|
Thank you, Litte-Fuzzy goons! This thread (and the links suggested) gave me tons of guidance with my pair of piggies. I've had them for a while now. One is utterly indifferent to my existence, but the other one seems genuinely happy to see me and even purs cheerfully when I pet her WITHOUT food, which is exactly what I hoped for 
Diogines fucked around with this message at 03:12 on Aug 29, 2011 |
|
#
?
Aug 29, 2011 01:33
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 16, 2024 11:23 |
|
|
This is my guinea pig, Chester:  He is a college pet. He lives in my dorm-apartment with me and my three other roommates, all of whom adore him and lavish him with attention and love. He is a cheerful, happy, outgoing little gentleman who loves to be cuddled (especially by me). When we first adopted him, I did a lot of research on what sort of homes guinea pigs enjoy, how to bond with them, what nutrients and attentions they need, etc. By spring, he was standing up and wheeking every time I walked past him  he loves attention and cuddles. Over the summer, we had to leave him with a friend who lives here in the area, and we're getting him back tomorrow, so I'm a little worried he won't remember me. Is this going to be a problem? Will I still be able to cuddle with my sweet Chester? I'm willing to put in as much time as necessary to re-bond. And this is Chester helping me with a presentation for a class:  Really, we just wanted something soft to cuddle and care for between classes, but this little dude has turned out to be the best cuddle-buddy in the world. He is so sweet and funny, and he always has some girl fawning over him; there are 4 of us, and we all have different class schedules, so he really is never without a companion. He's totally spoiled and we are all in love with him. We chipped in for the best food and snacks and elaborately built living space. He has a pretty good life. I just hope he remembers us and isn't scared of us when he moves back in. Edit: Bonus picture of my sweet little piggy's lips:  beekeepersdaughter fucked around with this message at 17:28 on Aug 29, 2011 |
|
#
?
Aug 29, 2011 17:20
|
|
|
He's so cute.  Their brains are kinda tiny.....he probably won't remember you. BUT that doesn't mean that his behavior will have changed. If he is a generally friendly, happy little dude he will continue to be. I wouldn't worry about having to 'rebond' with him. I had to leave pigs with family twice when I lived abroad, one time for about 9 months. Its been years but I don't know that their behavior towards me changed at all while I was gone. Maybe they will have to warm up to you again but they adapt quickly.
|
|
#
?
Aug 29, 2011 19:37
|
|
|
Sirotan posted:He's so cute. Thank you so much This is really sweet. I appreciate the response.
|
|
#
?
Aug 29, 2011 21:09
|
|
|
Diogines posted:Thank you, Litte-Fuzzy goons! It took us a while to get to the point where our piggy would purr without food, but when he finally did, it was the best feeling in the world. To this day, when he cuddles up and makes happy noises, I freak out: "You like me? You like my petting? You're happy? I can't believe you're alive and healthy and happy!" Caring for a small creature is a mind-bendingly beautiful thing.
|
|
#
?
Aug 29, 2011 21:55
|
|
|
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERIfLmbsxBU
|
|
#
?
Aug 30, 2011 02:57
|
|
|
Well, there might be one issue. Guinea pigs kept alone require a LOT of attention; without other pigs to bond with, they become dependent on human interaction. Having four humans (plus visitors) constantly fawning was good for Chester, but if he hasn't had that same level of attention over the summer it might have affected him. If he's excessively noisy and "needy" when you get him back, it's a sign that he didn't get enough attention while you were gone. (Just to be clear, that's not saying your summer pig-sitter locked him in the basement, just that he wasn't getting what he was used to.) If at all possible, I always recommend that people keep pairs of pigs, that way when there's no humans around to interact with they still have a companion. (Plus, if you think it's fun to watch a single pig burbling around, you'll be entranced by the social dynamics of a pair or herd.)
|
|
#
?
Aug 30, 2011 08:51
|
|
|
I've been asked to adopt 3 male guinea pigs from someone who is not able to give them a good standard of care any more. How distant do they need to be from the females I have already to prevent them fighting? If they are directly alongside the females, but unable to see them, will this be enough? If necessary they can be in a different location entirely but this is less convenient for me. Thanks for any advice! Edit: To stop the males fighting each other, I mean. Seperate enclosure to the females but I know males will rip the poo poo out of each other if females are around.
|
|
#
?
Aug 30, 2011 16:26
|
|
|
Mice people, I have a question. I'm researching/thinking about getting some female mice, and I'm wondering about what size area they should have. There are a lot of second hand fish tanks I could have access to, locally. Would a fully cleaned out, disinfected and scrubbed to hell, three foot fish tank be appropriate for four or so mice, or would that be too small/too large? Opinions seem to differ quite a lot on the best sizes/types of environment for mice to live in.
|
|
#
?
