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You have a point with the upbringing part, Dex was raised in a frat house for the first year and a half of his life so he's used to having all sorts of people around and interacting with him. Smokey is from a rescue and I imagine he didn't get too much individualized attention so he's kinda shy (but has been slowly breaking out of his shell recently). He's also very vocal, he'll make happy conversational squeaks at you if you pay attention to him for long enough. Their personality difference really shows when it comes to food, Dexter is always like "  OH MY GOD FOOD I HAVE NEVER BEEN FED BEFORE IN MY LIFE I AM STARVING " while bouncing all around his food dish; Smokey is more like "oh thank you, how thoughtful of you to feed me" and is very polite about waiting until I am done giving him his food before he smashes his face into his food.furushotakeru posted:Every chinchilla I have ever met drops food and acts like it disappears into the aether even when it falls just a few cm to their feet. Or maybe they are just trying to trick me into giving them another treat. Mine give me this look like "you gonna get that?" and expect me to pick it up and hand it to them again.
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Jun 25, 2012 03:52
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Aquatic Giraffe posted:You have a point with the upbringing part, Dex was raised in a frat house for the first year and a half of his life so he's used to having all sorts of people around and interacting with him. Smokey is from a rescue and I imagine he didn't get too much individualized attention so he's kinda shy (but has been slowly breaking out of his shell recently). He's also very vocal, he'll make happy conversational squeaks at you if you pay attention to him for long enough. Vincenza's like that. She stares at me like. "And?"
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Jun 25, 2012 06:58
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My boyfriend and I were walking around town last night and stumbled upon a stray guinea pig. It took about ten minutes of scrambling in the bushes but we caught him and brought him home. I've never heard of stray guinea pigs before, especially one in the middle of the city in north Minnesota. He looks like he's in pretty good condition, and our town just had massive flooding last week so he probably hasn't been outside for all that long. I'm wondering if he escaped or if someone decided they didn't want him any more and put him out. I've been looking around for lost guinea pig ads but haven't seen any. I'm nervous about putting out an ad in case someone claims it's theirs when it isn't just to get a free one. We named him McGuirk. He's pretty cute, but unfortunately we can't keep him as my boyfriend is allergic and we already have two cats. The shelter can't take him until Friday, so we've got three and a half more days with him. We have a cat carrier that we've been keeping him in and he's got handfuls of grass and clover, we also picked up a cranberry/veggie/grain bar from the pet store. I've never had a guinea pig before and don't know what's best for temporary care until we can bring him to the shelter. Does my arrangement look alright?  I know guinea pigs usually drink water from the bottle things, but will a water bowl like that one suffice for a few days? We've given him several handfuls of grass and he's been eating that with no problem. We've got some cardboard on the bottom for bedding, is that good enough?  He's cute and I would consider keeping him if we were allergy-free. Unfortunately that's not the case. We're actually bringing him to animal control, and their office places strays with shelters. All the shelters in this city are no-kill. He seems tame, he let me pet his head through the door. Poor McGuirk. Is there anything else I can do for him to make his three days with us the best they can be?
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Jun 26, 2012 23:53
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If you have any bell pepper or other vitamin c rich veggies, offer those to him as well. Guinea pigs need vitamin c in their diets and I'm betting an abandoned one might need some. Poor lil' guy, I hope he finds a new home.  There's been a ton of abandoned guinea pig stories lately from my area as well, I wonder what's up with that.
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Jun 26, 2012 23:57
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Your heart is in the right place but the food you're giving him isn't going to cut it, unfortunately neither is the cardboard you've got as bedding. Do you have some rag towels? Use that as bedding and just change them out once a day. And if you can, go to a pet store and get him a small bag of alfalfa hay. He should be ok with hay as his main food source for a few days. That fruit seed bar is like piggie junk food. The grass and clover is ok as snacks, but he really needs to be eating hay. I think the bowl will probably be fine, you can also make sure he is getting enough water via (small quantities of) veggies, like bell pepper that Bear Rape suggested. I know it's getting late but you should really really try to get him some hay tonight if you can. If all he has been eating is mostly clover and grasses he could get diarrhea or some other gut upset quick, which would be a very serious health risk. He's really adorable but yeah....there's really no such thing as a 'stray' guinea pig. Someone probably abandoned him.
