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Want a Guinea Pig(s) Confused Future Guinea Pig Owner

ElissaSky

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Hi everyone. I have been researching the idea of adopting a guinea pig for a few months now. I have the supplies to build a C&C cage. I'm not sure if I am getting 2 or 3 pigs yet. I live in a 2 bedroom apartment and the piggies would occupy my second bedroom. I'm planning on building my cage to accommodate 3 pigs because this way if I end up just getting 2, then there is really no such thing as too much space. I plan to build a 2x6 grid cage with a 2x2 grid loft. I will build a ramp with the leftover coroplast. I have access to a farmers market that has vegetables year round. I figure I can go there to purchase fresh veggies for them. I already have Oxbow Timothy Hay and Oxbow Orchard Grass. I thought i would add a little of the Orchard Grass to their hay every now and again.

On to my confusion. I had originally planned to adopt sisters from a local shelter and then also a 3rd sow from another shelter. The sisters are already a bonded pair and the 3rd sow doesn't currently have a cage mate at the shelter. During my research I came across a video about what sex to get as a novice guinea pig owner. In the video it was mentioned that it is ideal to have 1 neutered boar and 1 or 2 sows because this is closest to their natural environment. It was also mentioned that having a herd of all sows could result in the sows developing ovarian cysts. I found an adorable boar that I would not mind owning. I'm interested in continuing to learn more about guinea pig care as I raise my pigs and want to give myself and my future pigs the best chance of success, but I am confused about whether to go with 2 or 3 sows or 1 boar and 2 sows.

I would greatly appreciate any advice you guys have to offer
Elissa
 

jaycriae

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Whoever made that video is misinformed. Guinea pigs have been domesticated for thousands of years and so don't really have a "natural environment," but their ancestors live in large mix-sex herds.

Three sows or two sows and one neutered boar could both absolutely work so long as they have plenty of space and you do introductions right, and it sounds like you've got the first part down and are responsible enough to easily handle the second.

If you do get a boar neutered, he has to have been fixed for 4 weeks before he can actually be housed with sows, because it takes awhile for all the sperm to die.

Get whichever pigs you like the best!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

bpatters

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Ignore that video.

Having sows live together has absolutely NOTHING to do with them developing ovarian cysts. Some sows do, some don't. I have/had a bunch of older sows who have always lived with other sows, and not a single ovarian cyst in the bunch.

Three males, however, is not likely to succeed. We never recommend it, especially to new guinea pig owners. Three sows should be ok, although the introductions will take longer because you've got an established pair already. When you get ready to introduce, do it when you've got hours to devote to it, and don't rush the process. Here's the bible on pig introductions: https://guinea-pigs.livejournal.com/3002707.html

Here's some recommended reading for new pig owners:

https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/113176-Information-for-new-guinea-pig-owners
https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/107827-What-NOT-to-do-for-your-guinea-pigs!
 

ElissaSky

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Thank you guys for your help. The thing is that the girls I would like to adopt come with a MidWest cage already and some food that they are currently on. I plan on trying to see if I can get them off pellets all together and feed them the hay and veggies with occasional treats. If I go the route of introducing a neutered male to them, then the male would have to reside in the C&C cage while the girls live in their MidWest cage until he can be neutered so I'm wondering. Would he be okay living by himself for a while until it is safe to have them reside together?
 

bpatters

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It would probably be safe to have three live together, but not in a Midwest cage. They're WAY too small for three pigs, and you could wind up with major aggression issues that wouldn't otherwise apply if they were in a larger cage. But living together depends on the personality of the pigs as much or more than it does on the sex, and you'd need to be careful about introductions. Here's the best article I know on it: https://guinea-pigs.livejournal.com/3002707.html

Any particular reason you want them off pellets? Pellets are a very good way to give them the vitamins and minerals they need. Sometime people go pelletless because of bladder stone problems, but it's not necessary in healthy pigs.
 

jaycriae

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@bpatters, I believe OP is asking whether the male can be in the C&C cage alone until he's safe to be around females. The answer to that is yes, he'll be fine alone for a little while (however long it takes you to get him fixed plus the four weeks to let the sperm die). Don't let them have supervised playdates or anything, either, it only takes seconds for a pregnancy to happen.
 

ElissaSky

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Yes [MENTION=32120]jaycriae[/MENTION] you are correct. That is what I was asking. I'd never try to put more than 2 pigs in a MidWest cage. That's way too small for more than that, imo. I did find a solution though. I purchased the male this morning and he's currently calming down in his new cage. The shelter said that he's 2 months old. I have no idea what to name him, but he'll be going to the vet for a check up and to discuss when it would be appropriate to have him neutered. I think the poor lil guy was just really afraid with all the activity of being moved into a new place and such. I did stop by the year round Farmer's Market in my area and picked him up some peppers, beets, romaine lettuce, etc. I also got him lots of chew toys to play with. Hopefully after he settles down a bit, then things will improve. He's currently hiding out in his little hidey house. They told me at the shelter to leave him be for a few days and maybe just go in every once in a while to read to him or talk to him. So, that's currently what I am doing. Thanks so much for all of the advice and I'm sure I'll be back here again to search for answers to my next dilemma. lol
 

ElissaSky

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Dash.jpg
This is my new little guy. I thought his cage came with a hidey house for him to hang out in, but it didn't. So I cut some fleece into strips to hang from his loft area, but I guess he just likes hiding under his ramp. Mostly I've left him alone. I went in to check on him a few times since he's been home probably about once every 2 to 3 hours today. I caught him eating the piece of lettuce that I left for him and I also caught him eating some of his hay that I put in the corner in case he couldn't get it out of his hay bin. When he sees me in there, then he runs and hides back under his ramp like he is in the picture.

