I bought guinea pigs, got bad advice, and couldn't stop researching
In early 2020 I walked into a pet store and came home with two guinea pigs, a tiny cage, a bag of colorful pellets, and zero knowledge. The employee told me the setup was perfect. It wasn't even close.
Within two weeks one of my piggies was lethargic and barely eating. I panicked, Googled everything, and couldn't figure out what was wrong because half the websites contradicted each other. Took her to an exotic vet who told me the cage was way too small, the pellets were basically junk food, and I wasn't giving them nearly enough hay or vitamin C.
That vet visit was humbling. I felt like I'd failed them before I even started. So I went kind of overboard with the research. I read vet textbooks, joined every guinea pig forum I could find, and started keeping a Google Doc with notes on safe foods, cage sizes, health symptoms, and product comparisons. That doc kept growing.
Friends with guinea pigs started asking me questions, and I kept pointing them to my notes. Eventually my roommate said "just make a website already" and I did. The first version was ugly and had maybe 20 articles. Now there are over 270 and I work on this full-time.
I'm not a vet. I want to be really clear about that. But I've spent thousands of hours reading veterinary literature, talking to exotic vets, and raising my own guinea pigs. When something's outside my lane, I say so and tell you to see a vet. That's always going to be the recommendation for anything serious.
The thing that still bothers me is how much bad info is out there. Pet stores giving out tiny cages. Websites saying iceberg lettuce is fine. People recommending cedar shavings. I keep writing because new guinea pig owners deserve better than what I got when I started.
