Guinea Pigs! What, Where, and How 

Guinea pigs are very social animals, so always keep them in a group. At least two guinea pigs, better more. I have 27 of them at the moment. ;-)

For the Europeans out there, what Americans refer to as 'timothy grass' is tall meadow grass, the kind with the bushy flower heads.

You forgot one very important thing. It´s highly suggested to keep them in pairs. They are very social animals, who get bored easely, when they are alone. In Austria for example it is only allowed to sell then in pairs.

The guinea pig seems so calm in her hand

When my guinea hears food he screams Like really really loud He popcorns and screams and it's adorable

Pellets aren't actually a big part in their diet, 1/8 of a cup per piggie (so you should at least have a pair because they are herd animals, so thats1/4 a cup... I recommend oxbow) Hay is the largest part of their diet, it makes up 80%. The pyramid goes from hay, to veggies, to pellets, to fruit (going from greatest to least). Great vid sorry if I reapeated something about the hay because I didn't finish the vid yet.😊

I used to have guinea pigs, and something you didn't say in the video, but which basically every book I read and person I talked to stressed was to never only have one guinea pig alone. In fact, this is apparently so important that there are services that hire out guinea pigs so that when one of yours dies, you don't have to adopt a new one and basically can never not have guinea pigs from that point on...

The guinea pig also needs a friend of the same species. Too much broccoli can cause gas, that can later cause bloat. They also need hay 24/7. Calcium and miner chews are a big no no, they can easily get bladder stones.

My one guinea pig, Buttons, laughed, especially when Mom or I screwed up on the computer. He'd laugh and when we'd look at him. He turned away. It was like a comedy bit.

I'm from Peru and Guatemala and my family members from Peru are always like "when are you cooking it 😂"

I had guinea pigs from kindergarten to high school graduation, they are absolutely the best pets out there.

Oh, thank you so so much for linking me to this video! It answered all of my questions :D I'll share it, this is really helpful!

I absolutely loved our Guinea Pigs! We got them in a rescue centre down in Portsmouth when they were a Mum and Two kids- originally we just wanted two but the centre didn't want to split the mum and the babies up too soon, so we got the two baby girls as well! They made excellent pets and loved going out into their run. I'd say the estimate on their lives is pretty accurate- We got ours when I started secondary School and the last of them passed away a few months before my A2s.

I came for Kemosabe and stayed because of your enthusiasm and love for your work. Absolutely love your videos! Please keep making them!

I like you, you seem excited, passionate, and educated, without coming across like a psycho, which is a little rare when you're looking into pet care. Thanks and good job

I at first did not want a guinea pig, but my friend gave it to me and now I love them

Yeay, a new video! We love you Jessi! :3

Your videos always make my day, Jessi! :) Great job as always.

Firefly! Gorgeous piggy too.

Wonderful video! I had guinea pics for over 11 years until recently due to school and wish this had been around when I started out, such a good video for showing all the pig necessities :)

Can't get enough of your videos!

LOVED the breakdown of the taxonomy levels! It was so cool to get a little rundown of the criteria. I do have to admit I ate Cuy while in Peru (it was pretty good). I'll never forget seeing a huge mural of Christ and the Apostles eating Guinea Pig at the last super in a cathedral in Cuzco. Local converts had painted the mural, and it made perfect sense that a super as important as the last super would have included Cuy! Wonderful and informative as usual. Thanks Jessi!

Jessie, this made me cry. If only I had this information when I was young and had a guinea pig she would have been a lot happier. She was a good girl. Responsible sellers should recommend watching this video, thanks for your good work..

I had a couple of guinea pigs that lived for 5 years (the second/last of which passed away this past April) and they were terrified of lettuce. They were pretty weary of any vegetables, but they would freak out when they saw lettuce. My favorite thing was when they would make their little purring noise, it's so cute!

Thank you Jessie for spending time on animal classification in your videos. I find it useful to help to understand the complexity of each animal, their features and animal relationships. Also I teach grade 6 and we do a science unit on biodiversity each year. This year I showed your video on classifying rodents, featuring Kemosabe. Not only did they love it, but it added to their understanding of the levels of classifying and the different features scientists use to classify. Next year I intend to show them more. Thanks for creating such good content.

Great video, Jessi! Pickles is adorable :-)

Really interesting, Jessi. Since I have no intention of ever owning a guinea pig, I wasn't sure about watching this video, but the beginning was fascinating.

