Just lepaking at this thread since got nothing much to do at work for today. (Goyang kaki only).

I read a few pages back and I see a lot of people got bad experience buying guinea pigs from Pets Wonderland Midvalley. I happened to buy mine there too so let me share my experience. (Sorry ar incoming grandmama story)

I bought my guinea pig, Sotong (yes that's his name) back in 12 Dec 2010. It was a spur of a moment since I wanted a companion. Working in KL alone can be really lonely

But in any case, I initially wanted to buy a hamster so I didn't research much on GP. But the moment I go there, I saw the GP then fall in love liao
Too cute. So I bought one male GP. (As I said I didn't do enough research that time. I assumed they were similar to hamster and I read that siberian hamster likes to be alone so I assumed this one should be also). Besides I didn't want it to breed and I don't know GP is extremely friendly to own kind. My bad

But in any case, I spent roughly RM250. Sotong himself costs me RM48, the cage another 100+, pellets, water bottle (the non drip type), food bowl and beddings.

It was when I finally brought him back that I read up about GP and I realized they like to be with their own kind. But since Midvalley is quite far from where I lived, (I was based in Sri Kembangan) I just monitor him for a few days. Here's a picture I first snap when I bought him back.





Initially it was all good. He was afraid of me but normal la...Until a few days later, I realized his right eye was a bit swollen. I do a check up on him every morning and before I go to bed to ensure he didn't hurt himself since he's still a baby (maybe a few weeks old) and he's in a new environment. Alone somemore. Aiiiii

So anyway, his right eye was abit swollen with some of those dried yellowish eye discharge stuck. I tried to clean it for him with a clean wet towel but he didn't like it. Then I read that GP do discharge some milky liquid from their eyes to clean themselves so I was thinking maybe it's those milky liquid.

Anyway I went to work as usual but was very worried throughout the day. So I checked google map for any vets in sri kembangan just in case. When I came back from work at 6pm, true enough, something WAS VERY WRONG with his eye. For the first time when I came back, he ran to me inside his cage (I think he pun dah sakit kut) so I picked him up easily and I found that his right eye is totally shut due to the discharge!

I knew immediately it might be something like conjunctivitis so I quickly wipe the discharge off with a wet towel gently. Then I drove him to the nearest vet called "St. Angel".

The lady vet there was very kind and gentle to Sotong. She cleaned his eye and gave me a bottle of eye drop to cure the conjunctivitis. She told me to administer it 8 times a day. That's roughly 3 hours once. ... Die lor. So, when I came back roughly 8pm, I set my alarm clock. Before I sleep at 11pm, I administer again, then wake up at 2am administer, 5am again, 8 am I wake up another time. Then I couldn't put it during my working hours but since the conjunctivitis is at its early level, the vet just told me to drip more frequently at night. So yeah, for the next 3 days I wake up every 3 hours to gave Sotong his eye drop.

I do wonder if all the GP from pet shops are prone to diseases since they are not really properly taken care off

After he recovered, I brought him back to Penang where my hometown is since my mom and my sister lives here and someone is home even during the afternoon to monitor him. I ended up didn't buy a second guinea pig because of a few concerns:

1) They may have disease and Sotong will contract it again
2) I read that if you introduce a new GP to your current one, you need to quarantine the new one first to ensure he/she is clean. I don't have an additional cage or space to do so. Pity the new GP if I were to put him/her in those carrier for 1 week
3) They may fight and may have lack of space to stay.

So yeah, Sotong is still alone now but we're giving him the most attention he needs. I've moved back to Penang for my new job so I get to be with him still

Currently he's roughly 6 months old and been healthy since. No diseases or fleas. My family members also modified his cage abit so that he has more space to run around. (We also let him run around our living room and kitchen daily for roughly 20 mins~30 mins while we sit on the floor like nannies )

Here's a picture of his modified cage


And he likes to sleep on the second floor balcony that we built


Until we bought him a tunnel. Cloth tunnel is rather awesome in my opinion. My GP Sotong plays with it every single day.


And I got to cut my story short cause Boss sudah balik. Need to continue err to pretend to be busy.

But I just want to share my story and oh, if anyone can recommend me a good GP vet in Penang, that would be helpful in case Sotong needs anything. Hope everyone enjoyed my grandmama story. Maybe I will write more in future

Ah.. thank you thank you. I try to give him as much love and care as I can since he's alone.
After sexing a few times, confirm it's a he
Besides, I don't know if it's normal or not but his balls are quite big that he sorta almost mop the floor when he walks. My mom always complain he helps her mop the floor everytime he comes out (and the floor became sticky)

Cute guinea pig!

I totally understand your point of view about rough vets. I got a similar vet on the second time I went to the St. Angel's clinic too! (But he not so ganas lah until got blood). That vet dude picked up my Sotong and use saline water with cotton to clean his infected eye while saying to Sotong:

"See your eye infected. Who's fault is this? Your own fault. Pain? Your own fault, I don't care"

Poor Sotong was wheeking and struggling and I was standing there with a "wtf?" expression on my face. But he didn't really cause any physical damage to Sotong just a bit rough than the previous lady vet in the shop so I kept quiet. Their charge is cheap though. RM18 lol and despite the slightly rough treatment by one of the vets, I would say they quite okay.

I would say your experience way much worse in every level. I think I would freak out and scold the vet sial lol.

