creatures. And with few special needs, they are also relatively easy to care for. There are many varieties of guinea pigs varying in color, size, markings and hair type.


When choosing a cage for your guinea pigs, be sure to select an enclosure with adequate ventilation and sufficient floor space. Never put your pig in an aquarium or a deep-walled box. The ammonia fumes produced by your pigs’ urine can cause respiratory problems for your pets if they are concentrated by glass or other solid walls and not allowed to dissipate into the surrounding air.

Also be sure to provide ample living space so that your pigs can live comfortably and enjoy the opportunity for sufficient exercise. A standard rule of thumb for living space requirements is to allow a minimum of 6 square feet for a single pig, 7.5 square feet for two pigs living together, 10.5 square feet for three cavies and 13 square feet for four pigs. Keep in mind that these are minimum requirements. When it comes to cage size – more is always better.

Your cage should be filled with bedding to absorb urine and keep your pigs clean and dry. Clay litter should never be used. Dust from this type of litter can also cause respiratory problems if inhaled by your pigs. Bedding produced from recycled newspaper is an effective and healthy choice.

Fleece is becoming a popular alternative to bedding. Fleece does not absorb the urine, but allows the liquid to wick through - thereby keeping your cavies dry and happy. A layer of absorbent material should be placed under the fleece in order to contain the urine after it passes through the layer of fleece.

Guinea pigs are fond of fresh fruits and vegetables. Be sure to choose fruits and vegetables that are dark in color. In general, lighter colored fruits and vegetables are lacking in nutrition. Never feed your cavy pale-colored vegetables (such as iceberg lettuce) which offer very little besides water and empty calories.

Like humans, guinea pigs lack a critical enzyme that allows its body to manufacture vitamin C. For this reason, it is critical that your cavy receives a vitamin C supplement every day.

It you want your guinea pig to like and trust you, you will need to treat it with respect. Never handle it roughly. When picking it up, always support your guinea pig’s bottom from underneath. Also, your cavy’s bones can be easily broken, so be careful not to squeeze your guinea pig too tightly nor drop it from excessive heights. The more you handle your guinea pig (providing you handle it gently), the more comfortable it will become with you.

The guinea pig is one of the most popular pets in North America for many reasons. It can be an affectionate and enjoyable little animal friend when treated with kindness and respect. And with appropriate parental guidance, its docile and friendly nature makes it an excellent pet for a young child.

Guinea Pigs - The History and Origins of the Guinea Pig

Guinea pigs and humans share a history of more than 10,000 years. The cavy originated in Central and South America. In the wild, their domain extended through Uruguay, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru. The cavy was domesticated by the Inca Indians somewhere around 7,000 or 8,000 years ago. They were used as not only a food source but also as a sacrificial animal – sacrificed to the sun god - in religious ceremonies.


In the wild, guinea pigs lived in small groups or herds. For this reason, they are inherently social creatures and do not do well if kept in solitude. It is recommended that they be kept at least in pairs.

Cavies first made their way back to Europe on the ships of Spanish conquistadores during the 1500’s. They eventually also came to Holland, England and France. At first, these pets were reserved only for the wealthy and elite. They were much too expensive for anyone but the rich. But their ability to reproduce so quickly soon made the European supply of guinea pigs swell. As the price fell, popularity of the little beast increased as they became affordable to the common people of Europe. It was not until the 1800’s – more than 300 years after it landed in Europe - that the cavy finally made its way to the United States.

Sadly, in the mid 1800s, the cavy was put to use in laboratories as a research test subject. In fact, it was used so extensively for this purpose that its name eventually became synonymous with this function. Fortunately for the guinea pig, this usage has dropped off in recent years as laboratories turn to other rodent species for these purposes.

In any event, it is not known for certain how the guinea pig received its name. It is obviously not a pig, nor is it from Guinea. People have speculated that perhaps roasted guinea pigs reminded Europeans of suckling pigs (piglets). Others suggest that the cavy may have been transported to Europe on ships from the port of Guiana. Others feel that the guinea pig’s squeal may have reminded people of a pig’s squeal. In the end, the origin of the guinea pig’s unusual name has most likely been lost to us forever.

The proper name for the guinea pig is the cavy (pronounced kay-vee). This name is derived from the scientific name: Cavia porcellus. Technically speaking, guinea pigs are caviomorphs. Caviomorphs are South American rodents who share the following characteristics: a single pair of mammary glands, four toes on each front foot and three toes on each back foot.

The history of the guinea pig has been intertwined with that of humans for thousands of years. The cavy was first domesticated as early as 5,000 B.C. by the Inca Indians of South America. They were brought to Europe in the sixteenth century and they made their way across the Atlantic Ocean to the United States of America in the 1800s. And today they have taken their place, here in North America, as one of our most favorite pets.

Guinea Pigs – A Cavy Q&A

The guinea pig is one of the most popular pets in North America. In spite of this, there are many facts about this little creature that are not commonly known by most people. Please join me as I attempt to explore (sometimes successfully) some facts regarding the history and characteristics of our friend the guinea pig.


Author’s note: No pigs were harmed in the writing of this article.

Q: How much do guinea pigs weigh at birth?

A: Guinea pigs (also known as cavies) only weigh in at around three ounces at birth.

Q: When guinea pigs are born, do they hold them up by their legs and spank them like human babies?

A: No! Absolutely not. (See author’s note above).

Q: How large do they get to be when they grow up? Do they weigh more than a sweet potato? They’re kind of shaped like a sweet potato.

