Pig freak in Denver

[Biscuit]

Hi! I am the Kay. Me and my significant other (Brian) share co-ownership of four piggies.

Here is the story of how I acquired my first pig a few months ago, having loved them for years. I was raised that rodents were pets you threw in a pet store cage, tossed in whatever food was cheap, and when they got sick, they just died. Of course, I was also raised to think that daddy should hit you for no reason, so it wasn't that shocking when I dimissed those teachings. =P

Here is my first piggy, the one from the story link above: Snickers the Guinea Pig I only had her three weeks...I'll never forget her.

Now, I have Zesty, Biscuit, Nugget, and Waffle.

I got Zesty the day Snicker's was put to sleep. She came from the animal control shelter. That shelter is dirty, and basically like the DMV. Most of the animals are stray, and if illness or pregnancy is suspected in a rodent, they are euthanized immediately. Zesty was found stray near an automotive repair shop with two male pigs. She turned out not to be pregnant. She was $5...worth so much more! Zesty is pushy and demanding, definitely the leader of the pack. Oh so cute!

Shortly after leaving animal control, I got a call that someone had just brought in 3 baby pigs that were thrown out of a car in a shoe box at a busy intersection. One was female. I flew back to the shelter and picked up Biscuit, who appeared to be about 5 weeks old. Biscuit is sweet, but deceptively so! She is faking it, I can tell. She is going to eat my kidney in my sleep. But that's okay, I didn't need that kidney, she's so cute she can have it.

Nugget was adopted from a shelter that had recently gotten an influx of baby guinea pigs. Nugget is 4-5 years old and was highly unlikely to be adopted before "the date." Nugget is sweet and very interested in what people around her are doing. She see's a person coming and starts climbing the walls of the cage, pushing her nose straight up in the air and prairie dogging furiously. Nothing scares her. I suspect she was around children, because she is very easy to handle.

Waffle...I pondered just you know, not mentioning where Waffle came from. Brian, pigdad, knew only vaguely of my views on pet stores and breeders. He knew I hated petco and petsmart, and those puppy mill places in the mall, but he didn't know my reasons for disliking buying ANY animal from ANY pet store. I take the blame for that. As the primary caregiver, he relies upon me as the source of knowledge for these things, and I failed. I came home from work and he led me to the spare room where he proudly presented a tiny, adorable abby from "a good pet store." He was so proud he had set up the cage perfectly and in another room as he learned from me. I was understandably upset, mostly with myself for not educating him. He now "gets it," but Waffle will have a full life here. He feel's guilty and seems to be caching supplies to donate to the local guinea pig rescue (Cavy Care) to make himself feel better.

I'm sorry this is so long! Waffle is still in quarantine. The others are housed in 3 marchioro cages connected together by rainbow log ramps. It is 138"X66" total, with two big lofts made of KD pine covered in fleece. I feed oxbow deluxe, with performance for the younger ones. I get my hay from American Pet Diner. I am currently using cell-sorb and carefresh mixed. I might phase out carefresh because they tend to sneeze. I didn't like fleece! I know, I'm crazy! I cut up the fleece and made beds and covered the loft, however.

They get out of the cage for a few hours every night in which they take over the entire living room. There is much wheeking and dashing about. The pigs are housed next to Brian in the living room, he works from home on his computers so he talks to them all day.

I also have two chinchillas, who are housed entirely far from the guinea pigs, worry not! They spend most of their time plotting the doom of mankind.

Despite the amoung of research I have done, I still rush to the vet over every possible problem.

When we move to the townhome I want to build a C&C cage for them.

I'll stop now. Longest intro ever. Sorry!

OH, I forgot the pictures. Here they all are:
Zesty, Biscuit and Nugget: Guinea Pigs

[Toadies]

Hi Denver, I'm in Monument. Your babies are adorable. I am really sorry about Snickers, but you were with her and her end was not lonely. I know how it is when you lose "someone", sometimes you just gotta help another "someone", hence I have 7 cats (had 8), 2 dogs and 2 beautiful boy gps, my "toadies". Welcome.

[Meeko]

Oh my goodness! Your pigs are so cute! Abby's are my favorite breed.

[CavyGrandma]

My goodness are those adorable piggies. And obviously very happy and well taken care of. I, too, found out that certain piggers can leap over the 9" play fences. My little Peanut will do it over and over, but chubby bubba Tiny won't even bother.

By the way, welcome. I have not formally introduced myself yet, but have been lurking for several months and been a member since October. This forum has a wealth of information and I still feel overwhelmed.

[pigsmakemesmile]

God bless your beautiful pigs!