New Pig(s): Hi from Houston!

[RosiesMama]

My name is Kim, and I began this adventure when my daughter decided she wanted a guinea pig about a year ago. She is 6, of course too young, but after she saved up over $50 in chore money (most of it earned a penny or a nickel at a time!), I decided to get serious about adopting a pair. We were approved by a local rescue, but right at that time a friend got a guinea pig from Petco. Her family was allergic to her, and they were going to take her back to Petco. I couldn't stand that thought, so here we are, the proud new family of Rosie!

I've never been around a piggy before, but I'm quite certain she is the cutest and sweetest one ever. Now I'm obsessed with nightly internet research, trying to learn everything about cavies. I'll try not to bombard with too many questions, but my first ones are:

Since we ended up getting a single piggy instead of a pair (and since we're new to all this), how long can we wait to find her a friend? I don't want her getting depressed and lonely, but I'm a little overwhelmed just now with one. And how would we separate them during the quarantine period? We only have the one C&C cage (2 x 4).

Any tricks or tips for nail trimming? My husband and I both worked up a sweat yesterday, and after an hour of trying, I managed to trim ONE nail. Only 13 more to go, right? I'm afraid I'm going to end up in tears and just not be able to get the hang of this.

And just out of curiosity, is there a way to tell how old she might be, and how big she'll get? She seems so tiny, I'm guessing maybe 3 or 4 months old?

OK thanks for this incredible site! I'm going back to reading now!

[Paula]

Welcome! Thank you for considering adoption first and thank you for not letting that poor girl be returned to Petco!

You don't have to wait any time to get her a friend, you can start looking now. As for quarantine, you can make a smaller cage out of extra grids, maybe, or even use a pet store cage (hopefully large).

Nail trimming will get easier as you both get more comfortable with each other.

That she came from Petco means she probably is indeed a young piggy, maybe even younger than you're estimating but there is no easy way to age a piggy.

[akstrohm]

Welcome! There's lots of great info here. I'm glad you didn't let Rosie go back to Petco.

Human nail clippers work best for me. It might help if one person clips the nails and the other person distracts the pig with veggies.

Be sure to double check that she's a girl before getting her a friend. Pet stores are very often wrong about the sex.

[Tessa Bea]

Welcome to the forum! I'm glad that you kept little Rosie from being banished back to Petco- and that a petstore or breeder piggie wasn't your first choice. Real piggy lovers adopt!

She is super tiny, and from what I've seen, Petco only sells young pigs. I doubt that she's older than 6 months.

Nail clipping is one of those things that'll get easier over time... hopefully. Some pigs are easier than others, but mine have always been more rambunctious about it when they were young.

You can start looking for a friend pig at anytime, I'd recommend going with your normal plan and talking to the rescue you were approved by, explain the situation and your new pig, and see what they have to say. They may have a pig that recently came in alone, or one that may go well with Rosie's temperament. If you trust the shelter enough, you could actually bring Rosie in and have her help you choose her new pal. (The shelter I got my pigs from actually recommends this.)

[RosiesMama]

Tessa Bea, great idea to let Rosie pick her own buddy -- I'll ask the rescue folks about that. If I take her with me, they could double-check her gender just to be sure. Down side though, I'm more than an hour south of the rescue, and I doubt she'd enjoy a long road trip.

Akstrohm, I was using my daughter's old baby nail clippers. Rosie's nails are so tiny, I'm scared to death I'm going to clip off too much. And just when I get ready to clip, she shakes her foot loose. Right now I'm trying to mess with her feet a lot so maybe she'll warm up to the idea.

Paula, I've been pondering some options. I don't have extra grids because I bought a cage from Sue on eBay before we ever got Rosie. (We were taking this process step-by-step!) We bought two linen shelves to make a cover for it because we have a cat and a dog. I'm thinking I can buy some more linen shelves to make a quarantine area for now, and then make a large piggy-exercise area for later.

Thanks for the warm welcome!