Sirotan fucked around with this message at 01:20 on Jun 27, 2012 |
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Jun 27, 2012 01:17
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Bear Rape posted:
A kid came into the pet store I work at (we sell supplies, food, etc. and as far as animals go we adopt out rescues that we pick up from animal control shelters) and literally said to me, "My friend hates his guinea pig, can he bring it here and leave it?" I just had no idea what to say to him. I had a conversation with someone about this today though, since we have a lot of guinea pigs right now and nobody seems to want any. My theory is that because they aren't as small as hamsters and aren't as inherently social as rabbits a lot of people just don't get them. They don't like the idea of having a pet that may always run and hide when you first enter a room, no matter how well they know you. My guinea pig did that her whole life, but it didn't stop her from lying next to me on her blankie at night while I did my homework without making a peep. It just blows my mind that people don't seem to want to give them a chance, and I can't wait until I'm in a position to have one again. Right now it's just me and the hamsters, but one day I hope.
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Jun 27, 2012 05:04
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That's really sad. I've had my guinea pigs for about 4-5 months I think and they've only just started accepting treats from my hand within the past week or so, doesn't stop them from being awesome pets. My local craigslist has a ton of guinea pigs listed in it too, so at least there are some people willing to try and rehome them. I'm not sure how it gets to the point of abandoning them, though. Especially out in the wild. I can kind of understand taking them to a store, but only in the cases where rescues around you don't accept small animals. (Like in my area I think some do, just depends on the shelter.) I assume it's like with some pets, people just don't do research beforehand or don't have a decent guide, so unexpected behaviors (like running and hiding, nibbling/biting, and loud wheeking) might be too much for someone who was expecting a "big hamster" or something. I dunno, I'm rambling. Speaking of that though, my own guinea pigs have both warmed up a lot in the past week, I'm not sure what happened. Usually they hide when I put down food, but now they'll run up to me and follow my hand around.  They still run away when I pick them up and act like nail clipping is the most traumatic thing ever, but I digress.
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Jun 27, 2012 11:48
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It's also interesting how many people think they're gerbils. At least once a day I have people point at the guinea pigs and go, "Are those gerbils?" Points to a general lack of understanding, I think.
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Jun 27, 2012 13:31
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I don't know much about guinea pigs but I wanted to say. Look at that little crooked face!I hope he gets a good home 
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Jun 27, 2012 15:54
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He looks a lot my girl, Pepper. I just noticed.
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Jun 27, 2012 16:49
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It's awesome when they start to appreciate you. It has reached the point where the black one (who likes me the most) will rumble and bite the other boys if I start to pet them before he's had enough.
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Jun 28, 2012 01:44
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Koivunen posted:I've never heard of stray guinea pigs before, especially one in the middle of the city in north Minnesota... I'm wondering if he escaped or if someone decided they didn't want him any more and put him out. quote:I've been looking around for lost guinea pig ads but haven't seen any. I'm nervous about putting out an ad in case someone claims it's theirs when it isn't just to get a free one. .
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Jun 28, 2012 15:25
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My girlfriend and I just bought a house and inherited (we think) 15 wild guinea pigs with it. Apparently the previous owner was a bit of an eccentric guy and kept them in his garden in order to keep the grass nice and short. The first time we went to view the house he had the females and males separated in their own little enclosure but he would open up the fence and let them roam free in the garden to nibble on the grass. He claims he hasn't mowed the grass since he got them. Now (three months later and one week before we actually get the key, that's how bloody long it takes in this country to clear the paperwork) we visited him again and noticed the big black rabbit that they shared their home with was gone. He said it jumped the fence and ran off into the fields behind the garden, but the big surprise was what he said next: "Some of the guinea pigs died so I put them al together so they can breed a bit." And lo and behold a teeny tiny guinea pig and its mother poked their head from under a bush. I have no idea how well he's been looking after them nor how many there are actually running around, He says they head back into their house in their enclosure once it gets dark so I'm hoping we'll be able to catch them all that way. Hell I don't know how these things survived the winter since all they have is their little doghouse/ hutch thing out in the garden. The good news is we found a pet shop that's willing to buy them from us because I doubt the blue cross will be happy to take in more than a dozen feral guinea pigs.
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Jun 28, 2012 17:21
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I actually saw one of these one time that someone was selling. It seemed to be a bit more frail than regular guinea pigs. I just got this feeling that they have a bit more needs to take care of.
