Ask A Guinea Pig: Is Floor Time Necessary?

Katrina VanZandt asks: "How necessary is the floor time you mention? Every time we take Sugar and Cinnamon out they poo on the carpet."

Floor time fun! 

Answer: As we've mentioned before in our floor time post, floor time is lots of fun, although you need to keep an eye on us to make sure so we don't eat anything we shouldn't. Floor time provides mental stimulation and exercise for your piggies, so we'd say it's pretty important. If you have a small cage (less than 10.5 square feet), floor time is even more important. Even if you have a large cage, it's still better to give us regular opportunities to explore new environments and run around, and shouldn't be treated as optional.

If you are concerned about your piggies using your carpet as a bathroom, you can put down newspapers or bath mats for easy cleanup. If you have additional concerns about your piggies running loose in your home (pooping under furniture where it's difficult to clean, areas where your piggies could get stuck or hurt, etc.), you might consider getting the largest pet exercise pens you can find and use it for floor time. Alternatively, you might consider using a room of your house that does not have carpet, such as your kitchen or bathroom, for floor time.

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Romanesco Cauliflower?

Have you ever heard of fractals? They are these math things where humans use numbers to generate pretty pictures. (I know that's not a very good explanation, but I'm a guinea pig, not a mathematician.) The humans recently brought us back a type of food that looks like a fractal. So, in this post, we're going to eat the vegetable version of a fractal.

Romanesco cauliflower, also known as romanesco broccoli, is safe for guinea pigs to eat. It is a type of cauliflower, which should only be fed to us sparingly 1-2 times per week because it's a very gassy food.

Look at that thing! 

It's delicious!

Romanesco cauliflower is really good, and it gets 5/5 stars!

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Bok Choy?

Bok choy (AKA Chinese cabbage, bok choi, pak-choi, etc.) can be safely fed to guinea pigs. Bok choy can be fed to us 1-2 times a week, but should be fed sparingly because it's a gassy food.

Munch, munch, munch...

Broccoli, it looks like you've got a green beard! (I'm sure that won't last long.)

Leave me alone, Lola! Stop trying to steal the last piece of bok choy from my mouth!

Bok choy is delicious, although because it's such a gassy food, the portion sizes left a bit to be desired. We'll give bok choy 4/5 stars!

Guinea Pig Christmas

Merry Christmas, everyone! We're going to let our recent contest winner, Poko, be the main feature on this holiday post. We hope Santa was as kind to you this year as he was to Poko! 

Poko is one happy pig this Christmas!

How did you celebrate the holidays with your humans this year? Tell us in the comments section below :)

Ask A Guinea Pig: Portion Sizes

Katrina VanZandt asks: "How much is the 'small portion' you mention in some of your food reviews?"

How much more can you feed us? Hopefully, a lot more than this!

Answer: Our favorite food chart says that all foods that they list are in 100 gram portions unless otherwise noted. Examples of these exceptions to the rule include, but are not limited to: Basil (25 grams), Parsley (25 grams), and strawberries (5 small ones). Guinea pigs should get about a cup of veggies per day total, with their diet breaking down roughly into the following proportions: 50% hay, 40% veggies, 10% pellets. If your guinea pigs are eating more veggies than hay, then they are not having a balanced diet.

So what about those foods where we say "small portions" or "feed sparingly?" Obviously, you're going to want to give far less than the 100 gram portion, and probably even less than the 25 gram portion. For most fruits (which have a lot of sugar), you'll only want to feed about 1 cubic inch. For a food like banana that you have to be very careful with, you should only feed about a 1/4" inch cube to be on the safe side.

Cavy Savvy Wins An Award

We're proud to announce that we are the winners of the Carrot Decorating Contest, held on Muffin's human's blog! Guinea pig Muffin held a great contest that we entered by carving a carrot into the shape of a seahorse. We're delighted to hear that our seahorse-shaped carrot got FIRST PLACE!

