Hello! New Guinea Pig Lover Here!

[LokiLove413]

Hello, My names Loki and I'm fourteen. I recently got two guinea pigs, one 8 month old named Cremme who I re-homed from someone on craigslist who had a miss-sex incident and then didn't have the time to look after the two litters anymore. The other one is 4 months old and named Becquerel who I got from a pet store. (Before I found this site, sadly, and read all the reasons why not to. I already hated pet stores, so I preferred not to go to one, beforehand. But now I feel even worse about going to one.) I tried contacting people about re-homing and rescuing, but no one replied to me, and after seeing how depressed Cremme was acting I got so worried that I was having panic attacks and staying up all night worried, so my mom just forced me to go to a pet store to get a piggie so I'd calm down, even after I explained to her why I didn't want to buy from a pet store. I honestly hate all pet stores for the way that most of the animals are treated there, but at least now Cremme will leave his hide and wheek happily.

I don't know very much about guinea pigs, but I've been reading like crazy for the past few days since I got them. I've had my mom drive to get me the biggest cage I could find in my price range (4 feet by 2.5 feet), I've started to switch to fleece (at least with Becquerel because he's a little pooping machine and he isn't neat about it like Cremme, so my regular paper bedding would cost a fortune!), I stopped feeding them their pellets and treats because I realized that they had a lot of nasty, no good ingredients. Now I just feed them plenty of vegetables (luckily my mom is a health nut and visits the natural grocer several times a month, so there's always plenty!) and hay with some vitamin c supplements, which makes them both very happy!

So at the moment I'm keeping Cremme in the large cage, and for the next few days I'm having to keep Becky-Boo (Becquerel) in a small 2.5x1.5 cage. I'm going to try and introduce them as soon as I can so that they get used to each other while Bec is still just a baby, and so he doesn't have to stay in the small cage anymore and I can finally get rid of the dumb old thing! (The small cage came with Cremme, and definitely did not fit a full grown guinea pig. Even before I started researching like crazy I could see that. It's just really sad, but at least now he has plenty of room to run and be happy )


I've decided to sell some of my old things to set aside money just in case of a vet visit (my parents will most likely chip in, but I want to have several hundred just in case), and if anyone knows of an exotic vet in the Austin, Texas area I would really love to know who to contact just in case anything happens!

 

[Starthecavy123]

Hi and welcome to the forum. I strongly suggest looking into making or buying a c&c cage. Also since you got the second at a per store I would compare their genitals. Pet stores are notorious for miss-sexing their animals especially their small animals. When you introduce them it should be a one and done thing, no play dates. You'll also want a cavy savvy exotic vet just in case something should happen. Weigh loss is usually the first sign of an illness because guinea pigs are great at hiding illnesses. You can feed them pellets as long as it doesn't have seeds or color bits. Oxbow is a good brand and KMS hayloft is a great brand.

 

[Jennifer Potash]

You NEED a bigger cage!! If you cannot afford a c&c cage from the actual site, go to Bed Bath and Beyond and buy the grids there (only $20!) And I believe it comes with 20 grids so you'll have more than enough.

 

[LokiLove413]

I need more than 4 feet by 2.5 feet for two guinea pigs? That's about 10 square feet, and everywhere I've read says that a guinea pig needs at least 4. And if your talking about the small cage I'm going to be putting them together either today or tomorrow, if they're not fighting. But if they do fight and I have to keep him separated longer, I will make a larger cage ASAP!

Also thanks for the recommendations for the pellets, I'm hoping to get some in the next few days once I order some online And I checked Cremme, he's definitely a boy, but I've been having trouble checking Bec because he has longer hair. Neither of them have any weight loss, but poor Bec is quite confused as to what the hell he's supposed to do with veggies, so I've been giving him more supplements while trying to get him to eat them. (He's started to nibble the kale pretty well) He eats every piece of hay I give him and I'm constantly having to give him more, though, and seems healthy for a pet store piggie, thank god.

 

[Jennifer Potash]

I need more than 4 feet by 2.5 feet for two guinea pigs? That's about 10 square feet, and everywhere I've read says that a guinea pig needs at least 4. And if your talking about the small cage I'm going to be putting them together either today or tomorrow, if they're not fighting. But if they do fight and I have to keep him separated longer, I will make a larger cage ASAP!

Also thanks for the recommendations for the pellets, I'm hoping to get some in the next few days once I order some online And I checked Cremme, he's definitely a boy, but I've been having trouble checking Bec because he has longer hair. Neither of them have any weight loss, but poor Bec is quite confused as to what the hell he's supposed to do with veggies, so I've been giving him more supplements while trying to get him to eat them. (He's started to nibble the kale pretty well) He eats every piece of hay I give him and I'm constantly having to give him more, though, and seems healthy for a pet store piggie, thank god.

Im sorry, I read the cage part wrong! Once you introduce your two pigs, you shouldn't seperate them unless blood is drawn. It's pretty confusing for the pigs, and it won't settle any dominance behaviors. When I first got my two pigs, they would fight constantly, but never to the point where blood would be drawn, or hair would be ripped out. The fighting should only last about two weeks, so it's not too bad.