A: The average adult boar (male) weighs around three pounds. The smaller adult sow (female) averages only about two pounds. I don’t know how much the average adult sweet potato weighs.

Q: What is the difference between a sweet potato and a yam?

A: This one deserves a two-part answer: 1) Neither one is a mammal and 2) remember, we’re talking about guinea pigs!

Q: How big do guinea pigs get? How long is the average adult cavy?

A: As adults, guinea pigs average about 9 – 14 inches in length. (At least as long as most adult sweet potatoes).

Q: How long do guinea pigs live? How long would that be in dog years?

A: On average, this little rodent has a life expectancy of about five to seven years. I don’t know how long that would be in dog years – but I can tell you from experience; in husband years, it’s about seven minutes.

Q: How come dog years are a measurement of time whereas light years are a measurement of distance?

A: Yams and sweet potatoes are both angiosperms. However, yams are from the Dioscoreaceae family whereas sweet potatoes are botanically unrelated and are from the Convolvulacea family…

Q: What do you call baby cavies? Piglets? Piggies? Kittens? Sprouts? Futons?

A: Nope, oddly enough, although adult males are called boars and females are called sows; baby guinea pigs are not called piglets (or futons). They’re called pups. So, if our dog gave birth to pups, I’m sure it would really confuse our guinea pig because...

(our dog is a male).

Q: What is a group of cavies called? A pack? Flock? Covey of cavies? Gaggle of guineas? A pride of pigs?

A: Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong… and… wrong. A group of guinea pigs is called a herd.

Q: Herd of guinea pigs?

A: Of course I’ve heard of guinea pigs! (Rimshot).

Q: What’s a henway?

A: Not fallin for that one.

A: How come a cavy’s eyes are on the sides of its head instead of in the front like ours? Doesn’t that make it harder to wear glasses?

Q: In the wild, guinea pigs are a prey animal – that is, they get eaten. Their eyes are on the sides of their heads in order to widen their field of vision and allow them to better detect predators. Also, most cavies wear contact lenses because – glasses on a guinea pig? That’s just silly.

Guinea Pig Cages – The Most Important Element in Guinea Pig Cage Cleaning

One of the most important factors in insuring that your guinea pig cage is easy to clean is ironically also one of the most overlooked criteria in cage selection. If you want to be assured that the next cage you purchase will be easy to clean and maintain, be sure to read on.


When we purchase a cage for our guinea pigs, we consider many factors – size, color, durability, attractiveness, etc. These factors vary depending upon our individual tastes and needs. But the ultimate bottom line is: we want to be sure that the cage we choose is not only good for the pig but also good for the pet owner.

In order to make cage-cleaning an easy task, it is absolutely essential that your cage be equipped with large openings. If your cage is fitted with small openings, you will begin to have trouble even before you begin the cage-cleaning process.

Before you begin cleaning, you will need to move your pigs out of their cage and to another area. If you have ever tried to catch a guinea pig through a small opening, you will realize just how difficult it is. In order to easily pick up your cavy, you need to use both hands to guide or funnel the pig in toward your body where it can be gently captured.

If you have a small opening, you will not be able to use both hands. Instead, you will have to learn to execute something I call the “scramble and grab” technique. In other words, the pig will scramble around the cage while you attempt to implement the single-handed grab. This is not an easy task and, even after you get good at it, it may still require several attempts to capture your pig(s).

Now it’s time to clean the bedding out of your cage. If you have a small, standard pet store cage; you will simply disconnect the top wire portion from the plastic litter tray and dump the small amount of litter into a waste receptacle. Some pet store cages have lids that swing up to create a very large opening. Others have a very small door on the side. Either way, cleaning is no problem because removing the top essentially creates a large opening for you to work with.

However, we strongly advise against putting your cavy in a small pet store cage because it is far too small to provide a healthy living environment for your pig. So it doesn’t meet the win-win criteria mentioned above. In other words, it’s good for you (easy to clean), but bad for your pig (unhealthy living conditions).

In recent years, largely due to the internet, people have become more informed about humane and healthy guinea pig living conditions and many are recognizing that standard pet store cages are sadly inadequate in terms of space requirements. While they may have been economically feasible in the past to house laboratory guinea pig test subjects, they fail to provide ample space for our much-loved family pets.

Because of this, people have been turning to C&C (cubes and Coroplast) cages as a much-healthier alternative – and this is great for the pig. However, many of these C&C designs are equipped with small doors (approximately one square foot). Once again our win-win criteria are violated. This type of cage is good for the pig – but bad for the human owners.

A large cage – like a C&C cage – may hold as much as 25-lbs. of bedding. You can imagine how time-consuming it can be to remove 25-lbs. of soiled bedding through a small opening. Then, you have to clean the entire bottom with vinegar and water and replace 25-lbs. of bedding – again, all through that small opening.

A great solution is to get a cage with a large opening. Cages with entire sides that fold down like a pickup truck tailgate are available and can make cage-cleaning very much faster, easier and less frustrating. Bedding can be shoveled out easily. And the large opening offers easy access for cleaning. Alternatively, the entire Coroplast bin can be slipped out through the large opening for very easy cleaning. And lastly - putting in fresh bedding is a snap. No more endlessly shoveling tiny amounts through a little opening. The bedding can be poured in directly from the bag.

Large openings are a factor that most of us rarely consider when selecting a new guinea pig cage. However this situation must change if we wish to save hours of time and frustration in our cage-cleaning routines.

