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Rodent Mortician posted:Food sources observed in shelters for guinea pigs/rabbits: Don't forget the one being fed dry corn flakes and canned garbanzo beans. Seriously, at this point, a shelter pig being fed alfalfa hay and seed-laced guinea pig pellets is being treated like royalty. At least they are actually feeding food which has a picture of a guinea pig on the bag. Serella posted:Seriously, that's one of the most basic things about guinea pigs. Even *some* hay would be better than none. I know shelters don't specialize in small animals, but they can't just Google it real fast? One of the most frustrating things about working with shelters is it's not that they don't know better - they just can't seem to be bothered to give a flying gently caress. Pigs housed on cedar in an aquarium: "the aquarium is easier to clean than the pig cage and besides, someone donated the cedar so we have to use it up before we buy pine shavings".  Guinea pig housed with Rapey the Rabbit: "one cage is easier to clean than two; besides, look how much they like each other!"  Rabbit housed on clay cat litter when there's a giant unopened thing of aspen bedding literally right next to the rabbit cage: "oh it hasn't hurt him before, and besides, the volunteers can't be expected to remember that cats get cat litter and rabbits get rabbit litter - it's easier to just give them all the same type of litter."  All of these are actual quotes, up to and including the double excuses provided; as if stupid two reasons is somehow better justification.
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Jul 10, 2011 21:38
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We had a similar WTF moment with a shelter down here doing rabbit spays and neuters. They killed a female rabbit and then gave me two male rabbits bleeding and half neutered (yep, each one had a testicle left.) They continued to insist their vet was rabbit savvy and refused to let me pay out of pocket to have our vet train their vet.
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Jul 10, 2011 21:45
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Rodent Mortician posted:We had a similar WTF moment with a shelter down here doing rabbit spays and neuters. They killed a female rabbit and then gave me two male rabbits bleeding and half neutered (yep, each one had a testicle left.) Sounds like their vet was a butcher, more likely. alucinor posted:Don't forget the one being fed dry corn flakes and canned garbanzo beans. Seriously, at this point, a shelter pig being fed alfalfa hay and seed-laced guinea pig pellets is being treated like royalty. At least they are actually feeding food which has a picture of a guinea pig on the bag. This was my thought. Even if the food they get is Kaytee Fiesta party mix of garbage, at least it's marketed toward guinea pigs. I just don't understand what the gently caress people are thinking.
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Jul 10, 2011 22:37
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Jul 11, 2011 18:26
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Hey thread, another question! One of my guinea pigs has taken to nibbling me. He doesn't do it in an agressive or annoyed manner but more as if my skin was tasty food. He doesn't do this to my girlfriend, so could it be horemones or diet? It just makes it very hard to have him on my chest as he can't help but sample me!
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Jul 12, 2011 01:31
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SomeChump posted:Hey thread, another question! One of my guinea pigs has taken to nibbling me. He doesn't do it in an agressive or annoyed manner but more as if my skin was tasty food. He doesn't do this to my girlfriend, so could it be horemones or diet? It just makes it very hard to have him on my chest as he can't help but sample me! You're delicious. Get over it. 
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Jul 12, 2011 01:40
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TLG James, that picture is so cute I think it just gave me cancer.
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Jul 12, 2011 03:50
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Diogines posted:TLG James, that picture is so cute I think it just gave me cancer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o31rT0QilvI Found it with sound, it's even better. I can't wait until I'm back home and can get pigs again, dorm life is terrible : (
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Jul 12, 2011 12:22
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Cuteness overload... I think i'm terminal now.
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Jul 12, 2011 17:30
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Guinea pigs must have some interesting brain chemistry. I don't think I even once in my life will experience the kind of joy a pig feels every single time they get food.
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Jul 12, 2011 21:58
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Back with a happier post!  After having that mouse for a little bit, I decided to get a rodent when I got back to my apartment today! I ended up getting a hamster, and it's pretty adorable.  He seems pretty understandably sketched out by his new surroundings, as I just got home with him, and he's just been hanging out in his wheel... but he seems like a really sweet hamster. It's the first rodent that I've had as a pet since chinchillas years and years ago... and the first pet I've had on my own, ever. I'm pretty excited about it!
