It sounds terrible... but it's really not that bad. It feels like getting an ear pierced. Ear tags have a combination of numbers and/or letters that help to identify cavies from one another. Your cavy MUST be tagged in order to be shown if you live in the U.S.
Step-by-step instructions
You should probably have someone experienced tag your cavies at first, and show you how to do it, as removing a misplaced ear tag is hard and can be very painful.
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Ear tags You can get 100 tags from KW cages for around $10
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Ear tag pliers These are around $20. They have specific notches to insert the tag correctly. You can get these from KW cages for around $20
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Tag positioning The tag is almost in the right spot - it got nudged as I took the picture. The tag's 'v' shaped part at the bottom should be butted flat against the notch to the left. |
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Cavy positioning I put the cavy in a towel and wrap it up in it so it can't move. You can also have someone else hold it tightly for you while you tag. |
Tagging With the tag in the right position, hold the pliers right over the LEFT ear and quickly close the pliers hard, then release quickly.
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Make sure before tagging - that you know to tag the LEFT ear - that you have the cavy securely held, otherwise they can flinch away and you can tag in the wrong spot (too high, low, far out toward the edge, etc.). |
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If you tagged the cavy correctly, it should look like this. High up enough on the ear so it can't scratch and get it's nail caught in it... and rip it out (ow ow ow!!!)
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These two cavies' ear tags are upside - down. This doesn't deduct points, but it makes it harder to read them easily. Sometimes it will be put in right, but it gets scratched at and turns over. |
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Check the ear for a few days after tagging to make sure it doesn't get infected.
