Medical Emergencies
Poorly guinea pigs will often show a set of non-specific symptoms. As soon as you see any of the symptoms on this list, which may be a sign of serious problems, take your guinea pig to the vet as soon as possible:
Refusal to eat or drink; lethargy; difficult or laboured breathing; sneezing; crusty eyes; limping; loss of balance; excessive scratching; hair loss; uncontrollable bleeding; extreme drop in body temperature; diarrhoea; blood present in urine; signs of temporary paralysis.

You should also know that penicillin-based medication is poisonous to guinea pigs.

Problems caused by poor diet
The following problems are often due to poor diet, lack of exercise and lack of general care. They’re easily avoided by giving your guinea pigs the right food and plenty of exercise and, most importantly, by carrying out regular health checks.

Dental problems
Your guinea pigs’ teeth will continue to grow all their lives and overgrown teeth can be the cause of potentially fatal health problems – typical symptoms are excessive drooling and loss of appetite.
To wear down your guinea pigs’ teeth and help to keep them healthy, feed a naturally-abrasive, fibre-rich food like Burgess Excel Herbage or Forage and check the teeth regularly.

Hypovitaminosis C
This condition is more commonly known as scurvy and it stems from a lack of vitamin C. It’s something that your guinea pigs can’t produce naturally and the result can be lameness, loss of teeth, rough coat, loss of hair, pain on handling and anorexia. So you must be absolutely sure your pets’ diet compensates – check that the nugget food you’re feeding them has added vitamin C. There are extremely high levels of protected vitamin C in Burgess Excel Tasty Nuggets for Guinea Pigs. Incidentally, this is why you should never feed your guinea pigs on rabbit food – there’s nowhere near enough vitamin C in it for a guinea pig’s needs.

General problems
Abscesses – guinea pigs are very susceptible to abscesses which can be caused by knocks or fights.

Skin complaints – these are very common, particularly mange, which is caused by a mite burrowing under the skin. Look for the symptoms: little raised spots which are itchy and cause your pet to scratch, and that leads to scabs and loss of hair. Always see your vet for a correct diagnosis and treatment.

Health Checks
Every guinea pig is different, and it’s good to get to know how. Once you’re familiar with your pets’ normal habits and behaviour, it will be easier to spot when they’re ill.
You can help to maintain your pets’ good health by learning to do some simple health checks every week. It’s a good way to increase the bond between you and these quick and easy checks are best done when your guinea pig is feeling comfortable and relaxed – you might find that an Excel Nature Snack helps.
And never forget: if in doubt, always consult your vet immediately.

Ears – gently look inside and make sure they’re clean and free from mites and fleas.
Eyes – make sure the eyes are clear and shiny. Dull, swollen eyes are often a sign of illness and can lead to blindness.

Teeth – check to make sure there isn’t any excessive drooling which can be a sign of dental problems. Be careful with this health check: your pet might not be comfortable with having its mouth inspected and may bite.

Feet – gently hold and feel the feet to make sure you pet hasn’t injured itself. Check their claws too – they need to be clipped to keep them at a safe length; ask your vet to show you how to do this properly.

Fur – gently feel and look to check that there are no bald patches, no signs of mites or fleas and no injuries.

Weight – weigh your pet on a regular basis to see that it is maintaining a constant weight that is healthy for its age. Regular visits to your vet will tell you what the weight should be. Watching the scales is important – obesity is a serious illness that can lead to other health problems.

Have a look at Pets Pantry’s Guinea Pig Remedies section for products to help keep your guinea pig fit and healthy.

Guinea pigs can’t get enough nutrition from fibre as it first passes through the gut. So they pass it through the gut again. Indigestible fibre is moved through their digestive system and excreted as separate, round, hard droppings. This acts to keep the digestive system moving and stimulate appetite.

Digestible fibre is moved up into an organ called the caecum – this is like a giant appendix. Good bacteria in the caecum ferment the fibre (making it easy to digest) which then emerges in the form of clumps of sticky droppings – called caecotrophs. Guinea pigs then re-eat the caecotrophs and their systems extract essential nutrition as the digestible fibre passes through for the second time.