Guinea Pig Cages – C&C Guinea Pig Cage Danger Alert

In recent years, C&C (Cubes and Coroplast) cages have grown steadily in popularity and have taken over a significant segment of the small animal pet cage market. A quick online search will reveal several web sites that now offer instructions for building basic rudimentary cages. In addition, a number of C&C cage retailers have sprung up online and offer C&C cages in kit form. The main reasons for the growing popularity of this cage technology is that 1) very large cages are available – generally much larger than those offered in pet stores and 2) C&C cages are relatively inexpensive. By virtue of these factors – the consumer can get a lot of cage for the money. However, as the old caveat goes: Let the buyer beware. There is one serious potential hazard that the responsible pet owner must watch for when buying or building their own C&C cage.


As I mentioned previously, several sites offer instructions on building simple, basic C&C cages. Many of them also list sources for materials. A few national department store chains are recommended as sources for metal grids. The problem is that much of this information is now several years old and some of the grid sources have modified their products.

A few years ago, one of the national department store chains was a great place to buy grids for C&C cages. They were available as cube or shelving unit kits. The kits contained both the metal grids and plastic connectors needed to fasten them together. The square grids were 14-inches on each side and were laid out in a 9-space by 9-hole grid. Thus, each opening was approximately 1.5 inches square. And these girds made absolutely wonderful cages.

As the economy took a turn for the worse, the company had this product redesigned in order to take material out of it and save cost. The new product now contained grids that had only 8 spaces per side. Thus, each space was slightly bigger – only around a fifth of an inch. No big deal if you were building a shelf to hold stuffed animals, comic books or your hat collection from Sweden. However, that fifth of and inch was a very big deal to C&C cage builders and owners.

Shortly after the design change, guinea pig rescue organizations began receiving reports of guinea pig strangulation deaths. Many of the organizations began issuing warnings to avoid 8x8 grids and only use 9x9 girds. Several also contacted C&C cage retailers with the same warning. In fact, it was through contact with these organizations that our company first heard of this issue.

After deciding on the C&C technology, you will have two choices in realizing your cage. You can design and build your cage from scratch out of grids, corrugated plastic and other hardware that you purchase yourself. Or you can order your cage in kit form and build it with the instructions and materials provided. Either way, be absolutely sure to use only grids with spacing of 1.5 inches or smaller. When using 14-inch grids, be sure to use only 9x9 girds and absolutely avoid 8x8 grids.

Guinea Pig Safety Alert! - Why Your C&C Guinea Pig Cage May Need a Bottom

This video will show you how to help AVOID SERIOUS INJURY to your guinea pigs. Most people do not consider this factor when buying or building their C&C cages. See why not having a cage bottom may spell serious disaster to your pigs (and possibly your carpet) in certain common situations.

Guinea Pigs – Are You a Good Candidate for a Guinea Pig Owner?

Guinea pigs are wonderful pets with great dispositions. They require little maintenance and make terrific pets for older children. But guinea pigs are not for everyone. Here are just a few factors to think about before running down to your favorite animal shelter or pet store to pick one up.


Guinea pigs do not do particularly well living alone. They are social creatures who crave the company of others. Consider the lifestyles and personalities of you and your family. Will your new addition be truly integrated into your family and get lots of attention—not just in the beginning when you first bring it home—but for its entire life? Or will it be largely ignored and become “just an obligation” once the initial novelty has worn off? Or, if you cannot give it enough attention, are you willing to house two or more pigs together so that they can keep each other company?

With the joys of pet ownership also comes responsibility. Are you willing to commit to long-term care and feeding for your new pet for its entire life? Guinea pigs on average, live five to six years - and some can live as long as eight years. So remember, when you bring home a guinea pig, you are bringing home another living being. And ultimately, you will be the one responsible for its health and safety for the remainder of its life.

Are you emotionally strong enough to suffer the loss of your pet in the future? As I said earlier, guinea pigs typically live about five to six years. While this may be a long time in terms of making a commitment to your animal; it is a relatively short time in relation to the life span of you or your children. In other words, as indelicate as it sounds, it is likely that you will someday have to watch your pet die.

This is neither bad nor good - it’s just life. However, it can be a good learning experience for your family in terms of learning how to handle death and loss in a healthy way. But it can also be a very unpleasant and difficult time.

Our family has owned many pets from guinea pigs to rabbits to dogs. We’ve had fish, snails, mice and even frogs. And, inevitably, we have sadly lost many pets. Over the years, the woods in our backyard have become a small pet graveyard. But on the whole, those pets have all contributed so much more to our family during their lifetimes than they ever took away with their deaths. For us, the positives far outweighed the ultimate negative of pet ownership.

On the other hand, my sister-in-law was devastated by the death of her ferret. So much so that she vowed never to own another pet again. For her, the negative overwhelmed the positives. Which type of person (or family) are you? You should know before you bring home a guinea pig.

Bringing home a new pet is exciting – but it also implies a serious commitment. Are you willing to spend time with your pet and give it the attention that it needs? Are you willing to commit to this stewardship for the entire life span of your new animal? And are you emotionally prepared to handle the inevitable bad times that come with the good experiences that your guinea pig will provide? If you can say yes to all of these questions, then you are a good candidate for a guinea pig owner. Enjoy.