You can see a list of all the entries and winners here: http://bonkersinbarnhart.com/winners-of-the-great-carrot-decorating-contest/

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Oakleaf Lettuce?

Oakleaf lettuce is safe for piggies to eat. While this specific type of lettuce is not on our favorite food chart, all other types of lettuce can be fed almost daily, so it's probably safe to assume this applies to oakleaf lettuce as well.

I think there's a subtle struggle for dominance between Broccoli and Lola. I'm trying to keep my distance.

Leave my food alone! I don't see you doing this to Broccoli! 

I'm going to eat facing this way from now on.

Oakleaf lettuce is delicious. You know you've got a good food when Lola tries to steal it from you. 5/5 stars!

December 2012's Cavy Savvy Winner Is...

We used a random number generator to choose today's winner, and the winner is ...Beth E.! Beth is Poko's human, who you may recall was the winner of a previous contest where they won a cape. That's one lucky pig!

Poko will receive:

• The guinea pig stocking from Cuddly Cavy Creations
• The guinea pig beanie baby ornament 
• A bag of Oxbow Simple Rewards Veggie Treats (our favorite treat!)

Thanks to everyone who entered! If you didn't win, remember that we will be having lots of new contests in 2013, so keep reading the blog for your next chance to win.

Guinea Pig Holiday Giveaway: Now Giving More Away!

There is still one more day to enter the Guinea Pig Holiday Giveaway, so go ahead and enter if you haven't already. If you haven't entered yet, here's another reason to: we're adding another prize!

Look at what you can win!

The new prize is this adorable guinea pig tree ornament! Your piggies will definitely get into the holiday spirit with the guinea pig stocking and tree ornament. In addition, we've decided that the bag of treats that we will give away will be Oxbow Simple Rewards Veggie Treats.

We draw the winning name sometime tomorrow evening. Good luck, and thanks for following the blog!

Ask A Guinea Pig

Guess what, humans? We're launching a brand new segment on our blog called "Ask A Guinea Pig"

Professor Pig is here to answer your questions

That's right, every week (or so), we're answering your questions about our guinea pig ways. Ever wonder...

• Why we wheek even after you give us food and attention?
• Why we like to sniff around during floor time?
• What's our opinion on the best type of cage toy?
• What do we think about the portrayal of guinea pigs in the media?
• Why do we like to pee in inappropriate places?

Here's your chance to ask us about anything you've ever wanted too know about what makes us tick. Just reply to this post with your question and we'll post our answer. 

Guinea Pig Holiday Giveaway

The holidays are just around the corner, so it's time for another giveaway to thank our loyal readers. (Quick review: loyal readers get 5/5 stars!) The prize is an incredibly cute stocking with a guinea pig on it, courtesy of Cuddly Cavy Creations.

How cute is this? Just leave a comment, and this could be yours!

We could just have this alone be the prize and it would be a pretty good giveaway, but we're going to do better than that and sweeten the prize with treats! If you win, we will throw in a bag of treats we'll purchase with the money we've made when you bought Small Pet Select hay through our link. How's that for a stocking-stuffer?


Contest Rules:

• You must be a resident of the continental United States.
• You have to be a follower of this blog. To follow us, just click the "join this site" button on the right.
• To enter, leave a comment on this blog post expressing your interest in participating in the contest. 
• One winner will be chosen at random and announced on this blog on December 17th. Good luck!

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Tatsoi?

Did you see how Broccoli defied me on our recent post on broccoli (the food)? He's really put on weight since the humans first brought him in. Now, he's about as big as me, and I'm starting to worry that he's going to challenge my dominance. I don't want him to know I'm worried, though, so I'm just going to act like it's no big deal for this review.

Today, we're reviewing tatsoi, which is another food the humans brought us back from the farmer's market. Guinea pigs can eat tatsoi, but we weren't able to find any information on how often, so you should probably feed it to us sparingly until better information is available.

Normally, I'd push you out of the way, but I'm feeling nice today. Go ahead and have a piece.

Am I acting strange? Maybe I'm just filled with the holiday spirit or something.