Come to think of it. My Sotong stopped wheeking ever since then. Lol. No more painful experience I guess. Although occasionally he run too fast he fall down and flipped over. Still no sound. The only sound was those honking sound when he's running around

Oh he makes alot of happy wheeking. I'm just referring to the painful high pitch wheeking. And sorry for the late reply, was away 4 days without internet access for some work trip. Missed my GP so much

But yesterday came back directly played with him for 1 hour

This post has been edited by townberry: May 30 2011, 12:00 PM

Where are you located? KL? Penang?

I suggest you don't put the vitamin C pellets into the water
http://www.guinealynx.info/diet.html#c

Just a quick question. Does any of your guinea pig sleep like this ar?





He came over and lie down like this one


Pet abit also he melts down and sleeps like this. Is this even normal ar? Or my Sotong is just plain horny?

Ah so it's normal for guinea pigs to be like this eh. Cause my guinea pig really acts like some chocolate cream. The moment you touch he melts on the floor.

From my experience it's quite normal for the GP to hide. But if you realize she's not drinking too frequently, I suggest maybe you can put a low plastic container (like those microvable plastic container) so that she can easily get water. I'm not sure bout yours but my Sotong was kinda dumb dumb in the beginning, don't really know how to drink from that drip bottle

But take note if you put such water in open air, you need to frequently change it. Around 2~3 hours once.

It's important not to stare at your guinea pig too much. If you really want to observe, observe somewhere far. Let her roam around her cage freely first. Try not to take her out for the first few days. I did a mistake of taking my guinea pig out on the first night after I bought him. Poor thing was wheeking as if I want to cook him like that. Now he's literally jumping out from his cage and walking around the house like nobody's business

Hmm at the moment I suggest you keep your contact with her minimal. Especially when she's rumbling at you. I don't know exactly what rumbling you're talking about but you can identify the sounds here

http://jackiesguineapiggies.com/guineapigsounds.html

Another tip is that if the rumble is done while staring at you (aka she's not sitting down in a relax manner) chances are it's an angry STAY AWAY rumble. Maybe my Sotong last time very chicken la (he still chicken now) never really rumble just wheek and ran away lol.

I would say just feed her. Make sure she eats and drinks well. Too much stress can cause the GP to stop eating and drinking and ultimately death. If you want to pet her, make it a daily routine. Example, you pet her every morning 8am before you go to work or something then another time at 8pm. Then make it like that, 8am once, 8pm once.

Guinea pigs are very routine animals so once they see a pattern going on they know you're not going to harm them (at least that hour la) then she will be less hostile.

Initially taking care of a guinea pig can be really frustrating but once they warm up to you, they stick on you worse than UHU glue. *stares at Sotong*

Personally la I don't think the GP will chew on that tray much. They usually try to nibble any new "toy" or object but once they found it's not edible they just leave it. But if your tray is not strong enough (aka chew abit pecah d) then I recommend you don't use lor. Personally I buy those RM5 metal basket from Daiso and hang it in the cage. (Actually my mom bought it lol. She spoils Sotong to the max)

Here's a picture of the basket


Besides the basket has holes so the grass can be easily pulled from below. But, apparently, my Sotong loves to eat the grass in his own enigmatic way...


And oh, since she always hide in her hidehouse, guarantee tons of poo poo inside. But don't expect all GP can potty train ar. My Sotong until now, pigi mana berak mana It's good to hear she came out for a walk and gives no protest during rubbing. Try to make it a routine You should show us a picture of her already!

Super cute GP! I'm glad to hear she's warming up. Scratching is perfectly normal. Unless you see her scratch like 3 times per minute or when she starts showing signs of excessive hair loss, then you should bring her to vet. If it's just one, two scratch it's normal. Even dogs and cats scratch one in a while..

Ah...so many things happened in the past week I couldn't come to this thread at all.

So many activities here. I hope I can keep up XD

In the meantime my Sotong is getting fatter and fatter aiyooo

Don't worry first few months, GP usually depends alot onf the hide house. My Sotong also used to sleep, eat, pee, poop, bite the house (it's made of cardboard). Now he's so fat he can barely enter the house but I still leave it there. Once in a while, he'll go sit near it like people berteduh bawah pokok
Other times, he'll just step on the house (poor house).

Actually mine is not even a proper hidehouse, it's a square-rish cardboard box I got from Midvalley petstore to store Sotong when I first bought him back lol. I just cut two "doors" on the cardboard so that he can go through it.

Give your GP sometime ler. Still very young. Besides, you say she gave a low rumble when you pat her. If she's not baring her teeth or staring at you, it means she's starting to like you already. Keep up the good work

Lol do I sense jealousy ar? But in any case, GP will only warm up to people they see frequently. Even my Sotong, although he's no longer afraid of people, he doesn't come out much when I send him to live with my aunt for a few days cause I have to go outstation.

He just comes out during his meal time and once in a while he'll walk abit aorund the cage that's about it. My aunt says he's so obedient never make noise. The moment I bring him back home, he RAN ALL OVER THE HOUSE. Yesterday he peed and wet his cloth tunnel. This morning, I think the tunnel is so wet he cannot tahan d, he go pull a dry cloth I put inside the cage to the tunnel. Then he sits on top of the cloth so that he is dry. What the...

Now he's so comfortable looking hugging his cloth inside the tunnel, we want to change the tunnel also afraid we will disturb his "cuddling time". Adei...

Lol. Oi oi what are we cooking here already?

Woah such sudden unnecessary growth is indeed scary! I hope your GP recovers soon and well! Now I abit takut pulak I shall go flip my GP 360 degrees and see if there's anything abnormal

Ya I'm wondering too so that we can take extra pre-caution