How to Make a C&C Guinea Pig or Rabbit Cage Chew-Resistant

Is your guinea pig or rabbit chewing your C&C cage - or are you concerned that they might? See how to make your C&C guinea pig or rabbit cage chew-resistant in this informative DIY (Do-it-yourself) video.

Guinea Pigs – A Quick-Start Guinea Pig Owners Guide

So you’ve just brought your new guinea pig home from the shelter or pet store. And now, you’re not entirely sure what to do. Let us help you get off to a good start with this Quick-Start Guinea Pig Owners’ Guide.


First of all, if you’ve just returned from the shelter or pet store with a single pig, we strongly recommend that you turn right around and go back. Guinea pigs are social creatures and tend to do better when there are at least two pigs living together. Two females are a good combination. Two males can live together in harmony as long as they have been raised together. And while it is possible to introduce two grown males to each other, it does require patience and care. A male and a female are the very best combination, but of course one of them needs to be “fixed” in order to avoid a future in-cage population explosion.

Your first task is to choose a cage. Pet store cages tend to be too small to adequately house a single pig – not to mention multiple pigs. Use the following guidelines when choosing a guinea pig enclosure:

One guinea pig: 6-7 sq. ft.

Two guinea pigs: 7.5 sq. ft.

Three guinea pigs: 10.5 sq. ft.

If you cannot find one large enough at the pet store, you can always build your own cage or buy one online from a reputable cage seller. In recent years, C&C (Cubes and Coroplast ) cages have become quite popular because they provide a lot of cage for the money. Check out the resource box and the end of this article for a link to some online C&C guinea pig cage stores.

Place a nest box, a piece of PVC pipe or other enclosure inside the cage. Pigs like to hide out in cozy little places and providing a hiding place inside the cage will make your pigs feel happier and more secure.

Never place your pigs in an aquarium. Yes, some people do house their pigs in an aquarium, but it is very bad for their respiratory system. Toxic ammonia gas forms as your pigs urinate inside the enclosure. In a wire cage, there is adequate ventilation to carry this gas away. However, in an aquarium the ammonia gas is contained by the glass walls forcing your pigs to breathe it in all day long.

Fill the cage with bedding. Avoid cedar chips and cat litter made from clay. Both are very bad for your guinea pig’s respiratory system. A litter made from recycled newspaper works very well. Also, many people have begun to line their cages with an absorbent material covered in fleece. The fleece allows liquids to wick through into the absorbent layer.

In general, Timothy hay is very good for you pigs. Your pigs can have it in virtually unlimited quantities. Alfalfa hay should be given much more sparingly. Alfalfa hay is richer and will cause your pigs to gain excessive weight.

While, commercial pellets are fine for your guinea pigs, however, they are also very rich and should be given in small quantities as a supplement to the main diet which should consist mostly of fresh vegetables and fruits. Only vegetables with rich dark colors should be chosen. Iceberg lettuce should never be fed to your pigs; it is mostly empty calories with little nutritional value.

Don’t forget to install a water bottle in your pig’s cage. Water dishes do not work well – as pigs tend to tip them over.

Above all, don’t panic. Guinea pigs are wonderful animals and do not require an excessive amount of care. Remember that guinea pigs do better in pairs or groups than living alone. Be sure to provide adequate living space. C&C cages are a popular choice nowadays because they do provide a lot of room for a reasonable price. Provide a comfortable hiding place for your pigs – many nest boxes are available for guinea pigs. An upside-down small cardboard box works well too (although guinea pigs like to chew so you may have to replace it often). Feed your pig mostly deep-colored fresh veggies and provide a water bottle. That’s all you need to get started.

To learn more, pick up a good guinea pig reference guide - visit http://www.bluestonecages.com/ and see the left sidebar for a link to a couple quality guinea pig care guides.

When are you going to find a better cage than aBlue Stone Commerce C

When are you going to find a better cage than aBlue Stone Commerce C&C Cage?

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Guinea Pigs – Strange Behaviors You May Observe

Guinea pigs make great pets. They are generally friendly and good-natured – although some may tend to be on the shy side. Like any other animal, guinea pigs have a natural language for communication. As a curious guinea pig owner, being able to understand some of the more common “messages” from your little pets will make your experience with your pigs more meaningful, memorable and enjoyable.


When a guinea pig shows you his teeth and chatters them, he is communicating that he is angry or scared. Take this as a warning. He is aggressively telling you to “back off”. You may see this behavior when an unfamiliar pig is introduced into your pig’s territory. It can also occur when someone (especially a stranger) tries to pick your piggy up. This is a warning to leave him alone. We have also seen this behavior from sick or injured pigs who are feeling grumpy and “just want to be left alone”.

Occasionally you may stick your hand into the cage, and get bitten by your guinea pig. A quick nip may be a warning to you or a sign of aggression. However, guinea pigs are generally friendly and charming little pets and, in most cases, a bite is just a simple mistake. This is most likely the case - unless your pig is showing other signs of aggression such as making its hair stand on end or chattering its teeth. Usually the bite is just a gentle non-aggressive nibble. Just like a human infant who explores everything by shoving it into her mouth, this light nip is just an exploratory probe as your piggy tests to see if your finger is good to eat.

Many pigs like to bite and tug at the bars on their cage or chew loudly on their wooden nest boxes. If there are multiple pigs in the cage together, they will often line up and chew loudly together.

This is usually a sign that your pigs want to eat – NOW. You will often observe this behavior when it is near their mealtime. Also, seeing you begin to prepare their food or hearing the rustle of plastics bags full or carrots or other piggy veggies, may also trigger this frantic behavior. It is usually preceded by or accompanied by a loud chorus of “weeking” and squawking.

