Now that Latte's been with us quite a while, he's starting to regconise who feeds him and who scares him. Apparently, he's afraid of my dad. The loud opening and locking of the doors, who doesn't? Whenever I pass by the cage, Latte will wheek out loud. Nice. I'll chat with him and he'll respond with nods and shakes.
He's happy whenever my sister arrives home too because his hiding place will be cleared of poo. He's still running away whenever I'm trying to stroke him despite him calling for my attention. Ironic, huh?
Time to provide some notes on taking care of guinea pigs. Here is a list of things on providing care such as questions on how to handle guinea pigs and asking yourself if you are the right person to own one. Guinea pigs are social animals and will need daily interaction. That I'm trying spend half an hour with Latte everyday.
If you have the space, let the cavy run around the house with some supervision. Electric cables and other things that can be nibbled upon must be kept away from the floors. You don't want to harm them in any way.
Guinea pigs don't smell (generally) unless you don't clean the cage regularly. I've to clean the cage soon. I don't want any smell other than the hay I'm giving daily. Here are the steps to clean the cage. The advantage of using grids and coroplasts is that it is easy to clean.
Be aware that some people may have allergies due to the allergen existing in the urine in the bedding. When the guinea pig scurries around, the proteins exposed will become airborne. If possible, get a family member who doesn't suffer from it to clean the cage. It would be best to clean the cage outside of the house. Always wash the hands and any part of the body that had come into contact with your piggie.
Take regular weight checks on the cavy because the change in weight will inform you of their medical conditions. Regular vet check ups would benefit them in the long run.
The toilet training still continues. Poop is less seen in the rest of the cage but the newspapers seemed to attract his chewing. I guess I need to put more chewy toys for Latte. I decided to recycle the old cage base as the litter box and created a cardboard step to make it easier for him to get to the hay rack. Hopefully he will pee in there too. See the newly cleaned cage below.
Latte made some sounds though I'm not sure if he was happy but I guess he was because he popcorned twice under the hay rack. Gee, he could have done it outside and wouldn't hurt his head. Anyway, he laid down after a while and it was the perfect moment to take a photo of him relaxing.
I hope to be able to stroke him without him running away from me every time. The best thing about the large cage is that I can clean it even when he's in it. He doesn't seemed bothered by the vinegar smell though. While laying out the newspapers, he kept running under which I had to pat down so he would move away. Time to check out which sort of bedding suits him as boars tend to mark their territory.
The cage is done. After 2 hours of struggling with the measurements and re-cutting. The provided coroplasts sold in Popular is too small. I decided to buy 3 large pieces instead of 2. Thank goodness. It wasn't easy because the coroplasts refused to bend even when I slit them halfway.
My hands hurt. My neck is stiff. And finally, with all the struggles and cutting and perspiration and perserverence, it paid off. Sort of. At least it's large and Latte loves running in it except when he's scared. He'd hide under the hay rack. You can see below.
[via Flickr]
He feels safe under it. At least he's eating. I'm still trying to toilet train him. It takes quite some time but with the new cage, I hope he learns and adapt faster since there's a lot of space for him to run now. Except my dad says it's too big. But he'll grow bigger ma. Here's the photo of the new cage.
[via Flickr]
I finally bought some cage materials for Latte. Took me nearly 3 hours of sourcing for the following: metal racks that are used in the kitchen for hanging stuff, metal rack that is used for holding stuff, 3 packets of cable ties (not sure how many I would need but more is always safe) and a spray bottle. Photos to be uploaded but it's silly to post the materials when I can post the completed cage later, right?
I didn't buy any coroplasts because I was alone and the 8 racks for the cage were effing heavy! I doubt I could handle the large coroplasts (2 for the base) and the heavy racks. I managed to muster enough strength for the white vinegar bottle too.
I don't understand though, why is there so many different types of vinegar?! For the white vinegar, they merely stated "Imitation Vinegar" while in Chinese "白醋" which means white vinegar. -_-' Another bottle stated the something else that slips my mind at this moment because it's nearly 4am now and I can't sleep because it's hot.
I went to check on Latte and he seems to be sleeping soundly, for once. Usually, he would scurry around because of the sounds, maybe it was because I was the only sound and everyone of my family is sleeping soundly, he is less excite/agitated/scared and remains soundly asleep. How I envy him.
I can't get to sleep even though my eyes are tired! GAH!
I'm looking at hay racks. A lot of different ways to design a hay rack. One way is to put it above the litter box, provided the guinea pig is litter-trained. I'm still in the process. Apparently, I should change my method. Not working so far. Let's see how tonight goes.
[via Cavy Cages Forum]
The innovative idea is using a bird food holder.
[via Cavy Cages Forum]
Cool idea, no?
[via Cavy cages Forum]
I think the above is one of the cheapest way to do the hay rack and I can buy it in NTUC. :D
Look at this cage. Isn't it wonderful if I can build it this big? Must be crazy, for one guinea pig, right?
[via Cavy Cages Forum]
Just one thing, I believe fleece is expensive here. The next cage is absolutely fit for a king!
[via Cavy Cages Forum]
I totally dig the hay loft for the guinea pigs.
I've been looking around for cage design ideas. I need to keep Latte's nails filed instead of my attempting to cut them. I will be needing something bricks to help them. Any idea where I can get those as shown below?
[via Cavy Cages forum]
A cage design idea I really like is the one shown below.
[via Cavy Cages forum]
If there is really space, I would be building a larger cage. Guinea pigs tend to need the space to run and exercise a little. Have been doing quite a bit of research on cage designs and so far, the open top cage would be suitable for my case. I don't have cats or dogs.
I have managed to put Latte in a temporary box while I cleaned his cage. Serious, he loves to escape from my grasp. Took quite a while and this time, I decided that the smell had to go. There is no way the cage should smell. I grabbed him firmly and placed him in the box with his food bowl.
Asked my youngest brother to help me look after him while I washed the cage and prepare some things. As the dish bowl that my friend had bought for me was large enough for him to sit in (for now), I placed some of his poop as a start to toilet training him. I used a smaller bowl for his food and another for the hay. Stole those bowls from my sister as she used to own hamsters. :D
Last night, he jumped in his cage once. I think it's called popcorning. Cool.
Was thinking about getting a hay ball so he could exercise while eating the hay. Besides giving him a treat for letting me carry him, anyone is able to suggest other methods?