Thank you so much. It's an absolutely lovely and informative video

Actually, this is a really good primer for Guinea Pig care and ownership. Me and my partner have had dozens of Guinea Pigs over more than a ten year period. They're wonderful animals and great companions. I do have to say that the 5-7 year life expectancy is optimistic. Due to their genetics they tend to be susceptible to certain ailments. Even with quality food, a constant supply for fresh water, bedding, roomy enclosures and such we've found their lifespan to be in the 3-4 year range with rare specimens reaching 6 or so years. Both sexes show dominance toward peers though males are more aggressive when it comes to dominance. They will squabble from time to time and this is typically minor but I learned the hard way not to try and separate two males fighting for dominance with your bare hands. As was described in the video one needs a quality food FOR Guinea Pigs specifically. Don't buy Hartz or any of the crap foods that contain seeds or anything of the sort. Go to a local farm supply store and buy GP pellets in 20-50 pound bags. These are typically high quality foods and are much more economical ($7-12 for 50lbs.) than department store foods like you'll find at WalMart, some pet stores, and other outlets.

You're great! First video of yours I've seen. I have a guinea pig and I've had many goldfish, a few algae eaters and finches. My parents used to raise finches. :)

I love that shirt! I had a guinea pig one summer when my elementary school needed someone to take care of him. It scared my cat so bad the entire summer though so I never wanted one of my own permanently. I was sad to see him go back at the start of the new school year but also relieved so my cat would come sleep in my room again. :) - Heidi

My best friend in elementary school had seven guinea pigs. They were kept in cages in an area adjacent to her kitchen. The guinea pigs learned that the sound of the refrigerator door opening meant yummy things might be coming, so everytime they heard that noise, they'd all start "weeking!" Every time. It was hilarious and quite the cacophony!

Great video. Jessi.

I had Guinea pigs when i was younger and our eldest lived for 13 years!

I love that you mention getting guinea pigs from a shelter :)

This is really interesting. I'm glad you mentioned that guinea pigs can be found at shelters. When I went to adopt my kitty, I was surprised to find them there, and suspect that a lot of people don't know that guinea pigs can be adopted, just like dogs and cats. They were very affordable too. Only $15, which was a lot cheaper than the cat!

me and my sister are about to get a pair of two year old bonded male guinea pigs and Im so excited!

I have my own guinea pig and I like hearing about how to take care of them :)

Please do an episode on pet rats! They're really affectionate and playful little fuzzbutts. Unfortunately there are a lot of pet rats being kept in unhealthy situations - in glass aquariums or tiny hamster cages. Also, they really need a rat buddy or two as well as their human companion.

This was great! Thanks!

Cavy. It lives with one of it's kind already. I think she cares for animals well, and I like these videos :)

How to catch a Guinea Pig? We have a "wild" Guinea Pig living in our garden, he just was there one day (probably abandoned on the nearby highway). He eats our grass, we give him vegetables and he hides in our bushes. But because he lives in the wild, we can't clean his surroundings and he has a big ball of his own feces hanging on his hair behind him. And in our neighborhood there are a lot of people who own cats, so for his own well being we will need to catch him. But there are a few problems. 1) Guinea Pigs are really fast. 2) He is really scared of people, if we come with food he will take it out of our hands to his hiding spot, but he will hesitate for a while and with the smallest movement he will return to his hiding spot. (although he peeps when he is hungry so he trusts us enough to communicate)

I got to be honest, I would not be able to finish filming myself this video without hugging it and petting it. And at 2:26, I died of cuteness overload.

This was really well done.

Screaming is an understatement.... working at a vet office one of the techs had the bad idea to scruff the poor guinea pig... OH THE SCREAMS. It was hilarious and terrifying at the same time.

I love guineapigs, before I got them I had no idea what such big personalities they are, they're also incredibly smart mine tell me when they want the loo so no accidents. I take care of mine a little differently(bedding wise) but they're indoor pigs and VERY spoilt they have great food and love veggie time and have play time as well. I clean their 2 story cage every day I'll do the top half first and then I tell them to go upstairs by saying "Wee wee wee all the way home" ... makes me laugh every time XD They're very affectionate and LOVE attention but they are messy and can be expensive.

