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Greetings from Indiana!

MaiaBex

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Sep 9, 2019
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Joined
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Hi everyone! I've been lurking here for a while, getting info about proper care of my gp, and I figured it was time to set up an account.

Slight back story... When my son was in eighth grade, he really wanted a guinea pig. When I got one for him (at PetCo, yes, but it was more of an adoption...Ralphy had been returned because his owner's allergies were becoming unmanageable), he was one happy kid. Within a week, the two were best friends, and I would often find them cuddling together watching TV or reading a book. (Yes, my son read to his gp!)

When my son headed off to college, I was entrusted with taking care of Ralphy. Unfortunately, he was starting to get up in years (we'd had him for about 4 1/2 years, and he was full-grown when we got him), and he went over the Rainbow Bridge last October. My son was upset over losing his friend, so I kept an eye out for another gp for him. Which brings me to last February...

Our local shelter was having a Valentines Day special - all adoption fees $14 - and they had a cute little 5 month old gp that needed a home. He'd been abandoned at a local pet store, and he was blind in one eye from a cataract. I'm a sucker for a fuzzy in need, so I adopted him for my son. Except when I texted him to introduce him to his new friend, his response was, "Mom...I'm at college. I can't have pets in my dorm room. And it doesn't make sense for me to have a pet that I'm not taking care of." My response... "Okay. So I have a guinea pig." And named him Tannim and turned into a doting piggy mama.

Tannim is an adorable American gp, a self PE gold (I think...I'll try to attach a picture of him). He's a bit quirky, probably because I'm still kind of new to the whole cavy scene. After 6 months, he still hates being picked up. (I was trying to take it easy with him so I didn't scare him too much while he was getting used to me...I might have taken it too easy...) He loves it when I hand feed him though, to the point that he got upset when I hadn't done it for a few days while I had a cold. I'll leave the door of his cage open when I'm sitting on the sofa, and he'll occasionally hang out the door and wheek for me to pay attention to him. Even though his cage is a little small, he still popcorns and does zoomies at random. (I'm working on a larger C&C cage for him, but life keeps sidetracking me.) He loves his evening salads and his bedtime forage, and he's even gotten used to my kitties. (He'll come up to the side of the cage and sniff noses with them. I supervise carefully and make sure they keep their paws out of his cage.)

After I finish up the C&C cage for Tannim, I'm planning on adopting a friend for him. From what I've read, I'm thinking a sow might be a better choice than another boar. Tannim is neutered, so I wouldn't have to worry about unplanned pregnancies, and my local shelter always does spay/neuter before adoption anyhow. But at the same time, I don't know if two neutered boars would be a different dynamic than two intact boars, and boys seem to be more common around here... Any insights/opinions/suggestions that anyone might have would be greatly appreciated!

Longish post, I know, but I'm looking forward to interacting with fellow cavy lovers!

Tannim.jpg

And I don't know why the photo is sideways...it's right side up on my computer...oh well
 

MerryFriarTuck

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Welcome!! What a great story :) It's awesome you rescued Tannim, and it sounds like you're doing great!
I'll let someone else answer your question about getting him a boar or sow friend...I've only ever had my two boys I have now, and don't have the expierance I know others here have with matchmaking...
Tannim is adorable! I love figuring out the piggy colors/patterns. I think he might be more of a Buff or Beige/Saffron than Gold, but it could just be the light. Self is spot on! And I can't tell if he has pink or ruby eyes--- pink is really red-ish pink, almost like albino coloured, and ruby eyes look like a soft slightly rosy brown unless the light hits them; then they look completely pink. One of my piggies has ruby eyes. This is my favorite link for figuring out the colours/patterns/etc : https://guineapigs.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Guinea_Pig_Coat_Colors_and_Patterns
I hope you enjoy this forum! It's helped me so much many times.
 

MaiaBex

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Joined
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Messages
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I think he might be more of a Buff or Beige/Saffron than Gold, but it could just be the light. Self is spot on! And I can't tell if he has pink or ruby eyes--- pink is really red-ish pink, almost like albino coloured, and ruby eyes look like a soft slightly rosy brown unless the light hits them; then they look completely pink.

He probably is either Buff or Saffron rather than Gold... I spent so much time looking at colors on different websites (including the Fandom one you mentioned; it is good! :) ) before I finally just said Gold. And his eyes are more of a dark red than pink - my daughter had an albino rat once, so I'm familiar with the pink-pink. The main reason I said red rather than brown is because they do have that reddish tint in the light.

I was hoping you'd weigh in on my guess on coloring... thank you! And I'm really looking forward to learning and sharing on the forum!
 

spy9doc

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I agree.......great story! :cool:

With one exception, I have always had neutered boars. I did have a neutered boar/intact sow pairing and they were just the most delightful pair one could ask for. The only issue was that when Maya came into heat, she was all over Chester and he had absolutely no idea what all the fuss was about. He had been neutered since he was five months old and had no idea that his penis was good for anything other than a water spout. They had a happy life together and died within one month of each other of unrelated causes.

Let's face it......I'm partial to boars. People ask me "Why do you have your boars neutered? Why don't you just get sows?" I have no logical answer to that except that I just prefer boars and having them neutered eliminates the scent marking, greatly reduces aggression, and eliminates most of the mounting and squabbling. When I adopted Sparky and his now deceased brother, Chip, they got along so well that I was going to wait a while before considering neutering them. Sparky developed such HUGE testicles that he literally couldn't walk straight without tripping over them, and couldn't lie down without splaying his legs, and.......I simply couldn't keep him clean. After consulting with our Vet, we made the decision to have him neutered. And then I had to consider that I didn't want the balance of power to be upset, so had both boys neutered at once. I never regretted that decision.

I don't think the dynamic depends so much on whether they are neutered or intact, but simply far more on personalities. If possible, take Tannim for a meet-and-greet and let him choose his new cagemate whether male or female.
 

MaiaBex

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I don't think the dynamic depends so much on whether they are neutered or intact, but simply far more on personalities. If possible, take Tannim for a meet-and-greet and let him choose his new cagemate whether male or female.

Thanks for the input,spy9doc! I don't know whether my local shelter allows meet-and-greets or not, but I can definitely ask. And between you and Merry Friar Tuck, I'm feeling a little more settled about maybe having two boys rather than one each. Thanks to both of you!
 
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