Aloha Everyone!

[sohappy2beme]

[FONT=Century Gothic]Hi, my name is Kathy and I've just joined this awesome board. We (my children and I) have four piggies--Elvis and Priscilla, and their two one month old babies Lisa Marie and Presley (my avatar--in my daughter's hands). We adopted what we thought were two little girls, but the vet told us otherwise, so Priscilla had one litter and we will have the two boys neutered.

I am in the midst of building our C&C cage--the frame is up, working on getting the coroplast, then the fleece.

Just wanted to say hi and what an awesome site I think this is!!!!![/FONT]

[Ly&Pigs]

Hi and welcome. The two boys could live together in one cage and the females in another. Did you separate Elvis from Priscilla when you found out that Elvis was a boy? If you didn't then you may expect another litter as sows go into heat within hours after giving birth. And if you haven't already separated, please do so now so you won't end up with more pups.

When your current pups are 3 weeks old, the baby boars will need to be separated from mom as they can be sexually mature at this age.

[sohappy2beme]

Thanks for your reply. We didn't separate Elvis and Priscilla initially because we wanted one litter. We took Priscilla out and put her by herself before she gave birth, then when the babies were 2 1/2 weeks old and we had confirmed their sex with our Vet, we took Presley out and put him with his Daddy. Our C&C cage is 2x6 grids, with two different upper levels, and it will be separated into two sides for the boys and girls. Elvis is being fixed next week but Presley can't be fixed till after Christmas. So we will keep them segregated so that Presley won't get lonely. I just can't wait till both are fixed and they can all run around and play together. Elvis and Priscilla were so close when we got them--they were always snuggling together and Elvis would step to the side if Priscilla wanted to use the ramp he was by--it was so sweet!

[CavyHubby]

Pigtures please!

Safe Journies
Samuel

[pigsforlife]

Welcome to the forum. If you have any questions feel free to ask, there are many helpful members and moderators who will answer any of your questions.

Originally Posted by sohappy2beme

We didn't separate Elvis and Priscilla initially because we wanted one litter.

I am glad you have since separated Elvie and Presley from Prisicilla and Lisa Marie and am really happy that you adopted but just to let you know this forum does not support breeding, showing and pet stores.

[rabbitsncavyluv]

Some people use the term adopt when they buy from a pet shop or breeder, so we don't know that she really did adopt/rescue them.

[Bear Bear]

Aloha!! ...and welcome to the forum! Please don't be hesitant to ask any questions. There are a lof of friendly and knowledgable people who are eager to help!

Out of curiosity, are you from Hawaii?

[sohappy2beme]

I will be honest with all of you. We did get our babies at the pet store. We don't have rescue centers in Hawaii (yes, I am from Hawaii), and guinea pigs aren't all that common here. Hamsters are illegal, and I didn't even think that maybe our humane society had guinea pigs. Hindsight is 20/20, and I told my daughter that in the future, we are going to check with the humane society first.

Regarding the breeding, until I found a website that talked about mortality rates, I had no idea. I know I should have done all my research before, but again, hindsight is 20/20. That is why all piggies have been separated and the boys are getting fixed asap. Thank God Priscilla had an easy pregnancy and only two babies. These days I spend so much time on this site researching bedding, floortime, toys, food, etc. Want to make sure we do right by all our babies.

[Bear Bear]

I'm from Hawaii as well and did exactly as you. I agree that GPs are not popular pets here and it never crossed my mind to check the Humane Society for one. (I've heard they don't get them in very often anyway. I was told they average one a month).

Anyway, you're doing the right thing now and that's all that matters. If you have any questions on where to get stuff (if you're on Oahu), let me know and I'll be happy to help!

[sohappy2beme]

Originally Posted by Bear Bear

I'm from Hawaii as well and did exactly as you. I agree that GPs are not popular pets here and it never crossed my mind to check the Humane Society for one. (I've heard they don't get them in very often anyway. I was told they average one a month).

Anyway, you're doing the right thing now and that's all that matters. If you have any questions on where to get stuff (if you're on Oahu), let me know and I'll be happy to help!

Thank Bear Bear! Yup, on Oahu too. Had to order my grids from Walmart online. Just picked up most of my Coroplast yesterday, with the large piece waiting for my friend to go with her van. Have been on a mission to find Carefresh Ultra--only Pet Spot had it and they are waiting for their shipment. In the meantime, I am strongly leaning towards fleece--do you do fleece? If so, where did you get your fleece? I found someone on Ebay who sells by the yard, but am still waiting for a reply about shipping costs to Hawaii--that is the awful thing about living here--the shipping can kill you!

[Bear Bear]

I considered ordering the grids from Walmart, but was afraid the shipping would be horrendous for the amount that I needed. How much did you pay? I found my grids at Fisher Hawaii (the warehouse).

