Hi everyone!
I am new here. I live in NC and looooove my pigs!
My guinea pig story is a little long. For reasons I don't remember, I decided I wanted a guinea pig when I was in college. But, I was very misinformed about guinea pigs. My pig's name was Sandwich and I didn't give him any friends and I kept him in a too small pet store cage. I loved him a lot, though, and he LOVED apples! But after college I had no job and my parents had cut me off financially, so taking care of him was a burden. I found a family that seemed responsible and they adopted him from me. I still feel bad about how little I knew about guinea pigs then and how much happier Sandwich could have been if I had been more informed.
Flash forward to 2015. I have a new apartment. I decide I want guinea pigs again. I know this time that they need friends and a big cage, but I still wasn't aware of how bad PetCo is. So I get two PetCo pigs, Pearl and Lila. Months go by. Lila bites me CONSTANTLY and is very mean to Pearl. Pearl has evidence of bites on her ears. I tried for months to make Lila a nicer pig, but she wants none of it. I was very sad about it, but I made the decision to return her to PetCo. Of course, when I bring her in, the manager picks her up, and she immediately goes in to bite him. She was a bad, bad pig, but who can blame her, coming from PetCo!? I felt really bad about this, but I did online research and the manager assured me they would find her a home, even if they had to give her away. Maybe a more experienced guinea pig owner could break her, but I am not that person!
Now, I need to find a new friend for Pearl. I can tell she is acting happier now that Lila is gone, but she is still skittish. I decide to try to find an older pig for her, in hopes that if she is around an older pig who is already used to people and being handled, it'll help Pearl get used to people and being handled. I find someone on Facebook who says they are a rescue (note that, SAYS). I reach out to them, they send me photos of a beautiful one year old pig named Oreo. I say I would love to have her. So we arrange to meet up. Now when we meet up, the woman has baby pigs in her car and says something about Oreo just having had babies. This is when I start to suspect that this woman is a breeder rather a rescue. At this point, I knew breeders were bad but I didn't know just how bad, so I didn't say anything to her. Oreo is beautiful and I take her home.
Well, then, Oreo is starting to get fat. And one day i notice she is so fat, I think she might be pregnant. I feel her belly and feel kicks. Definitely pregnant! Ugh, that woman! So, now it's my responsibility to take care of this pregnant pig. I love Oreo and don't want to return her. I take her to the vet. A few weeks later, the babies are delivered. I was very lucky in that I got to see the birth! It was actually quite magical. All the babies and Mama Oreo ended up very healthy. Once they are older, I found a new home for two of the babies, and kept one female baby for myself and named her Nilla Wafer.
And so that's how I ended up with my three pigs. It's been a long journey, but I feel like I am finally pretty well informed on guinea pig care. This coming week, my friend is going to help me build an even bigger cage for them so they have as much room as possible. I love them dearly and want them to be happy!
Thanks for reading my story.
I am new here. I live in NC and looooove my pigs!
My guinea pig story is a little long. For reasons I don't remember, I decided I wanted a guinea pig when I was in college. But, I was very misinformed about guinea pigs. My pig's name was Sandwich and I didn't give him any friends and I kept him in a too small pet store cage. I loved him a lot, though, and he LOVED apples! But after college I had no job and my parents had cut me off financially, so taking care of him was a burden. I found a family that seemed responsible and they adopted him from me. I still feel bad about how little I knew about guinea pigs then and how much happier Sandwich could have been if I had been more informed.
Flash forward to 2015. I have a new apartment. I decide I want guinea pigs again. I know this time that they need friends and a big cage, but I still wasn't aware of how bad PetCo is. So I get two PetCo pigs, Pearl and Lila. Months go by. Lila bites me CONSTANTLY and is very mean to Pearl. Pearl has evidence of bites on her ears. I tried for months to make Lila a nicer pig, but she wants none of it. I was very sad about it, but I made the decision to return her to PetCo. Of course, when I bring her in, the manager picks her up, and she immediately goes in to bite him. She was a bad, bad pig, but who can blame her, coming from PetCo!? I felt really bad about this, but I did online research and the manager assured me they would find her a home, even if they had to give her away. Maybe a more experienced guinea pig owner could break her, but I am not that person!
Now, I need to find a new friend for Pearl. I can tell she is acting happier now that Lila is gone, but she is still skittish. I decide to try to find an older pig for her, in hopes that if she is around an older pig who is already used to people and being handled, it'll help Pearl get used to people and being handled. I find someone on Facebook who says they are a rescue (note that, SAYS). I reach out to them, they send me photos of a beautiful one year old pig named Oreo. I say I would love to have her. So we arrange to meet up. Now when we meet up, the woman has baby pigs in her car and says something about Oreo just having had babies. This is when I start to suspect that this woman is a breeder rather a rescue. At this point, I knew breeders were bad but I didn't know just how bad, so I didn't say anything to her. Oreo is beautiful and I take her home.
Well, then, Oreo is starting to get fat. And one day i notice she is so fat, I think she might be pregnant. I feel her belly and feel kicks. Definitely pregnant! Ugh, that woman! So, now it's my responsibility to take care of this pregnant pig. I love Oreo and don't want to return her. I take her to the vet. A few weeks later, the babies are delivered. I was very lucky in that I got to see the birth! It was actually quite magical. All the babies and Mama Oreo ended up very healthy. Once they are older, I found a new home for two of the babies, and kept one female baby for myself and named her Nilla Wafer.
And so that's how I ended up with my three pigs. It's been a long journey, but I feel like I am finally pretty well informed on guinea pig care. This coming week, my friend is going to help me build an even bigger cage for them so they have as much room as possible. I love them dearly and want them to be happy!
Thanks for reading my story.