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Jul 16, 2011 02:18
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Hamsters rule. Do some hamsters just not like wheels? I never hear mine running on hers anymore and I even bought her a slightly bigger one since her old one looked a bit too small. She enjoys ball running though.
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Jul 16, 2011 15:49
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My guy would run around for 5 minutes, piss himself, and then devote the rest of the day cleaning himself.
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Jul 16, 2011 23:33
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Update on my ignorant buddy from earlier in the thread: Seven guinea pigs later, she's got everybody separated. She doesn't seem to think the female that gave birth first is pregnant again, but I guess we'll see come her next vet visit/in a few months. She plans to keep all seven. She's in the middle of moving, so I'm trying to not be too big a dick, but drat. I might start working on her boyfriend. He didn't want two guinea pigs, he's surely not happy about seven.
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Jul 17, 2011 21:22
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Bean posted:Update on my ignorant buddy from earlier in the thread: Seen this story many times. That's why I try to drive home the fact that you have to be sure about sexing, because if there's one thing guinea pigs know how to do (other than eat), it's breed. It's pretty much their only evolutionary advantage, a fast breeding cycle so they can take out their natural predators via obesity and lifestyle-based illness. I'm extremely lucky in that I never had a pregnancy, even back when I didn't know any better and bought my first pigs from a pet store. The closest I had was my second rescue, who was returned to the pet store after a situation much like you describe. Apparently, the only thing that kept her from getting pregnant was the male apparently hammered a chip of bedding into her nether regions while attempting to mate with her; after treatment and an incredibly paranoid waiting period - it didn't help that Parvati ate like a horse and quickly became an enormous pear-shaped pig - we made it out of the woods.
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Jul 18, 2011 00:26
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Started to notice our girls are fighting more lately. There's lots of angry purring happening like they are establishing dominance again, but we've had them for almost 2 months now. Is this an adolescence thing that they will grow out of? They are 15 weeks, 15 weeks, and 8 weeks old now.
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Jul 21, 2011 14:22
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So squeaking while peeing, that could totally be a sign of something other than another bladder stone in a 6yo pig who just had bladder stone surgery 2 months ago right? Right?  Edit: Welp just made an appointment to go in tonight because I'm utterly petrified that this will be another stone and I need to know right now even if it means $150 for the x-ray/visit. Ugh. Chin Strap posted:Is this an adolescence thing that they will grow out of? Its pretty much this. They may mellow out towards each other as they get older, or they may never really like each other. I wouldn't worry about it unless they are actively fighting, drawing blood, etc. Sirotan fucked around with this message at 14:56 on Jul 21, 2011 |
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Jul 21, 2011 14:45
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Sirotan posted:So squeaking while peeing, that could totally be a sign of something other than another bladder stone in a 6yo pig who just had bladder stone surgery 2 months ago right? Right? FWIW, I had a 3 year old have a hellacious stone removed and then like 2 years later was crying while peeing due to a UTI coupled with surgical adhesions. It could happen!
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Jul 21, 2011 15:01
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Rodent Mortician posted:FWIW, I had a 3 year old have a hellacious stone removed and then like 2 years later was crying while peeing due to a UTI coupled with surgical adhesions. It could happen! God I hope so. I was feeling her belly last night and could definitely feel the surgery adhesions/scar/possible undissolved sutures along the incision point and she did squeak when I would press in that area, so I hope I'm just being incredibly paranoid.
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Jul 21, 2011 15:04
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Get another x-ray, stat. I have had a lot of stones return within a few months of surgery.
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Jul 21, 2011 15:47
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Sirotan posted:
Thanks. No blood or even real fighting. Just posturing. And since I haven't posted pics in a while, here are some from the past week or so.  Heidi. She is already at 1 lb 2 oz (.5 kg) at just 15 weeks. I think she is going to be a large pig. She is also the alpha boss drama pig.  Edie. She is a food hound and likes to pee on you if you give her the chance.  Rapture, the youngest at 8 weeks. She is a big ball of energy and the most social of the three. Also the noisiest.
