Possibly adopting a Texel

[ThePigAlchemist]

So jealous! Ever since I've seen the Texel breed I've wanted one, but I never see them for adoption here. If one ever comes up on Craigslist or in the shelter, I won't even hesitate to get one.

I had a Peruvian in the past so I sort of know about long hair. I had to give him weekly butt baths, and looking back on it, it might have been better if I just trimmed that hair. He wasn't too high-maintenance though. Best of luck with your new addition!

[Mastershroom]

Sorry for the late update, but long story short, Curly is home!



The drive out there was pretty interesting...I live in an apartment kinda in the middle between the suburbs and downtown. The lady who had the piggies lives about half an hour away, in the middle of Amish country. It was quite amusing having to pass horse-drawn carriages on the freeway.

Anyway, she had a couple Abyssinian piggies and what looked like a teddy, and Curly was the only texel. The lady said she was six weeks old, and even clipped her nails before I took her, and handed me some pellets in a plastic bag. No idea what they are, but they look very much like the Oxbow pellets I feed mine. I brought her home, and let her meet Kwee and Quee on the floor. We were honestly quite nervous for a bit; it didn't seem to go nearly as smoothly as when we introduced Quee and Kwee to each other. There was quite a bit of the two older piggies chasing Curly out of the boxes she would hide in, and jumping all over her and other dominance stuff that caused her to squeak like crazy. But eventually they more or less left each other alone, and I figured that if they were going to fight for real, they would have done it within the hour that we had them together on the floor. So, we put them all together in the freshly cleaned cage with a new pigloo, so each pig has one. There was a bit of pigloo-shuffling, as the three of them ran into and out of different pigloos and chased each other around.

At that point I had to go to work for 4 hours, so I left them a bunch of hay and pellets and hoped for the best.

Turns out they must have gotten along pretty well When I got home, I lifted up the pigloos and found Kwee and Curly cuddling in one pigloo, with Quee in another one and the last one empty.

Curly is definitely a different piggie...for starters, she's nearly impossible to keep a grip on. The instant she has an opportunity, she gets loose and finds her way into places that Quee and Kwee wouldn't even think of...under the couch, under the kitchen counter, between boxes that we specifically placed to provide a barrier...it's adorable, but we've probably spent a good half hour today just trying to catch her. Clearly we can't trust her for floor time like we can with Quee and Kwee just yet.

Also, she likes nose kisses :3

[pinky]

She's adorable but are you sure you didn't get her from a breeder? PA Amish country is notorious for pet mills.

[PopePopsicleIV]

she sounds like she has a fantastically adorable personality! And she's super cute to boot ^.^

[vania]

What a cute pig! I'm glad this all worked out for you, congrats on the pig!

[Mastershroom]

She's adorable but are you sure you didn't get her from a breeder? PA Amish country is notorious for pet mills.

I guess there's no way to know for sure, but I didn't get that impression. She said she used to show her pigs, and occasionally takes in retired show piggies, and apparently this time one of them was mis-sexed, hence the piglets for adoption. She actually took $15 off of her listed adoption fee from the Craigslist ad, asked for $20 instead of $35. She told me she lists $35 online so only really serious people make offers, and said that she can tell I take good care of my piggies so she didn't need that kind of insurance.

She also asked me to let her know how the new piggie gets along in her new home, and said that if anything doesn't work out (if she didn't get along with my pigs, for example) that I would be more than welcome to bring her back. Not sure if that's a "breeder" thing to do, but I got the impression that she genuinely wanted to find them a good home.

Off-topic, but before the pig lady even came to the door, I was greeted in her yard and escorted to the door by two handsome friendly bulldogs. ^__^ Also, she had a horse and chickens. Living in the city, I can't even tell you when the last time I saw any of those was.

[Mastershroom]

We haven't taken Curly out of the cage again today, since we're trying to leave her alone to let her adjust to her new home. But I managed to get a couple more photos out of her today.

[guineapigs2468]

Glad she has settled with your other guinea pigs, I'm sure she will settle into her new home fine.

