Hello there! I'm now taking care of my cousin's male guinea pig, roughly about 2-3 months old, because she and her family will be flying off to the US for about 2 weeks +. She provides a diet of alfafa hay, pellets, Romanian lettuce and the occasional spinach. I read about the recommended diet on the first page beforehand, and when I asked her whether if the guinea can have baby carrots and the sorts, she said no, and told me to stick to the original diet plan that I mentioned earlier. She says, Stevie(the piggie) can only have carrots and the likes when he is more than a year old, or else he'll...die?

I don't know how true is this, as I have not taken care of a guinea pig before this, but with the current hot, hot, hot weather in Penang, I'm afraid the diet isn't suitable for the guinea pig right now; can I feed him the fruits mentioned in the front page like the cherry tomato, cucumber and veggies? How about the cow grass? Even with the Romanian lettuce, she told me there's no need to feed them any other day, only when there's leftover Romanian lettuce in the house...meaning the piggie will only usually have a diet consisting of alfafa hay and pellets-- and I'm like "What? " when I heard it.

Not sure if it's worth the risk feeding him these, because my cousin also informed me that Stevie's female companion passed away on Saturday. I'm not sure of the cause of death, but it might be due to the fleas and also perhaps the mistreatment by my cousin's kids...her daughter likes to blow the piggie in the face and find amusement in seeing him running around the cage(in fright??). Stevie is free of fleas though, and he is a healthy piggie, as far as I know, because that's what my cousin told me. I don't see him scratching his fur and there are no bald patches. Now that Stevie is all alone, what can I do to ensure he's not lonely? I mean, I can't be sitting by his cage 24/7...are there any DIY toys that I can make for Stevie?

Also, how am I supposed to introduce myself to the piggie? To make sure he lives comfortably in my care, I'll have to forge a healthy relationship with him, right? One more thing, the piggie likes to gnaw at the bars of the cage, is this healthy behaviour or should I do something about it?

Thank you in advance, sifus!

EDIT: Added more details. Also noticed that Stevie is awfully quiet. I let him sniff my hand and then he straight ignore me dy. Tried petting him on the head too but he just froze. Not sure if shy or cautious. I really have no idea.

This post has been edited by janisu: Jun 10 2014, 01:59 AM