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Jul 21, 2011 17:35
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^^^super cute! Me right now:  No stones!!!! But we do have sludge. They did a subcue at the vet's office and she screamed bloody murder so I don't think I can do that to her every other day as recommended. She is also going to be on Metacam long term or maybe forever. I'm already doing just about everything possible to prevent bladder stones so I'm not sure what more I can do at this point. Gonna try that Chinese herb people on GuineaLynx seem to approve of and I guess increase fluids orally. And maybe pray to the piggy gods.
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Jul 21, 2011 21:55
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Sirotan posted:^^^super cute! Good news. Pigs scream bloody murder at the least little insult, so if you want to do subcues, don't let the noise deter you. It's not hurting her that much. That said, GP skin is surprisingly thick and it's harder to do subcue on them than cats or dogs. I like to use a tiny needle, 22g or even 25g, because it seems to bother them less, but it takes a lot longer to inject the fluids through such a narrow opening, so if she's squirmy you have that increased injection time as a trade-off. You also need to use a new needle EVERY time, they blunt quickly. You're definitely doing everything, prevention-wise. It seems some pigs are just prone to sludge and stones, because nobody I know has figured out the magic formula, either.
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Jul 21, 2011 22:02
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alucinor posted:Good news. Pigs scream bloody murder at the least little insult, so if you want to do subcues, don't let the noise deter you. It's not hurting her that much. Yeah she struggled quite a bit so I think to do them I would need another person to help me, which could get complicated (I live alone). That and I'm just not sure the amount of stress it would put her under every other day would be worth it. She is getting pretty old. I haven't written it off as an option though. Poor baby is all tuckered out in a towel now.
Sirotan fucked around with this message at 22:29 on Jul 21, 2011 |
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Jul 21, 2011 22:17
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Sirotan posted:Poor baby is all tuckered out in a towel now. Oh, poor thing. Sending healing guinea pig vibes! 
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Jul 22, 2011 00:28
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Sirotan posted:Its pretty much this. They may mellow out towards each other as they get older, or they may never really like each other. I wouldn't worry about it unless they are actively fighting, drawing blood, etc. Pigs also go through hormonal cycles like other mammals, and when it's their "time of the month" so to speak, they can get frisky/grumpy. Every so often one of my two girls will go nuts for around 60 hours or so and then settle back down. All you can do is hang in there and watch for bites.
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Jul 22, 2011 01:55
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Sirotan posted:Yeah she struggled quite a bit so I think to do them I would need another person to help me, which could get complicated (I live alone). That and I'm just not sure the amount of stress it would put her under every other day would be worth it. She is getting pretty old. I haven't written it off as an option though. You'd definitely be able to do this. The way I do it is to stick the pig in a cuddle cup (with their head facing one of the "tall" walls and then kind of wrap it around them and leave their shoulders exposed. Then grab 'em and stab 'em.
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Jul 22, 2011 01:58
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Any cheap sources on carefresh? We use fleece for our cage, but found the area under the hay loft is getting dirty far quicker than the rest of the cage, so we've put a litterbox full of carefresh there as a kitchen area. Just wondering the cheapest place to buy it in bulk, as we like it a lot more than the cheaper bedding.
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Jul 22, 2011 12:49
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I have a question on grasses. Right now I've got an aquarium growing rye grass which I cut and feed to the pigs. There's also some parsely and coriander growing in there. We're going to plant some wheat grass and clover, but how much of their diet should be made up of this grass? Originally it was going to be just a treat/supplement. They get fresh veggies 3x a day, constantly have hay and pellets, but really seem to go nuts for the rye grass. I know someone here said their pigs diet is mostly grass, so what kinds are best? Basically what are the nutrition facts on rye and wheat grass? What qualities would make them good only as a treat or good as a significant chunk of a guinea pig diet?
