Considering adopting a Piggy

[Piggy_Sue]

Hi all! I found you all quite by accident while researching Guinea Pigs. This looks like a great place for piggy owners and owners-to-be!

Recently my 10 year old son has been asking hubby and myself for a Guinea Pig. He is even doing his assigned research project in class on the aspects of owning and caring for a piggy.

Hubby and I are not 100% that we will get one for him (a.k.a. the family) but we are very open to considering his suggestion. Which is why I am here really. I have been reading through some of the threads and learning what it would involve if we adopted a piggy.

I have even found (unknown to my son at this time) the perfect little piggy that is in need of a new home due to circumstances in her current home. She sounds like a real gem, and is familiar with kids. Now I am trying to put together a list of what it would take to adopt/supply/care for this little piggy in our home, and if we would be ready to commit to owning this animal.

So now, I am off to browse through the diff. threads here, and maybe ask a question or two (or 20! LOL) I hope you all dont mind. I have never owned anything other than a cat or dog...so this is all very new to me. I am not real familiar with a lot of the supplies that are needed. I may be looking to you all for support!

My name is Jaime, BTW!

[babytulip07]

Welcome! I am so glad you are doing research before you adopt a piggy! This is a great site to start with, make sure you read all the stickies in the different threads, they have some great info. Another great website to look at is Guinea Lynx :: A Medical and Care Guide for Your Guinea Pig
Seriously look into building a C&C cage as well as finding a rescue where you can adopt a friend for your potential pig. Guinea pigs do so much better in pairs. This article explains why http://www.cavyspirit.com/sociallife.htm
Other than a proper sized cage (minimum is 7.5 sq ft for one pig, 10.5 for two), you will need a good brand of plain timothy based pellets (Oxbow and Kleenmamas are preferred) as well as lots of timothy hay, a food bowl and water bottle per pig, a house per pig to hide in, lots of veggies... also look into using fleece as bedding. I love it! That's all I can think of off the top of my head. But keep reading and you will have a nice list! There is more than most people think to properly caring for pigs but it is so rewarding in the end!

[Piggy_Sue]

Thank you for your warm welcome! It's a bit surprising to see how much goes into owning a cavy. I was a bit overwhelmed at first, but am starting to see how once we get things set up..it should start to come more natural for us.

Im loving all the pics of the cages...they give a person lots of diff. ideas on how to do their own, fit it into our home, and personalize it. Also shows a lot of the things that we will need to fill the cage with!

[Jenni_Feathers]

Hi, and Welcome!
I'm glad to hear you are doing your research before adopting piggys. They are alot of fun but require way more time, money and care than society makes it seem.
Guinea Pigs are prey animals so they ushally run when you try to pick them up but when you catch them most will sit till in you arms and enjoy a good chin rub, also ushally older ones are ushally calmer than younger ones. Right now both of my boys are just under a year and still dont really like to be held, but they are just lil rebels Guinea Pig antics are a lot of fun to watch, they will run laps (running in mad circles around house or cage), popcorn (hilarious to watch, it almost looks they are having spazims) here is a short video of my piggys right before dinner (when they are at there craziest) Video of Charlie popcorns - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting (watch the black and white piggy, he does a few small popcorns, I have yet to be lucky enough to have a camera out when they are full out popcorning and lap running though )

