I'm new here, just a little intro

3newpigs · Feb 16, 2010

I'm a stay at home mom who just 4 days ago purchased 3 guinea pigs for my "kids". I'm really the pet lover, I'll admit I used my kids to convince the hubby. My first thought was one guinea pig. Then I did some reading online - most of it from guineapigcages.com. You all are great and have lots of great info. For some reason I couldn't stop at 2 so I got 3. I am the primary caregiver. Don't worry, I'm not expecting the kids to take care of them although I let them help.

I would have rescued pigs but I haven't been able to find a rescue nearby that has guinea pigs. So I went the pet store route. Please forgive me.

I got 3 females, the pet store workers weren't sure of the age but they said they're between 2 and 4 months old. I'm leaning towards 2 months but I'm no expert.

I hope this post isn't getting too long, just giving a few details. I set up a "practice" c&c cage on my dining room table. I'm glad I did a practice run with cardboard because I measured wrong the first time and had to redo it. Luckily I measured on the larger side so I just had to cut down the cardboard a little more. I had too much "help" I think. The cage right now is 2X4 cubes, and when I get my coroplast today I'm going to set up a longer folding table and make it 2X6. That's about all I have room for. I'm still deciding on the permanent spot for it. At first I set it up on the floor but my 3 yr old tripped over it and fell in twice while I was just building it so I figured a table is the safest bet. I also put grids on the bottom to make it more sturdy.

I am currently using fleece, thanks so much for that idea! I think I'm going to stick with it. At first I thought it sounded crazy but then I started thinking about how much bedding it will take to fill up that huge cage and the Carefresh is $18.99 a bag so I couldn't afford that every time. Boy do they poop a LOT! I had guinea pigs as a child but I didn't remember that part! Luckily I had 2 freebie fleece blankets lying around and I just grabbed some old towels so that didn't cost me anything. Yay for free! I'm a bit of a clean freak so I clean up the poops 2-3 times a day and I've washed the fleece and towels every other day. I'm working on a litter box idea since they poop in 3 of the corners for the most part.

Okay, so I'll stop here. I just wanted to introduce myself and the pigs. The kids named them so there's Apple, Sam, and the third one's name has changed 3 times. Currently they are calling her Kitty. Hopefully we settle on a name for her soon.

Paula · Feb 16, 2010

Hi, and welcome to the forum. It's always great to see folks join up that are willing to research and learn as much as they can.

I will say it's disappointing that you opted to buy from a pet store even after having done research and knowing full well how many homeless guinea pigs there are that you could have given a good home to instead of contributing to the cruelty of pet stores. We often hear that there aren't any rescues/shelters nearby, so folks "have" to buy ... And it simply isn't true. It might call for more patience and persistence, but there are surely pigs in need of a good home in your area.

That said, what's done is done, and I hope you learn lots while you're here and enjoy your stay.

xoLauraox09 · Feb 16, 2010

Welcome to the forum!

Are your piggies all girls?

MissSofi · Feb 16, 2010

Hello and Welcome:cheerful:

3newpigs · Feb 16, 2010

I know. I should have been more patient and waited for a piggy needing a home. I have had lots of pets over the years, although I haven't had any in several years. This is the first time I've purchased a pet, I've always taken them in. Growing up we always had lots of animals and we always stuck with same sex pairs and castrated males so they wouldn't be breeding. Never had a litter of puppies in all the years on the farm, but we had lots of dogs. Had horses but didn't breed them, we did allow our goats to breed a few times but we kept them.

Sorry, I got off topic. Anyway, thanks for the welcome.

Oh, and yes, these guinea pigs are all girls. I double checked, and males and females were housed separately.

TwitterPopcorn · Feb 16, 2010

Hi and welcome. I would double triple check the sex of your piggies. Make sure their bottoms look the same. Petstores are lucky if they are 50% right on the sex it seems.

Here is a link with pictures to compare to.

Sexing Guinea Pigs: How to Sex a Guinea Pig

Good luck.