Guinea pigs have a language all their own. If we take the time to learn a few of their common communication behaviors, we will find that our experience with them becomes less puzzling and more fulfilling.

Guinea Pig Cages – Guinea Pig Safety Danger Alert

A guinea pig is just a rodent – a tiny insignificant animal. Sure, the kids like them. But just the same, when you bring them home from the pet store, they’re just like any other possession (except they have that annoying habit of moving around) so they must be contained. So we have to toss them in a cage and give them food and water every day. They’ll be fine.

Hopefully that’s not your attitude.

Too many people seem to forget that guinea pigs are actually living, breathing beings that need to be cared for and shown the same respect that every living creature deserves. Not all people with this attitude are cold-hearted, unfeeling villains. Most are probably just well-meaning pet owners who simply haven’t done the research in order to educate themselves well enough to become knowledgeable, competent pet-owners.

As Guinea Pig C&C cage designers and sellers, we come into contact with a lot of guinea pig owners (often brand new guinea pig pet owners). We also communicate with and are monitored by various guinea pig rescue organizations. As such, there is one common specific cage-related situation which keeps surfacing and which is also decidedly hazardous to your pigs’ health and safety. The purpose of this article is to alert you to this common hazard so that you can easily avoid it.

This common problem is the usage of cage floors and other cage walking surfaces made of metal bars or grids. Many commercial cages are built with wire floors. The purpose of the wire floor is to let feces and other solid materials fall though the openings into a litter pan below. To clean, one simply slides out the litter pan and empties the pan. Very convenient – but dangerous for your pigs. While these types of cages offer a distinct convenience advantage for the owner, they are hazardous for your pig’s foot health.

Your guinea pig’s footpads are delicate and sensitive structures. To your pig, walking on wire mesh is just like you spending your entire day walking on rebar or similar metal bars in bare feet.

Living in a cage with a wire floor can cause sores and ulcers on your pig’s footpads. Additionally, your pig’s feet can get wedged or trapped between the metal bars. Pigs housed in cages with wire floors often suffer broken toes and legs.

The same is also true of ramps in multi-level cages. Ramps should not contain metal bars, mesh or anything else that may trap or irritate your guinea pigs tender feet.

Be sure to purchase or build a cage with a smooth bottom to avoid the injuries detailed above. Also, if applicable, make sure the ramp has a non-slip surface to allow your pig to negotiate it without falling or slipping but avoid ramps with metal bars or wire grids as these can trap delicate guinea pig feet and toes and cause painful injuries.

Guinea Pigs – A Quick Overview of Breeds

When we think of a guinea pig, we usually picture the American Guinea Pig – the “classic” or “standard” guinea pig – and also the most common. But there are also several other breeds in addition to the common American Guinea Pig. This article will introduce you to a few of the breeds commonly found in homes today.


Abyssinian

The Abyssinian is a long-haired breed. The coat on this animal is quite distinctive because it tends to curl itself into whirls and swirls. These whirls and swirls are called rosettes. The Abyssinian is one of the oldest breeds that can be found today. If you are looking for a low-maintenance guinea pig, keep looking. This particular breed requires daily attention to the coat to avoid tangles and keep the pig looking well-groomed.

American Guinea Pig

This is the variety that first comes to mind when we think of the words “guinea pig”. It is also sometime called an English guinea pig. This is a short hair breed which makes it suitable for a pet. It does not require grooming and can be handled and petted without messing up its coat.

Peruvian

The Peruvian breed is an extreme long-haired breed. Its hair can grow to an amazingly long length of a foot or more. The hair is smooth and straight and tends to part in the middle and hang naturally to either side of the pig. The long hair requires a lot of care; so many owners prefer to keep the coat trimmed to make this task easier.

Silkie

The Silkie is a less common breed and is also referred to as a Sheltie. It has a very long (and, of course silky) coat – similar to the Peruvian. In contrast to the Peruvian, the hair does not tend to part naturally down the center of the back. The hair of the Silkie sweeps backward from the head. The coat of the Silkie is also softer than that of the Peruvian.

This article has presented a short survey of some of the more common guinea pig breeds. No matter what the breed, guinea pigs can make great loving pets and help to brighten a household. Although long haired breeds tend to look more exotic and sometimes make good show animals, the common short-haired American breed is a very popular household pet because its coat requires very little care.

C&C Guinea Pig Cages - Coroplast Explained - It's Not Cardboard

Coroplast is not cardboard nor is it plastic-coated cardboard. It is an extruded twin-wall polypropylene plastic sheet product. In other words, it's 100% plastic. This material was originally chosen years ago for guinea pig cage application by a guinea pig rescue organization as a way of economically constructing large living quarters for rescued pigs. It is lightweight and durable and, if not abused, will last for years in your guinea pig cage. View the video to learn all about Coroplast and see a dramatic demonstration of it's strength.

Guinea Pigs – A Cute Little Pet Living a Lie

True or false: Guinea pigs are small, hybrid animals that have been cultivated and cross-bred from wild pigs originally captured on the island of New Guinea. The fact that this animal was originally cross-bred in the laboratory to establish a pig breed that was both of friendly disposition and small enough to keep as a house pet, is the reason that the guinea pig still remains associated with labs in most of our minds today.