Wow, it's so cute when you just hold him in one hand like a ball of fluff :D

Guinie pigs are the Most precious tinny critters there is!!!! Mine developed a bladder stone, we have it removed, but it was to much for her, the next day she died! We still miss her so much, she was a very vocal little girl and she lived with my 2 bunnies. They have no cages so they get the whole room for themselves, but she knew the bunnies just got to the room door and she didn't care to go farter then that door!

This is the best channel in the world ! :D

Earned your self a new subscriber today!!😘

Jessi is so cute. The guinea pig is pretty cute too :)

I. Love. Your. Show. I am so envious of your incredible home full of your animal friends

Really good advice. Our children had two guinea pigs when they were young and we bought them from a pet store that had an adoption program with a local shelter. Kind of the best of both worlds- the proximity and support of a neighborhood pet shop while providing a home for two pigs in need. I'm telling you, find an adoption program first!! They usually have hundreds up for adoption in every city so any color, breed, temperament should be available!!!

I am thinking of getting a Guinea pig so thanks this was informational.

cute presentation, indeed, jessi + pickles. :)

Great video!!!

I babysat someone's Guinea Pigs one summer while they went on vacation and they could see our refrigerator from their enclosure. They ended up learning that's where we kept the fruits and veggies so every time we went to grab something from the fridge they would start begging for produce very loudly.

Nice video, I really liked the beginning.

We had a gorgeous rescue guinea pig, then we had three babies who grew old. When all but one had died we sent the last old lady to an old people's home for guinea pigs! This lovely lady took in lots of old lady guinea pigs (because they get v lonely on their own) and looked after them until they died - it was so cute!

OMG I love your firefly shirt!

Good video. Very articulate. I'm a 62 year old guy and gpigs are among my favorite animals. And yes, it is better to have two. Personally, I prefer fleece instead of bedding.

This is the kind of video a lot of people need. Maybe you could make something like this for all popular impulse pets, and include a grade from beginner to super mega don't even think about it expert care required level. That way, someone that's thinking about a pet can at least have some clue as to difficulty, and some basic information so they don't lose it day one. Not a bad idea for flashy exotics too. Some people fall in love with something shiny and impossible.

Great video that covers a lot! But you forgot to mention one very important thing: Guinea Pigs are social animals and need at least one companion to be truly happy. In nature, one male guinea pig lives in a harem with several female guinea pigs, so it's best to keep one sterilized male with two or more females. A bunny is not a good sole partner for your guinea pig, because even though their size and food is similar, their body language and social behavior are completely different. If your enclosure is big enough, you can keep several guinea pigs together with several bunnies, but never just one of each species! Also, a human can NEVER truly replace a conspecific, even if you spend all day with your guinea pig. If you've ever seen a group of guinea pigs interact with one another, you know that they're a lot happier in a group than alone. I've kept my first guinea pig alone, but now I have a group of five and they're so much more active, use a lot more diverse noises and sometimes even play with each other. They not only seem happier, but are a lot more interesting to watch, too! So please, if you only keep one guinea pig, consider getting a second one! As long as your enclosure is big enough and you don't try to put two males together (that haven't be sterilized), there should be no problems at all.

I have that shirt too! It's awesome!

Great episode on guinea pigs but I've got to admit, my favorite part was seeing the woot Serenity shirt. They need to offer that design on as many different items as they can.

She’s so cute awe

so cute!

So freaking cute! :3

Cuddles chatters all the time at max 😂

Now I really want a guinea pig! Too bad I'll be going off to college next year... Once I get my own place I'll definitely think about rescuing some guinea pigs!

Wow, after I watched this I clicked on "Amazing Guinea Pig Tricks" off to the side. I had no idea guinea pigs got that big; in the video there are a couple about the size of small chihuahuas. :)

Love Guinea Pigs :-) Have two of my own; Father and son; Chica and Yoda

My guinea pigs name is Pickles! I love vids like these

I would love to see an episode like this on Ferrets, they can be very tricky pets, but I would really love to have some. :)