Apparently someone thought they had 2 males in a cage, but ended up with a boar and a sow so his birth was a case of someone thinking they had 2 boys and whoops. His siblings were adopted out and he was the only one left from the litter. They tell me that his entire litter was really sweet and the people there handled him a lot. Poor little thing was shaking while I was holding him and squeaked at me when I picked him up to put him in his cage. He hasn't shown any signs of aggression yet though and hasn't tried to bite me or anything like that. I hope after a few days that he'll calm down some and start to feel more at home there.

He's just so sweet. The volunteers there must have done a fabulous job getting him accustomed to being around people because I honestly didn't expect him to be that sweet from the beginning.
 

jaycriae

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He's very cute! I'm glad things are going well, and I'm sure he'll get more used to you soon enough. While he's still adjusting, try giving him veggies and eventually hand-feeding them before you pick him up too much (except while at the vet's, of course). Sitting by the cage and talking to him is a great way to start. By the way, romaine is good for him now, but once he's older it'd be a good idea to switch to green-leaf lettuce because it has less calcium.

It sounds like you have everything under control! What are the names of the girls you want to adopt? Maybe you could pick a name that would go well with them :) My first thought when I saw him was Toffee, but not everybody likes food names.
 

ElissaSky

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The two little girls are Paisley and Pixie. I'm not real sure on this shelter though. I emailed them about these girls a week to week and a half ago, but haven't heard anything yet. I'm hoping to hear something after the holidays are over since it is a busy time of year for most folks. It's possible they might not have checked their email yet. I was thinking of these names: Jasper, Dash, Blitzen, Aidan, or Rio. I just can't seem to choose one.

Oh okay thanks for the tip on the Romaine. I also picked him up a blend of collard, turnip, and mustard. I hope that one is okay. If not, then I'll make myself a salad and get him something else lol I picked him up some green pepper, beets, and cucumber. I know I read somewhere that green pepper was good for him to have daily, but I think the cucumber was occasional; like once a week? I don't want to overload him on new veggies all at once so I'm thinking of just sticking with the peppers to see what he thinks of those and then introducing beets later on down the road. Is it possible for guinea pigs to have food allergies?
 

bpatters

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He's very cute!

No on the collards, turnips, and mustard, except possibly for a very small amount occasionally. All three are very strong, bitter greens, and could possibly upset a pup's stomach.

If you read those links I gave you, you'll find a very helpful food chart.
 

jaycriae

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Of those names I vote for Dash, it suits him well in my opinion, but the others are good as well. Good luck with the girls, if it doesn't work out with those two I'm sure you'll find other pigs who are equally wonderful.

Bpatters is right about the veggies, he's still a delicate baby so those strong greens might be a little bit much. Bell peppers are a great daily food, both green and red. Your plan for veggie introduction sounds fine.

It's theoretically possible for a guinea pig to have food allergies but I've never heard of it actually happening, and I've worked with a lot of guinea pigs. It's not something you should be worried about. It's far more likely that he just won't like a certain food.
 

ElissaSky

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Thank you, jaycriae. I'm currently on the fence between Jasper and Dash for his name.

I just wanted to say that he let me pet him today. It was really exciting. He's been hiding for 2 days now. I know he was coming out of hiding to eat because food was disappearing from the bowl and water was disappearing from the bottle. This morning he came out of his house while I was standing there talking to him. He started making these little chirping noises. They weren't squeals or anything that sounded like he was in pain. They were just little chirps or yips, I guess they were sounds he'd make if he was looking for another pig. He just started doing it when I walked into his room this morning. He walked up to the bars on his cage and was sniffing through it while I was standing there so I figured that maybe he would be ready to take some green pepper out of my hand. Sure enough he did. He ran away with the green pepper, of course. However, after about 3 small pieces, he started just sitting by my hand munching on it. So the last piece of green pepper that I gave him, I pet his forehead kind of gently and he seemed alright with that.

I found what looks like a scab there though. I'm not sure how concerned I need to be about this. I didn't even know it was there until I pet him and felt it. It looks like it could maybe be a surface wound like maybe another pig bit him at some point before he arrived here. There's nothing sharp in his cage or anything. I didn't see any dried blood, but there is a place there where his fur is missing around this scabbed area.
 

jaycriae

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Congrats on the bonding! Sounds like he's going to be a friendly little guy.

I'd keep an eye on the scab, if it heals up it's no big deal and probably something that happened from another pig- once in awhile mothers will overzealously groom their babies and give them a little bit of a scrape, typically not enough to leave a scab, but it's theoretically possible. If it heals and goes away, perfect! If it gets bigger, though, it could be a little bit of fungus, which isn't a big deal but you would have to treat it. That's probably not the case, but if it happens you could bring it up at his vet appointment.

I'm glad little Dashper is warming up to you and his new home!
 

lisa325

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Oh My Goodness!! He's so tiny and adorable. LOL, he looks like a little hamster sitting there. So happy he's settling in for you :).
 

MrCavyMadness

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