Sarah84 · Feb 16, 2010

Hello and Welcome to the forum! I have found TONS of information here myself! Don't feel to bad about the pet store thing, I live in KY too, and there aren't any piggy rescues. Sadly enough. I searched for MONTHS before I finally found someone on CL that needed to re home 2 piggies. So it all worked out. Congrats on the new piggies, and of course we LOVE pictures!!!

PiggyKat · Feb 16, 2010

Congrats on the new pigs and welcome!

3newpigs · Feb 16, 2010

Thanks for the info. In the store I checked to make sure they were all the same "down there", pressed and squeezed, if there's a penis in there it's not popping out. I have also checked several times since. Is it the same as rabbits? I never was wrong with sexing a rabbit. Farm girl here. Not that I know everything but I'm pretty good with animals.

I looked them over really well and they all have healthy shiny coats, bright clear eyes and ears, no signs of mites or lice. They're all active without being overly skittish. They popcorn and wheek. I think they're fine. One question I had, maybe I should put it on another forum but one of them, the rough coated one, scratches herself a little. Not a ton but I just wondered if a little scratching was normal. I think if I was covered with fur I'd probably scratch too. Haha. It also seems to be when she's grooming herself. I can't see anything crawling on her skin when I part her hair to check.

I'll try to post some pictures tomorrow.

utsarah · Feb 16, 2010

I am a stay at home mom too. Well I work from home two days a week and my daughter goes with me 3 days, part time.

I got the pigs for our daughter..too but they were a FAMILY addition, like yours.

How old are your children?

My daughter is 2 and she is our only child, so far.

Our guinea pigs are two little boys, 9 weeks old. They are named Gizmo and Pickles. My daughter named Pickles but now she keeps calling him Baby. lol

rabbitsncavyluv · Feb 17, 2010

If they are females, they could still be pregnant.

The most common parasite they get is mites which you can't see with the naked eye. Chances are they have them.

3newpigs · Feb 17, 2010

Ugh, you all are scaring me! I'm praying none of them are pregnant. Sheesh. What a nightmare if they are. What have I done? What if I end up with like 12 guinea pigs? I can't keep them all! Now I'm kind of hoping they're all males. LOL. They all look the same no matter how much I poke and prod. I just read a lot of horror stories on the pregnancy subforum. Now I'm wishing I had become a member and actually joined the forum before I got them. They're sweet cuddly little things, and I love them but you know what I mean. What I was doing before I got them was just googling questions that I had and a lot of the answers happened to be on the guinea pig cages website.

TwitterPopcorn · Feb 17, 2010

You can always post photos of their parts and get peoples opinions, if that is a comfort, lol.

3newpigs · Feb 17, 2010

Well, I actually went to the link and held them up to the screen one by one, to compare to the pictures and trying to push out a penis like they were in the pictures. I'm 99.9% sure they're all girls. They look exactly like the girl part pictures. Which, at least it's not 2 girls and a boy, but I sure hope for their sakes none of them are preggers. I felt around for lumps, like my friend showed me to do on rabbits to check if they're pregnant. They don't look overly fat and I don't feel anything out of place in their bellies.

I'm hoping whoever the petstore got them from knew what they were doing as far as keeping them separated. I have been buying wild bird supplies at this petstore for years and bought my dog food there back when we had a dog. They seem to be very responsible, the store is always clean, the animals living quarters are exceptionally clean, I have never heard a complaint about this store or anything that came from it. I always have to take a look at the animals and fish (they only sell fish and small animals), and never once have I seen an unhealthy looking animal there. I know that might not mean anything. I'm just saying. There is another pet store in town that is just gross, and their animals never look right to me.

I really appreciate all your help and responses.

Oh, and whoever asked, my kids are 14, 12, 5, 3, and 2.

rabbitsncavyluv · Feb 17, 2010

It doesn't really matter how nice the employees may seem or how clean the store is. Comparing them doesn't really work since they both sell animals from breeding mills or backyard breeders? And contributing to the pet overpopulation problem.

How do you know they are not buying their animals from the same sources? They probably are.

They can breed at 3 to 4 weeks.

They usually don't care to separate them correctly. The store may (big if) have separated accordingly when they got them but it may have been too late then.