Aug 31, 2011 12:05
|
|
|
Sanford posted:I've been asked to adopt 3 male guinea pigs from someone who is not able to give them a good standard of care any more. How distant do they need to be from the females I have already to prevent them fighting? Depends on the individual pigs. I've had boars who could not be in the same room as females, but mostly they should just be out of sight range (ie not on the same shelf; same room is fine). I used to use double decker cages (two stacked C&Cs) and put the girls up higher, so that if the males leapt out to go a'courting they'd have to do some climbing before they found a girl.
|
|
#
?
Aug 31, 2011 15:08
|
|
|
Fraction posted:Mice people, I have a question. I kept a single mouse in a ~1x2' tank and she had plenty of room. Three feet seems like it would be good for several mice, and everywhere I've read suggests a minimum of two square feet. You can give them lots of things to climb on to increase the vertical space. I had a good experience using an aquarium for mice... It was very easy to clean (A litter scoop and paper towels could clean it out in five minutes, meaning the more frequent cage cleaning to prevent ammonia/smell build up weren't a hassle) and I could make the bedding very deep without them kicking shavings all over the place. The only problem we encountered was that a lot of rodent cage accessories are made for cages with bars, but even that wasn't too much of a problem. We inherited a sturdy wire lid that fit over the top of the tank (like this one), and had previously used a sliding mesh lid we bought at the pet store in the reptile section. (like this one) Didn't have problems with either, but I trusted the sturdy wire thing more.
|
|
#
?
Aug 31, 2011 19:55
|
|
|
Holy shiiiit, the rescue I got my pigs from just took in 120 from some hoarder that dropped them all off in LA: http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-guinea-pigs-rescue,0,3687557.story If anyone wants to adopt a pig in Southern California or Arizona, now is the time, since the shelters need a bunch of room.  I sent a check to the rescue, hopefully it will buy a good amount of bedding.
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2011 08:13
|
|
|
I have some open vents on the floor near the pig cage, and a few pieces of hay have got inside it. Is that anything to worry about once I start to turn the heat on in a few months?
|
|
#
?
Sep 3, 2011 19:04
|
|
|
Bastard Tetris posted:Holy shiiiit, the rescue I got my pigs from just took in 120 from some hoarder that dropped them all off in LA: I just heard about this last night before I went to bed. I donated some money today and I'm considering contacting Wee Companions and volunteering my time and/or fostering. I just don't know how they're going to house 120 guinea pigs for the long term. When I went and adopted Ella a few months ago they were already beyond capacity. So crazy.
|
|
#
?
Sep 4, 2011 01:25
|
|
|
Chin Strap posted:I have some open vents on the floor near the pig cage, and a few pieces of hay have got inside it. Is that anything to worry about once I start to turn the heat on in a few months? You don't have a vacuum with attachments that can suck it out? I don't think its something to worry about in either case.
|
|
#
?
Sep 4, 2011 02:09
|
|
|
I have an update on Chester! We got him back a couple of days ago. It took him about an hour to really warm up to his new (old) surroundings, but after I held him and gave him a beautiful salad of all his favorite fruits and veggies, he quickly returned to his old gregarious self. He's gotten really chubby, though. I don't know how much of this is just natural growing and how much is a lack of exercise/floor time. I don't think his summer family gave him much exploration opportunity. He apparently wasn't given much attention over the summer, and he seems starved for it now. A few minutes ago I went into the kitchen (adjacent to the den, where he lives) to heat up some soup. When I said, "Hello Chester! Good morning, little boy," he started wheeking and running around. I dropped some carrots and timothy hay into his house for his breakfast, but he stood on his back legs, bracing himself against the wall, and talked insistently at me until I picked him up and cuddled him for a full 15 minutes. He didn't want the food at all- he just wanted to be held. Such a good feeling when you realize he loves you for you and not for the treats you bring. Of course he then wiggled out and trotted back to his breakfast spread and started digging in. Ah well...small blessings. 
|
|
#
?
Sep 7, 2011 17:48
|
|
|
Just because I haven't posted this picture yet: http://i.imgur.com/C62Anl.jpg
|
|
#
?