I had 4 guinea pigs, 2 males that grew up together and the two sons of one of the older ones. The four where one silky teddy and three flat coated. Silkies are not allowed to be sold in Sweden anymore, because of inbreeding causing kidney failure, but at the time, I didn't know he was a silky. They had wood houses with the bark on them to eat and balls of wood and blocks of coarse hay. They lowed to throw around the metal hanger I hung carrots and apples on. As for low walls, one of my piggies actually jumped straight out of a 10l bucket when I was bathing him. They are not natural jumpers, but they can jump when threatened, apparently. I had to fish a soaped up guinea pig out from under the sofa. I was lucky that the baby brothers could stay together, but after I bred my teddy with a friend's female, he became aggressive towards his former friend. I ended up with three cages. They had to stand next to each other, because the guinea pigs would get distressed if they didn't see each other, but they culdn't be in the same cage. The cages were two 50 cm x 60 cm x 40 xm and one 100 cm x 60 cm x 40 cm. Draft is a high risk for guinea pigs. I lost one of the baby piggies to pneumonia because I didn't think about the Summer draft. He was only 2.5 years old. The other three I lost to stress (the teddy. He was almost 7, and stopped eating), old age (7.5 years old), and the third one I had to put down because a broken tooth had gotten infected and the vet thought it would cause unnecessary suffering to put a 7 year old guinea pig through surgery.

oh how wonderful! Can you talk about degus next time? Degus are the coolest pet ever - they are clever, tame, slightly mischievous, very social, they have vocabulary of 15 words and UV pee!

Great video! I learned a lot about the little cuties, like that they were originally raised for food. I just have to ask, can you teach us how to care for Fireflys? My favorite one didn't even last a year!

she deserves 1 million subs

Aaw I miss my little furball, she would always start squeling her head of if she heared the garage refrigirator open, which contained the veggies. (Her favourite was lettuce)

Amazing firefly tshirt!

Love the Firefly shirt :D

I'd love a pair of guinea pigs as a wedding present 😍

Geez you're really inspiring me

I'd love to see an episode on rabbits! I've been a rabbit owner for 10 years, and it breaks my heart seeing rabbits abandoned because no one knows how to properly take care of them

Interesting video. Never had guinea pigs growing up, but since the apartment I have bans dogs and cats (and ferrets), I've been thinking of getting one. Still on the fence, though this gave me a good idea of what to expect if I act upon it.

Pickles looks like my guinea pig, Spice! They're so cute! (≧∀≦)

So cute

I loved your video about guinea pigs with all the top speed info. The guinea pig looked pretty calm even though it was being moved about quite a lot while you talked. I wished that you had emphasised a bit more that guinea pigs, because they are herd animals must never be kept on their own. Perhaps your other animals keep it company - although I have been told by my local animal shelter not to keep guinea pigs with other pets such as rabbits in case the guinea gets kicked.

I live in Ecuador & I've eaten a few of these :D

liked this video! Just one thing to add. Guinea pigs strive on companionship and should not be kept alone as it can cause depression because they can't interact to the fullest with humans.

Thanks for passing out this great information! Especially the idea of getting one from,like, "the pound." Shouldn't people try to have more than one because they are social amongst themselves?

Is that ..Lemmiwinks? :O The legend never die.

FIREFLY T-SHIRT!!!!! as if I needed another reason to love your channel and what you do. You have now made it impossible for me to not like you.

hey this video is really good and says alot about the basic needs of a Guinea Pig. I would just like to say that Guinea Pigs love company so they should be with at least 1 other Piggie; males tend to be better in just pairs and sometimes threes. Females can live in pairs or in groups. You can also have a group of 1 neutered male and a female or females. The water bottle should be refilled at least once a day.

Very informative! I had 2 guinea pigs for years and this episode made me feel a little guilty, as I now realize didn't give them exactly the best care. Case in point: not changing the bedding often enough leads to foot infections :( Poor piggys

in North America 80% of a guinea pigs diet is Timothy Hay or alternatively Orchard Grass , 15% of the diet is fresh veggies, and then 5% is pellets

The ends so cute! XD

My guinea pig Zeus is really nice and every day i give him his favorite snack carrots

That Firefly shirt is awesome.

I used to have guinea pigs when I was younger. They are such great pets! I had two females,but after a month we found out one of them was actually male, so needless to say, there were some babies. They are such great parents! The male guinea I had was such a cutie, and a real gentleman. The female one was a bit of a bitch from time to time, so she was always the one eating first, and he would just walk around her making purring noises while she was eating. I used to take them out of their cage every day and they had a big blanket they were running around on. They loved human company, and loved crawling into my sweater while I was sitting on my computer. They used to lie around my neck, and they just stretched flat, ad lay down on their sides..