 

[Princess_Piggie]

Im sorry, I read the cage part wrong! Once you introduce your two pigs, you shouldn't seperate them unless blood is drawn. It's pretty confusing for the pigs, and it won't settle any dominance behaviors. When I first got my two pigs, they would fight constantly, but never to the point where blood would be drawn, or hair would be ripped out. The fighting should only last about two weeks, so it's not too bad.

Not only will it not settle dominance, it'll prolong it usually. Stresses them out and they need to be able to properly establish who's the dominant and who's the submissive pig. I'd keep them apart until you have a cage large enough to accommodate both. In regards to space, 2 females need minimum 9 square feet, and 2 males need minimum 11 square feet.
@bpatters is from Texas (Houston, I think), but she may have heard of a good vet in your area.

 

[LokiLove413]

Not only will it not settle dominance, it'll prolong it usually. Stresses them out and they need to be able to properly establish who's the dominant and who's the submissive pig. I'd keep them apart until you have a cage large enough to accommodate both. In regards to space, 2 females need minimum 9 square feet, and 2 males need minimum 11 square feet.
@bpatters is from Texas (Houston, I think), but she may have heard of a good vet in your area.

Wow, I'll have to see if there's anyway to add on to my cage I have so far. Maybe find a DIY way to give it a little extra square footage. I quite like the one I have, but I'm quite crafty so I'll try my best to give them what they need!

And I'll definitely have to check with bpatters and see if they know anyone that they would recommend, thanks!

 

[LokiLove413]

Im sorry, I read the cage part wrong! Once you introduce your two pigs, you shouldn't seperate them unless blood is drawn. It's pretty confusing for the pigs, and it won't settle any dominance behaviors. When I first got my two pigs, they would fight constantly, but never to the point where blood would be drawn, or hair would be ripped out. The fighting should only last about two weeks, so it's not too bad.

I'll definitely have my brother help me, then, because I have a very weak heart when it comes to animals. I don't want them to fight at all, but I realize that they're going to, so I'll just have to have my brother be the moderator.

 

[Princess_Piggie]

Wow, I'll have to see if there's anyway to add on to my cage I have so far. Maybe find a DIY way to give it a little extra square footage. I quite like the one I have, but I'm quite crafty so I'll try my best to give them what they need!

And I'll definitely have to check with bpatters and see if they know anyone that they would recommend, thanks!

It seems like a lot of space, I know, especially when we're so used to having tiny cages advertised as what's appropriate! But once they're in it, and all their stuff is, it won't look so huge. My girls are in a 2x4 C&C (that's 2 grids by 4 grids, not feet) and it looks tiny, even though it's really not. I'd give them a 3x6 if I had the space lol You'll probably become like most of us, addicted to cage remodelling!

 

[pigger123]

Welcome to the forum! I hope your intros go well. I suggest a C&C cage, they're inexpensive, customizable, expandable, easy to clean, and nice and spacious. For 2 boys, a 2x5 grid cage is the recommended minimum size, but bigger is always better.

Also, you can feed them Oxbow pellets or KMS Hayloft pellets. Pellets aren't absolutely necessary, but they help make sure your pigs get all the necessary vitamins and minerals.

 

[LokiLove413]

Well, I spend around 2 hours bonding them and cleaning the cage. As soon as I was putting them in the cage, I suddenly remembered (I'm disabled, and because of it, my memory is terrible) Hey! I forgot to sex Bec! D': Annnnnndd she's a she! I seriously feel like I want to cry. I didn't really get attached to her, so I'm fine giving her up, but I just spent so looooong and put so much work into bonding them so Cremme would be happy and stupid Petsmart sexed her wrong!!!! I can finally add that to the long list of reasons why I hate pet stores. Now I just have to find her a good home, and Cremme a MALE companion. At least now I can spend some time looking at more rescue and adoptable piggies, hopefully with parents who freaking sex them right >: (

 

[LokiLove413]

Honestly, that's what I get for buying from a pet store though, I don't really deserve to be all too mad, considering I already knew that buying from a pet store wasn't all too great. I just hope that I can find her a good home soon, and find Cremme a companion.

 

[Princess_Piggie]

You could always get your boar neutered. It's a routine and safe procedure as long as you have an experienced exotic vet perform it! It'd mean you won't have to return your sow and go through trying to bond again.

 

[LokiLove413]

How much would that cost, though? I've heard it's very expensive, and I'm too young for a job :-/

 

[LokiLove413]

I'm going to try and re-sex Bec, just because I'm not exactly sure, and I just really hope that Bec's male. Idk, I'm going to try it, since young guinea pigs have similar looking genitalia. But, if I am right, I'll start to look into neutering. Thanks for the help! All I need now is to find an exotic vet in my area.

 

[Princess_Piggie]

Go in to the medical forum and click on the top thread "Awesome video on how to clean the anal sac". About 3:15 in, it shows how to extrude a penis on a male pig. If you do that and nothing comes out, Bec's female. But you might need to try pressing in slightly different spots, or press harder than you'd originally think. It can be very tricky to do.

 

[sallyvh]

Try taking and posting a picture here and members can help to sex them.

 

[LokiLove413]

I tried to get the best pictures I could with Bec squirming.

 

[Rywen]

Hi and welcome to the forum!

 

[LokiLove413]

Hi and welcome to the forum!

Thanks!