Diogines posted:They seem fine, I left plenty of extra food, water etc and I had someone check in on them once a day. I was afraid the person checking up on them might mess up their food somehow or feed them food other than what I instructed, so I decided not to take the risk and just leave them plenty of extra food. They checked once a day for any obvious problems and made sure the water bottles were working properly.
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Aug 3, 2011 22:32
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I was thinking of making a little potted herb garden as a present for a friend with a guinea pig, but I don't own guinea pigs myself and I'm not sure what they would like the most. Any suggestions?
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Aug 5, 2011 16:39
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tse1618 posted:I was thinking of making a little potted herb garden as a present for a friend with a guinea pig, but I don't own guinea pigs myself and I'm not sure what they would like the most. Any suggestions? Parsley, cilantro, sweet basil, and dill. PIGGIE CRACK.
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Aug 5, 2011 17:08
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The other day a guinea pig shelter I follow on facebook (pictures  ) posted pictures of a guinea pig next to a cuy. Omg so big and cute. Kind of a shame they're not suitable as pets, but apparently they're being sold at some pet stores anyway. Has anyone seen this?
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Aug 5, 2011 21:20
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I've seen pics from other rescues, but it seems to be mainly west coast rescues getting these things (thank God).
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Aug 5, 2011 21:24
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Rodent Mortician posted:I've seen pics from other rescues, but it seems to be mainly west coast rescues getting these things (thank God). Yeah, it was Orange County Cavy Haven that posted it. I wonder who thought it would be a good idea to sell wild animals as pets. Not that it's a new concept, just as stupid as ever.
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Aug 5, 2011 21:31
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What is a cuy? Is it an undomesticated guinea pig? I can't figure it out by Googling.
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Aug 5, 2011 22:34
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The XXL size guinea pigs which have been bred for food in some parts of South America. Some morons have got hold of a few and decided to start selling them in the pet trade.
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Aug 6, 2011 00:00
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They're cute and usually also polydactyl, but they're bred for meat and not docility so they're wild as crap and terrified of everything.
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Aug 6, 2011 00:14
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alucinor posted:The XXL size guinea pigs which have been bred for food in some parts of South America. Some morons have got hold of a few and decided to start selling them in the pet trade.  Jesus. And I thought my pig who is about to tip the scales at 1300g was a lard rear end.
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Aug 6, 2011 00:19
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Wow, that is one huge pig. I guess it's cute and all, but owning one sounds like a really stupid idea. I wonder if people are just selling them as babies and not disclosing how unsuitable they are as pets. Hopefully they don't become a trend.
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Aug 6, 2011 01:10
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Huge Liability posted:Wow, that is one huge pig. I guess it's cute and all, but owning one sounds like a really stupid idea. I wonder if people are just selling them as babies and not disclosing how unsuitable they are as pets. Hopefully they don't become a trend. They've just recently started to be bred as pets, it will probably take many years until they are domesticated on the level of a regular pig. Once they are there though I don't see a problem? Provided of course they will come from a diverse genetic stock.
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Aug 6, 2011 01:36
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cat with hands posted:Provided of course they will come from a diverse genetic stock. What's your second guess? These will be badly bred, full of health problems, and sold at a premium in a pet store near you. (As much as I love guinea pigs, guinea pig breeders I generally want to put in a large pile and set them on fire.) kazmeyer fucked around with this message at 02:03 on Aug 6, 2011 |
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Aug 6, 2011 01:58
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kazmeyer posted:What's your second guess? Yeah. Considering what has happened to dogs (and cats to a lesser extent) for the past 50 years I guess I shouldn't get my hopes up.
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Aug 6, 2011 02:10
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cat with hands posted:They've just recently started to be bred as pets, it will probably take many years until they are domesticated on the level of a regular pig. Once they are there though I don't see a problem? Provided of course they will come from a diverse genetic stock. Oh, I'd have no problem with someone working towards breeding a healthy, domestic jumbo pig. It just sounds like the ones people are buying right now are wild and not really suitable pets.
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Aug 6, 2011 03:21
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Huge Liability posted:Oh, I'd have no problem with someone working towards breeding a healthy, domestic jumbo pig. It just sounds like the ones people are buying right now are wild and not really suitable pets. Why? What's the necessity in breeding a larger version of the guinea pig? It's just a vanity project, and considering how people stick regular pigs in cramped cages, it'll probably be even worse for any jumbo cousins. It's like breeding dogs solely to create larger or smaller versions of their breed -- the breeders and buyers of these dogs don't care about the animals, just the aesthetics of owning an unusually sized x breed of dog or the money they can make from selling them.
