What You Should Do

Moving pets is a delicate process. Can they go in the moving van? Can you ship them by air? Are they allowed to stay with you in a hotel. We have listed some guidelines when you move with a pet.

Learn To Plan Ahead: If your have a long move ahead of you that will require travel by air, make the necessary arrangements so your pet can travel in the air with you. Airlines have certain rules that you must follow when you ship them. Normally they can travel in the cargo hold. Some small pets will be allowed access to the cabin and can travel with you.

Purchase A Quality Pet Carrier: Airlines will require that you bring a carrier that is of a certain size. You will need to make sure your pet can turn around inside the the carrier. Also you should know that you cannot transport a pet during the summer.

Schedule An Appointment With Your Vet: Your vet will know your pet very well and you can give you certain tips and guidelines as well. He may even prescribe some sort of tranquilizer for you.

Take Your Pet On Short Drives: If you pet is not used to driving a, this is the perfect time to take them on short drives. This will get them acclimated to driving around in your vehicle.

Keep Them Out Of The Way: While you are loading all of your belongings in the moving van, keep your pet in a quiet placed right up until your ready to go.

Find A New Vet: One of the first things you should to when you arrive in your new destination is to locate a new vet.

Long gone are the days of overcrowded cages and cramped conditions. If you want a healthy litter you need to provide good basic care. Contrary to popular belief, they only breed if they are well fed, clean and healthy. Sick pets do not want to have anything to do with the opposite sex.

VARIETIES

They are originally from South America. They have been selectively bred in captivity and they now occur in a variety of colours as well as having three distinct types of coat; the smooth-haired or English, the rough-haired or Abyssinian, and the long-haired Peruvian.

The comfortable size and weight of guinea pigs, together with their gentle, docile nature, means they continue to remain popular as children’s pets. It is very rare for a guinea pig to bite and while the smaller, more agile rodents, such as the gerbil, may prove difficult to handle, the guinea pig can be lifted competently even by young children.

ACQUIRING A CAVIE

The young are born, usually in rather small litters, fully furred, able to move around and with their eyes open. In two or three days they begin to eat solid food such as fine oatmeal.

They are mature enough to be adopted into their new home at the age of four to five weeks and since they are gregarious animals, it is best to keep more than one; a boar with several females for breeding, otherwise two sows.

FEEDING

These are entirely herbivorous animals which thrive on a diet of fresh vegetables, grass, hay and a cereal-based mash with some bran. The mash may be wholemeal bread with milk, or crushed oats and bran softened to a crumbly consistency with hot water or milk. Vitamin C and green food is essential. Guinea pigs must be offered fresh drinking water in a drip-feed bottle. Sometimes they will be seen to drink thirstily, whereas at other times they seem to take all the water they need through grazing.

ACCOMMODATION

The most suitable accommodation for guinea pigs is a good rabbit hutch. Two or three guinea pigs will need one measuring a minimum120 x 60 x 50 cm (48 x 24 x 20 in). It will have to be moved into a warm outhouse for added protection in severe weather and furnished with lots of straw for bedding.

EXERCISE

An indoor box and an outdoor ark should be provided for exercise. Do not keep guinea pigs on wiremesh as this surface may cause sore hocks and mouths.

GENERAL CARE

The fur may be groomed with a brush or a non-scratch comb. Groom the way the fur grows and do not try to make the rosettes of fur on an Abyssinian lie smooth. The long-haired Peruvian guinea pig is clearly the most difficult variety to keep as a pet, but if kept with a companion of the same breed, each will do the other the service of gnawing off very long hair.