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About Nicole Bury
Expertise
I can answer every question anyone has! I am always willing to hit the books for other owners! I and my husband between me have 6 guinea pigs and one expecting, that we intend to keep 2 of. I can help with idle questions, everyday problems to serious health problems but I always sugget seeing a vet!

Experience
I have had 14 guinea pigs in my life with more to come. I have volunteered at the local shelter just to work with the small animals on a weekly basis and I have been to countless vets to soak up there advice, as well as looking in my 50 something books on guinea pigs. I know almost everything I can wrap my head around about guinea pigs! Sometimes my husband, who is an exotic bird vet/guinea pig fanatic helps me with the questions to!

Organizations
I belong to S.A.R.S. BC. It stands for Small Animal Rescue Shelter.

Publications
The Vancouver sun.

Education/Credentials
I have taken community courses for pet care, including small animals, but I have not been to school formal education (I am not a vet). Currently I am in the process of becoming a published author and I have my degree in creative writing. Someday I will have my masters. I teach local classes for advanced creative writing and literature for teens.

Awards and Honors
I have had my writing published in the paper for the fourtenth time about animal pet care facts. Nothing big, just me and a few other writers.

You are here: Experts > Animals/Pets > Exotic Pets > Guinea Pigs > guinea pigs

Guinea Pigs - guinea pigs

Expert: Nicole Bury - 11/2/2009

Question
my guinea dont evn touch water..they luv eating grass and tomatoes and apples and guavas and lettuce etc.. maily grass.. they jst dont like to drin water.. evn installed a water bottle in their cage bt nothng new happened. They stll didnt drink water. Other than that , they shed a lot of hair not a lot but whenever i stroke them atleast 9-12 strands of hair pull out. I am also worried as one of my guinea pigs earlier had a whitish tinge n her urine but now it is sometimes rusty red or orangish red colour..i am worried..cn u please tell me what to do?

Answer

My guinea pigs water b

First of all, good for you for being observant! This goes a long way in keeping your piggies healthy.

I am quite shocked at the number of responses claiming that pigs don't need water. Yes, they do! My piggies, on average, drink 4 ounces of water per day each. Some drink more! They also get water from their veggies. Unfortunately water from vegetables isn't enough.

If you are putting Vitamin drops in the water, STOP. They will refuse the water sometimes because they don't like the taste. Also make sure that you are putting the water bottle at just the right height, and that it is room temperature.

You wouldn't want your piggies to become dehydrated, so you may need to syringe her some water. You can buy a 1 cc syringe at any drug store. Use this to get some water into them until you are sure she's drinking on her own. I used a regular non-permanent marker to mark the water level on the side of the bottle at night to see how much has been consumed when morning comes back when Rhinestone (my guinea pig, R.I.P.) had cancer just in case she wasn't drinking properly.

If you use the syringe, put the tip all the way back to the molars and GENTLY push the plunger so just a few drops come out. Do NOT force the plunger quickly or the water will shoot out & the piggies may inhale the water. This would be very bad.

I put in a picture of my own water bottle in my guinea pigs cage to give you an idea of how high to put the bottle.

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