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Jun 28, 2012 18:33
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Hexacrodium posted:My girlfriend and I just bought a house and inherited (we think) 15 wild guinea pigs with it.
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Jun 28, 2012 20:21
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Which part is the craziest part? We live in Belgium by the way. The winters can be quite mild here compared to other parts of the country but in the worst case it'll still drop to around -7 degrees Celsius. I'm not sure how well he was feeding them, I remember seeing some fresh veggies the first time we went, but during the last visit their enclosure was a mess of mud, poo poo, piss and old straw. The garden was also starting to get out of control, seems like he just stopped caring once he realised it wasn't going to be his any more in 3 months time. I got the feeling he was fond of them but didn't really know how to care for them. The reason he's leaving them and most of his stuff behind is because he's planning on touring the globe in his old volkswagon van. Like I said the guy's eccentric.
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Jun 28, 2012 20:40
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Hexacrodium posted:Which part is the craziest part? With a little more concern for the well-being of the pigs it actually sounds like a pretty awesome setup.
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Jun 29, 2012 00:31
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Thanks for the advice everyone. We got him some proper hay and a green sweet pepper which I've given in small amounts. I've kind of become attached to McGuirk, but my boyfriend spent all of an hour in the same room and his eyes got super bloodshot and his nose plugged up. I wish we could keep him but we just can't. We've kept him separated from the cats but I don't think they would take kindly to him because they are far too curious. I'll donate the rest of the hay and the pepper to the rescue that he'll be going to tomorrow morning. I'm sad to see him go, but I hope he can find a home where he is loved and well cared for. He's made a lot of happy piggy noises, it's so cute. Goodbye McGuirk, I'll miss you little piggy.
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Jun 29, 2012 05:55
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cat with hands posted:With a little more concern for the well-being of the pigs it actually sounds like a pretty awesome setup. I mean, I know there are cultures that just feed them table scraps and use them for food... but uncontrollably breeding and mistreating animals because you don't want to mow the lawn? Seriously?
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Jun 29, 2012 06:24
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Koivunen posted:Thanks for the advice everyone. We got him some proper hay and a green sweet pepper which I've given in small amounts. I've kind of become attached to McGuirk, but my boyfriend spent all of an hour in the same room and his eyes got super bloodshot and his nose plugged up. I wish we could keep him but we just can't. We've kept him separated from the cats but I don't think they would take kindly to him because they are far too curious. So glad to hear that. And I have to say, when I read your first post my immediate thought was 'hmm well how long of a drive would it be..'. Unfortunately, way too long, but drat if he isn't such a cutie. I'm sure someone will give him a great home. 
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Jun 29, 2012 12:07
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Hexacrodium posted:My girlfriend and I just bought a house and inherited (we think) 15 wild guinea pigs with it. I am visualizing the script for a horror story where a swarm of guinea pigs enters your house in the dead of night...
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Jul 1, 2012 01:09
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spiralbrain posted:I actually saw one of these one time that someone was selling. It seemed to be a bit more frail than regular guinea pigs. I just got this feeling that they have a bit more needs to take care of. They do. Skinnies (or Baldwins) are varieties of hairless guinea pigs, originally bred for lab work (so they could do horrible things to them without having to shave them first). They're much more susceptible to cold than other breeds, requiring the odd guinea pig-sized sweater in winter (or very good climate control). They also can't spend much time outside, because they will sunburn and they are very prone to skin cancers. I pig-sat for a herd in Nebraska before I moved back to Alabama, and she had a skinny. My last day I decided to get him out, just because I'd never handled one before. I managed to pick him up and... well, you remember that scene with Ace Ventura picking up the bat? Turns out hairless pigs feel a little bit on the creepy side when you're not really prepared for it. I petted the old fellow and managed not to freak out, and gave him extra veggies for his trouble when I returned him to his home.
