hello

[kayleemommy01]

HI I am new to the forum but have been looking around the forum and site for a while. I am married 27 years old with 3 kids. I or should I say we have no piggies yet but I want to get some and my husband says we can. We are right in the middle of moving to a house right now though. We plan to get the piggies before the end of the year. I have never had a guinea pig before so when we get them they will be our first. Please know that these will be MY piggies and not for my kids. My kids are 5 1/2, 4 and 6 months. We currently have a hamster which is more or less mine. I take care of it ( give it food, water, clean the cage) the children do play with it though but NEVER without myself or my husband to supervise. Molly is our hamsters name and she is I think a teddy bear hamster. She is very pretty with long fur. She is our second one, our first one was Wally and he died of natural causes. I was so torn up when I found him dead, we had him for a while though. We did get both of them from a pet store though but I plan on getting our piggies from a rescue or shelter or craigslist. I hope to get longhaired piggies. I have read about how their hair grows and needs to be trimmed and brushed. Also I know about trimming the piggies nails. What kind of Clippers do you recommend? Baby size clippers, adult size or ones used for dogs? Also if you have never had a piggie(s) before will the people at athe rescue or shelter show you how to trim the nails? I have seen dogs get their nails trimmed but dogs are different in the fact that they will sit longer and move around less. If they do not I am sure my husband and I can figure it out. I plan on making my cage 3X5 for 2 piggies, I think that will be just fine.

I think I will go now, don't want this to get tooo long with tooo many questions right away. If I have any more questions I will ask. I have a myspace as well. I use it to keep in touch with my friends from highschool and that is it. I have alot of pics of myself and my family there. It is set to private at the request of my husband but if you would like to request that I add you that is fine.

[CavyHubby]

Wow sounds like you have a great Hubby!! You sound just like my wife 8 months ago. She is registered here under Calliso. This site is great, and the piggies could not be happier!

Safe Journies
Samuel

[Calliso]

Hi there! About the clippers I have heard regular sized trimmers are fine..but baby trimmers are perhaps better cause there is less chance of cutting too much. A for the actual cutting..I haven;t done this myself *though need to very soon!* but it might work best if one held the pigs and the other cut the nails.

[PrincessAngel]

I use cat/dog clippers on my guinea pigs.They are easier to use on a wiggling guinea pig because they are more like scissors.But baby clippers work as well. I have a long haired piggy. She has to be combed/brushed twice a day to keep her back fur from getting matted and yellow.You do have to keep their hair trimmed if they tend to get their fur caught on their litter and it turns yellow all the time. But the last time I trimmed my girls fur was months ago and her fur is clean and not matted.The cage you are making is huge!It very big for 2 pigs but I'm sure they will enjoy all that space.

[kayleemommy01]

Thanks for the replies! This site has been very informative to me over the last few months. I have given the link to my husband as well so he will know what we need and things like that. I think I can actually build the cage by myself. We went to home depot the other weekend to look around for stuff for our house and I saw the shelving used to make the top for the cage. We will put a top on our cage to be safe and also probably some type of latch. Just to be safe but like I said I am home all the time so I don't foresee any problems. I don't have a job so to say but I have 3 kids and take care of them and am a house wife. I have a disability called Cerebral Palsy. My case is a very mild one and I am not limited by it much. I don't drive however and can't ride a bike. Other than that I can do just about anything any "normal" person can do. Oh yes we plan to get a dog over the next couple of years. Up until this point we have not gotten one because we have lived in an apartment. The dog will be a small one but not a yorkie or maltese or anything smaller than that. Those smaller dogs donot like children anyhow. I am looking at a breed called havanese, they weigh I think about 12-16 pounds. I have found a havanese forum and the people there say their dogs are ok around other types of pets. Our dog will be a house dog, very pampered and well taken care of (as well as the piggies). I do understand that piggies and dogs may not get along so well so extra percautions will be taken.

Oh we go to visit family every couple of months in South Carolina and I was wondering about traveling with the piggies. It is not too far, a 3 hour drive each way. We are never gone more than friday to sunday, unless an emergency happens. We do take our hamster when we go. I was thinking we could get a top opening pet carrier and put them in there for the drive. Maybe we could build a smaller C&C cage to have at our relatives house or maybe leave them in the pet carrier, except for floor time/exercise time and make that time a bit longer.

[envisionary333]

Welcome to the forum! Here is a link to a great starter thread in case you haven't seen it yet: http://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/...ost-first.html.

I recommend finding a cavy-savvy vet in your area so you can have an overall check-up done when you adopt your first piggy! The vet will be able to assess your piggy's health and show you how to do nail and hair trimming properly. Here is a link to help you get started: Guinea Lynx :: Finding a Veterinarian.

All the best info on guinea pig care can be found on this site and the Guinea Lynx site, so you have come to the right place! There is a lot of information, so take your time reading through it all and we are always happy to answer any questions that come up!

[kayleemommy01]

I have looked up some vet info online. I am pretty sure we will be able to find on around here since I live in Atlanta. Even if we have to go to the other side of Atlanta that will be ok. I will try and make it so I schedule the vet appt. for a day or so after we get out pigs. That is if I know when I am getting the piggies. They may be a suprise from my husband! If that is the case I will schedule it as soon as possible. Oh I forgot to mention my husband may plant some veggies in our yard. He said something about cucumbers and tomatoes. Also a friend of his has a little garden and we have been getting corn, cucumbers and tomatoes from him lately. That will be wonderful for the piggies. Oh should we buy organic fruits and veggies when we do get them from the store?