Mmm... This is good. What were we talking about?

Tatsoi is green, crunchy, and delicious. We're giving it 5/5 stars!

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Starfruit?

Star fruit, also known as carambola, can be fed to guinea pigs 1-2 times per week in moderation. Have your humans cut off any hard parts of the skin first.

Oh, now I see why it's called starfruit!

Which piece do I want?

Lola, you're such a hoarder! Look at how you eat one piece with your foot on another one!

Starfruit was tasty, but it was another food that we got bored of. We would eat a piece, get bored, wander off, munch on hay, and then eventually get back to it. With other foods like carrots, there are no long breaks in the middle. We'll give starfruit 3.5/5 stars.

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Broccoli?

We've been lazy piggies lately, and we'd like to apologize to Ashley for not posting. We'll make it up to you by posting about broccoli like you requested.

This is the food that Broccoli got his name from. We can eat broccoli 1-2 times per week; it should only be fed to us sparingly since it's a gassy food. We can also eat broccoli leaves, although they're high in vitamin A, so they should be fed sparingly also.

Hey, I'm named after that food!

Can I get in there?

Lola noses me out of the way twice, but I manage to grab a piece anyway!

Broccoli (the food) gave me the strength to stand up to Lola. It's really delicious. Broccoli gets 5/5 stars!

Black Friday Guinea Pig Deal

Our humans wanted to alert you to a pretty great Black Friday deal on guinea pig hay- and you won't even have to leave your home to elbow other humans out of the way to redeem it!

For one day only…Small Pet Select is offering a full 25% off discount on our 8lb timothy hay product for guinea pig owners. This promotion is starting now and running through midnight November 23rd (Black Friday). Keep in mind we don’t discount our products often…so don’t miss your chance to try the best quality timothy hay for guinea pigs at a rock bottom price that….well…we simply can’t make available for long!

*To redeem this offer, go to their hay page by clicking here and choose the 8lb package of timothy hay. Then use the coupon code ‘guineapigfriday’ at checkout and you’ll save 25% on the purchase (and if you buy by clicking through the above link, you'll be supporting Cavy Savvy!)

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Thyme?

The humans decided that since Thanksgiving is tomorrow, they would feed us some more Thanksgiving-inspired herbs. You can feed us thyme 1-2 times per week. You can feed us the stems as well as the leaves.

Today we tried thyme, and frankly, I don't know what to think. It's green, but tastes much stronger than other green foods we've tried before.

The heck is this?!

I tried some and ate it enthusiastically but then wandered away. Then I saw Buffy and Broccoli were still eating it, so you know I had to go and claim some more. But then Buffy got bored and wandered off, too.

We're lukewarm on this food. We give it 3/5 stars. It's nice to eat a nibble or two, but after that we become disinterested.

Product Review: Vitakraft Eco-Bedding

Longtime readers of Cavy Savvy might be asking themselves, "Didn't you piggies already review Eco Bedding?" As it turns out, the Eco Bedding we reviewed last time was Fibercore Eco Bedding, and this is Vitakraft Eco-Bedding. Aside from the brand name, is there any difference between the two?

Broccoli, you weren't around when we reviewed the other Eco Bedding. Let me tell you all about it...

One obvious difference is the color: It's a very eye-catching shade of blue. (It also comes in brown and purple)

Looks like someone put the sky through a shredder and lined our cage with it.

When we tried the other Eco-bedding, we found that it was scary to walk on something that was so crinkly. Now that we're a year older and wiser, we don't find crinkly bedding as scary as we used to. We're still terrified of humans sneezing, however! How do their noses make such scary noises?

Speaking of humans sneezing, this litter wasn't dusty, which was a good thing. It's also made from natural, recycled materials, which is nice. One of the problems we had with this bedding was that it would get everywhere, and we had to hear the humans complain about sweeping up the floor around our cage in addition to changing the litter in our cage. It was also not as absorbent as the Sunseed Fresh World Bedding (also made by Vitakraft). But overall, this is pretty good litter. 4.5/5 stars!

