Wild Guinea Pig? HELP!!

Apparently, there was a gerbil found in my dogs food bin. :weirdface My bf said he was soaking wet, so i'm guess he fell in the water bucket crawled out and got into the bin to escape my dog.

I haven't seen him yet, because i'm at work, but i guess he's healthy. Cranky, and a little bitey, but that's it. I'll inspect him when I get home. He's resting comfortable in a tub with some shavings, water, and food.

So, what do I do with him? Setting him free isn't an option, as i'm fairly certain it's already been "set free" ending up in my dogs food bin. Of course, feeding him isn't an option. Maybe I can wait to see if he has a good temperament and adopt him out? I don't know. What would you do? Just put him down? Seems a little extreme.

If I keep him for a little while, do I need to worry about the balls picking up his scent if he's kept in the same room as my rats? (After a quarantine period). :confused:

Let me re-phrase: feeding him to my snakes isn't an option. Of course, he will be fed himself.

Gerbils are non-native to the US, do NOT set him free. That's the only real advice I have. Either give him a home, find him a home, or put him down.

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Originally Posted by mainbutter

Gerbils are non-native to the US, do NOT set him free. That's the only real advice I have. Either give him a home, find him a home, or put him down.

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Absolutely, do not set it free.

I'm not going to set him free. I'm not crazy. Not that kind of crazy anyway. :rolleye2:

Maybe I'll take him to my trusted pet store. They can deal with him. We'll see how cranky he is when I get home. If he knows what's good for him, he'll be nice. But I can see how a 100 lb lab can put you into a bad mood.

After seeing it. I'm guessing it's a baby guinea pig? It's probably the size of a medium rat. He's pretty frightened right now, and doesn't want to be messed with. But, I don't think it comes close to a gerbil or hamster. Thoughts?

http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._7934286_n.jpg

It has more of an elongated face than a rodent. And the poor thing is skin and bones. :tears: HE's eating well though, and seems to be alert.

Definitely not a gerbil, it looks like a guinea pig to me! But maybe a teddy bear hamster? I don't know hamsters, I just know gerbils.

That is defiantly a piggie. They are vegetarians and require a variety of fruits(oranges) and they like good quality lettuce, parsley, and pellets.

Thats a guinea pig haha they are pretty sweet little guys

How old do you think he is? He's pretty small for a guinea pig. Will he need special nutrients being so young?

He really didn't like the dog food, but loved some whole grain cheerios. Looks like i'm going to have to make a store run. I'm not stocked for vegetarians.

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Originally Posted by stratus_020202

How old do you think he is? He's pretty small for a guinea pig. Will he need special nutrients being so young?

He really didn't like the dog food, but loved some whole grain cheerios. Looks like i'm going to have to make a store run. I'm not stocked for vegetarians.

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But how can you say "No" to that face?

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Originally Posted by Shirkan

But how can you say "No" to that face?

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I guess he's kinda cute. Maybe more when he dries off a bit. He's still pretty soaked. I tried to dry him off a little, but he attacked the towel. Poor guy. He's scared to death! Some rest and relaxation will do him some good i hope.

Yeah let him relax, how skinny is he? like you can feel all his ribs and bones?

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Originally Posted by Shirkan

Yeah let him relax, how skinny is he? like you can feel all his ribs and bones?

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I can easily see his bones. But, he was pretty soaked. We'll see how he looks when he's dried off. He squeaks at me when I talk to him. Like a rumbling squeak. I guess a high pitched guinea pig sound.

They squeak when they are hungry, or when the want a treat. You got any little bitty carrots? They love those!

I have some mixed veggies for the beardies. I'll try some of those. His ears have that squished look. Like they just opened. He makes my heart melt. You don't think someone tossed him in my yard on purpose do you? How many babies to guinea pigs have? Should I go look for more?

If I remember right, they only have one or two at a time. They're basically born fully developed and ready to run.

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Originally Posted by stratus_020202

I have some mixed veggies for the beardies. I'll try some of those. His ears have that squished look. Like they just opened. He makes my heart melt. You don't think someone tossed him in my yard on purpose do you? How many babies to guinea pigs have? Should I go look for more?

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Well I live in KS too, not too far from Topeka actually. Don't really know the state too well just moved here from California but I don't think there are wild guinea pig colonies running around here lol. So someone for sure threw that poor guy out on purpose. Kinda sad they are really cool animals.

It's also possible it escaped. I see a lot of ads on craigslist because their kid was playing with their rabbit/guinea pig/cockatiel/sugar glider/ferret/you name it outside and the thing got curious and scurried off.

