hello

[kayleemommy01]

OK so yesterday I enquired about 2 texel piggies. Actually there is a whole family of texels at kimmie's guinea pig rescue. Or there was but I only asked about the mommy and baby girl so I have no idea if the daddy and other babies are still available or not. These piggies have been there a while and I have been eyeing them. As I have said before I want long haired pigs. The mommy and baby are still available. I told my husband many many times over the last month or so about them. Yesterday I told him they were still listed but I didn't know if they were still available because it didn't look like the page had been updated in a while. SO I emailed kimmie and asked if they were still available and some basic info about myself. I also told her that these will be my first pigs ever. She emailed back and said that they were available still and that all they need is a picture of the cage we bulid. That I had told her enough info already about myself to get the piggies. She said that after we send in the pigture of the cage and once it is approved, we will set up a time and day for us to go see the piggies and if we like them we can bring them home that day. SO guess what we are doing this weekend. Getting cubes and supplies and building our cage. Or aleast the outline so we can measure to see how much coroplast we need. I will call around for the coroplast the first of next week. I hope to go see the piggies next weekend sometime. The piggies are both brown and white texels. Their names will be Bubblegum and Sweettart.

Oh yes... I forgot to mention that I too have naturally curly hair. Talk about pets that look like their owners....

I will let you guys know how everything is going in a few days when we get started building the cage.

I sure do my hubby alot.

[CavyHubby]

Congrats!!

[kayleemommy01]

Originally Posted by CavyHubby

Congrats!!

Thanks I will be sure to post if we need any help. My husband says we should be ok getting everything and building. It looks easy but it may not be. He is an engineer though so he ought to be able to figure everything out. I will be helping also.

[CavyHubby]

Originally Posted by kayleemommy01

Thanks I will be sure to post if we need any help. My husband says we should be ok getting everything and building. It looks easy but it may not be. He is an engineer though so he ought to be able to figure everything out. I will be helping also.

He will be fine. It just takes alot longer than it looks like it should.

Safe Journies
Samuel

[Wheek Weak]

Hubby should do just fine! In fact, he'll probably have a blast creating the "castle" for the little ones. I know we do!

As for trimming nails...my husband holds the piggies in his arms, while standing near a window with lots of natural light (we also trim the nails of our neighbor's piggies). We found that when he sits with them on his lap, they squirm too much because they have too many "outs" to try to escape to. So, when he holds them in the air, so to speak, they stay a lot calmer (probably for fear of falling even though they're very secure in his arms).

We use regular human clippers for the smaller nails, and doggie clippers for the thicker nails. When clipping black (or dark) nails, some suggest using a flashlight behind the nail to see the quick. I just put the clipper as far up on the nail as I think is safe. Then I press the clipper just enough to put some pressure on the nail without actually clipping yet. If the piggy jerks his/her hand back, then I know I'm too close to the quick. I stop and move the clipper down the nail a bit and try again. I do this until I can tell that the piggy can't feel the pressure of the clipper, so it's usually safe to go ahead and (slowly...still being cautious) clip the nail. So far, we have a 100% no-blood or injury success rate!

Have fun with your new little family! It sounds like Bubblegum and Sweettart will be in very good, loving hands because you care enough to research how to care for them properly (and adopt instead of buy). Unfortunately, way too many don't.

This is a wonderful, caring website. Please don't hesitate to ask as many questions as you need to for the health, happiness, and well-being of your little ones. Cavies are a lot of work, commitment, and expense...BUT, they are soooo worth it in the joy, smiles, and affection they give in return.

You'll be SO happy that you saved the lives of those two wheeking, wiggly bundles of demands (oh yes, they WILL own you), that you'll wonder how you ever did without them!

[Weatherlight]

Just wanted to point out that no individual dog is guaranteed because of the breed name. There are toy breed dogs who love children. I'm certain there are Havanese who are horrible with children and cats, not to mention smaller animals. There are also few purebred Havanese in rescue, so you may have to travel quite a bit or find a rescue who does nationwide transport (this involves a lot of work with volunteers driving different legs of the trip as they are able, and caring for the dog on the road) if you are absolutely set on one. I would go to a top quality rescue who has all their dogs in foster homes and knows how to evaluate their dogs, and without discriminating based on breed, find one who is good with children and smaller animals, and a fairly low prey drive if they haven't been proven to be good with gps as I think most dog fosterers don't test that (I think you don't want to end up with an extreme dog, of any size, who repeatedly tries to knock down the door to get at prey animals in the room). Just a thought for the upcoming years.

Anyway, keep up the great work with your gp care, and best of luck with those two (or whoever you may end up adopting)!

