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New Guinea Pig! Yay!!!

RubyPiggie2

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My sister is getting a guinea pig sometime this week from my aunt, even though I have guinea pigs in my room, lol! Well, she's getting Mr.Stripe. His body is all brown, he's white crested and he has a stripe going down from his crest to his nose. It's so cute! I'll post pigtures of him and his cage when he gets here!
Well, last night I went through and thought about what my sister needs to get for him. I get bales of Timothy Hay, so I'm going to let my sister use the hay- It's not fair to make her go buy a big messy bale, lol. Well, here's my list:
Bedding(aspen and carefresh layered)
water bottle(16oz)
Hanging Hay rack(from the top of the cage with the bell at the bottom)
Alfalfa hay
Heavy Food dish(2, veggies and pellets)
Fiddlesticks(wood hidey house)
Pigloo
food (pellets and veggies)

Does my sister need anything else added to this list? I think there is something missing, but I don't know! Since Mr.Stripe is going to be by himself, my guinea pig Peppy is going to have floor time with him everyday. They've already met, and Peppy was popcorning a lot with Mr.Stripe playing with him, even though Peppy is almost 5 and Mr.Stripe is 9 weeks. I'm also giving my sister hanging toys, and a roll back- my pigs don't pay attention to those! They'd rather sit around than get some excersize trying to reach the bell to ring it, or push over the toy... Hehe. I'm also just going to the regular old dollar store and getting her some push around balls (with bells in them) to add to the fun. Also, it is okay to let pigs have Timorthy and alfalfa at the same time, right? Because Alfalfa is expensive and we don't want it getting soiled on the ground, we're putting it in the hanging hay rack. We are going to put the timothy hay on the ground so he could tunnel through it.
What are the best store bought pellets? The kind I use, and I can't switch back because I can't order offline(trust me, I would if I could) has the stupid ground corn. Is this really bad? I've heard it's just a filler, no nutritional value. But I don't know of any other 50 lb bags that I could get without having to order offline :(. Is this okay though? It does not have anything else that is from the list to avoid on guinea lynx, thank goodness. My sister can't order offline either, she dosen't have a credit card. So what are the best pellets that you can buy from a feed store, pet store?
Thanks for reading this long thing, I want to make sure Mr.Stripe gets the best life with my sister, just like mine do with me lol! He's getting a 2x3 also, I had to bribe my sister. She wanted to get a 2x2 even though she's got ALL that room space. Well that's all, thanks for reading!
 

mncavylover

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Why is he going to be by himself? That doesn't make sense. Please tell her she needs to get two if any, and please adopt! (www.cavyspirit.com/sociallife.htm) Remember, the new one must be quarantined BEFORE introducing him to another pig.

The best pellets, no question, are Oxbow Cavy Performance (pigs under a year) and Oxbow Cavy Cuisine (older) from (broken link removed).
 

RubyPiggie2

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He might be by himself, but all my sister wants really is one guinea pig(I don't know why). She knows about the social life from hanging around with me, lol, but is determined to only get one. I am going to let Peppy and Mr.Stripe play with each other all the time, even Peppy be in the cage with him for days. Is this okay?
I know he must be quarantined, which we are going to do. Mr.Stripe has been to the vet twice, and is very healthy, so he does not have mites or anything. As I said before, we can't order from the internet because my mom won't let us. I just wanted to know what the best pellets were that we could buy from the petstore or a feed store. We are going to the petstore/feed store on Tuesday to get his bedding, toys, food ect. Any ideas? Thank mncavylover for responding!
 

mncavylover

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Sorry, but I think you said you can't order *off*line, that's why I got the internet site. Sorry about that! Well, the food is sold in stores all over, just take a look at their retailer list.

If she just wants one, then why the heck is she getting a guinea pig? How old is she? You can't keep them alone, period. I know you'll give him floor time together, but it'd just not the same. I'm glad you're taking such good care fo the pigs, but it's really not good to just have one, no matter what.

Also, take the bell of the hay rack--it can be a choking hazard. In fact, you don't even really need to buy one, just bend a grid and cab;e-tie it to the side, or us a kleenex box. Good luck!
 

RubyPiggie2

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Okay, thanks for that info- I had NO idea bells were a chocking hazard! There are so many people on this site with bells and such, I never thought about it!
I think I'm going to be able to convince my sister to let Peppy stay with Mr.Stripe. She's 17 years old, works, so it's not like she'll be with Mr.Stripe all the time.
Yeah, I did say offline! Lol, sorry!! I was a little out of it, I wrote so much! lol, thanks for correcting me!
I want her to buy a hay rack because they are usually smaller- since the alfalfa bags are so little, I don't want to bend a grid and use that big thing. He'll be getting LOADS of Timothy hay on the ground to tunnel through. The hay rack will always be full of alfalfa, so he can't run short.
About the convincing-- I definately will put Peppy in with Mr.Stripe first off because
1) I'm going to clean the cage
2) I'm teaching her all about the pigs, and making sure she buys the correct things!!
Okay, about the pellets... Should I print out a list of things to avoid, and check all the ingrdients? I'm going to look for the Dehydrated Alfalfa meal because that is good for young cavies, right? And when he turns a year old, I'll have my sister change it to Timothy based pellets.
Thank you so much for helping me!
 

mncavylover

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That's fine, I'm here to help. I didn't think about the bells until I heard about it from someone else. I even heard someone's pig got a paw stuck in a crack. *shudder*

Here is the link to stuff that should/should not be in foods: https://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3748. I use that for my analysis that's in the cavy chat section, titles "what is the best food". The only one that fits all of the said categories is Oxbow, which I'm hoping you can find. I'm glad you're taking good care of the pig. =) Thanks for the reply, and feel free to ask me anything!
 