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Rosemary?

Thanksgiving is right around the corner, which could be good news for our fellow guinea pigs. The humans go a little crazy with the food, and if you're lucky, some of it could trickle down to us. We'll give you the scoop on what's delicious and what you should turn your nose up at. Make sure you read our reviews of cranberries, pumpkins, and green beans if you haven't already.

Today, we're going to be reviewing rosemary, which many humans use in stuffing. Rosemary is high in calcium, and so should only be fed sparingly to us about once a week.

I like it!

Now I'm bored. You go ahead, Broccoli.

Rosemary is good and smells really interesting, but it's the kind of thing you get bored of quickly. If your humans offer you some during Thanksgiving, be sure to nibble on it, but be smart and save room for other things. 3/5 stars!

Product Review: Oxbow Organic Barley Biscuits

Last time I was at the vet for a trim, the humans saw a new type of Oxbow treat, and we absolutely had to have it!

Oxbow treats in a green bag? I'm intrigued!

Hey, feed me, not Lola! 

That's better! Yum! I love Oxbow treats!

The humans fed us on their lap, one by one. They do this because Lola has a nasty habit of stealing food, and we will often run away with our treats back to our pigloos to eat them, which does not make for good blog pictures. All three of us loved these new treats. They're delicious, they're organic, and they're the perfect size for the humans to hold them out for us without risk of nipping their fingers. 5/5 stars!

Guinea Pig Product Warning: Exercise Balls

We were browsing the guinea pig products on Amazon.com this morning, and came across this:

It says: "Super Pet Giant Guinea Pig Run-About 11-1/2 Inch Exercise Ball"

When you click on the product and zoom in, you can see that the package actually says it is for Chinchillas, Rats, and "other small mammals," but does not specifically mention guinea pigs. However, Amazon.com's product description says: "For pet rats, guinea pigs, chinchillas or other small animals." By labeling this as a guinea pig product on their search page and product description, Amazon.com is doing a disservice to guinea pig owners. As guineapigcages.com's toy page points out, you should not use large exercise balls because: "These are very bad for guinea pigs and can cause crippling injuries to their back, feet, and toes."

Of course that doesn't mean we don't like exercise! We greatly benefit from at least one hour of supervised floor time per day. Just, you know, not in a giant ball.

Although many people have already done so, feel free to leave a 1-star review for this product on Amazon.

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Cauliflower?

Guinea pigs can eat cauliflower, but like bananas, you've really got to take it easy on this one for our health. Cauliflower is a gassy food, and should be fed to us sparingly no more than 1-2 times per week. 

Lola has a bad habit of stealing the food from right under my nose!

Lola has stolen so much of my food that she weighs enough to step on a plate and lift the food towards her!

I might not be able to stop you from stealing my food, but I can certainly give you dirty looks!

Cauliflower is delicious. Unfortunately, whenever we have delicious foods, Lola feels the need to steal mine! Why can't we all just share and play nice? Cauliflower almost gets a perfect score, although we're deducting half a star because the health concerns from overfeeding us it. 4.5/5 stars!

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Parsnips?

Readers of this blog know how much we love carrots, so when we heard we'd be trying parsnips, which looks like a white carrot, we got excited. One source claims we can have parsnips 1-2 times per week, while another says 2-3 times per week; to be on the safe side, we're going to recommend no more than twice per week.

Broccoli, did you get bored of parsnips already? Oh well, more for me!

Now I'm getting a little bored, too.

Humans, would you like our leftovers?

Parsnips may look like a lot like carrots, but they don't taste like them. They only get 3/5 stars.

Product Review: Gorgeous Guineas Posh 'n' Go Shampoo

The humans gave me another bath today. I don't like baths at all! It's uncomfortable and scary being surrounded by water, and I still think it's no fair that Lola and Broccoli don't have to put up with these frequent baths.

