Introduction -- four cavies and their people

[Wildcavy]

Hi,

I'm new to the forum, and still pretty new to the cavy world. I'm mom to four cavies, all rescues. Jumble is a 4-month-old Abby, who was thrown out into the woods by a guy who darted out of the car and dumped her and her 10-day old littermates. She is the only survivor. Triton is a very sweet (neutered) boar, American tricolor. We originally adopted him from a rescue as a pal for Jumble, but shortly after getting them home from an adoption meet, she had some very intense second thoughts, so we separated them.

We just adopted Oink from a rescue, a pretty black and white dutch, American, and she and Triton are new best pals. The amount of popcorning is unbelievable.

And we also adopted Picckalo from a shelter. He is a black roan boar (or so we're told on the color; we aren't experts) and almost entirely blind. He was clearly not at all cared for by his original people and actually improved in the shelter. He is thriving. He is still in quarantine in another part of our house. He had his initial check-up and we'll go back to get him neutered at the end of the quarantine. He is such a sweety. He's just learning to whistle at us.

They all have C&C cages (various sizes) and we use carefresh. Lots of tunnels, paper bags, soda boxes, pigloos, etc.

We had no idea how great piggies are, and of course now we are completely smitten and can't remember life without them.

[SweetiePig]

Welcome! I am so happy to hear you rescued all of your pigs! They are sooo addicting as you already can tell I had the same problem. I was just going to get one and then ended up with 4! haha. So, about their names, they are all so unique, is there any meaning behind them? I would love to see pics of all of your piggys! They sound sooo cute! My pig Blossom is a black roan..I might be able to help you out on color if you want when you post pics.
Carefresh is a great bedding but very expensive, have you considered fleece cage liners?

[Wildcavy]

Jumble is actually a kind of acronym or nickname for her whole name. My spouse and I have backgrounds in gov't, and so of course our first piggy had to be named by committee All three kids threw in some names, and so she is Joy Maria Burrito Lopez (JMBL, or Jumble). It worked out too because she really, really likes to reorganize house, so you can never tell where her "furniture" is going to end up. She's on her own at the moment in a 2x3 C&C, so she has a a decent amount of space to drag things. (We know it's best for her to have a friend, but we're giving her an adoption meet break -- she is extremely alpha even for a female Abby -- but she's in the same room and within eye & earshot of Triton and Oink, so she has indirect contact w/ fellow cavies). What happened to her is not the worst that's happened to a piggy, but I cannot imagine her terror in the woods and not really being weaned and I think her being so fierce is why she survived. My boss saw the guy dumping them -- the choice was between chasing the guy and looking for the piggies, so of course he went to save the piggies, but the guy who dumped them is lucky my boss didn't catch up with him, too.

Triton, Oink, and Picckalo all came with their names. Triton worked with his tri-color/tri-tone, plus he's a good boar and very good at "tall pig," ruling the pen! Oink seems to know her name, so we didn't want to confuse her. And we liked Picckalo's name. I'll post pics as soon as I work out the forum thing (brand new to forum life, too!). Triton & Oink share a 2x4 C&C. Picckalo has a 2x2 C&C for now. We have a 2x3 waiting for him as soon as he's off quarantine, and if he can adapt okay to a larger cage given his sight issues. (The 2x2 fits best in our room, which is where he is staying for now, but we can put in a bigger pen once he's in the same area as the rest of the piggies).

One of the people at the rescue has offered to teach us about fleece. We do like the Carefresh for the odor control & ease of use, and also we put the used bedding & underlying newspaper in one of our longer-term composting bins, so it ends up (eventually) as plant food. Which, considering that we are now consciously planting food for piggies, sort of completes the circle. It is a bit pricey, though we've managed to bulk order 60 L for a decent price and one of our mom & pop pet supply stores occasionally has a good sale (and they don't sell any animals, which is great). But I'm always interested in learning something new!

[SweetiePig]

Wow, thanks for explaining everything. I like the names, and thats awesome that you made up that one name with 4 different names! cool! I cant wait for pics. You can always upload them on Image hosting, free photo sharing & video sharing at Photobucket and copy and past the IMG code. Thats easiest.
And if you choose to use carefresh then use it. Its not a bad bedding at all, I was just saying, most use fleece and it really is great!

[suzilovespiggie]

Hello Wildcavy!! Kudos to you for taking all of these piggies. I am appalled at the man who could dump them like that. Horrible human behavior never ceases to astound me. I just don't get it. I am so glad she is now in a great home.
You will find in the forum all you need to know so your "new family" will have the very best. Take the time to read the stickys and threads.\
Feel free to ask questions. We are here for you.

[Wildcavy]

This is Oink and Triton, hanging out on my husband's arm. Oink is on the left, Triton is on the right (tricolor). Sorry for the orientation -- I'll get some that are right-side up!

[Wildcavy]

This is Jumble, princess of all she surveys. I promise not all of my pictures are sideways.

[Wildcavy]

This is Picckalo during floor time. He is very hesitant about exploring because of his visual impairment. But he likes having some boxes and nice fleece and towels to use as a home base. His hair is a mix of black, with reddish hair mixed in, and some random white hairs throughout. I'm told he's a black roan? We can't wait to get him out of quarantine and neutered so he can interact with the other piggies.

[SweetiePig]

Your piggys are beautiful!! I really like Picckalo, very hansom!
As far as color, I wouldnt classify him as a roan. I might say he could be brindle but definitely not roan.
Here is a picture of Blossom, she's roan. Do you see the difference in color?

[Wildcavy]

Dramatic difference! I was puzzled because I'm accustomed to horse coloration, and your roan piggie looks like some types of roan horses. Brindle makes sense. The base of his hair is reddish and some of it shows all the way through the black hair. In better light the red shows through. Also there is a patch of red on his bum right under where his tail would be, if he had one. Do brindles have white hairs throughout? His hair is super-glossy, too. I won't post his "before" picture, it's too distressing, but he was scrawny, dull hair, you couldn't tell he had any other color than the black hair. His little face just said "help me."

[logansmomma1228]

Aww they are all so sweet! Jumble reminds me of my Piggie Such touching stories, and I am glad they were able to find their way to a nice home.

I imagine it is a dramatic difference between the "before and after" pictures because mine both looked so wild and angry when they got home, now they look completely different after only a couple weeks (days for Flower even!).