# my new guineas!!!



## lolabloob (Mar 30, 2010)

hi everyone! I just recently got my 3 new guinea boys! I got two brothers Axel and Joey who are crested and one wee teddy one from a different litter ...called Teddy (unoriginal i know).

Anyways I have never had guinea pigs before and was wondering if anyone could give me advice on bathing them. I was reading about a grease gland near their where their tail would be if they had one and I can't seem to find anything like that on my wee guys! 

Also I was wondering what sort of age they reach maturity? like when the male hormones really kick in as I know boys are better kept in pairs but these three have been together for ages and so far they've been fine but Im worried theyll maybe fight later on  

thanks in advance!! xxx


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## holly1 (Aug 10, 2010)

Have you seen this
It had my kids in bits!
YouTube - The Singing and Dancing Guinea Pig!!


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## niki87 (Nov 18, 2009)

lolabloob said:


> hi everyone! I just recently got my 3 new guinea boys! I got two brothers Axel and Joey who are crested and one wee teddy one from a different litter ...called Teddy (unoriginal i know).
> 
> Anyways I have never had guinea pigs before and was wondering if anyone could give me advice on bathing them. I was reading about a grease gland near their where their tail would be if they had one and I can't seem to find anything like that on my wee guys!
> 
> ...


Hi hun...firstly congrats on the threee new arrivals!!

Am no expert but I got mine a few months ago and have red up a lot about them so hopefully this will be helpful.

OK bathing...you are supposed to bathe them every 3 months. You can buy small animal shampoos quite easily. I got mine from the Range. I use the johnsons insecticidal one as an extra protection against bugs 

Maturity wise...I think mine are nearly fully grown now...and they are about 6 months now. Not 100% sure on sexual maturity but hormones shouldn't really separate your boys as they have been together for so long. The breeder I got mine off said when they reach three months old just make sure you have 2 of everything in...for your you would need three obviously...three food bowls, three bottles, three lots of toys, etc and a decent amount of space and they should be fine. She also said that neutering a boy piggie doesn't make a difference to boys' relationships so if they're not getting on then you would just have to separate them. But sounds like you will have no problems at all with a previousky bonded trio.

Hioe this has helped! xx


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## Jamie760 (Oct 14, 2010)

Sometimes my 2 male guinea pigs (from the same litter) try and reproduce with the other male! Its kinda funny. Also maybe its best to make sure that the 2 from the same litter don't try and attack the one from another litter.


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## David C (Sep 6, 2010)

lolabloob said:


> hi everyone! I just recently got my 3 new guinea boys! I got two brothers Axel and Joey who are crested and one wee teddy one from a different litter ...called Teddy (unoriginal i know).
> 
> Anyways I have never had guinea pigs before and was wondering if anyone could give me advice on bathing them. I was reading about a grease gland near their where their tail would be if they had one and I can't seem to find anything like that on my wee guys!
> 
> ...


Hi congratulations on getting your new boys im sure they will bring you so much pleasure , the grease gland is situated just below where the tail would be , now on babys there wont be much gunk there so no need to worry just yet , i breed and show longhairs and you have to keep this area on them very clean otherwise the coats can get very sticky and you can ruin their coats trying to comb them through , i use a small amout of surgical spirit on a cotton wool pad and just massage it in and all the grease just comes of , a bath ever 3 months is ok but not always neccesary if they are just pets and not going to be shown , when bathing mine for a show i just use johnsons baby shampoo as its very mild and wont irritate their skin , make sure you rinse it of well and in the final rinse water i just add a small drop of white wine vinegar as this gets tid of any shampoo that might be left in the coat , i then wrap them in a towel for 10 mins to soak of any excess water and then dry them with the hair dryer until they are completely dry .
Cavy boars can mate and impregnate a sow from as early as 4 weeks so sexually they mature very quickly indeed ive only ever kept boars together in pairs and very rearely had any problems even though they are housed in the same caviary as all my sows , ive only ever had boars together in larger groups until they are about 12 weeks old and then because there are more of them together this is when they seem to start bickering so have to be seperated into pairs at this stage , now with your 3 seeing as there are no sows around they might just get on fine together without any problems but i would just keep a close eye on them and if you see any signs of bickering getting out of hand seperate them before it gets to bad , one tip i would suggest to you is make sure you have a food bowl for each of them and place these in different parts of the cage so they can all eat in peace if they wish to and have a water bottle on eaither end of the cage . Dont feed veggies in a dish , just put them in a pile in the centre of the cage then the pigs can get them and take them to where ever they want to without having to try and fight for a place at the veg dish .


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## lolabloob (Mar 30, 2010)

thanks for everyone's advice! I got johnson's insecticidal small animal shampoo today and another water bottle so they will have one at either end of their cage! haha spent a fortune on all my pets today!!! xx


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## joey b (Aug 17, 2010)

David C said:


> Hi congratulations on getting your new boys im sure they will bring you so much pleasure , the grease gland is situated just below where the tail would be , now on babys there wont be much gunk there so no need to worry just yet , i breed and show longhairs and you have to keep this area on them very clean otherwise the coats can get very sticky and you can ruin their coats trying to comb them through , i use a small amout of surgical spirit on a cotton wool pad and just massage it in and all the grease just comes of , a bath ever 3 months is ok but not always neccesary if they are just pets and not going to be shown , when bathing mine for a show i just use johnsons baby shampoo as its very mild and wont irritate their skin , make sure you rinse it of well and in the final rinse water i just add a small drop of white wine vinegar as this gets tid of any shampoo that might be left in the coat , i then wrap them in a towel for 10 mins to soak of any excess water and then dry them with the hair dryer until they are completely dry .
> Cavy boars can mate and impregnate a sow from as early as 4 weeks so sexually they mature very quickly indeed ive only ever kept boars together in pairs and very rearely had any problems even though they are housed in the same caviary as all my sows , ive only ever had boars together in larger groups until they are about 12 weeks old and then because there are more of them together this is when they seem to start bickering so have to be seperated into pairs at this stage , now with your 3 seeing as there are no sows around they might just get on fine together without any problems but i would just keep a close eye on them and if you see any signs of bickering getting out of hand seperate them before it gets to bad , one tip i would suggest to you is make sure you have a food bowl for each of them and place these in different parts of the cage so they can all eat in peace if they wish to and have a water bottle on eaither end of the cage . Dont feed veggies in a dish , just put them in a pile in the centre of the cage then the pigs can get them and take them to where ever they want to without having to try and fight for a place at the veg dish .


Hi David,my first post!
Found your post/reply really helpful as we just got two GPs for my grandson.They've lived with us for about 3 weeks now (not sure of ages,but poss a couple of months old).Two girlies? is what they're meant to be.That said,the last couple of days "Bailey" appears to be mating with "Brandy".Question is..Are GPs like rabbits in that they just simulate the act as a form of domination?
Also they seem to play fight.Is this "normal" or could it be serious?
Thanks in Advance

Joey.


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