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New Member and Owner.

KDHenson

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Hello :) Our family was first introduced to guinea pigs through my daughters first grade class. He was often sent to our home for the weekends to look after. My daughter instantly became attached. Unfortunaly,Guinea ( which was his name ) was about 6 years old. The teacher decided not to replace him. So we adopted one for our family October of 2011. He was entered in the halloween pet costume parade and won first place dressed as a wizard! All the other pets were dogs! Prince "percy" Perseus is very spoiled. Every time someone opens the fridge he begins to whistle and wont stop unless you give him a piece of lettuce! His cage is glorified and growing. I move it around so he doesnt get bored in the same area. He also has a stuffed ghost he sleeps with. During the holidays percy traveld in a cat carrier with us all the way to Florida! He was fine. He has 3 different types of leashes, all of which he escapes from. So no outdoor walks yet, just playpen fun. After adopting him we began to look for a cage mate for him, ( not realizing he needed one until we came across this site.) January 2nd 2012 his baby brother came home. We are not sure of his age, but he only looks a few weeks old and has super soft fur. He is so tiny. Captain "toby" Tobias remains in a baby cage besides Percy's home.
Both of our little guys are from PetSmart. I did search the local humane society, and tried to find a rescue in our area, I even searched many classified ads. There were none i could find within our area. I made sure I have males. We are not experienced or equiped for guinea breeding!! My daughter does have alergies. However, I keep the cages clean on a daily basis. She has had no reaction to them. We will only have the two boys. We feed them fresh veggies and fruits, hay and pellets. I follow the diet plan posted on this site. Their water is changed on a daily basis.
 

guinnymom23

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Welcome to the forum...this is an awesome site, you'll gain tons of information and support here. I too purchased my girls from Petsmart...haven't had any problems...they get along wonderfully too. We have two older sisters - Pebbles and Nibbles born in April 2011 and Molly born in July 2011, we believe Molly is an Abysinnian. Again, welcome aboard!
 

suzilovespiggie

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Welcome! Glad that you have found the forum. Sounds like you are taking great care of your new guys.
If I may give a suggestion? Leashes should not be used on guinea pigs. They are unsafe as they can break their backs. A gp is a prey animal, if they get frightened, the first thing they will do is run so they can hide. With a leash on it can be very harmful to them. A play pen will work out much better.

Being you did get your guys from a petstore. Just watch for any signs of sickness or mites. So many come from the breeding mills petstores use and they come sick. Look for sneezing, crusty eyes, funny breathing, scracthing. If they have a URI that has to be exotic vet treated.
Mites can be treated at home. Do hope you are one of the lucky ones and your guys are ok.
My self before I adopted and found this good site had a good one that didnt get sick and one that came with lice and infected all the rest.

We love pictures here so looking forward to those of your new loves. We are here for you and your pigs what ever questions or help you need. Again Welcome.
 

KDHenson

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Thanks for the advice. We did not know that about the leashes, especially since it was sold for guinea pigs. I did know not to give them a rolly ball to walk in because of thier backs even though those too are sold for them. So far noone has been sick or itchy. (knock on wood) I do have to bathe the boys once a week, because of my daughters alergies.
Right now our boys are trying to decide who is dominate. Its very funny because Toby is less than half the size of Percy. Percy started rumblestruting last night. He's got that "street corner" walk. lol Toby wasn't eating the fresh veggies at all but last night Percy brought him a piece of lettuce and they shared it. So i think that he showed him. I thought was cute. Maybe Percy will take on the big brother role :D
 

suzilovespiggie

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You will find many things for sale that say they are for guinea pigs but are really bad for them.
There are yougert drops, things with seeds to chew on for example. In the diet/nutrition section, the very first sticky is a great list of what they can eat and how often. You will find in this great forum of info all you will need to have healthy and happy piggies. Guinea pigs are such great personalities and one of the cutest animals on our earth. Check it all out and I bet you too will be a slave like all the rest of us.
 

Hhbean

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Hi and welcome! We have a pigture addiction around here so please post some if you can! I think it's so funny when they do the whole thug walk. I have 4 boys so I've seen it a lot! When my Americans do it it looks like they are doing some sort of dance like the "bump", my favorite is my Abby because he is so wide hipped it just looks like a waddling pregnant woman streaching her legs:D!
 

RodentsRus

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So we adopted one for our family October of 2011. He was entered in the halloween pet costume parade and won first place dressed as a wizard! All the other pets were dogs! Prince "percy" Perseus is very spoiled.

Now that a pigture I would love to see.
 

KDHenson

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Thanks so much everyone. I am also photo addicted. I find myself looking at the cages and trying to find ideas.I have changed their room a few dozen times. Tried the coroplast, cut it wrong. But now i know. So I am waiting on that until I find the right style of "room" i want to make them. I did copy the diet plan listed from this forum and carry it in my purse so when i get groceries for the 4 kids i can remember what they need too! I am thinking of getting little containers and making up a weeks worth of meals for them so its easier for my daughter to feed them. She seems to feed them too little or too much or even just lettuce. I hear a lot of raves on cilantro, my boys haven't had it yet.
I did hear about the yogurt drops. When my daughter was taking the class pet home i read up on the guys, not sure what to do with them. The teacher had those in his feed box, i took them out and gave her the website, we also took away that ball they walk in and informed her of the danger. She was shocked because the store told her it was for guineas. I recently, from this great forum, learned of the dangers of the leash. Now I have 3 leashes with nothing to do with them!
 
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