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Aug 6, 2011 05:07
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The pet market does not need giant guinea pigs. I'd have no problem with someone breeding healthy regular pigs. But nobody does because it's so drat hard. You have to breed your girls before they turn 1 year old, so you don't have any opportunity to measure health before you choose which females' genes to pass on. You'd need to breed generations and generations and generations and keep ALL of them so you could track the health of every lineage for 5-6+ years (which is when the most prevalent health problems start cropping up) and then go back and eliminate all the lineages that displayed those health problems. That's basically not possible for a hobby breeder, certainly not for a pet market breeder who wants to sell their stock before it starts exhibiting health problems. You could start with lab animals, who have detailed lineages and some known health problems, but most of them still don't have individual health records that span more than 2-3 years. And of course, nobody wants ugly old pink-eye white guinea pigs, so then you'd have to start outcrossing to unknown lineages to get sellable color in. And once you start breeding for color you have a whole other problem. Satins carry osteodystrophy, roans carry lethal white, and nearly every color breeder sells pigs who carry genes for both and they don't give a gently caress because that's what makes money. 
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Aug 6, 2011 15:31
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My hamster has lost about half a penny's size of fur around the lower part of her back. I can't figure out why. Her diet has been pretty consistant. She still seems pretty active. Shes about 1 1/2 years old. Should I be worried? We bought her a new house a few weeks ago made of wood. I was worried that maybe it was chemically treated or something so I put her old plastic house back in for now.
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Aug 6, 2011 16:16
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Earlier this evening a field mouse on my neighbor's front lawn came up to me and let me pet his back. I got the chance to catch him in a bucket but then I realized that domesticating outside animals might be a bad idea and let him go.
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Aug 8, 2011 08:04
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iSuck posted:Earlier this evening a field mouse on my neighbor's front lawn came up to me and let me pet his back. You chose wisely. I also hope you washed your hands for like an hour, because most of the time a wild animal who doesn't run away is deathly ill. Probably with something horrific and contagious. 
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Aug 8, 2011 14:48
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So finally after looking around for over 2 days, the only store around me that had the grid panels was a Bed Bath & Beyond! So now I can get rid of the ghetto cage I have set up and give my little gal a nice big 2 story home! Edit: One quick question. What is a good way to help your piggie get used to ramps? Sasha will start to go up one, freeze instantly, then run away into her hidey hole. D0ct0rAlanGrant fucked around with this message at 03:16 on Aug 9, 2011 |
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Aug 8, 2011 18:18
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thefullmetal999 posted:Edit: One quick question. What is a good way to help your piggie get used to anything? Food
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Aug 9, 2011 14:57
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My current gerbils are the pickiest eaters I've ever had. I've tried giving them multiple kinds of pet store food mixes and they snub almost everything, picking out select seeds while almost entirely rejecting pellets, corn and fruit. I can't find a decent seed mix around here anyways, so I'm thinking of switching to rodent pellets with occasional seeds and fruit/veg. Is this a good idea? If so, how should I make the transition? I know it'll be more work but I think the gerbils will be healthier for it.
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Aug 15, 2011 18:34
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Huge Liability posted:My current gerbils are the pickiest eaters I've ever had. I've tried giving them multiple kinds of pet store food mixes and they snub almost everything, picking out select seeds while almost entirely rejecting pellets, corn and fruit. I can't find a decent seed mix around here anyways, so I'm thinking of switching to rodent pellets with occasional seeds and fruit/veg. Is this a good idea? If so, how should I make the transition? They're not picky, they're fatties. The seeds are like the marshmallows in Lucky Charms. Generally a pellet of some sort or a block is a better idea since they can't only eat the awesome stuff!
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Aug 15, 2011 19:09
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When should I start to become concerned about my younger guinea pig not gaining weight? I adopted Ella when she was only a month old and she gained .5-1 oz per week. Since she hit about 3 months old she doesn't seem to be gaining weight. It's weird because she looks bigger (not fatter), but the scale doesn't show. She has stuck around 500g for the past 4 weeks and I'm not sure if that's normal.
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Aug 16, 2011 21:13
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Five hundred grams is still about the right size for a 3 month old. That's when their growth starts slowing - compare to the sample weights here and here. Both sets of pigs were between 500 and 600g at that age and their trajectories were starting to flatten. If there's no other behavioral or physical changes I wouldn't worry quite yet. By 5 months she should be around 600g so if there's no sign of increase by then, see your vet.
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Aug 16, 2011 22:18
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Speaking of fatpigs- my big pig is about 3 and is tipping the scales at 1584g. Is he unhealthy big?
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Aug 17, 2011 07:49
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Haha holy poo poo yeah. Post pics, I'd like to see how big he is. A healthy, svelte-but-big-boned intact male should be around 1200; my fatties were in the 1300s. 1580 is well into the 3lb club.