Failing to provide adequate portions of the right kind of fibre can rapidly lead to illness or death. At Burgess Excel, we call the correct ratio of these two types of fibre ‘Beneficial Fibre’.

That’s why muesli-style foods are such a problem. Guinea pigs can become fussy eaters, and will eat sweet foods as an easy way to get a glucose fix. As a result, they can pick out unhealthy elements of muesli-style foods and leave the rest. This is called selective feeding and will inevitably lead to an imbalanced diet, lacking in calcium, phosphorus and vitamin D. Above all, this behaviour can lead to a lack of fibre with potentially fatal consequences. When taken with the fact that muesli-style foods are commonly low in fibre to begin with, the problem is compounded.
And finally, the unhealthy ingredients in muesli-style foods are high in sugar and starch. These are difficult for guinea pigs to digest and can lead to health problems and obesity.

These problems can be avoided by sticking to The Excel Feeding Plan and giving your guinea pigs Excel food. Both were developed by Burgess with one of the world’s leading small-animal vets to provide a perfect daily balance of fibre and nutrition.

Feeding Plan for Guinea Pigs

STEP 1 – Excel Herbage and Forage
These premium quality hay and grass foods should form most of your pets’ diet. They are especially good for dental health as they contain high levels of Beneficial Fibre that help to wear down teeth. The teeth of guinea pigs are constantly growing and overgrown teeth can be the cause of potentially fatal problems.

STEP 2 – Excel Tasty Nuggets
These contain 100% natural, wholesome ingredients, are naturally high in Beneficial Fibre for digestive health and have added vitamins, minerals and prebiotics. Because they’re not a muesli-style mix, they prevent selective feeding.

STEP 3 – Excel Nature Snacks
These healthy, nutritious natural snacks are ideal for guinea pigs as they promote emotional health – preventing boredom and encouraging bonding and interaction between you and your pet. They can be fed daily, because they’re packed with goodness, and all made with pure, natural ingredients. Some are specially designed to be fed by hand which helps pets to get comfortable with human attention.

STEP 4
Guinea pigs can be fed fresh greens to give additional fresh nutrients and to provide some variety. But you need to be careful about what you feed them, and how much – please see below for more information

STEP 5
A plentiful supply of fresh, clean water must always be available.
Guinea pigs also need fresh greens or fruit – around a teacup a day. But be careful; not every fruit and vegetable is actually good for guinea pigs. Here’s a brief guide, but it is by no means exhaustive. Always check before feeding something new to your pets.

GOOD – apples, asparagus, basil, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, cantaloupe melon, carrots and carrot tops, cauliflower leaves and stalks, celery, chicory, Chinese parsley, coriander, cucumber, dill, garden cress, grapefruit, gooseberries, honeydew melon, kale, kiwi fruit, mangoes, oranges, parsley, parsnips, peas, red cabbage, red chard, romaine lettuce, Savoy cabbage, spinach, strawberries, tangerines, tomatoes, turnips and water cress.

BAD – potato and potato tops, rhubarb and rhubarb leaves and tomato leaves.

Click here to see a great range of Burgess Guinea Pig Foods to keep your guinea pig fit and healthy.

You should then be able to slowly lift your guinea pigs and support their weight by putting your other hand under the bottom. You should then hold your pets on your lap or, if you’re standing, close to your chest.

If your guinea pig is a long-haired breed, groom daily to keep the coat in good condition. But every breed likes some grooming – and it helps to strengthen the bond of friendship between you and your pets.

At Pets Pantry we have a selection of Guinea Pig Brushes to keep its coat in perfect condition.

Play makes them exercise, which is good for their physical health, and keeps them contented, which is good for them emotionally. Foraging and exercising in a run mimic their natural behaviour, keep them occupied and prevent boredom.

Guinea pigs are hunted by predators in the wild, so they’re naturally frightened of big, open spaces. Your pets will spend a lot of time around the edges of a room or run, so a few well-placed upside-down cardboard boxes will give them extra space where they can feel safe and exercise.