[CavyHubby]

There is a couple of piggies rescues in the Atlanta metro area. Please let your husband know that adopting a piggie is the way to go. There are link on the home page here to adoption sites with piggies in and around Atlanta.

Safe Journies
Samuel

[envisionary333]

Growing your own veggies is a great idea, but make sure to have some available in the mean time. Here is a great chart for figuring out what to feed and how often: http://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/...arts-info.html.
Guinea pigs need fresh veggies every day to give them the vitamins they require, especially Vitamin C. It is best to feed them two small meals a day rather than one big meal, since they graze throughout the day naturally. Once they learn that veggies are on the way they will become quite vocal about it! All of mine start wheeking like crazy when they hear me getting their meals ready, it's very cute.

[clotho]

Hello and welcome! I'm glad you found this site and have done research before getting your piggies. It's wonderful that you plan to adopt. I wish I had done research and found this site before I got my first piggie. I now have 8 piggies altogether.

I use small human nail clippers on my piggies. We used to try my partner holding the piggie while I clipped, but they got really squirmy and it was very difficult to do. So now I put a blanket on the bed and get some veggies out. He distracts them with the veggies while I sneakily try to clip their nails. It actually works quite well except for a couple who think I'm trying to kill them when I clip their nails! You can keep some cornstarch or a steptic pencil nearby while clipping nails just in case you cut into the quick.

Remember to quarantine your piggies away from each other if you get them from different sources!

I don't buy organic veggies, but I do grow some of my own. It's important to check out that veggie chart because it tells you how often and how much of each veggie you can feed. Some things - like limiting carrots - were surprising to me and important to know! Just make sure you wash veggies well - just as you would for yourself. My piggies LOVE corn husks! I commandeer them from the grocery store every chance I get for my herd.

It's good you are lining up a vet ahead of time. As for the three hour drive to your relatives, that is doable of course. But, since you are only gone a few days at a time, perhaps you would be better off to find a reliable person to pigsit for you while you are gone. For such a short time, it would be quite stressful I think for the piggies to travel back and forth. If you were going for longer I would say go for it!

[Jenni_Feathers]

Welcome to the forums!!! I think everyone has answenerd your questions so far but if you have anymore be sure to ask. As for the traveling thing if you have some one close that loves and understands Guinea Pigs I'd have them come by(as clotho said) but if you have no one close(I dont ) You should take them. The best thing would be too build a small(2x2 or 2x3 maybe) C&C cage at your realtives but if they dont go for that you could get a "large" petstore cage to keep there or to take in the car with you.such as this: Marchioro Cages: Deluxe Small Animal Wire Cages at PETCO or Guinea Pig, Rabbit or Ferret Cage: Super Pet Extra-Large My First Home at PETCO For while in the car a carrier liek you said would be fine as long as the AC is on and it aint hot but dont keep them in the carrier while at the relatives. You should/could bring a playpen such as this: Portable Exercise Pens: Precision Pet Pro Handler Indoor Outdoor Exercise Pens at PETCO or you could make one out of grids and use it for floortime and/or outside time(if outside be sure they dont put chemicals on there grass). I travel a lot with my Guinea Pigs and they do just fine. I was gonna give you to a link to a thread bout travel but I cant find it for the life of me.

[kayleemommy01]

Unfortunately we don't have any friends here that are pig savy. We really don't know anyone here at all. All of our family and friends are back in South Carolina. I am sure we will figure something out.

[CavyHubby]

Originally Posted by kayleemommy01

Unfortunately we don't have any friends here that are pig savy. We really don't know anyone here at all. All of our family and friends are back in South Carolina. I am sure we will figure something out.

So we have any piggies yet? There are 10 to 20 people on these forums, that would piggie sit if you ever got in a bind. I live west of town, and there are a bunch of folks north and south of Atlanta. If your husband needs any advice at all building the cage, please pm me and he can call me anytime.

Safe Journies
Samuel

PS: don't envy moving in this heat....has been unbearable outside for awhile.

[kayleemommy01]

Originally Posted by CavyHubby

So we have any piggies yet? There are 10 to 20 people on these forums, that would piggie sit if you ever got in a bind. I live west of town, and there are a bunch of folks north and south of Atlanta. If your husband needs any advice at all building the cage, please pm me and he can call me anytime.

Safe Journies
Samuel

PS: don't envy moving in this heat....has been unbearable outside for awhile.

No piggies yet. We live in Douglasville, west of town. It is VERY hot now. We moved the end of July and it was HOT then too. I hope it cools off or we get some rain. I have to sit outside and wait for my daughter to get home on the bus and it is absolutely horrid.

[Calliso]

Originally Posted by kayleemommy01

No piggies yet. We live in Douglasville, west of town. It is VERY hot now. We moved the end of July and it was HOT then too. I hope it cools off or we get some rain. I have to sit outside and wait for my daughter to get home on the bus and it is absolutely horrid.

Cool me and my husband Cavyhubby live in Douglasville too! If you need we may even be able to get you some coroplast at whole sale prices if you still need some!