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New Piggie Owner

SkipandWobbles

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Hi all, I'm from the Twin Cities. I am married with two kids (3 and 5). We had been researching getting a family pet for several months and decided that guinea pigs would fit in nicely with our lifestyle. After a lot of researching, I purchased a C&C cage (2x3) and fleece bedspreads. We found a bonded pair of boars through a local rescue. They have had two previous owners before being put into foster. The best guess is that they are roughly two years old. Their foster mom noticed one was off balance, and after digging in his vet records, discovered he had a massive ear infection at one point and was most likely deaf. This same pig is also a lot smaller than the other, and since the vet can't tell exactly how old he is, suggested supervised feedings and supplements and watching his weight.

We named them Skip and Wobbles. Wobbles is the underweight and deaf piggie.

They are wonderful pigs. They are curious about people, and come out of their hidey houses when humans approach their cage. They have adjusted great so far this week. They like cuddles and veggies.

Diet is Oxbow Orchard grass hay and Oxbow adult pellets. I am waiting on a KMC pellet order. They get one cup of veggies a day. Dark lettuce, a sprig of parsley, bell pepper, cherry tomatoes. I put Wobbles in a carrier in the morning to give him an extra bit of food. Skip is the dominant one and likes to steal parts of Wobbles' salad.

I did their first weight check and Skip is 1018g which is perfect for an adult boar. However, Wobbles is only 690g. That's about 200g under the average weight of an adult boar. So he's either younger than a year, or just underweight. There's really no way to get his exact age. I talked to the foster mom today and she said she had been giving him an Oxbow Critical Care supplement but she had not been weighing them. I already have an order for the Critical Care supplement. I'm weighing Wobbles every day and it doesn't fluctuate much from 690g. I'm hoping that once the stress of the move tapers off he can start to put on some weight.

Other than his size, Wobbles is a happy pig. Active, eating, wheeking, napping, drinking, pooing, peeing.

Sorry for the wall of text, I'm just excited to share about my new additions! 12494983_10156221794405478_388319471912368260_n.jpg Skip is the black, Wobbles is the sandy.
 

foggycreekcavy

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Some guinea pigs are just smaller than others. Start weighing him and if his weight stays steady then I wouldn't worry about hand feeding him.

Welcome!
 

PiggyGrandma15

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Absolutely they will all be different sizes and shapes. I dont want to seem negative, and perhaps my exhausted brain is not reading correctly, but I am fairly certain that 2 boars in a 2x3 cage is asking for trouble. That is barely large enough for 2 sows (2x4 is actually preferred) and boars tend to need more room. From what I've gathered here a 2x5 is min for a happy boar pair. I'm not meaning to come across as you are doing something wrong, just be mindful and watchful for fights breaking out.
 

bpatters

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That's an awfully small cage for two boars. A 2x4 is the minimum, and a 2x5 is preferred. Lack of cage space is a major reason for aggression in boars.
 

CavyChrissy

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Welcome to you, Skip, and Wobbles! Sounds like you are off to a great start!
 

SkipandWobbles

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I was just going by the recommendations on the website. It didn't have any information regarding different cage sizes for different sexes. We will look into expanding their cage!
 

Fay

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Welcome to the forums :eek:! I agree that the sizes aren't made very clear in regards to boars doing better with an extra grid or two.

Personally I think the minimum requirements should just be scrapped altogether and replaced with the recommended (+ 1 for boars) because even the minimum requirements seem too small to me but then I suppose it might be harder to convince people to make that big leap from a pet store cage to a 2x5.

If putting a minimum there helps to get more people to put pigs in a slightly larger cage than they otherwise would've then I guess that's an improvement. Maybe rename it to 'Not recommended bare minimum' to underline that it's a liveable size but not ideal? But that's just my personal opinion that the recommended sizes should be the default standard lol. Pigs can do just fine in the minimum (or otherwise it would obviously not be suggested as an option).
 
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PiggyGrandma15

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It does say that for boars you should go up one size.
 

Fay

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It does say that for boars you should go up one size.

I don't see it say that anywhere on the main page but I might be going blind from sleep deprivation :D
 

PiggyGrandma15

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It is the first line(s) under the chart on the main "about us" page of the parent site.
Screenshot_2016-01-12-10-39-19.jpg
 

Fay

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It is the first line(s) under the chart on the main "about us" page of the parent site.
View attachment 77951

Ah, that is on the cages store. I didn't even know they had another chart on there. I was still referring to the one on the main page of this website where those details aren't explained and so unless you're buying a cage from the store it's less likely you would find that information I suppose?
 

PiggyGrandma15

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Sorry, thats the only chart that I knew of. I havent really explored here beyond reading posts.
 

Fay

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Sorry, thats the only chart that I knew of. I havent really explored here beyond reading posts.

That's a good thing. If people find that chart first then it's fine. I've never really explored the newer affiliated sites much, having been here so long I guess I sort of stuck with the original site as reference. Good to know that that is there though.
 
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