Where People & Piggies Thrive

Newbie or Guinea Guru? Popcorn in!

Register for free to enjoy the full benefits.
Find out more about the NEW, drastically improved site and forum!

Register

Hello! These are my new Skinny Pigs: Hippo and Dermis!

HeresTheSkinny

Active Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Dec 27, 2014
Posts
37
Joined
Dec 27, 2014
Messages
37
Hi everyone! I'm Stina, and my husband surprised me on Christmas with two Skinny Pigs! I'm a big fan of weird looking animals, and grew up with guinea pigs. I also had been researching getting one as a class pet (I'm a teacher), so I was very excited.

The first one, Hippo, is 3 months old, and albino. He's wary of me, but I've been hand feeding him hay while he snuggles on my lap with his brother, so he's quickly becoming a bigger fan of mine.
hippo.jpg

The second one, Dermis, is four weeks old. He's super vocal and curious.
dermis.jpg

My husband got them a smallish cage because he knew I would want to pick out something for them, so we've now ordered a C&C cage and fleece liners that will be arriving tomorrow. They've been eating a ton of hay, and I had some lettuce and parsley in the fridge, so they've been enjoying that. We're going to hit the farmer's market tomorrow and really spoil them!

I am looking for some advice, though. While we do live in California, so temperature won't normally be a problem, we've had a couple very cold nights. We have an old house with no central heat or air. So, we used a space heater last night, but it was still colder than I would like for them, considering they do not have hair. Does anyone have any advice as to how we could keep them cozy at night? I'm thinking burrow sacks- would that work?

Great to be a part of this community, and looking forward to learning!
 

LoveMyHerd

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Oct 6, 2014
Posts
945
Joined
Oct 6, 2014
Messages
945
Hi Stina, and welcome to the most wonderful forum ever! (Okay, I'm boasting, but it's true!) I'm sure you'll find everyone here most helpful and kind. Hippo and Dermis are quite uniquely beautiful Skinnies, and their names are very fitting! I know this isn't even my thread, but I thought you might like to virtually meet my cavies. Here's the whole herd from above:
photo 2 (17).JPG
Clockwise: Bluebell (Silkie), Miss Rhino (Abyssinian), Lily (American), and Twilla (American).
 

bpatters

Moderator
Staff member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Sep 23, 2009
Posts
29,251
Joined
Sep 23, 2009
Messages
29,251
Welcome to the forum!

Skinnies need a much warmer temperature than haired pigs. At the very least, provide cozy hideys for them that they can snuggle in. In a pinch, an upside down cardboard box will do (holes cut in both ends), and fleece tucked up into it. The box shouldn't be too much bigger than the pig, so it will trap body heat. You can drape pieces of fleece in the corners of the cage to former corner hideys. Leave enough fleece on the floor of the cage that they can crawl up under it. Also drape the walls of the cage in that area so there are no drafts for them. And do buy some cozies as soon as you can -- most people find that their skinnies make much more use of them than haired pigs seem to.

Not to be a wet blanket, but most knowledgeable guinea pig people don't consider them to be good class pets. They're very skittish, and afraid of everything. Their backs are particularly fragile, and even a short fall can leave one paralyzed and unable to walk. Most don't like to be handled a lot, and the hubbub of a classroom can be stressful for them. They should never be left in the classroom over a weekend or a school break, and I wouldn't even recommend leaving them there overnight. They hide illnesses very well, and the pig may only show very subtle signs of illness or distress before become very ill. If they're not right under your nose several times a day, you can easily miss that. And, you miss even more of the pig antics if you're away from them two-thirds of the time. If you feel you must have a class pet, please consider getting one that's more solitary and more hardy than a guinea pig.
 

HeresTheSkinny

Active Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Dec 27, 2014
Posts
37
Joined
Dec 27, 2014
Messages
37
Thank you LoveMyHerd- your "herd" is really cute! Don't worry, bpatters- I had determined that they wouldn't make good class pets due to the volume of my class already. I was more sharing that fact to show that these guys weren't an impulse buy. I'm still figuring out what animal would best fit my class' needs, but these guys are my babies. I took your advice about the fleece. I had a Snuggie that I wasn't using, so I quickly washed it with no fabric softener, cut it up, and put it in there. Tomorrow we're going to the nice independent pet store to get them some more official hiding spots and burrows, but Snuggie sleeves are working nicely for now! Dermis still seems to prefer the towel, but Hippo is enjoying the fleece. And please don't worry about being a "wet blanket" with me- I'm well aware that I'm nowhere near an expert, and want to learn how to be the best guinea pig owner possible! Anything I can learn is a good thing:)
 

Rywen

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Nov 28, 2013
Posts
3,952
Joined
Nov 28, 2013
Messages
3,952
Hello and welcome to the forum! Your skinny piggies are adorable!
 

bmt28

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Dec 27, 2014
Posts
64
Joined
Dec 27, 2014
Messages
64
Oh my gosh I've never seen skinny pigs before! Is this a recessive gene trait? I'd love to hear more about this type of piggie.
 

HeresTheSkinny

Active Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Dec 27, 2014
Posts
37
Joined
Dec 27, 2014
Messages
37
Thanks guys! Skinny pigs were originally bred by scientists in the 1970's to use as, well, guinea pigs for experiments. Guinea pigs have similar pregnancies to humans, and synthesize Vitamin C in the same way. So, scientists were able to run tests about pregnancy on these guys, and the hair got in the way. They were originally albino like my Hippo. Eventually, breeders got ahold of these guys, and developed them into a breed of guinea pig by carefully crossbreeding them with regular guinea pigs to get rid of the genetic bottleneck, but keep the hairlessless. There's also another breed of hairless guinea pig called Baldwin. Those are 100% hairless- my boys have tufts on their heads and hands. Skinny Pigs are also born hairless. Balwins are born with hair, and then it falls off. They're smaller than normal pigs, and need extra water and heat. They can also suffer from dry skin sometimes- these guys had a small bout of it because of the dry air. But a little 100% aloe took care of that. I'm fascinated by this breed!
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.

Similar threads

S
Replies
0
Views
347
Safaria
S
CerealGurl4
Replies
4
Views
523
SSLee
SSLee
dizzie
Replies
6
Views
559
dizzie
dizzie
Top