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Jul 1, 2012 05:14
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Hi guys! Got a question for you hamster owners, I was in our local petshop and they have an adoption section where they put pets people don't want any more or pets they can't sell. They have an adorable syrian hamster there who I love and am seriously thinking of adopting. The only problem is that the reason she's up for adoption is because her eye sticks shut every day and they can't sell her, she's a pretty young hamster and the lady said the vets have tried all kinds but her eye just sticks shut every day and as a result you have to bathe her eye daily (I don't have a problem with doing this)Anything likely to be wrong with the hammy that the vet has missed? She's been there for a few weeks now and normally hamsters get snatched up pretty quickly and she looks like she's getting bored and antsy if I get here is there anything I could do for the eye besides bathe it? It doesn't look like an infection and googling only brings this problem up in older hamstersI want to call her J Bear
Cold_Ethyl fucked around with this message at 12:39 on Jul 6, 2012 |
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Jul 6, 2012 12:29
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Cold_Ethyl posted:Hi guys! I'm only on my first hamster, so I've never encountered anything like that, but it seems like one option other than infection could be allergies... I'm thinking, especially if they're not using a proper bedding material, it's possible that it's an environmental thing, but who knows.
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Jul 6, 2012 14:09
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Cold_Ethyl posted:Hi guys! I doubt they've really tried much in the way of treatment, if it's a pet store. Probably bought some drops and said welp that didn't work. Pet stores are notorious for doing the bare minimum to ensure the health of their merchandise, unfortunately. If you do adopt her, you might find that a vet can do something for her.
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Jul 6, 2012 16:34
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Serella posted:I doubt they've really tried much in the way of treatment, if it's a pet store. Probably bought some drops and said welp that didn't work. Pet stores are notorious for doing the bare minimum to ensure the health of their merchandise, unfortunately. If you do adopt her, you might find that a vet can do something for her. Sorry for late reply, not been near a computer for a couple of days. The petshop is a fairly big UK chain which has an instore vet which isn't very good (recently took my guinea pig with a broken leg and they did the bare minimum for him , though he's recovering nicely now after doing some research on what we could do to help the healing process) we're going to pick up the hammy during the week (if she's still there) and take her to my usual vet, see what they think. Thanks for the advice
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Jul 7, 2012 20:05
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One of my mom's guinea pigs had babies! I didn't know where else to post this but baby animals pretty much need to be shared, and cavy pups are just about the cutest thing. Background: my mom used to be a professional cavy breeder, and she's currently a cavy judge. She got rid of most of the pigs over the last few years, but she's got a few still. Because of this I learned way too much about cavies while I was growing up. We have four adult pigs right now, and as of this morning, we have four pups! Two boys, two girls, and they're all american silver solids. We haven't named any of them yet since two of them are going to go to a friend. Baby 1 (the runt):  Baby 2 (the most show-quality one):  Baby 3 (that one):  Baby 4 (the other one):  All the babies and the mom (Calliope):  She's sitting on a carrot, in case you're wondering. They were born just this morning and because guinea pigs are awesome, they are already able to run around, eat solid food, all that good stuff. 
Portals fucked around with this message at 01:44 on Jul 8, 2012 |
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Jul 8, 2012 01:39
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Omigosh babies!  I'm really curious now though, I've never been to a guinea pig show or seen them judged, what kind of standards are they judged on? Coat, body type, colors, that sort of thing? Those pictures are adorable, also. Especially the second one.
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Jul 8, 2012 02:04
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Bear Rape posted:Omigosh babies! There's a bunch of written standards put down by ACBA (the American Cavy Breeder's Association), and yeah, it's on coat quality, markings if they're a type that has markings, things like that. Each breed is usually judged separately, and then the winners of each breed are judged against each other. My mom just has americans (short haired), and right now we just have silver solids and a really old chocolate dalmation sow. Here's what a cavy show typically looks like:  It looks like they're looking at peruvians or silkies at the judging table, and the pigs in the front are teddies and abyssinians. Portals fucked around with this message at 02:19 on Jul 8, 2012 |
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Jul 8, 2012 02:15
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Would chinchilla poop make good house plant fertilizer? It's not like we don't have enough of it. It would be nice if the fuzzbutts would be useful for something other than being fuzzy and being poop machines. Edit: Another question: How would I tell if one of my chins had bad eyesight? Smokey is really timid about jumping on stuff and it seems like the only way to get his attention is through noise and smells. He's clearly not totally blind since he can jump up to his shelves without a problem, but we're wondering if he can't see very well since he's very cautious about it and it seems like the only way we can get his attention is through tapping on his cage, touching him, or bribing him with strong-smelling food and treats. Problem! fucked around with this message at 04:34 on Jul 8, 2012 |
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Jul 8, 2012 03:40
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Hey now, Chinnies are fabulous at chewing on things too. Don't short sell their talents!