You can't palpate the babies like rabbits (why does your friend have pregnant rabbits anyway? Is she a breeder?). You can't tell if they are pregnant til around 6 weeks so you have to wait and see.

I've seen many people start off with 2 or 3 pigs and end up with 30+ courtesy of the pet store.

3newpigs · Feb 17, 2010

EEK! The store did have them separated by sex, of course we don't know if they were before they got there or not. I'm not claiming I did a good thing by buying them there. I should have given it more thought and not jumped the gun. I wish I had signed up here and read some posts before I did it.

My friend used to breed and show rabbits for hobby. Not anymore. She's a very nice lady who meant no harm. I don't think breeders are necessarily bad people, they're just misguided. I'm in no way condoning breeding, I'm just saying I've seen both sides. The living conditions and care of her rabbits was not bad at all... other than the breeding.

Sirene · Feb 17, 2010

Welcome! I'm in the same boat as you - had GPs as a child and am now "rediscovering" them as a adult! I rehomed 2 gorgeous boars from Craigslist last month (child had lost interest), and I'm learning all kinds of things about GPs we didn't know "back then". I was just reading one of your other posts and had to smile - when i was a kid, 25 years ago, we just gave ours apple and carrot every day too, and they lived in a hutch in the garage! They were great little pets and amazingly healthy, but they wouldn't believe the C&C and fleece setup mine have now, bless them!

Anyway, welcome to the forum - we can learn more together!

Paula · Feb 17, 2010

3newpigs said:
I don't think breeders are necessarily bad people, they're just misguided.

Breeders aren't bad people, no. But what they're doing - which is contributing to an already out-of-control overpopulation problem, while countless shelter animals face euthanasia while those breeders continue breeding more animals, is very bad. And in the end it doesn't really matter how great the care the breeder provides is - although, of course it's better to be kind than to be cruel - because they are still contributing to the problem that results in the entirely unnecessary and totally preventable deaths of countless other animals in shelters. Because no matter how kind a breeder is, no matter how wonderful his/her conditions might be, there are still animals right across town that will likely be poisoned to death in a shelter when their time is up - because there are not homes for all of them - so, you see, continuing to breed IS the biggest part of the problem, and very bad indeed.

Sarah84 · Feb 17, 2010

In reading this post I have come to a question. I personal do NOT believe in breeding. I've worked with rescues and other organization. I personally got my 2 pigs off of CraigsList.

Anyway, here is my question to everyone who seems to be downing this person for purchasing her 3 guinea pigs, and in return freaking her out because there is a **POSSIBILITY** they could be pregnant. What if she hadn't purchased them? What would happen to them? Are you saying that these 3 piggies didn't deserve a home just as much as any other pig? Would you have rather some other un-educated person purchase them, stick all 3 of them in a tiny store bought cage, with cedar bedding, and feed them nothing but crap pellet everyday, and then when they "loose interest" throw them out in the garbage? Personally I don't care where she got the pigs from, at least she is TRYING to treat them right, giving them the proper housing, food, and life any pig deserves no matter where they came from, or how they got there! Can we PLEASE move past the "purchase" of her pigs and help her to learn how to properly care for them!

rabbitsncavyluv · Feb 17, 2010

Why don't you do some reading in the kitchen?

Buying guinea pigs from pet stores only contributes to the problem and creates more purpose bred guinea pigs. Meanwhile shelter pigs are being euthanized and rescues are still full.

Don't give me the excuse that you think there are no rescues near you. If there are pet stores selling pigs, there are needy pigs.

Is she or you going to buy the next three that replace the ones that were bought? The pet store does a poor job of education so the next person may just stick them in an outdoor hutch and feed them only rabbit pellets. So you want to buy the ones instead of them?

The pet store will love that. They will be kept in business by you and so will their breeders. They don't care as long as they get their money. And you will keep buying the babies they sell.

But what about their parents back at the breeding mill? Poor mom is backbred endlessly and kept in a tiny cage, denied vet care and fed poorly. What about her?

Are you going to go a step further and buy her? What about the sows that replace her?

The only way to stop the cycle is not buy live animals from pet stores. The market ends.

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I'm new here, just a little intro

3newpigs

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