Hello All,
I just found this board a few days ago, and have spent a ridiculous amount of time on the site ever since!! (My mom already says I have developed a new obsession, ha ha.)
Well, as for my introduction, I am 24, but not working due to many health problems, and I am living at home with my family and on disability. As for all the furry family members in the house, we have 3 grown cats, 2 young kittens about 12 weeks old, (rescues, not our own cats babies, don't worry. We have them spayed/neutered as soon as they are old enough.) 2 dogs, and then last but certainly not least, my two goofy piggers, who I've had for 4 1/2 years now. (See attached photo to see my handsome boys!) The kittens have really taken to my Grandmother and spend a good deal of time back in her room with her which I think is really sweet, she loves it and they make her happy. And 2 of the adult cats are considered other family member's special pets. So I guess you could say, the animals that are my very special furry babies are my 2 dogs, my 2 piggers, and our old Manx cat and resident grumpus.
The dogs sleep in my room with me. Yes, my 90lb. Shepherd/Husky mix sleeps with me! My other dog, a Border Collie mix, usually prefers to sleep on the floor at the foot of my bed. Sometimes Mandy (my cat) joins Zeus and I on the bed at night. And the pigs also live in my room. All of us in my 9x10 bedroom, if you can believe it!!!
Anyway, now more about the piggy's.... I am sorry to say that I bought them at a pet store. (A local place when I lived in Oklahoma called Southern Agriculture.) Every single one of our other animals are rescues, but I honestly had no idea there was such a thing as a guinea pig rescue. But fortunately, they were both really boys so no surprise babies or anything, and they had no health problems. I have always spoiled them (or at least I thought I was spoiling them) and taken good care of them. I have always kept their nails trimmed, (bought the little pig trimmers at Petsmart,) and they have always had lots of Timothy Hay, water, pellets, fresh veggies, and occasionally fruit, (BOY do they ever love banana's!! I can open up a banana in the other room, and they start wheeking super loud!) and they have always had floor time. When I first got them, they started out in one of those "My First Home" cages. It was so small that they were constantly chatting their teeth at eachother and getting on eachother's nerves, so I went back to the pet store and bought the biggest cage I could find, the Super Pet Deluxe 2-Level Rabitrail Home, you can see it on the "Pet Store Cages" page. (I took out the plastic grid bottom of course.) And sadly, they have lived together in that cage for most of their lives. That cage cost me I think around $200, and I thought I was doing the best that I could for them by buying it. And so like I said, I found this board just a few days ago, and I began feeling so guilty for making them live in store-bought cages for the 4 1/2 years I have had them. I immediately wanted a C&C cage, and lots of cozies and all that other stuff they love. But unfortunately I have had a lot of expenses this month, and I only get a disability check once on the 1st of every month, and it's not a whole lot. I take a lot of medications, some of which are rather expensive, and I have two doctor's appointments this coming week alone, let alone pet supplies and groceries and all that, and this month some unexpected things came up. I am already scraping the bottom of the barrel of my checking account, and I'm not even halfway through the month yet, UGH. But I just couldn't leave them in that store cage another day. So the day I found this site, I stayed up until 3 a.m., building them a temporary cage with things I already had around. I used plastic shelf cubing that I had books and videos on in my closet, and long, shallow plastic containers for flooring, and to keep bedding from getting all over the place. And I didn't know how it was going to fit, so I scooted my computer over to the far end of my desk, and my television over the far end of the table it's on, (it's being partially held up by the wall it's leaning against,) and managed to fit a small table in between. So the cage is taking up half of my computer desk, and part of my t.v. stand. But it's still not as big as a C&C cage, and I want it bigger. I want the real thing. But I doubt I would be able to make a cage myself, so I am really really hoping that when I get my check next month, I can fit it into the budget and buy one. I think (well, at least I HOPE) to be able to scoot my computer over to the very corner of my room, (at an angle if I have to,) and fit a 2x4 in here for them. Here's hoping!!
But I do wonder something... My 2 boars will be 5 years old the end of this year. They used to popcorn a lot and run around during floor time when they were younger, but I haven't seen a popcorn or a real running dash out of either of them in quite some time now. Are they too old to enjoy all that space? Will they even be able to appreciate it? I plan on trying to have the money to buy one a.s.a.p next month, unless someone tells me that it's too late for them or anything. Because even if they don't have much time left on this earth, (but you never know, they may have a couple good years or so left in them, I sure hope so!!) I want their final months, years, whatever to be spent in the piggy heaven that they deserved to have their whole lives. I feel so bad, but I sure hope I have found this site before it is too late.
The two attached photos are pigtures of my boys, this is their floor time space, I give them as much space as I possibly can.
Sorry my post was so ridiculously long, I am done now, I promise!
Introductions
08-13-07, 01:54 am
Greetings! My Piggy's Thank You For This Site!! 
, but wheek like crazy! Changing out their toys is a great way to excite them, as Bear Bear stated.
Welcome!
