Pet supplies for guinea pigs/ hamsters

amother ↓

Tue, Sep 09 2014, 12:05 pm

We've just acquired a couple of pets, and now have 2 guinea pigs and a hamster. I'm looking for a cheap source of pet supplies. We use timothy hay, food pellets, litter, vitamin C drops, and chew toys/ treats. Petco online seems to have good prices, but is there a cheaper online or brick and mortar source that I should consider?

I'm also considering buying hay by the bale (I do have room to store a few bales). Has anyone tried this? If so, how does the quality compare to pet store hay? A garden center close by has bales weighing about 10 lb. for $10.95, while Petco's best price is a little over $2/ lb.

Amother because I've discussed this with friends in real life and would prefer not to out myself.

mummiedearest ↓

Tue, Sep 09 2014, 12:12 pm

I've never had a guinea pig, but I've had hamsters. give the hamster your paper recycling: newspaper, toilet paper tubes, etc. he will chew it into material useful for making a nest. you don't have to worry so much about hay. I think we used wood chips/litter, but we gave a small amount along with paper products. we never gave vitamin c or treats. we gave the hamster the veggie scraps from cooking, leftover salad from our plates, etc. we also gave her sunflower seeds and various seed/nut mixes.

↑ amother ↓

Tue, Sep 09 2014, 3:05 pm

Thanks mummiedearest. That's a good idea about giving hamsters paper for litter. Are the inks from newspapers safe for them?

I should have specified that the vitamin C and hay are for the guinea pigs. Guinea pigs can't make their own vitamin C the way hamsters can so they need to get it from their diet. Sometimes ours aren't interested in eating the vitamin C rich foods we give them, so that's why we supplement their water with vitamin C drops.

Hay is supposed to be the mainstay of the pigs' diet. Although my son has been feeding a little of it to the hamster too.

I know treats aren't necessary, but my kids like to spoil their pets.

Please respond with any ideas for sourcing these supplies cheaply.

↑ mummiedearest

Tue, Sep 09 2014, 3:50 pm

amother wrote:

I don't know about the ink, we just did it when I was a kid. I don't know if we looked into it. but cardboard boxes without ink shouldn't be an issue, afaik.

watergirl

Tue, Sep 09 2014, 3:53 pm

I've had a lot of guinea pigs. We always gave them alfalfa that we bought at the pet store. You can also just take a whole head of iceberg lettuce, chop it up into fourths and every day take one fourth of the lettuce and stick it on top of the cage. Guinea pigs love standing on their hind legs and reaching the lettuce.

↑ amother ↓

Tue, Sep 09 2014, 5:10 pm

The last posters are correct. Unless you want sick guinea pigs, they need good food. We had very healthy long-lived ones. Quality and kind of hay matters. We fed some pellet food( always kept some in the bowls), and lots of fresh food. They like the ends of lettuce, the tops of radishes, carrot scrapings or tips, and turnips, broccoli stems, string beans, etc. I found that the gricery store let me have 3-4 pea pods, the greenery from carrots that they throw away at the end of the day and so on free. You can tell the produce manager that you need a few damaged beans, stalks, and so on for them and they usually hand you stuff that they would otherwise toss. It can be ugly but not rotten.
I lined the cage with newspaper for years with no problems, and paper towel rolls are great toys. I got 3 little pieces of PVC ( less than 10.00) to make tunnels in the cage to play ( they like to hide ). Finally, most vets don't think you need to use vitamin drops in water because the C deteriorates quickly. The vitamins in food work but ask a vet to be sure ( here or IRL).
Anon because my friends all know this!

↑ amother

Wed, Sep 10 2014, 9:00 am

OP here. Thank you for all of the responses. If anyone has anything to add I'd appreciate that too.

Ruchel wrote:

Please google serius sites about rodents, treats, litter... most of the "common knowledge" is off

What sites would you recommend? Is there information posted here that's inaccurate?