Yes - I made all of that up. Guinea pigs are no more pigs from New Guinea than a pineapple is a Granny Smith sprouting from a pine tree. It’s all a sad, misleading deception. Guinea pigs are neither pigs nor are they associated with New Guinea, Old Guinea, Young Adult Guinea nor any other Guinea that we know of for that matter.

So, as our title suggests, the name “guinea pig” is an outright lie. Guinea pigs are not some form of small mutant dwarf pig. That would be silly (they are actually tiny child-actors wearing tiny mutant dwarf pig costumes). Okay, I made that up too. They are actually rodents from the genus Cavia (which is the reason they are also referred to as Cavies). As rodents, they are related to chinchillas and porcupines – not hogs and boars.

Originally, guinea pigs came from South America – not New Guinea. All guinea pigs that we know of are domesticated animals - which is to say - they do not exist in the wild anymore. A very large relative of the guinea pig called the capybara still lives in the wild in South America. Ironically, due to its very large size, the capybara looks as though it might really be related to a pig or boar rather than its real cousin, the domestic Guinea Pig. What a confusing family, those guinea pigs.

So why do people call this cute little South American rodent a Guinea Pig? It’s not clear, since this misleading name was given to this small creature many years ago. Some people have conjectured that the guinea pig was given this name because it makes a noise that sounds like a pig squealing. Others believe that, although its features differ greatly from a barnyard pig, the guinea pig has a general round, stout, short-legged silhouette – similar to that of a pig or hog. In addition, guinea pigs are voracious eaters which might also account for the pig reference.

As for the “guinea” portion of the name, some believe that this may have been derived from a South American region named Guinana. Another theory is that trade routes that originally brought the guinea pig to Europe might have passed through Guinea and may have given their name to the fuzzy little rodent.

Either way, I hope that this article has cleared up at least some mysteries of the guinea pig. We may not know exactly where the guinea pig label came from – but we do know exactly where it did not come from. Guinea pigs are neither pigs nor are they from New Guinea. They are rodents and they are originally from South America.

Next time: Why you do not need to learn how to drive in order to become a busboy.

Guinea Pig Cages - Characteristics of C&C Cages

What is a C&C Cage?


First of all, I mention the phrase C&C cage in the title of this article. This is cage-building technology that has become more and more popular in recent years. C&C stands for Cubes and Coroplast – the two major components used to design and construct these types of cages.

In reality the word cubes does not accurately describe the construction material being used. In actuality, steel wire grids are used to construct the cage walls. They are referred to as cubes, simply because these grids are traditionally used to build storage cube systems.

Coroplast is technically the brand name of the product. The name is actually a contraction of the words corrugated and plastic. Coroplast is a corrugated plastic material that comes in sheet form and is usually used to make signs. You may have seen political campaign signs, for instance, on people’s lawns made from this material.

Why Choose a C&C Cage?

The major reason that people chose C&C cages over mass-produced pet store cages is because pet store cages are generally much too small to provide a healthy environment for your pig(s). Larger cages can be difficult to find. Additionally, guinea pigs are social creatures so it is always recommended that they be kept in groups of two or more. This, of course, creates an even larger space requirement.

Because C&C cages are made from 14-inch x 14-inch grids, they can be used to design a variety of cage sizes and shapes. In fact the range of options is unlimited. Many cages feature multiple level, wheels, bridges, ramps and other innovative features. Your imagination is the only limit.

A Word about Safety

Recently, one of the popular national department store chains has redesigned its cube storage units in order to save cost. The new design still uses 14-inch x 14-inch grids, however, each individual grid only has 8 squares on a side. The old design used a 9x9 grid layout – thus, each opening was smaller than in the new 8x8 grids.

As C&C Cage sellers, we have been contacted by a few pig rescue organizations who have informed us that guinea pig strangulation deaths have been reported by people using the new 8x8 grids. It is very important for your pig’s safety that you avoid 8x8 14-inch grids and only use 9x9 14-inch grids.

Once again, 8x8 grids pose a strangulation hazard for your pigs and should be avoided at all costs.

C&C cages offer a lot of cage for the money. You have the option of designing and building one yourself. This offers maximum freedom – but also maximum labor on your part. Alternatively, you can also purchase one online in kit form from a reputable seller.

C&C Guinea Pig Cages - Very Sturdy Ramps for BlueStoneCommerce 2-Level and 3-Level Cages

Unfortunately, many people don't pay close attention to ramps when searching for cages. But ramps are an important element of multi-level guinea pig and rabbit cages.

If you want the peace of mind that comes from the knowledge of knowing that your pigs are safe, you will shop around until you find a ramp that is both 1) strong enough to safely support your pig and 2) has No Metal Grids or Bars - these can injure your pigs' feet and legs.

Learn all about the materials used in the construction of various types of guinea pig and rabbit cage ramps. See demonstrations of various ramp designs under heavy loads.

VERY STURDY C&C Guinea Pig Cage - 3-Level Deluxe Large Custom Cage Design by BlueStoneCommerce

Check out our 2nd infomercial. See why guinea pig cages need to be stronger than you think. Discover why wheels may be a more important option than you thought. See Cosmo - the 15 lb wonder pig. This video shows you our biggest cage ever - the Deluxe Colonial Homestead with Storage being tested under heavy loads. If you're interested this deluxe, new 3-level 2x4 guinea pig custom large cage, or another C&C design, visit our store at http://stores.ebay.com/BluestoneCommerce-Cages-and-Guitars  or visit our web site at http://www.bluestonecages.com/ because... your pigs are waiting.