The humans did something different with this bath. In the past, they used Johnson & Johnson's baby shampoo on me, until the news came out that it may contain toxins. I demanded that the humans find a safer alternative if they insist on this cruel ritual of getting my fur wet. According to the guinea pig message boards, Gorgeous Guineas has the best guinea pig shampoos out there, so I told them to order it. Gorgeous Guineas has a lot of options to choose from; since I have long hair, the humans ordered the Posh 'n' Go.

The shampoo costs £9.50, which, with shipping, came out to $25.55 in U.S. dollars, plus a $0.76 "international purchase transaction fee." For legal reasons, the humans also had to "sign" a disclaimer before they would ship it to the U.S.; signing it consisted of sending an email saying they agreed to their terms and conditions. After all this, here is what they got:

Is this supposed to make me like bath time? It won't work.

It smells really nice, but I'm still not happy about this.

I want out!

Time to dry off!

All dry now and in my clean cage!

Bath time is never fun, no matter what shampoo your humans use. But, if you can't avoid being bathed by your humans, Gorgeous Guineas will leave you smelling nice afterwards, and you won't have to worry about toxins. I suppose I'll give Gorgeous Guineas 5/5 stars for being a great product, even though I hate bath time.

Product Review: Sunseed Fresh World Bedding

Long-time readers probably already know that we switched to fleece bedding for our main cage. However, when we got Broccoli, we needed a bigger cage; guineapigcages.com says three guinea pigs need 10.5 square feet minimum, and 13 square feet is preferable. So, we turned Broccoli's cage into an extension for the main cage. The humans haven't bought fleece for Broccoli's cage, so we still use regular bedding for it (generally Carefresh).

We recently received a complimentary bag of Sunseed Fresh World Bedding to review, and the humans replaced the Carefresh in Broccoli's cage with it.

I see a guinea pig on the front. That's a good sign.

Feels nice.

I could get used to this.

Here's what we think about this bedding:

• Odor - It did a great job of controlling odors. Maybe because it contains baking soda.
• Color - We liked the earthly color of it.
• Dustiness - This bedding didn't kick up a lot of dust. It was heavy and stayed in the cage, which the humans appreciated.
• Price/Value - The bag we got would have been about $4-$5, and was mostly used up in one use (lasts about one week).
• Easy to Clean - The humans didn't complain any more than usual about scooping up the dirty litter.
• Fun - We found it pretty fun to walk on.
• Natural - This litter was made from recycled materials and didn't contain any nasty chemicals.

We give it 5/5 stars!

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Kale?

We've tried kale before in frozen veggie cubes, but never reviewed it on its own up until now. Kale should only be fed to us sparingly 1-2 times per week because it's very high in vitamin A. That said, if you keep the proportions small and space it out, we think kale makes a great treat.

Yum! Why haven't we reviewed kale earlier?

No, I want the last piece!

What do you mean I can't have any more because it's high in vitamin A? It's tasty and I want it!

Other than the fact it's high in vitamin A so we can't eat it very often, we have nothing bad to say about kale. It makes a great occasional treat for your guinea pig. 5/5 stars!

Happy Guinea Pig Halloween!

Happy Halloween, everyone! This year, we decided not to dress up in our Halloween costumes, since in general, we don't like to wear anything for more than a minute before deciding to scurry out of it.

But we did want to say a special Thank You to the three Cavy Savvy followers who clicked on and purchased hay from our sponsor, Small Pet Select. 100% of the money we earn goes right back to you guys in the form of giveaways!

We've already got a winter giveaway planned and will be announcing it soon. Until then, thank you for reading our blog and supporting us!

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Bonbon Squash?

Here at Cavy Savvy, we like to take advantage of the fruits and vegetables that each season has to offer. In the fall, that means pumpkins and other squash. Today, we're trying bonbon squash, a type of winter squash. As with all winter squash, we can have bonbon squash 2-4 times per week.

Bon bon squash. Cut it open, scoop out the seeds, and feed us the orange part.

The best way to get into the fall spirit is to eat fall foods!