As BabyTulip said it is very important that you have two, one will ushally be very lonely. Also be sure to make a C&C cage they are the best out there, also they are much much bigger, and much cheaper than store bought cages, for my 2 boys I have a 2x8 grid cage, I got the grids from Target and the coroplast (floor) from a local sign shop, It cost me about $70 in all (including stand) it's 21.5 square feet, here is a picture of it http://www.guineapigcages.com/photos...00/ppuser/6820
As you can see, I use fleece bedding. It is awesome, it saves me hundreds of dollars a year and the piggys absolutly adore it! Here is a link about how to use fleece, if you decide to you it (I highly reccomend it) be sure to read the whole thing about it unless you may do it wrong, there is a certain way to wash it and set it up for it to work properly, it also explains how it works to wick the pee into the under bedding (towels, newspaper etc.) and keeps the top dry, where the piggys will be. Here is the link http://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/...ect-study.html
As for diet, it is the most difficult part of cavy care, in mine and many others oppinions. They need a high quality pellet (not ones from petstores, they are garbage) some good brands are Oxbow(https://www.oxbowhay.com/Shop/showPr...?PRODUCT_NO=47) and Kleenmama's (Kleenmama's Hayloft :: Fortified Feeds) and also Mazuri 5664 (only the 5664 formula all other ones are garbage too) The Mazuri 5664 can be found in feedstores and it is what I feed my piggys, though Oxbow and Km's are better since they are timothy based, Mazuri 5664 is alfalfa based so it is more fattening and should only be fed 1/8th a cup per day, per pig.
Hay, hay is the most important part of there diet, pellets are the least. Hay should be fed in large, unlimited ammounts. It should be a horse quality grass hay such as Timothy, Orchard Grass, Brome, Meadow, Bluegrass, Bermuda etc. Never feed alfalfa hay unless they are pregnant, or very young. It is best to get you hay in bulk, then you wont really be wasteing much money if they potty on it or just so that they can have alot. You also save tons and tons of money buying in bulk, I buy my hay from a local feed store of $5.99 for a 70 ibs square bale of Brome Hay, compare to a petstore at about $9.99 for 5 ibs, plus you arent supporting breeding mills. You can also order hay online from Km's, ( Kleenmama's Hayloft :: Home ), her hay is top quality and many people on here get it and aboslutly love it, it also is cheaper than petstores and walmart and is much better quality. As far as veggies go, they are the most expensive for me. I have 2 piggys and it costs me about $7 - $10 a week for veggies, there are stickys in the diet and nutrition section that will be very very helpful, as not all veggies should be fed and some can be and all kinds of stuff regarding them.

Ummm....thats about all I can think of, if you have any questions feel free to PM me any time as I would be happy to answer them.

[socal805]

Welcome to the forum! So far you have gotten a lot of great information here. I agree with what Jenni said about getting 2, these are not animals that like to live alone. I recently adopted a 3rd pig who had been living alone her entire life. The difference in her behavior from my other pigs was like night and day. My 2 pigs were active, healthy eaters, vocal and healthy. This little girl was quiet, hid all the time, underweight, would not eat many veggies and did not run or popcorn. When she moved in with her 2 new sisters it was an immediate change. She has since gained weight, it one of the loudest wheekers and runs lap in their 2x5 c&c cage. It is really a joy to see.
I am the mom of a 10 year old daughter and I have to tell you, although she does help with the pigs (feeding, bathing and holding them for weekly weigh ins and nail trims) I am the one who does the bulk of the work. The cage cannot be completely cleaned by a 10 year old and the twice daily salads are too much for a 10 year old to remember to do. I love caring for the pigs but there are many parents who get frustrated with the kids when they don't help out as much and they realize that the pigs DO take more work than they originally thought.
As long as you know this and can accept this as the parent then you should be fine!
Please feel free to ask as many questions as you need to! Good Luck!

[LonePig]

Welcome the forum Piggy-Sue, you have found a wealth of information on guinea pigs.

Before discovering this site, I purchased a guinea pig from a pet-store as a pet for my daughter. (aka the family) I rescued my second two guinea pigs, and am so happy to have found this site.

Looking back the only thing I would have done differently,and this is totally a personal preference, is I would have adopted an already bonded PAIR of guinea pigs. Knowing how much they need a friend now I realize this would have been a smart choice. This isn't to say that adopting a single pig now, and introducing a friend in the future isn't possible as well. Just something I would have done differently.

You have a lot of great advice, welcome to the forum, and happy reading!

[Piggy_Sue]

Thank you all so much for replying with so much helpful information. As of now, the decision is to hold off on getting a cavy. Like I mentioned before, I was pretty surprised to see how much care one needs, and I am trying to get all my hens in a row before getting one.

Also, since they need companionship, I may consider getting a pair from the local humane society rather than trying to intergrate another at a later time.

Thank you all so much for your help! It has made a huge difference in how I am approaching this, and will pop back in when/if we add any new additions to our little pet family!