Guinea Pig Cages - Building Your Own

Guinea pigs are lovable little creatures. They make great pets, are relatively easy to care for and can be very friendly if they are brought up with care and kindness. One very important step in bringing a new guinea pig into the home is providing adequate housing.

Pet store cages are an option that many people choose. They are certainly convenient. All one needs do is choose one and take it home. The major drawback is that most cages are too small and confining to insure a healthy environment for your pig. Larger cages can often be very difficult to find – and even when they are available, they can be extremely costly.

A very viable second option is to build your own cage. You can not only save a bundle of money by building your own cage, but you can get exactly the cage you want by adding any custom features you so desire.

The first step will be to design the cage. The most important item to be considered will be the dimensions of the cage. The following approximate de facto standards for minimum cage sizes can be found with a fast search on the internet. Your cage should provide at least the minimum square footage suggested:

• One guinea pig: 6-7 sq. ft.

• Two guinea pigs: 7.5 sq. ft.

• Three guinea pigs: 10.5 sq. ft.

• Four guinea pigs: 13 sq. ft.

A cage construction technology called C and C (cubes and coroplast) has become popular in recent years. This method uses steel girds to form the walls of the cage (and optionally a top and bottom). A corrugated plastic sheet is used to form the litter pan or litter box on the cage. The grids are joined using either plastic connectors designed for this purpose or tie-wrap (zip tie) fasteners.

The grids are each 14-inches square. So your cage design can be any shape and size that can be formed using 14-inch x 14-inch squares. Many cage design variations are possible including squares, rectangles, triangle – and even multi-level cages with ramps for moving between levels.

From our experience as cage builders and designers, multi-level cages are the most popular. And most guinea pigs seem to love them.

Designing and building a C and C cage for your guinea pig(s) is something that nearly anyone can do. No special skills or tools are necessary. All it takes is a little planning and access to the right materials. As an alternative, you can also buy a C&C cage kit online from a reputable seller.

SLIM PROFILE C&C Guinea Pig Cage 3-Level Large Custom Cage Design by BlueStoneCommerce

This video shows you one of our very unique cages. It's a slim profile cage - we call this model the Large Mega-Tower. This cage does for the guinea pig cage what flat screen monitors did for TV. It fits closer to the wall and saves space.

If you're a little short on room - perhaps you live in an apartment or dorm room, or maybe it's going in a kid's room where there's not a lot of space - this cage may help solve your problems.

This video was made to appear in our eBay listing for this product. The introductory part of the video is common to all our cage videos. Footage specific to this cage begins at about the 4:12 minute mark. You can see a couple of our guinea pigs in it. Charlie is the one in the pet store cage and Pumpkin makes her cameo appearance - being chased around the Colonial. And if you like the cage, be sure to visit any of our online stores to get more information on it. Just go to http://www.bluestonecages.com/ and click on any of the store links on the front page.

Enjoy the video:

HUGE C&C Guinea Pig Cage - 3-Level Deluxe Large Custom Cage Design by BlueStoneCommerce

Check out our very first infomercial - made to appear in our eBay listing for this cage. This video shows you our biggest cage ever - the Deluxe Colonial Homestead with Storage. Not only is this cage HUGE, but it has four storage bays in the bottom level to store guinea pig supplies. The introductory part of the video is common to all our cage videos. Footage specific to this cage begins at about the 4:12 minute mark. Also, see a couple of our guinea pigs. Charlie is the one in the pet store cage and Pumpkin makes her cameo appearance - being chased around the Colonial. If you're interested a deluxe, new 3-level 2x4 guinea pig custom large cage, visit our store at http://stores.ebay.com/BluestoneCommerce-Cages-and-Guitars or visit our web site at http://www.bluestonecages.com/ because... your pigs are waiting.

BlueStoneCommerce- Scooter’s Misadventures Part II

BlueStoneCommerce- Scooter’s Misadventures Part II

Scooter recovered from his abscess on his belly only a year later to have an abscess on his jaw. It was almost a year to the day that Scooter had another abscess. Our wonderful vet took x-rays and felt that Scooter’s abscess had not penetrated the jawbone and he had a good chance of a full recovery. She informed me that if it involved the jawbone it usually keeps reoccurring and the prognosis is not good for a complete recovery. Rabbits also tend to get abscess of the jaw and need the antibiotic beads implanted in their jawbone to have a chance of recovery. Scooter went through his fifth surgery in the two years that he had lived with us. This time the stitches were in a place that he could not chew on. No Bodysuit! Yeah! Our vet thinks that guinea pigs and rabbits are prone to jaw abscesses because a sharp piece of hay may injure them and subsequently get infected and cause an abscess.

BlueStoneCommerce – Scooter’s Misadventures

BlueStoneCommerce – Scooter’s Misadventures

Scooter (the guinea pig in the guitar case) was our friendliest pig and loved to be petted all of the time. If you remember we thought he was a she when we first brought him home but soon discovered otherwise. We have a wonderful vet that is very skilled and knowledgeable about exotic pets, which guinea pigs are considered to be exotic. Therefore, we had Scooter neutered so Pepper, our shy and nervous female and he could live together in wedded bliss. About 7 months later we noticed a large bump underneath him, near to the area that had been neutered. We took him to the vet immediately after spotting it. It turned out that he had an abscess that needed surgery to remove it. At the time he was only 1 years old and the vet never really figured out the cause of the abscess. She didn’t think it was from being neutered since it had been many months later that the abscess appeared.

