Here's our story. Growing up I had hamsters and was bitten by every single one of them so my opinion of "rodents" was VERY low. I'm a single mom of two children, a 5 (almost 6) year old girl and a 4 1/2 year old boy (yup, 16 months apart) and we live in an apartment that doesn't allow pets. Anywho....a friend of mine that does daycare said she was offering up two guinea pigs, their cage, and all of the items to go with them for $30! Now I KNEW that was a STEAL and the situation was just that the guinea pigs were SO overwhelmed by the daycare children and they didn't get the love and quiet attention they needed. This friend of mine lives 2 1/2 hours away, but I talked to my landlord about the guinea pigs and he said since I've been such a great tenant he would ok 2 guinea pigs, so we got them the following weekend and have absolutely fallen head over heels in love with "our boys". They came with a store bought cage that is CLEARLY too small for the two of them, one pigloo, a water bottle, some SUPER cheap pellets, and some leftover wood bedding. Now after talking to a much more Cavie savie friend of mine (oh look I made a rhyme! hehehe) I knew I had some work to do. I've never had guinea pigs before so I had NO IDEA of their needs, which was exactly the problem the daycare provider had I believe. They were ONLY getting pellets and water. No fresh veggies except for carrot treats once in a while and these sesame ball treats from the pet store that they won't touch with a ten foot pole, they were shedding, didn't move around much and were very quiet and timid. After 3 weeks of fresh CareFresh bedding, an abundance of timothy hay, fresh veggies, fruit treats, pellets, and fresh water regularly these little guys start squeeking and scurrying around their (still too small) cage the minute they hear the movement in my bedroom! I work from home and several days I work with one of them snuggled up in my lap. Every evening when the kids come home from daycare they set up their "playpen" and get out the tubes and toys and let the guinea pigs play while we cook and eat dinner. They have absolutely become part of our family and we are so madly in love with them, I don't know what we did when they weren't here.
When I decided to get a guinea pig I was VERY naive and uneducated and for that I feel HORRIBLE. I assumed they were just another rodent to watch run around in a wheel or cage. I had to idea they had such personalities and were so social!! We are so so soooooo happy to have Oreo and Squeek be part of our family and can't wait to learn more about being the best piggie parents we can be!
So far this forum has been abundant with information and I've been welcomed with open arms! I can't wait to be part of a community like this!
When I decided to get a guinea pig I was VERY naive and uneducated and for that I feel HORRIBLE. I assumed they were just another rodent to watch run around in a wheel or cage. I had to idea they had such personalities and were so social!! We are so so soooooo happy to have Oreo and Squeek be part of our family and can't wait to learn more about being the best piggie parents we can be!
So far this forum has been abundant with information and I've been welcomed with open arms! I can't wait to be part of a community like this!