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Chat Adoption Naming Stories

spudsthepiget

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I got 6 of my pigs from petco's think adoption first program, and one from a friend that rescued her from a coworker. I know Guinness didn't have a name when I got him as he was one of the pigs for sale at petco and they adopted him out instead of selling him. Petco didn't keep any info on Marybell or Trudy when they were surrendered, so I never learned their names. I do know that Mable was named Hope, Spuds was named Squeaky, and Pearl was named Daisy, though. I never thought to ask my friend what Cherry's name was.

I pretty much always change their names; the way I see it, they're getting a new home and family, so why not a new name, too? And I like either older or silly names, so usually their former owners names don't suit my taste :p
 

ColinJellybean

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Great thread! I think it is ok to rename them, you want to get a name that you like and that you think is a good fit for the piggie :)

Our first two were petshop pigs (I will never do that again, I feel terrible about it and know better now) but our wee rescue didn't have a name initially. Before meeting him we thought he was a girl so I was thinking of Millie but after finding out he was a boy we have settled on Turtle. It can be really hard to name them because their wee personalties don't come out for a while until they have settled in. :)
 

foggycreekcavy

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It's totally fine to re-name guinea pigs. I think they respond to your tone of voice more than the actual name. When pigs come to the rescue we name the ones that have no names or have really common names. If they have cool names we leave them. And then when they get adopted they often get new names.
 

WheekingPiggies

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I changed the names of some of my piggies when we got them, either because I didn't like them or the name didn't suit them.

We got our first pair of sows, which have since gone over the rainbow bridge, from Petco's adoption program. The names they came in with were Princess and Thunderbolt, but we thought they were very typical and didn't like them. We decided on the names Sugar and Spice. Sugar was an orange and white aby and Spice was a brown, orange, and white aby, so their names fit with what they looked like and were cute for a pair.

I decided to keep my next piggy's name, Mocha, because I thought it was adorable.

The next guinea pig we adopted was originally named Skunk. The name fit because her markings looked like a skunk, but we didn't think it was a very pretty name and it does have a bit of a negative connotation. We renamed her Reese because I love Reese's PB cups and the name in general. Plus she is an orange, black, and white aby, so the name suits her coloring.


We kept our beloved skinny pig's name, Flower, because it was so dainty and adorable, just like she was. It really was a perfect name for her.


Finally, our last piggy is an orange and white teddy. Her previous family called her Izzy, which is cute, but I wanted to choose a name for her myself. I decided on Paisley and we call her Pai for short. I had a few names in my head that I wanted to name a piggy and the name really suited her.
 

LifeAsItMayBe

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Most of my pigs have had their names changed, and for some reason it takes me DAYS to come up with their names. My first pig didn't have a name at the shelter. She was still really young when I adopted her so I figured her old owners either didn't care to name her and her boyfriend (who the shelter thought was a girl) or she came from an accidental pregnancy. After looking at their Petfinder ad for days, I named them Zelda and Peach. "Peach" was gone when I went to the shelter so I just got Zelda, though for a while I couldn't decide if she was really a girl or not so her name wasn't official until I discovered she was pregnant.

My other two adopted pigs were originally Lilly and Ellie, but I already had an Elli and figured it would be confusing to have two. Several people suggested Daisy, since it is a flower name like her sister's and a Nintendo princess name like some of my other pigs. But, having passed over that name for my other Elli (I know too many dogs named Daisy, I wanted something more original), I wanted something else. One day I was thinking about Super Mario Galaxy and how odd it is that Nintendo decided to introduce another princess character who looks so much like Peach, and I decided that was it! I renamed Ellie "Rosalina" (mostly I just shorten it to Rose) after that character. So now, she has a flower/Nintendo name anyway!
 

mufasa

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I got 6 of my pigs from petco's think adoption first program, and one from a friend that rescued her from a coworker. I know Guinness didn't have a name when I got him as he was one of the pigs for sale at petco and they adopted him out instead of selling him. Petco didn't keep any info on Marybell or Trudy when they were surrendered, so I never learned their names. I do know that Mable was named Hope, Spuds was named Squeaky, and Pearl was named Daisy, though. I never thought to ask my friend what Cherry's name was.
I'm glad to hear of another Petco that adopts out dumped piggies. That's how I got Quinn, and I adopted her the same day she was brought in so they knew her name (Mimi) to tell me. Supposedly she had been purchased at another pet store and dumped from one family whose kid got tired of her to another who then gave her up because of allergies, but I suspect the people who dropped her off were her original family lying to make themselves sound better. The only bad thing about the adoption was that our Petco gives you whatever supplies the pig comes with, and with Quinn that included a 10 gallon fish tank as her cage. Then they were surprised that I didn't want it, even though I very carefully explained why and how pigs should be properly housed.
 

spudsthepiget

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The petco here along with the one in Cedar Rapids and the one Moline both adopt out surrendered small animals. Guinness and Marybell are from the Iowa City store, but Trudy, Mable, Spuds, and Pearl are from the Cedar Rapids store. I think Mable was the only one that had any actual supplies; she had been kept in a super pet cage that I used as her quarantine cage. The cage that Spuds had been living in was completely rusted at the bottom, so they threw it out and I had to buy another cage for him when I adopted him. I think they said that Marybell had come in in a gerbil cage, but they at least had enough sense to put her in something else while she was on the adoption table.
 

MLT2007

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Penelope was acquired from Craigslist and didn't have a name. Kiwi was also acquired from Craigslist and was originally named Tara. I didn't feel that Tara suited her very well. Daisy and Mabel were my fosters that I adopted. Their original names were Violet and Amber. The rescue said I could change them if I wanted to. I kept calling Violet Daisy so that is how her name came to be and I didn't care for Amber for the other foster, so I changed it to Mabel. Pancake (RIP) was named Cocoa when I got her from someone on Craigslist. Phoebe came to me from the rescue I fostered for and her original name was Medusa. I thought the name was really cool and unique, but it didn't suit her. My latest addition was given to me by a friend who gets calls from a local pet shop when people drop off unwanted guinea pigs. She was just a baby when I got her. Her name is Annabelle. My friend named her that and I liked it.
 
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