Hi!

Hello there! It's great that you will be guinea pigs but I must inform you that this site is strongly against breeding and selling. You are a lot better off getting one from a rescue as they are actually healthier and there gender is usually right. It is hard to sex a guinea pig at such a young age and often times they are missexed and you could end up with a boy and girl and have babies with in weeks of getting your pigs. I highly recommend finding a rescue and the people on here would be happy to help. Also we don't like the breeders because they don't properly take care of the moms at all.

Hi!,

I appreciate the warning, but these folks seem to be "doing it right". They were actually recommended as a good place to buy from in that they know what they are doing and treat the cavies remarkably well. I haven't heard of any rescue centres in our area (Ottawa, Canada) not to say that they don't exist!

Cheers,
Chris

Thanks for that! I *really* appreciate it. We are going to start with timothy hay, but if she has a reaction we will switch. Even tho my wife tested "clean" I was planning on doing the cleaning and feeding with my daughter's help, just to be safe. The hay was a minor concern for us, so it is very good to know of an alternative.

Hmm - since I am a 'he' does that make me a cavy dad?

Going to get the materials for our C&C cage tomorrow - so excited to build it lol

I really don't feel that I was rude. I welcomed them to the forum and expressed the concerns that everyone else has when someone on this forum stays they are thinking of buying. I told them that people would be happy to help them find a rescue. I really don't understand how I was rude, I didn't say they couldn't be here if they bought I simply said to look into rescuing as most guinea pig breeders don't take care of the animals. It's great if you found somewhere that does take care of their animals but regardless this site still advocates for rescue as so many need homes. I understand that not everyone has a rescue close enough to them and that's understandable all cavies need a home.

Hello and welcome! It's so great that you are doing your research before getting any pigs! It sure helps in the long run
Be sure to check out the nutrition charts made by Ly&Pigs. They are under the Diet and Nutrition forum. They are excellent charts. Also, be sure to check out www.guinealynx.info if you ever have any medical questions about guinea pigs. It is a wonderful site and a great resource!
Another fab site (sorry teehee) is www.cavyspirit.com , it has wonderful info about all things piggie! It also has a link about breeding, and as kristy said it, we are pro-resuce, and anti-breed/buy here. You may still end up getting pigs from that farm, but we do not like discussions on breeding here, please Also, maybe just have a look at that link just to humor us? It is a very enlightening read!
Looking forward to hearing from you more!

I am new here too. I am a new gp owner as well. Unfortunately I got mine from a pet store. I wish I had not, but I did, and I will never do it again. I knew better. I also took my gp's back twice because of familial issues. I know it sounds CRAZY! I am really not crazy though. I just love animals and the whole world of gp's was not really on my husband's radar, until I got them back one last time! I was so happy!!! We are all doing well now and my gp's seem amazingly well adjusted for all that I have put them through. I am glad they will have a fabulous forever home now though!

I did want to point out that you might want to buy a little bag of various types of hay appropriate for gp's and let your family members smell it. It may sound silly, but I didn't consider that I might be allergic to the food my gp's have to eat. I bought a type of timothy hay in the beginning that was very irritating to me, but I have since switched to Oxbow until I can order from KM's. The Oxbow is much less dusty and smelly. I think it would just help to have your hay preference and tolerability knowledge before you bring your new baby home. Good luck!

Chris, you can buy small packages of different kinds of hays either online or in a pet store. While very few people are allergic to pigs, many people are allergic to hay. Timothy seems to be the worst offender, but pigs can eat any kind of grass hay -- timothy, orchard, blue, brome. I'd try anybody who's allergic out on those before committing myself to a guinea pig. They can sniff it, and it also wouldn't hurt to rub some on their arm to see if they have a contact allergy.

Especially since there's a child involved, you really don't want to get settled in with two pigs and then have to turn around and return them because your wife can't breathe or stop itching.

Since my husband is allergic to almost everything, I bought a bag of orchard grass hay and dumpted it in a big bowl, and we kind of lived with it in our living room for a week. I fluffed it up every now and then just to be sure it was getting in the air. Luckily he has no allergies to it!

I wonder if the Humane Society in Ottawa has any guinea pigs at this time? I believe they have had them in the past.

I definitely advocate getting two. Guinea pigs really need companionship of their own species!

Aw! I got my first guinea pig when I was 7! I remember how excited I was to go and pick him out and how much I love having him. My start into guinea pigs. 7 is a great age too. Congratulations on choosing guinea pigs. =D

We had some serious issues in Ontario lately with the Human Society that made me rather uncomfortable going there. That said, we did not know anything like cavy rescue existed. We knew to avoid pet stores after our experiences with fish tanks!

Thanks all for the advice! What a great community.

Hi and welcome! Please post pictures of your piggies once you get settled in with them. We are addicted to piggie pictures!

spy9doc said:

Good luck with your cage. I have mine about half finished and got stalled with the design of the loft. We built a loft into his current large pet store cage, but he's w-a-a-y outgrown that.

Click to expand...

I am planning on building a 2-story right now with 1st level being storage like iMayfair did. I have a feeling I will add a ramp and loft to the second level before long - I wanted to start relatively simple.

spy9doc said:

What part of the country are you in? Have you been able to easily find Coroplast?

Click to expand...

I am in Ottawa, Canada - about a 4 hour drive East of Toronto, 2-3 hours NE of Syracuse. We have a couple Arts and Crafts stores where I can get it for $27/4x8 sheet or I can supposedly go to Home Depot (which I can see from my home office window ) and get it for $20/sheet.

spy9doc said:

One other purchase you may want to consider......an air cleaner with a HEPPA filter.

Click to expand...

GREAT idea. We actually have one already. Will have to put that in the room.

Thanks again - photos will come!

Cool. Will check them out if my Home Depot does nto have it in stock. They are on the other side of town (30 - 45 mins) so the $8 I'd save is not really worth the travel - for me, time is money

Hi all,

Many thanks to those who suggested orchard grass. We bought a small bag today and my wfe does not seembothered by it - at least not nearly like she was by the timothy. We'll see how it goes!