[pinky]

We haven't taken Curly out of the cage again today, since we're trying to leave her alone to let her adjust to her new home. But I managed to get a couple more photos out of her today.

You're really lucky to have found her. That photo is so sweet. You can tell they're going to be best friends.

[PiggyPassion]

Not trying to sound rude, but are you sure that she's a texel..? I used to own a Texel, and even at 4 weeks, her hair was much longer and curlier than that! O.o

[Mastershroom]

You're really lucky to have found her. That photo is so sweet. You can tell they're going to be best friends.

I hope so She still starts wheeking like a madpig when one of the others gets too close, regardless of the fact they don't actually do anything to her. She's like a proximity alarm. But I think they're getting on fine. I keep finding her snuggled up with one of the others in the pigloos.

Not trying to sound rude, but are you sure that she's a texel..? I used to own a Texel, and even at 4 weeks, her hair was much longer and curlier than that! O.o

I guess I can't really be sure, but that's what she was advertised as, and the ad specifically said "will have long, kinky hair as adults".

It's not very long at this point, but it's definitely curly. Even her whiskers are kinked...she doesn't really look like any of the other breeds I've heard of, so I dunno. If she's not a texel, what would you call her?

[guineapigs2468]

I think she is a texel by the way you describe her. Although has she got a crest on her head ? If she does she might be a merino guinea pig, they to get long curly hair like texels. I love merino piggies.

[Kelsie]

Curly is a little doll. I'm so glad to hear that Kwee and Quee are welcoming her into their herd. I love your story about finding Curly and Kwee sleeping together in the same pigloo. I'm so glad you adopted her as I know you will give her a wonderful home.

[Mastershroom]

I think she is a texel by the way you describe her. Although has she got a crest on her head ? If she does she might be a merino guinea pig, they to get long curly hair like texels. I love merino piggies.

You know, you might be on to something...I'm not sure what exactly defines a "crest", but she does have a white patch on the top of her head that looks like it sticks out a little more than the rest of her. If you right-click any of the images I posted and select "view image", it will show you a might larger high-resolution version, maybe you can figure it out from that.

So, merinos are basically texels with a crest?

[guineapigs2468]

Yes I think the crests are the way from telling them apart. I looked at the pictures closer I think your right, the white tuff on top of her head looks rather like a crest. My merino guinea pig as a baby started off like yours to, she is white, brown and black and is now a big curly ball. I try to keep her trimmed and brushed but they do take a lot of extra care than short haired piggies. So you may well have a merino guinea pig.

[spy9doc]

You know, I was going to comment that she doesn't look like a Texel based on what mine looked like at 3 months old. Didn't want to say anything negative because she IS a cutie!

Here's a pic of my baby girl, Maya, who was a show piggy when I adopted her. You can see what a purebreed Texel looks like. I now keep her hair much shorter.

[guineapigs2468]

Spy9doc your texel maya is such a cute piggy ! my Maisy (merino piggy) has fur like yours but it's a bit more puffed out, and hard to describe. But she started off with only the tiniest of curls and it took a good few weeks to really start to see the curls come through.

[Mastershroom]

Maya is adorable ^__^

Curly is 6 weeks right now, about a month and a half. I guess we'll see if her hair starts to grow out as she gets older...out of curiosity, is there any breed that has curly hair that stays short?

And for the record, if she turns out not to be a texel or merino or anything...I really don't mind. Long curly hair would be fun, but she's still a lovely pig.

[xXMaggieXx]

I hope so She still starts wheeking like a madpig when one of the others gets too close, regardless of the fact they don't actually do anything to her.

Aww my Ally does that! You little girl sounds so cute!!! On the other note your piggy Quee looks so much like my Emily!

[schavarry]

my Maisy (merino piggy) has fur like yours but it's a bit more puffed out, and hard to describe. But she started off with only the tiniest of curls and it took a good few weeks to really start to see the curls come through.

I googled Merino guinea pigs - they're SUPER cute!! I see what you mean about them being puffed out.