Top Ten Gift Ideas for Guinea Pig Lovers

Guinea pig lovers are a unique group of people who often refer to themselves as "cavy slaves." Buying a unique gift for either the person or their pet will be greatly appreciated. While the selection of guinea pig gifts is much more limited than the selection of dog and cat gifts, some online shopping will bring up a large variety of guinea pig products. Just be careful to stay away from products that could be harmful to guinea pigs.

Top 10 Gifts:
1. T-shirts: Cavy slaves love t-shirts. Guinea pig rescues are a good place to look for cute t-shirt designs. Something that says "Cavy Slave", "I (Heart) Guinea Pigs", or has a cute guinea pig picture will probably go over well with any guinea pig lover. There are also shirts out there that say things like: "My Guinea Pig Can Beat Up Your Dog" or "My Guinea Pig Loves Her Two Mommies." These t-shirts can also be appropriate for the right person.

2. Calendars: Every guinea pig lover needs a guinea pig calendar! This is something you can find easily online, in a pet store, or often at a rescue as well.

3. Photo Mousepads: These are a big hit with anyone who uses a computer. You can buy photo mousepads with a guinea pig picture already on it from rescues, pet stores, online stores, etc. You can also easily find one of those mousepads where you have to insert a photo. That way the cavy slave you are shopping for can have a mousepad with their own pig's photo on it. If they send you tons of guinea pig photos all the time, you may also want to consider having one of the better photos made into a mousepad.

4. Guinea Pig Furniture: Yes, there really is furniture out there that is made specifically for guinea pigs! Guinea pigs love comfy chairs as much as you do. Make sure to buy two so the pair of piggies doesn't fight over the chair!

5. Cavy Jewelry: This is a harder one to find. I still haven't been able to find real gold cavy jewelry, but real silver jewelry is out there! Rescues tend to be the best resources for cavy jewelry.

6. Books: It can be hard to find good guinea pig books, so be careful on this one! I'd recommend going with the medical guides which are generally pretty good. Many people don't like to read these, so it depends on the person you are shopping for. I haven't found a single care guide book yet that I would recommend. Unfortunately, most guinea pig books contain loads of bad information.

7. Bumper Stickers: These are fun for the person who enjoys putting bumper stickers on their car. There are stickers out there similar to the t-shirt sayings available. There are also bumper stickers that say things like: "My Guinea Pig is Smarter Than Your Honor Student" or "Opt to Adopt! Save a Shelter Guinea Pig."

8. Garden Ornaments: If you know someone who likes garden ornaments, there are some great ceramic garden guinea pigs out there. Some are painted, some can be painted. If you know the person you are buying the gift for is artistic and would like to have many garden guinea pigs, you can even buy them a mold to make their own garden guinea pigs.

9. Upgrade the Cage: If the cavy slave you know doesn't quite have the proper accommodations yet for their piggies, consider buying them a cage. Make sure you know it will fit in their house and that they'll actually use it. This doesn't have to be an expensive present, but make sure to check out the references for proper cage size guidelines. Most guinea pig owners do not have their guinea pigs in a large enough cage.

10. Veggies: Okay, so if you bought $50 of veggies for your guinea pig loving friend, it probably wouldn't all be eaten before it went bad (unless of course, your piggie friend had lots of piggies!). Guinea pigs don't need those fancy treats, they actually enjoy fresh vegetables a lot more. A gift card to the grocery store would be appreciated especially by a frugal cavy slave. Veggies can really add up!

A Word of Caution About Dangerous Guinea Pig Gifts

Unfortunately, many companies make products for guinea pigs without really knowing enough about guinea pigs to do so safely. Even if a guinea pig is shown on the box of the product, it isn't necessarily a safe product for guinea pigs. Guinea pigs do not have the right kind of back to use exercise balls and wheels. Guinea pigs are also strict herbivores, so yogurt and cheese treats aren't going to be easily digested. Other foods can be choking hazards, especially those foods containing nuts and seeds. If you are uncertain about a gift being safe or not, there are many message boards out there to help you. Rescues are also generally far better at selling only safe products than pet stores. So if you're unsure of what to buy and a rescue is near you (or if their store can be accessed online) try looking around there first.

Guinea pig lovers will be surprised and touched that you were able to find such unique gifts for them. In the shopping process, you may just learn what the fascination with these little critters is all about!