calling all g.pig owners

Re: calling all g.pig owners

Susannah Carrigan SVN — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 12:13:56 GMT

Iv had g.pigs for years and they are brilliant!! Very sociable, so getting two of them would be best so they can keep each other company. We kept them outside most of the time, except when it was cold! Im not sure if you can house train them though!

I would definately have a g.pig over a rabbit any day, they're great pets!!!

Re: calling all g.pig owners

Vicky RVN — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 22:42:44 GMT

Haha bless!

Re: calling all g.pig owners

wobbliebob — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 21:10:11 GMT

i was once outside with a baby piggy and the next door neighbourgh said aw thats cute is it a hamster lol

Re: calling all g.pig owners

Kim Buckley — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 11:26:34 GMT

[quote user="Gypsy Nurse"]

I had squiggles for over 11 years, one of them lived for almost 9 years, seeing me all the way from Primary school to university. He was a dude!!

They are gerat pets, definitely get 2 otherwise they get very sad and lonely. We always had males and never had any issues until Conker (the dude) was 6 and lost his companion. We got a neutered rescue to be his friend, they were more than happy together when free ranging in the garden, just not sharing a hutch so they had a hutch each. Over his 8+ years Conker had 3 friends and Dodo was the only one that didn't mesh well. We always had resuces and definitely don't discount an adult as most rescue centres handle their squiggles quite regularly.

If I had a garden I would have them now but as it is I have 3 little ratties, who make excellent flat pets. And my landlord loves them!!

[/quote]

I had 3 rats when I was at uni. My landlord thought they were hamsters!

Re: calling all g.pig owners

Sara Benton — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 10:52:54 GMT

I had squiggles for over 11 years, one of them lived for almost 9 years, seeing me all the way from Primary school to university. He was a dude!!

If I had a garden I would have them now but as it is I have 3 little ratties, who make excellent flat pets. And my landlord loves them!!

Re: calling all g.pig owners

Fiona Leathers — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:06:43 GMT

[quote user="Kate Claxton"]

Guinea pigs are like chips........you can't have just one

Want some pigtures as soon as, please! x

[/quote]

I thought you were going to say.........taste great with salt & vinegar!!!

Re: calling all g.pig owners

Anonymous — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:41:12 GMT

oh my! they are just adorable! your going to have a great time with them!

Re: calling all g.pig owners

Vicky RVN — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:52:15 GMT

Awww they are soooooo cute! Glad i'm not the only one who lets them roam my bed!

I'm sure little Harry will become more confident over time. When i got Poppy and Daisy as babies they were nervous for quite some time, but once their confidence grew they were SO confident! I was worried about Daisy and Snowdrop being together, Daisy is so big and confident and Snowdrop is so tiny! But they're getting along fine

Re: calling all g.pig owners

Emma Clark — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:46:21 GMT

Thanks vicky, i was worried how they would work together because Harry was tiny with only 3 legs and Ted is a big boy, but they bonded really well, Harry is standing up to ted quite a lot lately but generally they get on well. If Teds eating you can't do anything to get his attention, he can't rest until all the food has gone, whereas Harry is still quite scared so wants to eat veggies but runs away at the smallest thing. I'm trying to get him used to people walking past and noises but it's going very slowly, not sure if its because he spent a lot of time in a cage alone hiding in a house before i got him, with very little handling? Hopefully one day he won't care and he'll be just as nosey and confident as Ted.

I saw the pictures of snowdrop and she looked soo cute. I love piggies so much, definately the best animal going!! :o)

heres a few pictures of Ted and Harry

Harry when i first brought him home, going to hide in my bed lol

Harry and Ted eating (Ted has a look of 'don;t touch my food or else!' lol)

Harry deciding dressing gowns taste good!

Ted still busy eating lol and Harry investigating!

Re: calling all g.pig owners

Vicky RVN — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 18:53:55 GMT

That's the cage i've got Emma, got it from that site! It took a lot of searching to find one so big, they love it! I've put a shelf over part of it so they've got a covered shelter, a couple of houses and a tube!

Awww glad to hear your two piglets are getting on well, they sound like great characters! Ted sounds like my Daisy, she's oblivious to anything! Snowdrop is starting to pick up on that and follow suit, she came up to the side of the cage when Jack walked in the room yesterday rather than running away!

Re: calling all g.pig owners

Emma Clark — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:27:17 GMT

I have guineas and i love them, i've always had males together and never had problems (even when they were un0neutered) but i know people who have had issues. At the moment i have a 2 year old neutered male and a little 3-4 month old neutered male. Ted (the elder guinea) was in with his brother but unfortunately i lost his brother a couple of months ago to kidney failure :o( i wanted to rescue an older piggie to go in with ted but all the rescues had un-neutered males, i did try one older male and he hated Ted, even though Ted liked him lol. Then i was told about a little male guinea PAH had for adoption (i work at companion care inside PAH) he was 2 months old and had already been in to us to have his hind leg amputated. I introduced them and they got on great so he came home with us lol! Harry the newest edition is very outspoken, i don;t think he quite realises what he's squeaking at sometimes hehe but it's very funny, but he's still very nervous, and runs into his little house if you make and sudden movements but Ted isn;t phased, he's always at the front of the cage looking out, interested in everything. I can definately recommend them, they have so much character.