After bringing Scooter home after surgery he proceeded to chew on his stitches and they were coming apart. Of coarse, it was the weekend and we had to bring him to the emergency vet hospital. The vet there tried to stitch him up again but discovered that there was a large amount of dead skin that needed to be removed. This resulted in a quarter-sized open wound on his belly. She devised a gauze bandage that was sewn in a way that could be removed and replaced with a new one everyday. We brought Scooter home again but he started chewing on his bandages. Then we took him back to our vet to see if we could figure out a way to stop him from chewing on the bandage. At first, they tried to put a cone around his head, like they do with dogs. Since, a guinea pig is shaped like a potato they had to wrap gauze strips under his front legs to keep the cone on him. Needless to say it stopped him from chewing but the gauze strips rubbed into his skin and caused huge sores under his front legs. You never saw a more pathetic and rejected looking pig. They had to figure out something else. Eventually they made him essentially a body suit out of this material that looked like an ace bandage. It was like a sock that had cut out holes for his legs. Our vet never had this kind of problem before with a guinea pig and it was a huge learning experience for all of us.

After repeated attempts with me going back and forth from the vets office to try to figure out something that would keep Scooter from chewing on his bandage and something he wouldn’t just walk out of because he has no shoulders, the bodysuit idea worked. We had to put honey on his wound everyday and change the gauze bandage. The honey was used like an antibiotic cream. The first time my husband and I tried to do it ourselves I almost fainted. It was a large sized open wound and I now know I can never be a nurse. So, we took Scooter everyday except Sunday to the vet’s office to have his bandages changed for a month. Finally, it was healed enough that Scooter had another surgery to close the wound up. He had to wear his bodysuit until the stitches healed but at least we did not have to go to the vet’s office everyday. Through this whole ordeal with three surgeries in about a months time Scooter was the best pig ever. The techs that changed his dressing everyday were amazed at how good he was at laying on his back to get his bandages changed. He took it all in stride even though I felt we were torturing him when the initial cone rubbed his skin so bad that he had sores from it. After putting antibiotic cream on the sores did heal. There were times I thought Scooter would never recover but he did until a year later……… Stay Tuned for Part II!

To Happy and Healthy Pigs!
Nancy from BluestoneCommerce Cages and Guitars
(Your eBay and Bonanzle Guinea Pig Store)

BlueStoneCommerce - Life Moves On

BlueStoneCommerce - Life Moves On

Scooter, our friendly neutered male pig and Pepper, our nervous female pig settled into life in their Penthouse cage. Scooter was always showing Pepper how manly he was by doing his rumble strut. Pepper mostly ignored him unless she was in the mood. Sound familiar!

The Penthouse cage was the first Cubes and Coroplast (C & C) cage we had ever designed. We enjoyed the open top level because it gave us easy access to our piggys and made it easier to clean. There were no cats in our household, just frogs, a bunny and a small terrier dog. So, the pigs could not be harmed by our other pets because it was raised to waist level with two levels of storage underneath the one 28”Wx56”Lx14H” cage level. Guinea Pigs are not known to escape their open top cages and therefore a top/lid is not necessary unless you have other creatures, including toddlers that can harm your pigs.

The Penthouse Cage with the two levels of 28” Wide and 56” Long of storage space provided more than enough room to store all of the piggy’s supplies. We had all of their big bags of hay, pellets, treats and the cleaning supplies, like the vinegar and water spray bottle I used stored below the cage right at our fingertips. This made it very convenient with everything I needed so close at hand. We were very happy with our C & C cage design and so were Scooter & Pepper.

Sadly, after about 3 ½ years Pepper became ill. It was around Christmas and my usual vet was on vacation and I had to take Pepper to the Emergency Vet Hospital. She had stopped eating, which is always a sign that your pig is sick. She ended up having a lung infection after the vet x-rayed her. We were given antibiotics to give her by syringe and they thought she would get better. Pepper wasn’t eating so we also had to feed her Critical Care by syringe every 4 hours. When my vet returned I took Pepper in to see her because she still wasn’t eating on her own and nothing was coming back out. If you ever lived with a guinea pig you know something is really wrong if that is happening. The vet gave us some medicine to get her to poop again and it worked at first. However, it stopped again and she was not eating on her own. On January 1, 2007 Pepper had a stroke and never recovered. My vet was surprised and said there must have been more going on with her then we realized. Guinea Pigs live an average of five years so she was relatively young when she passed away.

Scooter changed after Pepper died. He became more easily frightened and stayed on one side of the cage. I had to move his water bottle over to the other end of the cage because he wouldn’t drink from it because something had scared him from going over to it. He began to chew huge chunks out of the corrugated plastic because he was bored and stressed without Pepper. Scooter never became ill from chewing on the corrugated plastic because it is not digestable and comes out the other end. After awhile we discovered if you put the white, hard plastic molding on the edges it stops the pig from chewing on it. Scooter never chewed it again after we used it to make the edges chew-resistant. BluestoneCommerce sells the Chew-Resistant upgrade package in our eBay and Bonanzle stores for pigs that like to chew the coroplast. Guinea pigs are social animals and like to live with other pigs. Scooter was listless and slept a lot more until we brought a new pig to live with him. Stay Tuned!

To Happy and Healthy Pets,
Nancy from BluestoneCommerce Cages and Guitars
(eBay and now Bonanzle Guinea Pig Cage Store)