I'm not sure about the Carefresh. I use fleece in my cage and it is WONDERFUL!! I cannot tell you how tidy it is compared to other types of bedding. I just suck up the poops once or twice a day with a shop vac and the cage stays completely odorless. Since my piggies are still small (and my cage is huge), i can go about 2 weeks before I need to change out the bedding. It works fantastically for me! Financially, it is a big investment at first, but in the long run, you will save a lot of money and trips to the store.

I bought my first batch of fleece from Ross. They sometimes have cheap blankets ranging anywhere from $4-8 dollars each. You can also buy it from Walmart by the yard. I bought cute Winnie the Pooh fleece from there, though i haven't used it yet because I'm way too lazy to cut it to size.

And yes...shipping is killer here. I priced the shipping for KM's and Oxbow pellets and you would not believe the price. Girl, they want $400-$600+ to ship a 50 pound bag. Can you believe that?!!? OUTRAGEOUS!

Also, please do not support the petstore at Winward Mall. They keep their piggies in HORRIBLE conditions and I have reported them to the Humane Society on more than one occasion.

The coolest thign I have found is local grown Waimanalo Timothy Hay from the Pet Spot. They sell it in huge unmarked bags for very reasonable prices! They also carry Oxbow pellets...albeit it isn't very cheap.

I hope I have answered your questions well enough. If there's anything else I can help you with, please let me know. Don't hesitate to ask! ^^

Edit: I forgot to add...if you don't have a vet yet, I can recommend a very good one in the Pearl City area. He has a lot of experience in neutering boars and I recently had mine done by him. No complications! Let me know...

[sohappy2beme]

I ordered six boxes of grids (these only make four cubes) for $14.88 per box and the shipping was only about $5.00 (actually a little less) per box. At the store, they only had red abd dark blue grids, same amount and it was $17+, but online I ordered pink! So it was worth a little more. I actually was trying to fight with the Walmart online operator because it says you can ship free to a store near you, but of course, they don't offer it to Hawaii stores. I argued with her because it isn't my fault they don't offer this in the store! But when I saw the shipping was less than $5.00 per box, I let it go.

Good to know about Windward Mall. I was just there this past weekend and they have those two hairless piggies--kinda scary looking! I absolutely love Pet Smart in Ward Warehouse--the salesclerks are so nice and if you go in, look on the counter where you pay--there is a laminated sheet of pics of my babies!!!!! They told me they are opening another store in Kaimuki and it will actually be big, more like a warehouse, so they should have tons of stuff.

How many piggies do you have? All of mine are under a year, relatively small compared to some I've seen.

I thought of going to Ross too. I have some giftcards and what better way to use it then on the babies?????

Oh, and I have this wonderful vet in Mililani--she specializes in exotics and is actually (didn't know until my last visit and we got talking) the cousin of my sister-in-law. Small world huh?

Thanks for all your great info!

[Bear Bear]

Wow. Okay...here's the part that I'll admit jealousy. PINK!?! Totally my favorite color! Maybe I'll oder some for myself and redo the cage! Haha!

Yeah, I saw those skinnies at Koolau Pets. They're kind of growing on me. My experience there is not a good one. A few months ago, I went in there to look at the piggies and for 3 straight weekends in a row, I saw tiny flying bugs in their "cages". It was absutely heartbreaking and disgusting. Some of the poor darlings appeared wet from their own urine from lack of cleaning, had no hay or veggies, and looked severely depressed. I know they are breeding pigs to sell, as I've seen pregnant piggies housed with their male mates. The next week, there were cages with the mama and her babies. That's why I reported them. They have a good selection of cage accessories, but that does not outweigh the way they care for (or dont care for) their animals. I feel very sad thinking about it.

The Pet Stop is an okay store. I buy most of my stuff from there. The salespeople are very nice, but they sadly give wrong information. I purchased my piggers from there when I didn't know better and they sold me a TINY cage and wrong bedding. I plan on giving them some care sheets when I have time. I can't stop them from selling piggies, but I can try my best to inform people of proper care. I'll totalyl go check out the pictures! I have to go there this weekend for more Oxbow pellets!

I have 2 piggies right now, a neutered male and a female, and they are around 5 months old. Since I have a pretty big cage, I'm looking to possibly adopt another female or two to add to the pact. I'll probably leave my name at the Humane Society and ask them to call me whenever they get some females.

Giftcards? LUCKY!!! I would also check out if they have mattress pads, as I've heard they work much better than towels. I'm planning to check it out this weekend as well as Walmart. I'm using towels at the moment, btu am planning to make the switch to pads. Apparently they're much easier to use than towels.

Glad to hear you've found a vet!...and a semi-relative at that! Hawaii is such a small place. I bet we're somehow distantly related. HAHA!