I keep my 2 boys inside, i have this cage http://www.zooplus.com/shop/rodents/cages/rabbit_cage/126769 which is really big, they have lots of room for toys, couple of houses, tubes etc. When the weather is dry they always have exercise out in the garden in a run. If its wet then they come out of the cage and run round the room.

Re: calling all g.pig owners

Kim Buckley — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 17:16:06 GMT

I have rescued several guinea pigs from various places over the years. Mostly off people who don't want them any more. I took on an adult pig from my local pet shop because they couldn't sell it. Turned out to be a male even though we were told he was female so he lived with one of our girlies who had babies before and we were hoping for more babies but they lived together for 6 years and never produced anything. Very cute little couple though!

Re: calling all g.pig owners

Kate Claxton DipAVN(Med)VN — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 17:08:19 GMT

Guinea pigs are like chips........you can't have just one

Want some pigtures as soon as, please! x

Re: calling all g.pig owners

laurad — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 17:00:42 GMT

il look for two girls i think. im going to hunt out a rescue home to get a couple from. lil piggies yay cant wait.

Re: calling all g.pig owners

Kate Claxton DipAVN(Med)VN — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 16:53:57 GMT

Pets at Home's 'rescue' section is often just the animals they've been unable to sell as babies, or they've sold to completely unsuitable people who then find out animals need feeding and cleaning! Our local store often has 'reason for rehoming' as 'nobody wanted to buy me' - argh! Go for a proper piggie rescue if you want to rescue, you're less likely to end up with a pig with serious dental disease/resp problems/mites - all the PaH guinea pigs come from the same supplier, combine that with the complete inability of many staff there to sex guinea pigs and you'll find there's a good deal of inbreeding!

Please also consider a custom built indoor cage - the ones sold in pet shops, even the larger ones, are no more really than just glorified litter trays - OK if you're able to give the pigs 'floor-time' every night but completely unsuitable otherwise. I've custom built mine from Correx (available from any sign makers!) for the base and placed a 6ft x 4ft rabbit run on top to protect the piggers from my cats. My lounge/dining room is mainly pig cage, hehe.

I've got a group of four sows as well but don't discount the lads - they're often harder to home because most people go for girlies!

Re: calling all g.pig owners

wobbliebob — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 16:11:10 GMT

i have just thought pets at home near us have a rescue section. Also i agree with getting females or 1 castrated male and a group of females

Re: calling all g.pig owners

Kim Buckley — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 12:26:40 GMT

I personally would get two females. I had a pair of males when I was younger and they were litter mates but they beat the crap out of each other! I'm sure if castrated they would have improved but I was only 7 years old at the time.

Re: calling all g.pig owners

wobbliebob — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 11:40:17 GMT

rescue some

there are always loads at rescue centres

Re: calling all g.pig owners

Vicky RVN — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 00:40:54 GMT

I've always had girls and they've got along fine, and introducing new ones has been easy. But males should get along fine too, not sure they'd introduce as easily but should be fine if they've always been together?

Re: calling all g.pig owners

laurad — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 22:04:06 GMT

hi thats great will have a look at the website. would you get 2 girls or 2 boys or does it not matter?

Re: calling all g.pig owners

Vicky RVN — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 20:13:02 GMT

Right, here goes my proper reply!

I would def say get a pair of guineas, they love company! I've always got on with guineas much better than rabbits. Mine have been nervous when i've first got them, but within a few weeks their confidence is loads better! They soon learn that a rustling packet means food, so will shout (and boy can they shout!!!)! I keep mine outdoors in a hutch and run in the summer and in a huge rabbit cage indoors in the winter. I had to search the internet for the biggest indoor cage i could find, alternatively you can make your own, have a look here http://www.guineapigcages.com/

Anything else you want to know?

Re: calling all g.pig owners

Kim Buckley — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 20:16:40 GMT

I persuaded my mum to buy a little grey g-pig from our local pet shop years ago and a couple of weeks later out popped 2 babies! Was the best thing ever! I would love to breed another g-pig some time because they are so amazing when they are born! Both babies were female aswell so joined the rest of our mini "herd".

Re: calling all g.pig owners

monkeybrains13 — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 18:26:03 GMT

i hav 2 female guinea pigs- i brought them to be indoors which they lived like for 2 years then decided to have them as outdoor.
1 of mine became very aggressive to the other and at the time i couldnt house them seperate so i got the aggressive one neutered- which really helped.

As a whole they are great! They talk when they want food and eat outt my hand. im not sure if u can toilet train them though? they dont bite and i wouldnt give them up for the world! :)

Re: calling all g.pig owners

Shelly vn — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:00:47 GMT

Guinea Pigs rock! At one point i had 8 but i've only got 4 now. They are the friendliest (?sp) animals and so cute. I've had quite a few from pets at home and never had any poorly ones, but i did get a pregnant one from there a few years ago. I was checking it over in the shop and was convinced i could feel something, so i said to the girl serving me that i thought the pig was pregnant and she suggested putting it back and picking another one. I asked her what she was going to do with the pregnant pig and she said 'just leave it there'!!! I figured if anyone was able to cope with a pregnant pig it would be me so i took it anyway. 3 weeks later we had an extra pig! Definatly a case of buy 2 get 1 free!

Re: calling all g.pig owners

Vicky RVN — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 08:20:13 GMT

Awwww yay for piglets! Will send a proper reply this evening!