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Jul 22, 2011 15:34
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Cassiope posted:Basically what are the nutrition facts on rye and wheat grass? What qualities would make them good only as a treat or good as a significant chunk of a guinea pig diet? Here's the nutrition comparison for rye, wheat, and clover as hay: http://www.guinealynx.info/hay_chart.html Fresh grasses are significantly different than hays. Hay contains more fiber and grasses contain more moisture for the same weight of product. So increasing fresh grass in the diet actually reduces the amount of fiber they end up eating. Lynx herself recommends thinking about fresh grass as a vegetable and lumping it in with the vegetable component of the diet, rather than allowing it to replace the hay component. If you are still providing unlimited grass hay and they are still eating it, you can give a handful or two of fresh grass per pig per day. Keep in mind that you may see loose stools with this increase in moisture content. If so, just reduce the amount of grass or the amount of other veggies. Also, clover is not a grass, it is a legume, like alfalfa, and like alfalfa, it contains too much calcium to be safe as a large portion of the diet. I would limit this to a very small treat amount.
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Jul 22, 2011 16:19
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kazmeyer posted:Pigs also go through hormonal cycles like other mammals, and when it's their "time of the month" so to speak, they can get frisky/grumpy. Every so often one of my two girls will go nuts for around 60 hours or so and then settle back down. All you can do is hang in there and watch for bites. I think we may be experiencing this now. All our pigs seem super pissed off the last 24 hours. Their weight is fine, they are eating and drinking and peeing and pooing fine, but whenever we give them some lap time they are the most puffed up balls of anger I've ever seen. Just going to wait it out for now.
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Jul 27, 2011 14:32
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How do you guys store your lettuce for pig food? It seems like keeping spring mix in the bag we buy it makes it go rotten too fast. But I don't feel like hitting the store up every 3 days or so. Most veggies last about a week, but not lettuce. Any tips?
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Jul 28, 2011 18:02
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General recommendation for baby lettuce is to wash then dry it (with a spinner or paper towels) then store it in a perforated or slightly-opened bag with a slightly damp paper towel to allow air circulation while retaining moisture.
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Jul 28, 2011 18:32
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alucinor posted:General recommendation for baby lettuce is to wash then dry it (with a spinner or paper towels) then store it in a perforated or slightly-opened bag with a slightly damp paper towel to allow air circulation while retaining moisture. Would a perforated tupperware do the trick? I've been doing none of those things though. Good to know. And I'll finally start using my salad spinner I have.
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Jul 28, 2011 18:43
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It's worth a shot. It might not work perfectly if the holes are only in the top and that somehow doesn't allow for perfect circulation, but I'd try it and see.
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Jul 28, 2011 18:55
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Here's yet another "is this okay to feed to guinea pigs" question, sorry. People keep offering us veggies from their gardens and google hasn't been much help, so can guinea pigs eat green tomatoes and okra?
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Aug 2, 2011 15:11
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The tomatoes, no. The the foliage *and* the unripened fruit contain tomatine which causes GI upset. But if you can get ripe ones, go to town! They're high in C and very good for pigs. The okra is ok; it's fine nutritionally (medium high C, low calcium), but I will be shocked if the pigs eat it. Please let us know if they do! There's one person on GL in India who has had luck feeding it, I think.
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Aug 2, 2011 15:34
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Awesome, I was under the impression it was okay to feed ripe tomatoes but only sparingly. Since we had so many I was worrying about feeding them so many (a couple servings a week). Good to know I don't have to worry They love tomatoes. Also, one of the guinea pigs loved the okra, and the other one ran away from it. So YMMV, I at first just stuck the whole thing in there but once Petunia showed interest in chewing on it I went ahead and cut it up and took out the seeds.
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Aug 2, 2011 22:20
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I had to leave my piggies alone for three days at the last minute. They seem fine, I left plenty of extra food, water etc and I had someone check in on them once a day. When I got back, they don't seem interested in green bell peppers anymore. They still love their veggies, they eat and poop and eat every other sort of green I give them, but they don't seem to like green bell peppers, which they previously loved. They still eat pellets and hay also, their diet and activities seem totally unchanged, except, they don't seem to like peppers much. Has anyone else ever had something like this happened? I've not known pigiess to shun any food they like. I thought maybe there was something wrong with the peppers I had, smelled bad or something, so I tried getting several from another supermarket, but they did not like those either. Diogines fucked around with this message at 03:54 on Aug 3, 2011 |
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Aug 3, 2011 03:49
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Diogines posted:I had to leave my piggies alone for three days at the last minute. Three days is a really long time to leave them alone. You didn't have even a neighbor that could have stopped in once or twice?
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Aug 3, 2011 12:26
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