Sep 7, 2011 22:43
|
|
|
A while back, when I was posting about my buddy who found a surprise baby guinea pig in her cage? She started with three pigs and now has eleven. I think she realized I wasn't blowing smoke up her rear end about calling the vet after baby number 8. for gently caress's sake fix your pets
|
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2011 04:27
|
|
|
My hamster keeps chewing up the locking nubs on her ball. Anyone know if there is a way to just get replacement lids or a harder ball that is chew proof?
|
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2011 04:31
|
|
|
Bean posted:A while back, when I was posting about my buddy who found a surprise baby guinea pig in her cage? Does she realize that male babies can technically father offspring at 3 weeks and females can get pregnant at 4 weeks? She's probably already got more pregnancies and unfortunately most vets can't spay guinea pigs; the ones who can, often cost in the range of $500. Most vets also won't neuter the males till after 6 months, so you have a situation where you have to do several months of keeping intact animals separated. Have her contact the nearest rescue listed here: http://www.guinealynx.info/rescue_organizations.html. At the very least they may have someone who can come out and help with sexing, or give her some too-small petstore cages so she can at least get them separated till she can build appropriate housing for that many. She probably just needs to turn them over to a rescue ASAP. The longer she waits, the harder it will be for a shelter to place that many at once, and the more likely that most of them will be euthanized when she finally does decide to surrender them.
|
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2011 14:29
|
|
|
Chin Strap posted:Just because I haven't posted this picture yet: I see your tin foil hat and I'll raise you lettuce hat. This is Eleanor Jalapeno.
|
|
#
?
Sep 11, 2011 01:35
|
|
|
Naffer posted:I see your tin foil hat and I'll raise you lettuce hat. This is Eleanor Jalapeno. It looks like she has green fangs
|
|
#
?
Sep 11, 2011 04:35
|
|
|
Naffer posted:I see your tin foil hat and I'll raise you lettuce hat. This is Eleanor Jalapeno. D'awww! Precious, precious, precious. Here's a photo of Chester asleep in his transition cage while we cleaned out his C&C home. As my boyfriend said, it's so rare to find him dozing (and not running around like a maniac) that "it's like finding a leprechaun asleep".  We love him so much.
|
|
#
?
Sep 20, 2011 08:29
|
|
|
Bagleworm posted:I had a good experience using an aquarium for mice... Thanks for your reply Since I posted, I've gotten a 36'' long, 12'' wide and 15'' tall tank, have half-made a mesh topper for it, and have gotten my bedding. Food is on the way, and I should be getting four champagne tan girlies the weekend after next. If the tank proves too small as they get older (though it shouldn't - the fun mouse cage calculator says that theoretically I could fit in 6.6 mice without taking into account the vertical space at all) I'll possibly make a wire topper so they have more vertical room. We'll see!I'm so excited for my mice 
|
|
#
?
Sep 20, 2011 20:43
|
|
|
beekeepersdaughter posted:
He's so sweet! This thread makes me want to foster a guinea pig someday.
|
|
#
?
Sep 21, 2011 03:11
|
|
|
I found one of my piggies dead in their cage tonight. She wasn't even 2 years old, so I have no idea what happened. I'm keeping a very close eye on my other piggy and am thinking of getting another one from a local shelter. Question: Is it normal for guinea pigs to 'bury' their dead, or is my piggy just odd?
|
|
#
?
Sep 21, 2011 10:12
|
|
|
WindowLiquor posted:I found one of my piggies dead in their cage tonight. She wasn't even 2 years old, so I have no idea what happened. I'm keeping a very close eye on my other piggy and am thinking of getting another one from a local shelter. I'm sorry for your loss. I would recommend getting a necropsy so you know what killed her; partly for your own peace of mind, and partly to be certain it wasn't something the other piggy may also have. In the weeks prior to her death did she show any sign of weight loss? No, pigs don't bury their dead, but they will often dig around the body looking for food underneath it.
|
|
#
?
Sep 21, 2011 15:44
|
|
|
Naffer posted:I see your tin foil hat and I'll raise you lettuce hat. This is Eleanor Jalapeno. That's undignified. Now a red Coke cap on her head resembles a fez, which is classy.
|
|
#
?
