Me and My Pig(s): Hello and questions

[satimiriam]

I am very happy to have found a place like this. Thank you so much for having it here, and for being a part of it. My name is Miriam and I just got two male piggies, both found on Craigslist. I just read that I should have had them quarunteend, oops. All the names in my family start with M, so my new babies are Magellan (or Mage) and Mandarin (or Manny), the orange one.

I adopted Mage before I knew how much work he would be and then I started doing research online. I have become pretty obsessed with them. I find this website to be very informative, again thanks. My cage is a chest coffee table (not cedar) that is 2ftX3ft and I have created a second level with some white shelving (that is mentioned as an alternative on the C&C page). This was stuff that I had around the house. I can't afford to buy any extras for now. I got some coroplast to line it with, but the sets of cubes are too much for my budget right now. I am trying to give them lots of floor time, whenever I am home and awake. Is this going to be okay for now?

Also, is it possible to give them too many fresh vegetables? They wheek for treats a lot. I haven't seemed to been able to find anything on how much is too much.

Last question: does anyone have any suggestions on the best way to get them back in their cage? I have to chase them down and they hide underneath the couch and table.

[akstrohm]

Welcome! They are very cute!

They really do need a bigger cage ASAP; otherwise you risk them not getting along and not getting enough exercise. I am also worried that the chest you have them in does not provide enough ventilation. Tubs and aquariums are also not recommended for this reason. I would remove the ramp to the second level for now--even though it seems like a second level adds space, what pigs really need is a lot of room on a single level to run around. So the ramp is actually taking away space from them. Once you get at least a 2x4, preferably 2x5 C&C cage, you can add the ramp back in. If you can't find coroplast, you can use a shower curtain liner. Check garage sales, craigslist, and ebay for grids. In the meantime, keep up with the extra floor time.

Check out the nutrition charts and sample menus in the stickies section of the diet and nutrition forum for info on what to feed and how much to feed. You're not likely to give too many veggies overall, but certain veggies should be very limited.

For floor time, all I can suggest is blocking off places the pigs can get into where you can't reach.

I hope that helps!

[satimiriam]

Thank you for the quick and helpful reply. I did download a chart of which fruits and veggies they can have which includes the frequency, amount of calcium and such. I have been giving them a lettuce leaf, a carrot and a slice of pepper daily with other fruits and veggies thrown in here and there (collard greens, broccoli, plum, apple, orange, raspberries, blueberries, grapes, etc.). I didn't know about the sample menus. How do I get to the stickies?

I give them about 5 or 6 hours of floor time per day. I do have a room that we don't use that I could convert into a space for them, but it's upstairs and we spend all of our time downstairs. Which is the lesser of two evils?