My cat got out recently and I've been looking through all the pounds and shelters for her, surprisingly enough they seem to find a lot of 'stray' gerbils and hamsters around here :O bizarre.

OH it is so cute! I miss my little bed-head guinea pig "Puff". :P
If s/he ever warms up to you, they make the cutest sound ever when they are happy.. almost like a cat's purr :)
Their bites hurt like hell though..

It either escaped, or someone dumped an unwanted litter outside.

Guinea pigs aren't hard to take care of, just google around for the information you need. If you have no intention of keeping it long term, I'm sure someone who wants a guinea pig would look favorably on your situation and take him/her in.

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Originally Posted by Kymberli

Their bites hurt like hell though..

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Lol. Let's hope I never find out. I'll keep him/her for a little bit. See how it settles down. At least so it's healthy again. Then will look at some adoption options. I hope nobody dumped it. Churns my stomach. It happens though. At least it's somewhere good now. :) I'll get some info on it, maybe call the vets office and get him a visit. He's sleeping now. Poor guy is worn out.

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Originally Posted by stratus_020202

Lol. Let's hope I never find out. I'll keep him/her for a little bit. See how it settles down. At least so it's healthy again. Then will look at some adoption options. I hope nobody dumped it. Churns my stomach. It happens though. At least it's somewhere good now. :) I'll get some info on it, maybe call the vets office and get him a visit. He's sleeping now. Poor guy is worn out.

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It's insane that people can be okay with dumping animals. It makes me sick every time I think about my late Akita/Chow/German Shepherd. We had found him, along with 9 litter mates, shoved into a small box and thrown into a dumpster behind some buildings left to die. Thank god we heard their little cries :( PUPPIES... poor innocent little fluffy puppies.

i used to own a guinea pig stratus and my 3 biggest recommendations is
1st - once the little critter recovers/puts on weight & starts to get active, give the piggie as BIG of a living area as possible cuz they LOVE to do "laps" in their home...(a plastic kiddie pool with no slide is perfect). just put some bedding in there and a "house" for him to sleep in, amungst other safe chewable items for him to play with & a water source of course.
the 2nd thing is, guinea pigs bodies cannot naturally produce vitamin C so that is a supplementation need they have but it is easy to do, just make a salad of sorts with all kinds of goodies like veggies & fruits...
here is something that gives you a good food list to use...

guinealynx.info/fave.html

3rd - i was gonna get into the grass the little guy is gonna need but this will do just that for me...

guinealynx.info/forages.html

also here is something on behavior and the noises your likely to hear and what they mean...

guinealynx.info/behavior.html

there is one thing that is not mentioned there that i find necessary to share with you.
guinea pigs will make a noise that sounds like a high pitched "weeek". it is called weeking, sometimes whistling, although to my ears it is not a whistle. from my experience they do this when they're hungry and know food is coming, my piggie, as most do, figured out that his food was in a plastic bag and every time he heard plastic he started weeking, thinking he was getting food.
also i've heard my piggie do something that resembled grinding of teeth, kind of a clicking growl, if you will & since it sounded to me like a growl i took it to mean he was not happy. i may be wrong about that but to me a growl is a growl and it's distinctly different then the soft hum of a purr like one made by a happy cat for example.
well, i hope you find these bits of info helpful and i'm sure you'll find more by browsing the entire guinealynx.info site.
good luck with the little guy.

Pretty much covered most basics now. If your gp is making the growling sound, leave him/her alone. If you are thinking of keeping this baby, gp's do better in pairs(same sex) as the are pack animals. I used to have 4, they are the cutest, loudest critters!

DOH! :doh:
cant believe i forgot to mention that, lol.

Thank you guys so much for your help! He is a strange little creature. I've never had one before, and this is a total different experience from my scale babies. It's amazing how small he is compared to the pigs at the pet store.

He slept most of the day yesterday, but is more active today. He's a pretty noisy little creature. He weeks (sp?) when I talk to him, and he hears my voice. I can't decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I've gotten him to let me lightly touch him, but he doesn't seem to like it. Lol. I'll probably keep a hold of him until I know he's feeling 100%, and then adopt him out through my favorite pet store. He needs a good home with other piggies to play with :P

They are verrry talkative. They will let you know when they need/want something. You will need to clean the cage fairly often because they pee all the time(ammonia buildup). And they will let you know if they are mad, so just weeek/squeak is good. Also, they are fairly skittish so they might not come right to you or want to be picked up. You can coerce them with carrots or parsley and they might!

If you have trouble finding him a home, you can always turn to your local shelter, at least they can advertise more and hopefully find him a good home.