Sep 21, 2011 22:50
|
|
|
alucinor posted:I'm sorry for your loss. I would recommend getting a necropsy so you know what killed her; partly for your own peace of mind, and partly to be certain it wasn't something the other piggy may also have. She showed no signs of being sick at all. It really surprised me, because I thought my other one would be the first one to go, if anything happened, seeing as she was sick when we got her. We've already buried her, but I'm weighing my other one every other day and checking her nose, eyes and ears about 3 times a day for any sign of oddities. I guess the bedding on her was because of the digging around for food then, it looked really odd to me at first, kind of sad too.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2011 04:49
|
|
|
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,787336,00.htmlquote:Rent-A-Guinea Pig Service Takes Off in Switzerland There's more to the article at the link. I just had to share since I think that not only is this a wonderful idea, but I'm amazed that Switzerland would have a law against keeping guinea pigs all alone. I think I'm actually stuck in this cycle myself, and it's probably why I've had guinea pigs for the past 15+ years. If I get down to having only two pigs and one dies, the one that is left is always so depressed and forlorn that I can't bear the thought of them being alone and I inevitably get one or more new pigs to be their companion. I sometimes think that I may not continue this cycle when my remaining pigs die, but I also don't know how to break it without having to get a companion pig or give my pig away, which I would never want to do. It's not that I don't want to have pigs as pets, but I'm considering a job abroad in the next couple of years and think it would be pretty difficult to transition my life overseas if I had pigs to consider. It might sound silly, but I'd probably choose my pigs over a job if it meant I had to give them up....
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2011 18:05
|
|
|
Sirotan posted:
Why can't you bring the pigs with you? You could always rig some sort of different cage wherever you go.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2011 18:13
|
|
|
Chin Strap posted:Why can't you bring the pigs with you? You could always rig some sort of different cage wherever you go. Logistics mostly. I think a 12+ hour plane ride would be incredibly stressful on a pig. There would also be language issues when it came to interacting with vets, that's assuming exotics vets would even be available to me. Availability of pig food, trying to find a place to live that would allow pets.... etc etc. I have thought about it extensively, I just think it would be a logistical nightmare and I'd be pretty concerned about their health during the trip.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2011 18:21
|
|
|
Sirotan posted:I sometimes think that I may not continue this cycle when my remaining pigs die, but I also don't know how to break it without having to get a companion pig or give my pig away, which I would never want to do. Most of the Guinea Lynx rescues have a half-dozen or more older, unadoptable pigs that they will gladly foster out as elderly companions, with the understanding that they'll come back when the foster's original piggy dies. Most of us will even cover all the care costs while the pigs are in foster, because it's the same amount of money either way, but paying for them to be fostered means the pigs are not taking up space and time that we could be using for adoptable animals.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2011 18:46
|
|
|
alucinor posted:Most of the Guinea Lynx rescues have a half-dozen or more older, unadoptable pigs that they will gladly foster out as elderly companions, with the understanding that they'll come back when the foster's original piggy dies. Most of us will even cover all the care costs while the pigs are in foster, because it's the same amount of money either way, but paying for them to be fostered means the pigs are not taking up space and time that we could be using for adoptable animals. That's pretty awesome. I will keep this in mind when my herd starts to get a bit thin. Do you know of any offhand that are near Michigan? Every time I've wanted to adopt I've had a really hard time finding a place to do it from, there don't seem to be many good rescues near me.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2011 19:26
|
|
|
Sirotan posted:That's pretty awesome. I will keep this in mind when my herd starts to get a bit thin. Do you know of any offhand that are near Michigan? Every time I've wanted to adopt I've had a really hard time finding a place to do it from, there don't seem to be many good rescues near me. Oh, I remember the trouble you had now. Rose at Critter Corral near Chicago is the closest one I can think of. I'm in Wisconsin, but I'm down to just four myself.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2011 20:01
|
|
|
It's a good thing my boyfriend has banned any more animals coming into our house. I'd probably pick these guys up otherwise. I think they're way too cute, and it sounds like they have a great owner who really wants a good home for them and doesn't want to just dump them.
|
|
#
?
Sep 23, 2011 00:44
|
|
|
Our male guinea pig, Roscoe, is ready to wield Mjolnir and slay some Frost Giants in the name of Odin!
|
|
#
?
Sep 24, 2011 03:47
|
|
|
I've always been of the opinion that small animals need big names, so all my guinea pigs have been named after goddesses (Indira, Kali, Shivani, Parvati, Sita, Athena, Freyja, Nanna). If I ever took in a male guinea pig, absolutely the first name I'd use is Thor.
|
|
#
?
Sep 24, 2011 04:12
|
|
|
So, after doing a bit of thinking, I think I really should get my piggy a new lady fried, seeing as I don't want her to be alone with just dogs a lot of the time. Other then getting her from a shelter, any tips on age and all that? Also, how long should I wait before getting a new one?
|
|
#
?
Sep 24, 2011 08:26
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 16, 2024 11:23 |
|
|
Nvm. Decision made.
Penguins Like Pies fucked around with this message at 17:45 on Sep 25, 2011 |
|
#
?
Sep 24, 2011 21:52
|
|