Our latest 2 guinea pigs - rescued from a life of birds and filth...

ACS Brisbane Shelter Manager Jessica recently found an advertisement for an aviary with free birds and guinea pigs included. When you hear the words ' birds with guinea pigs ' immediately thoughts of mange mite come to mind usually followed by filth and going on past rescues we didn't expect any less than what we found.

The two male guinea pigs were picked up by ACS responding to the classified ad and asking to take the guinea pigs separately. The two male guinea pigs are now at the shelter they were very frightened and skittish on arrival to the shelter although have now settled. The two boys would weigh around 400grams they area very tiny and their backbones are sticking out terribly. The two boys have now been treated for internal and external mites at the shelter and have been wormed. It will be some time before the boys will be available for adoption but with a balanced diet and some handling, a clean enclosure and a bit of love the boys will surely steadily gain condition and weight and be ready to find their new family in the future.

Guinea pigs should never be housed in enclosures with any sort of bird or chook. Birds quite often carry mange mite and static mite and when a guinea pig is infested with these mites they will lose their hair and weight and wounds will be found. Guinea pigs running along the base of an aviary is very un-hygenic and the bacteria from bird faeces and feathers will make a guinea pig very ill. The constant flight and movement of the birds in an aviary will also effect a guinea pigs behaviour, causing them to become very skittish and stressed in general. All of the above may be common sense to many people but to some people especially backyard breeders housing guinea pigs in aviaries with birds is not uncommon.

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