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Aug 17, 2011 15:01
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A big pig: 
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Aug 17, 2011 15:45
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Aw, he's a cutie. He looks like he's got a big frame, so he's not as fat as some I've had. Blimpie was so fat he developed pea-eye, but he was still under 1400 at his fattest. Still, a weight-loss regime wouldn't be amiss if you want to try to reduce him. More free-range time and/or a larger cage, and less pellets.
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Aug 17, 2011 16:28
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We're planning to expand their cage now that the little pigs are now adults (they're like 1000-1100g, I'll post them when I get home)- I need to find a good place to free range them, our complex is pretty small.
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Aug 17, 2011 16:44
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Well, we lost Howard Hamster last week at a year an a half. (previous appearance in this thread here: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3229729&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=26#post389454073 and http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3229729&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=9#post376206788) We noticed he was ill one day, and the vet realized he had some facial paralysis and an infection. We nursed him for nearly two weeks with antibiotics and soft foods, but he didn't make it. I don't think I can handle this whole losing pets every 1-2 years business anymore. We're considering getting a guinea pig next. What do you guys typically see? 4-7 years?
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Aug 17, 2011 16:51
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Bastard Tetris posted:We're planning to expand their cage now that the little pigs are now adults (they're like 1000-1100g, I'll post them when I get home)- I need to find a good place to free range them, our complex is pretty small. If your cage is big enough they don't even need more time out. I have a 3'x7' for a pair and that's basically the equivalent of 24/7 floor time. Naffer posted:I don't think I can handle this whole losing pets every 1-2 years business anymore. We're considering getting a guinea pig next. What do you guys typically see? 4-7 years? Sorry for your loss, he was a cute guy.  Guinea pigs can live 8-9 years with excellent care; 5-7 with above average care. Average care, only 3-4. They require a LOT of medical care as they age, and their first illnesses typically show up around 3 years old. Check out Guinea Lynx for more info.
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Aug 17, 2011 17:07
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Bastard Tetris posted:Speaking of fatpigs- my big pig is about 3 and is tipping the scales at 1584g. Is he unhealthy big? Guinea pig weights can be all over the place. One of my girls never broke 850g, and another topped 1500 before she was a year old. I never worried much about her health, though, because she was the pig who would always jump into the hay rack no matter how high we hung it; I figured I'd start worrying about her being overweight when she lost her one-grid-height vertical leap.
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Aug 17, 2011 19:48
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kazmeyer posted:Guinea pig weights can be all over the place. One of my girls never broke 850g, and another topped 1500 before she was a year old. I never worried much about her health, though, because she was the pig who would always jump into the hay rack no matter how high we hung it; I figured I'd start worrying about her being overweight when she lost her one-grid-height vertical leap. Our smallest pig jumped like six inches vertically when we gave him a bath, it was absurd. How do they jump so high when they are shaped like beans?
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Aug 17, 2011 23:57
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Bastard Tetris posted:Our smallest pig jumped like six inches vertically when we gave him a bath, it was absurd. How do they jump so high when they are shaped like beans? My 2 year old pig managed to jump OUT of the bathtub when I was giving her a bath. I had no idea she could jump that high! Thankfully I sort of caught her midway through the air. We were both soaked, first of all because I had an armful of wet pig and second because I had let go of the detachable shower head in order to catch her. One of the more eventful baths for sure.
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Aug 18, 2011 04:05
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Bastard Tetris posted:Our smallest pig jumped like six inches vertically when we gave him a bath, it was absurd. How do they jump so high when they are shaped like beans? You've never heard of jumping beans?  Our pigs always looked so miserable when bathing, as if a sad face will save them from getting wet. Also, they were much better escape artists/sink climbers than you'd expect. I think I actually have an easier time bathing my ferrets than I ever did with guinea pigs.
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Aug 18, 2011 04:06
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The first time we gave the small pigs a bath they kept climbing up on the big pigs back in some futile attempt to stay dry. When we introduced them they fought a bit so we bathed them all together so they bonded through mutual terror.
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Aug 18, 2011 08:05
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Bastard Tetris posted:Our smallest pig jumped like six inches vertically when we gave him a bath, it was absurd. How do they jump so high when they are shaped like beans? Honestly, I don't know. The hilarious thing about Parvati and the hay rack is that during the three years or so she was in that cage, I never once saw her do it. She'd never make the leap while anyone was watching. You'd fill the hay rack, turn your back, hear this bang and thud, and turn around to find her sitting on top of the fresh hay, munching away. She had a jetpack, for all I know. 
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Aug 18, 2011 13:49
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Naffer posted:Well, we lost Howard Hamster last week at a year an a half. (previous appearance in this thread here: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3229729&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=26#post389454073 and http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3229729&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=9#post376206788) RIP. I love Hamsters. I just wish they could spend a little more time in our world
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Aug 19, 2011 00:26
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