[kayleemommy01]

We got our cubes and a carrier for bringing the piggies home. We will get the rest after we get the cage frame built.

[kayleemommy01]

Ok so we have the frame built. It is a 2X3 with 2x2 loft for their kitchen. I have a question. For the bottom I read on here somewhere that it is ok to use fiberglass. Where would we get some, at home depot or lowes? Or am I wrong? My grandfather used to use it when he would make windchimes so I know exactly what it is but can't remember where he got it. I plan on using fleece for bedding with towels and mattress pad, possibly a shower curtain too. Oh MORE questions... Would one big water bottle be enough for the two pigs or would 2 be for suitable? Is a bin feeder ok or do food dishes or crocks work better? Also how many cozie cups should we get 1or 2? We will get them 2 pigloos. That is all for now. It is late 12:00am. I am tired. goodnight and have nice dreams everyone.

[kayleemommy01]

[FONT=Arial]I sent the following in an email to my mom:[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]We sent in the pictures to the rescue and they said our cage was too small by their standards for 2 guinea pigs. However this is the thing. They say we need a 2 cube by 4 cube cage. We have a 2 cube by 3 cube cage plus a 1 cube by 2 cube kitchen for the upstairs. Our cage has the same amount of space for the piggies to run around as the 2 cube by 4 cube cage, because there would have to be a kitchen eating area the same size we have. In other words the upstairs part of our cage could be moved down to make it one level. The amount of running/sleep/play space would be the same. I guess the lady fails to realize this so she is not going to let us get the pigs. We will get some though, I am not sure from where though. Some people.... As bad as I am with math and I can figure this out. [/FONT]

[wickedrodent]

Congrats on getting your cage built and put together.

A 2x4 really is neccesary. The upper loft doesn't count towards the overall space.. Mostly because its like having 2 seperate cages, there is no guarentee the pigs are going to go up the ramp. That means you need to make sure you havet the proper floorspace. Also, the ramp takes away about a 1x1 grid space.. which makes it even smaller than a 2x3.

Adding in the food dishes, litterbox, water bottle, toys, cuddle cups, hideyhouses, there will be no running around space. With a 2x4 you can have a 1x2 'kitchen' and most of the rest of the space will be running room.

If you cant make it longer, how about making it wider (a 3x3)?

[TX_2_Pigs]

I have a 2x7 with 2 boys and I still feel like it isn't big enough when they start running around and popcorning. They are always having to weave around the pigloos.

This is (sort of) my cage now:

There was a divider between the yellow and purple sections which I removed and I have removed the upper level. I am debating on whether to put it back on or not, but right now I really like the wide open look of the 2x7 with nothing. I need to take a new picture with the latest renovations.

This is the most space any of my piggies have ever had and I still don't think it is enough. I wish I could just let them run all over the house like my dog does. I hope you can find a way to make your cage just one more grid larger so you can get those boys. Just please, don't resort to a pet store.

[rabbitsncavyluv]

So you know more than the rescue??? Even though you have never had pigs before? Wow.

It says here that lofts don't count towards the flat space. In fact, it can take away from it depending on the way your ramp is built.

[CavyHubby]

Originally Posted by kayleemommy01

[FONT=Arial]I sent the following in an email to my mom:[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]We sent in the pictures to the rescue and they said our cage was too small by their standards for 2 guinea pigs. However this is the thing. They say we need a 2 cube by 4 cube cage. We have a 2 cube by 3 cube cage plus a 1 cube by 2 cube kitchen for the upstairs. Our cage has the same amount of space for the piggies to run around as the 2 cube by 4 cube cage, because there would have to be a kitchen eating area the same size we have. In other words the upstairs part of our cage could be moved down to make it one level. The amount of running/sleep/play space would be the same. I guess the lady fails to realize this so she is not going to let us get the pigs. We will get some though, I am not sure from where though. Some people.... As bad as I am with math and I can figure this out. [/FONT]

I hope everything turns out good for you. I have a full sheet or coro right now, that I would give to you for a cage re-model. I feel bad because sometime perceptions can be off, and people not very understanding. The reason the rescues are stringent on thier requirements, is due to what they witness on a day to day basis. I saw the mention of your husband using the word nazi in another post. That word is negatively percieved by all, but I am fairly sure a concentration camp survivor would have a much different perception than someone that was not there. My grandfather always told me to walk a mile in someones' shoes before judging them.

I see here alot of miss-perception. I am hoping that all the effort that was put forth by all parties involved can still be recognized and everyone make an effort not to make anymore hurtful statements and be pro-active instead of reactive.

Safe Journies
Samuel