New Pig, New Owner, Lots of questions

[Hoshishi]

Hi and welcome to the forum. I'm new here too and have had guinea pigs for several years.

Like Baby's Mom and yourself I got my initial guinea pigs from the pet shop and haven't regretted opening my house and heart to them. Through them I have learned and changed and have adopted from rescues since and wouldn't buy from a pet shop again. We all start somewhere but the most important thing is to learn every day...

I can imagine your husband must have been very sad to see you heartbroken and done his very best to help you cheer up. I'm really sorry for your loss. It's horrible to loose a pet.

I'm glad you have two piggies now who can enjoy each others company. They really do best when they have friends.

As for food, unfortunately I can't give you any advice on the brand you were asking about as I'm in Scotland and haven't heard about it. I believe you have to watch out for food colouring when selecting your food as there is a Sunset Yellow food colouring in some foods which can lead to health problems.

Also please let us know how you get on with building your cage and I'd love to see some pictures of your piggies!

[BabyBellie]

Hi, From what I've heard they should have alfalfa hay as well as grass hay until they are 6 months old. Then they can have it as an occasional treat. My 6 are all under 6 months and once I started giving them alfalfa they really changed. They truely love that stuff.

I'm sure you'll love this forum. I know I do. I also know it can be a little overwhelming at first. It seems like an unbelievable amount of work and things to remember but once you get into the swing of it, it really pays off. The little guys really have a special ability to steal your heart.

P.S. We love pigtures!

[Clay's Pooka]

How do I post pictures? I am sure it is posted somewhere how to do it, but could you let me know? Thanks!

[guineapigluver1]

Originally Posted by Clay's Pooka

Okay, here is a question about building them a habitat. I probably wont use C&C because I can't get any here, and the area I have isnt very big, but has anyone made a multi-level structure? With ramps, of course, made out of some sort of tunnel or tube so they cant fall off. Just curious. It would give them way more room than I could just having them on a flat surface.

How about getting them off this website?
Wire Cubes


Do you have a photobucket account? If you do you can upload them to photobucket and click on the thing under the picture that says IMG and paste it in the message box here on the forum and post it and the picture will show up.

[misspiggy&piper]

Click on the tab that says "Upload Photos" at the top of this screen under the Main Guinea Pig Cages logo. This will take you to the screen where you can get photos off of your computer. If you need more help, PM me and I will try to give you step by step instructions.

[misspiggy&piper]

THis is for posting photos in the gallery though, not in your posts.

[Slave to the Wheek]

Originally Posted by Clay's Pooka

Well, I have arranged a trade with a lady. I am giving her the aquarium in exchange for a decent sized guinea pig cage. It may not be as large as 10 square feet, but I still plan to build something bigger and at least the ventilation problem will be addressed. I gather from the responses that I got that ventilation is the most important thing, so this should solve the crisis long enough for me to build them something and then after that I will have a quarantine cage or something if they decide they aren't friends any more. Thanks for all the responses.

Hi again! Just a little note to add that the links I referred to in my previous post are pretty valuable and you may want to review them. There is a ton of info on those links that will make you a guinea pig expert in no time at all.

I got my pig the same way you did, so I feel your pain as well. Back in the days when I joined GPC, the website was a lot harder to find when googling and it kept getting these horrible websites hosted by children or were filled with old outdated information. I knew that had to be something out there that was more modern. Took me a few days of solid searching before I found this forum...and several days more of posting before I had someone point out that there is an entire website and photo galleries that this forum is part of. LOL. I don't remember who, but someone finally took me by the hand and pointed out how to find the photo galleries and where the 'home page' was. By then I had heard CC used so much but couldn't figure it al out.

Something told me that the "My First Home" cage that the petstore sold me was WAAAYYY to small for an adult guinea pig and the clerk looked at me like I was from Mars when I pointed that out. We went ahead and took it home and I started searching for something more appropriate right away.

I'm so grateful that Teresa has given us this space to keep the revolution going and it's amazing how much things have changed in the last couple of years. I now see CC cages posted by people on CL who are including them with the pets. It seems that almost everyone who has a guinea pig and an internet connection eventually learns about GPC and cage sizing and modern methods. The old way is going away much more quickly than I ever suspected it would, and it's because of the funding and time that she's put into this site. It's not only beautifully built, it's written well and covers so many important points.

Anyway...

Since you mentioned you plan on putting it in your living room, here's the one I have in mine. I looks bigger because I sat down to take the pictures in the broad shots. I'm really super proud of it. We've built so many versions, but this one seems the most versatile for us anyway. Here's a link to the photo album/slideshow with captions explaining
how I set it up. My puppy Oberon is the show host!
Picasa Web Albums - Obee's Mom - 2x4 Cube and ...

[Clay's Pooka]

That is such a cute puppy! And I love the Shakespeare reference- I just went and saw that show this last season at the Shakespeare festival. Anyway, I went to Target today and bought my little panels for my C&C cage. The enameled ones were odd- they didn't have 9 squares per side, and the ones for the "back" of the cubes had even larger holes. Fortunately, they had one set that was chrome colored that had the correct number of holes and correct side measurements per square (14.5 inches). I have to buy an entertainment center and move all my furniture, but I will have them all set up this weekend. I will post a picture then. Also, I will add a picture of my piggies to my profile, but I only have one. They are doing really well, too, by the way. I worry because they still seem SO scared, but they are pet-shop piggies so no guarantee that they have been handled and loved. It will just take time, I guess. Any tips on how to get them gentled faster?

[Slave to the Wheek]

My personal favorite: Taming your Guinea Pig.

That page has a ton of fun facts about taming. Some of it is pretty high level, but it's still good read and great advice.

The number one thing with them is time and patience. I have had Turbo for almost 3 years and he came from Cavy Spirit at only 5 weeks of age. He STILL runs away at first. I have to go really slow if I want him to let me give him a head scritch. Fabio on the other hand was our first pig, and was a lice covered, ears chewed off petstore pig and he pretty much will now let you come to him and pet him. He's figured out that the sooner he lets me pat and pet, the sooner I leave.... Some Pig!

Every pig is so different and they all respond to different approaches differently.