RubyPiggie2

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Oh yay! Thanks for that link, I had found it on the site before but wasn't sure if I could find it again! I'm going to print it tomorrow at school, since I don't have ink.
Have you ever been to or seen any Oxbow pellets at a pet store? I too hope that I can find some Oxbow pellets and hay. Can't wait till Mr.Stripe gets here :). Gorsh, I'm acting like he's my pig Lol!
 

RubyPiggie2

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GOOD NEWS!

I talked to my sister about Peppy being with Mr.Stripe. Done!! He's going in with Mr.Stripe in two weeks. Mr.Stripe is coming tomorrow. Isn't this the normal quarantine time? Do I have to go further?
I'm so happy, I can't wait till he gets here! He'll be in a pen with Peppy(is this okay? Should he be in a pen by himself?) while we go out shopping for supplies and finishing his cage. I'm going to look for the best pellets tomorrow, I'll have about an hour to do so.
Can't wait!!
 

mncavylover

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No problem, you can just do a search on guinealynx if you need it again.

Is Peppy alone right now? If he has a friend (or a few), it will be a stressful separation, and the other pig(s) may miss him as well. As much as I know it's good for Mr. Stripe to have a friend, I'm not sure if this is worth it for Peppy. Are you sure you can't get another piggy?

Check www.cavyspirit.com/sociallife.htm for more info, scroll down or use the links on the right. Yes, two to three weeks is the usual quarantine period.

If you put them in a pen together right away, that completely destroys the purpose of the quarantine--to make sure that no sicknesses are transferred to any pig. You should probably have them in separate pens.

I'm glad you are taking such good care of the pigs!!! Can't wait for an update!
 

RubyPiggie2

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Lol, I don't know why I was going to put them in the same pen, it does destroy the purpose, lol.
Peppy is in a cage with two boars, but I know he's not very happy with them. It makes me sad, but he dosen't really like them, and they don't really like him, bt these are the only boars he won't fight with because they were with him since they were little. My aunt brought Mr.Stripe over a few weeks ago before my sister decided to get him, and Peppy was popcorning and purring to no end! I know that he'll be happy with Mr.Stripe, already seen how well they get along.
I'm positive we can't get another piggy- I have many piggies of my own, and my sister is only allowed to get one pig for herself. If Peppy is stressed out, and the other two boars, I will put them back together and try to get Mr.Stripe another companion- I would have to have a looong talk with my mother.
What should I put in the pen? He won't have any hidey houses, because we are going to be buying them while he is at the house. Should I flip over a box, get a carrot, Romaine, and apples and let him eat all that his heart desires? I'm going to put him in my sister's room during the time we're away so that he gets used to it.
 

mncavylover

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That's ok, sometimes we just aren't thinking. ;)

I think that the introduction will work, and it sounds like it will be perfect if it all does wok out. I know what you mean about no more piggies, I was just checking to see if it was an option. Thanks for the answer!

There are some toy ideas here: www.guineapigcages.com/toys.htm, many are just out of regular things. Try the lunch sack, or make a cardboard box house or two. Kleenex boxes work well as tunnels and as hay racks stuffed with hay!

Keep it down on the apples (sugary) and carrots (should only have a baby carrot every other day). Romaine is great, you can add some red pepper, cilantro, and parsley into their daily veggies as well, they're all high in vit. c. I really hope everything works out!!!
 

RubyPiggie2

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Thanks for replying so quick!

I already know about the apples, this is just for the floor time he is having to help him settle in a little bit. He'll be very jumpy because he'll be on floortime by himself for quite some time until we come back.
I'm going to use the kleenex box tunnel idea, I always saw it just as a hidey house! I'm going to get hayracks full of hay, or probably just put a huge pile out on the floor. He's coming here tomorrow! I can't wait! ... As I said before, I'm acting like Mr.Stripe is mine!! I have to calm down hah.
 

RubyPiggie2

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I know about the carrots and apples, that's what I meant.. not just the apples!
 

mncavylover

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Ok, great! It's good that you're so excited, it's a new addition to your family, and you want only the best for the piggy. That's awesome! I thought you knew, but I was just checking. Thank you for all the prompt responses!
 

RubyPiggie2

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That's cool that you were checking, that's fine! And thank you for replying so quickly! I would have never known about the bells, and never would have found that page again, lol (for the pellets). He's coming tomorrow! My sister is going to the movies while he's coming, so when she gets back he'll be in his brand new cage, all the supplies, and happily munching on hay and veggies- she dosen't have to do anything hard! lol Thanks once again, SO much for helping me!
 

mncavylover

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No problem at all, Ruby. Thanks for being so nice and for answering so thoroughly, that allows people like me to help you more accurately. I hope everything goes well!
 
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