Shh! Don't tell Lola about this piece I took out of the bowl.

Unlike sunshine squash, no one got bored of bonbon squash, so it gets 5/5 stars!

Guinea Pigs In Costume

Here are a few more winners from our last contest:

Wilbur.

Herman.

Chester the stuffed guinea pig.

Thanks to Susan and Andrew for sending us these dashing pics of the winners. If you haven't already, be sure to follow Cavy Savvy to be in the know when we hold our next giveaway. Also, be sure to buy hay from our Small Pet Select link on the right to help fund our giveaways.

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Sunshine Squash?

Sunshine squash is a type of winter squash, and we're allowed to have winter squash 2-4 times per week. It can be hard to cut through, so tell your humans to be careful when cutting it. Also tell them to scoop out the seeds before feeding it to us.

No, that's not a pumpkin. It's a sunshine squash.

Yum!

Broccoli, where are you going? Oh well, more for me!

Buffy and I really enjoyed sunshine squash. Broccoli did at first, then got bored, but then eventually came back to see if there was anything left on the plate. We'll give sunshine squash 4.5/5 stars!

Product Review: Super Pet Comfort Harness and Stretchy Stroller

The humans were digging through the closet the other day, and found one of the worst products we have ever tried. While we'd rather not think about the day the humans got us the so-called "Comfort Harness" from Super Pet, we feel like other guinea pigs need to be warned: If you see your humans with one of these things, wheek for your life!

Avoid this thing like a lemon!

A while ago, the humans saw this thing in the pet store, and thought it would be fun to put it on me. Being the dominant pig, I wasn't afraid at first. However, once they started to put it on, I was terrified! It was uncomfortable and constricting, like a big hawk just grabbed me in its talons. I wheeked at the top of my lungs and wiggled free. The humans quickly realized they made a mistake put the harness away. I ran and hid from them, unsure of whether I could trust them anymore. They apologized and offered carrots, and I was too upset to even eat them. (Okay, that didn't last long. But given how much I love carrots, that should tell you how upset I was!)

Lucky for us, our humans were smart enough not to press the issue once I made it clear how much I hated the "comfort" harness.

According to Guinea Pig Today, "Guinea pig bone structure isn’t meant for an activity like walking on a leash and they can be injured." The wording on the package is ambiguous as to whether the leash is really meant for guinea pigs. It has a photo of rabbits wearing the leash, and says for "other furry friends" and "your critter", but as a guinea pig, I'm telling you I hate it! 1/5 stars!

200th Post!

We made it to our 200th post! In honor of our great achievement, we're going to eat the number 200 out of romaine lettuce, plum, and old cucumber.

200th post! Woo-hoo!

Give me that zero, Buffy! Give it!

We recently reached 100 followers, 100,000 page views, and now 200 posts. We'd like to thank all our loyal readers for making this possible. We hope you'll stick with us for the next 200 as well!

Guinea Pig Shaming

Have you guys checked out this awesome guinea pig Tumblr? http://guineapigshame.tumblr.com/

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Green Beans?

Here's another food that the humans got us from the farmer's market: green beans. Green beans can be fed to us 2-4 times per week, but only 1-2 per piggy at a time because they are high in oxalic acid.

Broccoli is getting big! I'm going to move my green bean over to Buffy's side. I feel safer with it there.

Yum!

Green beans are delicious and crunchy, and we give them 5/5 stars!

Toys for Guinea Pigs: Oatmeal Containers

The fine folks at guineapigcages.com are full of great toy ideas, and today we tried another one: oatmeal containers. They recommend slicing the oatmeal container lengthwise so piggies don't get stuck in them, but we used a large enough one that this precaution wasn't necessary. Keep this in mind if you use a smaller container, however.

What's this new toy?

Hi Broccoli! Hi Lola!

Crawl through, or chew the edges? Hmmm...

I can fit through it despite my texel curls.

I see you, human!

Since oatmeal containers are fun to chew on and to walk through, we give them 5/5 stars!