If the weather is bad, you can arrange all these things indoors. But life can get more interesting in an outside run. Firstly, make sure it’s placed out of direct sunlight and that there is a shelter inside. Then fill it with places to hide, things to climb and tunnels to run through – making sure it’s not too tight a squeeze and that they can’t escape.

Guinea pigs are natural foragers, so hide some food and your pets will enjoy looking for it. For example, try hiding some Excel Nature Snacks around their hutch or within Excel Herbage. In addition to providing nutrition, this echo of natural behaviour avoids boredom and improves your pets’ emotional health.

Take a look at Pets Pantry’s Guinea Pig Toys for a great range of things to keep your guinea pig busy at play.

SIZE – the hutch should be at least five times your guinea pig’s length and at least a foot wide – you’ll need to get a bigger hutch if you have more than one guinea pig. As a general rule: the more space, the better.

LINING – use soft wood chippings or shredded paper along with some fresh straw bedding to keep your pets comfortable and warm. An upside-down cardboard box makes good extra shelter and can easily be moved around.

LOCATION – guinea pigs live happily inside or outside, but the location of an outside hutch needs special care. Temperatures shouldn’t reach lower than 18?C or higher than 26?C – extremes of temperature, but especially overheating, will cause stress and discomfort. That means moving the hutch indoors during the colder winter months and keeping a careful eye on the temperature during hot summers – never place a hutch in direct sunlight.

An outside hutch should stand on bricks or legs to stop it getting wet in poor weather. Make sure the roof is waterproofed and sloped to let the rain drain off.

All guinea pigs need safe, daily access to an outside run where they can eat grass and exercise.

And finally, always, always keep the door locked – firstly to stop your guinea pigs escaping, and secondly to avoid predators like dogs, cats and foxes.

CLEANING – clean the hutch out two or three times a week – especially in warmer weather, to keep flies away. In extremely hot weather, bedding may need to be changed even more often to stop it becoming mouldy and damp.

Take a look at Pets Pantry’s Guinea Pig Hutches if you are looking to house your guinea pig outside.

To beat the problem, feed them an all-in-one food – Suparat Rat Royale is ideal. It has all the nutrients they need in every mouthful. And picky selective feeding is an impossibility. The feeding guide on the pack will tell you how much to give.

Rats love variety though, so give them the occasional healthy treat – Excel Nature Snacks are perfect. You can make a game of it and hide them round the cage. It’s a great pro-exercise, anti-boredom technique.

Fresh food should be given at the same time every day: once in the morning, once in the evening. Use a metal or ceramic bowl – they’re easier to clean, difficult to gnaw and harder to knock over. In the morning, take away any food left over from the day before.

Your rat should always have plenty of fresh, clean water. But from a water bottle, not a bowl.

Take a look at Pets Pantry’s great range of Rat Foodss help keep your rat happy and healthy.

Rats are very happy to sit in your lap or on your shoulder. They can’t have a quiet word in your ear, but you’ll be able to tell when they’re content. Just listen to them grinding their teeth. It’s called bruxing.

NEVER lift a rat by the tail – it can cause them discomfort.

The Well-Groomed Rat
Rats are hygiene-happy and will generally groom themselves. And any other rats in grooming distance too. But there may be times – if one of your rats is old or unwell, for example – when you need to give them a bath. Use warm water and a mild soap such as baby shampoo but be careful not to get either in the ears or eyes. Rubber ducks are optional.

Any Time is Playtime
One of the great joys of keeping rats is that they love to play. It’s great to watch, and great to join in. They don’t know it, but plenty of fun and exercise keeps them in good physical condition. It’s important for mental stimulation too.

So make sure their cage is filled with plenty of toys, tunnels and ropes. Do you have something that looks like a cross between a crèche and an army assault course? Perfect.

Your rats will enjoy running on a large wheel, but it must be solid – otherwise their tails might get caught. Rat balls are an excellent accessory to allow your pets to run safely around the room. And in pursuit of exercise, mental stimulation and emotional wellbeing, hide snacks around the cage for them to find.

Take a look at Pets Pantry’s great range of Rat Toys help keep your rat happy and healthy.