Haven't offically introduced ourselves

[cjaharmon]

Just wanted to say hi and how much we (My family! I'll tell you more about them in a second.) have appreciated this website. We just got our first cavy a week ago today, and it was a rescue of sorts though we didn't realize it at first. My stepson who is 10 and I were both wanting a smaller pet, so he can begin to learn some responsibility while also having me to help take care of it too. And when we heard of a cavy that needed a good home we decided to see if we could help it. Well in the matter of days we had done tons of research, had lots of family discussions, and I agreed to pick up any slack my stepson has, just because he's still a kid and we know he won't be totally responsible yet. Though I have to admit other then the cleaning the poopie out of the cage he's done a great job so far. He even spent almost all of his birthday money on the cavy and got everyone to buy her new things as his gifts. So our latest addition to our family is a female adult cavy. We built her a C&C caget his weekend and just got the Coroplast Flooring today. We were temporarily using tiles but they worked for a fill in till we could get the right floor.

Now about our cavy...her name is Smores, she's brown and white, and like I said she's an adult. She wasn't neglected as much as just not taken good care of. She had really long nails when we first got her and have been slowly working to cut them down a little at a time. They were so long that she was cutting her skin with her nails. But since we've been working on the nails she is not cutting open new sore spots and the one or two she had is healing really well. We also got her a C&C cage, a 2X3 for now. We want to build up in the future but we are waiting till grandpa makes us a table. We also have introduced veggies to her. SHE LOVES THEM! A very happy girl now. She waits by the cage door for us to come with her veggies in the morning after we get her water bottle and food bowls to get it all ready. So I think we are doing a pretty good job, and we just wanted to say thank you for myself, my stepson and of course our cavy, because we have gotten lots of great information from this site! Thanks again!

Christina, Adam and Smores

Below is our cage and our Smores, with the temporary floor. I don't know why I try to place her tunnels and igglo in the corners they are all over the place within an hour. Deffinetly a treat for her. She loves the cage and the room, and is 100 times more active now then when she was in the other cage!

[nonamian_girl]

Welcome! Great job on rescuing! It's so nice to see people who research before getting a pet.

Are you going to adopt a friend for her as well?

[cjaharmon]

Sorry forgot to upload the photos! Had to shrink them to make them work. Hope they come out okay!

[cjaharmon]

Originally Posted by nonamian_girl

Are you going to adopt a friend for her as well?

Not right now we aren't planning on it. I want to give her time to get used to us and get use to better treatment. I will probably think about getting her friend come fall when I fell we have a good grasp on what it takes to take good care of her. I feel like we are still learning and getting better everyday but I want to get her a friend in a couple months.

[JennG]

Congrats on such a cutie pie! I'm glad you have learned alot here. It's a great place with alot of knowledgeable people on here. It's important to remember that they are herd animals and getting her a friend would be great. Two isn't any harder than one to take care of. I was afraid to adopt more than two and ended up with three girls. I then adopted two more a few months later and three more a few months after that for a total of eight. Unfortunately, I lost Lola in March and Mama & Snickers passed away within weeks of each other last month. But anyways, my last five seem happy, healthy and very content with life.

I also wanted to commend you for knowing that your step-son shouldn't be solely responsible for the care of Smores. I have three kids and even though they are the kids pets (yeah, right), I consider them my responsibility. Actually, once I adopted them, I've fallen in love with them.

Ok I've rambled on enough. Welcome again!

[cjaharmon]

Thank you. Yea I know he won't be solely responsible but at least he is taking some responsibility. It'll be hard for him to be solely responsible anyway because he's back and forth from our home to his mom's. The main thing is making sure when he's here he's involved in the general care of Smores and involved in making decisions regarding her cage and care. I was not originally as excited about it being a cavy but I have fallen for her within minutes of getting her. She's so precious and loving! Thanks for the advice on the buddy for her. I will think about it more and look into our local shelters. Thanks again.

[HowietheGreat]

Welcome and congrats to you for being so responsible. So many people aren't and it leads to children being bored with the pet before long and the poor animal being abandoned once again. I'm sure your son will do great with your help!