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Jul 8, 2012 04:39
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Aquatic Giraffe posted:Would chinchilla poop make good house plant fertilizer? It's not like we don't have enough of it. It would be nice if the fuzzbutts would be useful for something other than being fuzzy and being poop machines. Probably. My friends use rabbit poop and it's pretty close. Smokey sounds like a chinchilla
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Jul 8, 2012 19:38
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Was your chinchilla kept in a one level cage for a long time his first year or longer? That was the case with mine and even three years in a 5.5 ft cage he hesitates but has gotten way better. He just didn't grow up jumping freely. For months he didn't know how to get up the levels even with shelves everywhere. The thing with chins is it takes months to years to modify behaviours from experience/talking to others. I used to rub raisin guts on the upper shelves to motivate him to explore, and once he was up there I only gave him treats while he was on the upper shelves, as he got more and more comfortable his hay moved up there, then his more fun toys, etc. E: I just thought of a weird semi connected story. My mom got foreclosed on after I moved out and I was trying to sell the aforementioned superpet cage on craigslist. I was keeping it in case of emergency and because I had to spend hours using a chisel to get the dried piss off the bottom, it was lots of effort. I was doing my part and asking people what they were using it for so another critter didn't end up in a too-small cage. One lady was telling me that her dog needed a new litterbox. Her chihuahua needed. A litterbox. I ended up selling it to a girl who needed housing for foster rats. anima fucked around with this message at 20:14 on Jul 8, 2012 |
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Jul 8, 2012 20:07
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He's a rescue and I have no idea what type of cage he had before I got him, but I imagine it wasn't too nice seeing as he's a rescue and all. I got him about three months ago and the rescue figured he was about a year old. He lived in Dexter's old Superpet cage for a while till I got settled in my new place and got him his own big cage. He's been in his new chinchilla mansion cage for about a month now and isn't much better at jumping to his shelves than he was when he first got it. His food dish is on one of his upper shelves and he does hop up there to get to it when he's hungry but he usually just chills out on the bottom of his cage or the very lowest shelf. I'm beginning to think Smokey is just a normal chinchilla and Dexter is just unusually friendly and outgoing, which makes Smokey seem more like a recluse in comparison.
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Jul 8, 2012 23:07
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Oscar and Charlie have been in their cage forever and still manage to miss a jump, landing with their little arms clinging to the shelf and eventually falling down. It's scary and hilarious.
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Jul 9, 2012 00:19
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Awesome Kristin posted:Oscar and Charlie have been in their cage forever and still manage to miss a jump, landing with their little arms clinging to the shelf and eventually falling down. It's scary and hilarious. We have safety hammocks for this reason because otherwise....
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Jul 9, 2012 03:40
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I'm familiar with the occasional middle of the night *WHUMP* "EEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" from a certain someone falling off of a shelf. I make sure to put extra padding in the middle of their cages for such occasions. I guess all that floof provides some padding because they're always up and hopping around again with no problem after falling. Smokey just barked in his sleep and sounded like a deflating squeaky toy.
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Jul 10, 2012 01:07
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Yup I have emergency hammocks too. Except once, I have no idea how, he missed them all entirely. When Amal barks in his sleep it sounds like a lady being murdered. He used to to it CONSTANTLY for the first year and it was so, so awful. He was always neglected as a baby and would scream and scream the first year but my friend never did anything about it but slowly it subsided to just once a month. I think living with me in a one room place the last 3 years with 80 billion toys helps cause I'm always here for him. Plus he takes care of his little stuffed baby  That's his baby, usually he brings him to the food bowl and then puts him in one of the fleece beds I have in there. That stupid hut thing I was thinking would last awhile, but that's 8 hours into giving it to him.
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Jul 10, 2012 03:20
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anima posted:That stupid hut thing I was thinking would last awhile, but that's 8 hours into giving it to him. Dex would do the same thing until I bought him two, he eats one while sitting under the other. Smokey doesn't eat his.
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Jul 10, 2012 03:56
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Are all hedgehogs sensitive to temperature? I really want one as a pet, but it gets far too cold in winter to keep my apartment at 72 degrees.
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Jul 10, 2012 13:42
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