Me and My Pig(s): First time piggy owner.

[poopysmom]

Hello! I am Sharon and my new guinea pig is called Buttercup, I called her "Poopy" affectionately because she poops so much.

I am a first time guinea pig owner. Me and Poopy been together for about a month now. I never really keen on keeping guinea pigs because they requires such a large space to keep and I was keeping hamsters for many many years before that. Unfortunately relocating to Australia, hamsters are not a welcomed pet here. They are categorised as FERAL (imagine that!) by the Australian government and banned. sadness. So, I was missing a pet, and was thinking if i should get a rat or a mouse.
Fate intervened one day when I was at this Farmer's market and there was this lone guinea pig for sale and what more for only 5 Aud! bargain bargain
I never meant to get a guinea pig, but it was love at first sight. Still, I have to think about is it plausible to get one or not. I bought her at the last minute when the guy was about to pack up.

She looks healthy, has bright eyes (i just use my old hamsters checking experience to suss her out) smooth shiny coat with no sign of infections. Asking the seller, he said she was a petstore guinea pig, but too old to be sold as a pet, so his friend owning the store gave the pig to him for quick sale :O i am surprised nobody wanted to keep her as a pet!

Poopy's only flaw is that she is very skittish and will always hide whenever we are around. She even shivers and make unhappy squeaks when I pet her. I really want her to be able to relax and knows that I am not going to harm her. I do not know what else to do. I tried the gentle speaking. Feeding from hand (she will eat from my hands sometimes), etc etc

We do not have much space for a massive indoor unit, even though if getting another piggy might help the situation, I do not know how we are going to house 2 of them (but we are trying to work that option out) and I do not really want to keep her outside all the time. During winter and summer is not really a good options to have her out.

Sorry for the long story, but any advice on how to make Poopy happy and relax with me will be welcomed!

[akstrohm]

Welcome to the forum!

Since she is a petstore pig, make sure she is properly sexed. She may be sick or pregnant, so keep a close eye on her and weigh her weekly.

How big is your cage now? Is it a C&C cage? It is very important that guinea pigs live in pairs or groups--they are social animals and no amount of human interaction can take the place of another guinea pig. Upper levels do not count toward space, but you can make a square or L-shaped cage instead of a rectangle. You are correct that guinea pigs should not be housed outdoors.

A friend will help her calm down a lot. Aside from that, give her time, plenty of places to hide, and regular lap time.

Guinea pigs are very different from hamsters, so be sure to check out all the stickies on this site. Doing a forum search will help to answer most of your questions.

[poopysmom]

Thank you for your reply!

You are quite right, I am 100% sure she is female, but whether she is sick or pregnant, I am not quite sure, we have an appointment with a vet next week. I was checking through the vets in my area, along my street alone, there is 2 vets. One seemed to be more specialised in animals like guinea pig, so i am going to try him out.

I initially just wanted to check if she has internal mites or anything else for that matter, now I should check if she is pregnant or not. But I don't really think so, she was not malnourished when we got her, but she was not exactly fat either, she has put on weight since then, started to have a belly.

My partner being very good with everything wood, built her a very lovely lawn hutch, I just browsed through pictures online and pointed out which one I wanted and he made it.
Poopy is 100% an indoor piggy, I am like a clucking mother hen, even when I have her have some lawn time outside, I was checking on her all the time.
as for indoor living conditions, it is very small right now, its a make shift 1.5x2?. but she always hide anyway, so bf said its ok to let her be right now while we search for the perfect solution for her indoors.
I let her have floor time everyday and sitting on my laps intervantly (but she makes those distressing noise if I do that).

I know about the C&C cages, but until I joined this forum yesterday, I didn't know where to buy the coroplast. Bf, made her an indoor "hutch" yesterday, it was quite grand, 2 stories and stuff, but for me, long as it is, it is not wide enough. I should take a picture and show you guys here, think you will agree with me that it is not wide enough.

If we can have a solution for indoor (storage is already a massive problem for us) and she can live comfortably, I would really like to have another friend for her, I am already checking my local RSPCA and the Australian Cavy Sanctuary website for adoptions everyday.

She is very fussy eater, does not like any fruits except some teensy weensy red grapes (no white grapes and must be peeled she dont like the skin) and slices of apples esp fuji apples. I tried pinch of bananas, strawberries, pear. She would not eat it. She is fussy with her capsicum too, does not like the skin on it, would just chew the flesh and leave the skin part everywhere. Loves romaine lettuce, parsley, carrots, spinach, dandelions and 3-leaf clovers. I think I spoilt her too much, she would not even eat the fresh grass that I picked for her anymore.