She’s here!

[petluv]

After a whirlwind of almost adoptions, I finally rescued a surrendered girl sweetie, Orange and white striped. So sweet! They say she’s young but not certain on age. She has already let me pick her up and hold her once, I couldn’t resist, but now she’s chillin in her pigloo. I’ve covered the top of the cage so she feels more secure, but am letting her have her space a day or two before trying to hold her again. That’s going to take a LOT of effort on my part cause darn it she’s so adorable!

Ill get a picture posted after a while. My heart is so full, I’m in love already! So very blessed to have this sweet piggy!

Oh and she already took a drink from her bottle and munched on some hay, so relieved! I was nervous she might not feel comfortable enough to eat for a while!

 

[MerryFriarTuck]

I'm glad you finally have a piggy to love!! It sounds like everything is going wonderfully. Looking forward to pics and updates

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

Glad to hear you've found a little one to love! Looking forward to hearing great stories as your time together unfolds.

 

[petluv]

I slept by her on the couch, in case she needed anything. I heard her scurrying around some. She is super shy, of course, still takes cover when I walk by. I keep talking to her constantly. She’s made some chirping and wheeking noises and she’s happily munching hay in her pigloo as I type this.

So in love !!!

I think Ginger is going to be her name, but not definite yet.

 

[petluv]

She doesn’t seem to know what veggies are yet. Not at all interested, only the hay. She had hay and pellets only I’m sure at her previous home (she was a surrendered petco piggy too. So sad but I guess this is the time of year for that. They’ve had 3 since Christmas. People just don’t even think.:sad. That’s how she came to be. I was getting Pherb at the shelter Saturday,
but saw this surrendered sweetie at the store and new what I needed to do. Pherb was much better off in the shelter than she was at the store I’m sure. It was a good shelter.

 

[petluv]

Her name is officially Abigail (Abby for short)

 

[petluv]

Aww she’s drinking right as I was typing her name. I guess she approves! So very happy she’s eating and drinking. I’m like the mother of a newborn so worried about every little thing! lol

 

[petluv]

Have a picture finally but no clue how to post it.

 

[petluv]

https://share.icloud.com/photos/06NJuj9vqAkTm-ngX-RLUrpog

ok best I could do was link to iCloud.

Yes, that is a store bought cage and yes it is 2ftx4ft.

I’ll try to get more after she’s tamer but you have the general idea. She’s actually quite white on her belly and sides even though she has more of the orangish brown fur showing in the image.

I just adore her ‘crown’ and so I now will be calling her Princess Abigail!

 

[petluv]

I’m an idiot. So mad at myself. I couldn’t resist holding that sweet girl, but she got nervous and jumped out of my arms. So thankful I was on the ground. I feel so terrible! It took me 30mins chasing her around the house to get her back in her cage. I forgot how quick those little ones are! Well she’s safely in her cage, she had some major exercise and so did I. She’s chattering away in her cage I know she’s scared to death and upset. I feel terrible. I’m not getting her out again until her cage cleaning. She must be so terrified! How could I have been so stupid! I’ll still talk sweetly to her, change her food water and hay and all that of course. But I don’t ever want to scare her like that again. :sad:

 

[petluv]

I have to not get discouraged. My last piggy was rescued at age two, and so was already tame and friendly. Abby is quite young still, it’s going to take a while, even several months before she’s actually comfortable being held. I have to learn so much, and be patient (which I hate .). She’s almost as skittish as a hamster, but thankfully doesn’t nip or bite like my hammies did when scared. Shes no longer chattering and drinking and eating again, so I didn’t traumatize her at least.

 

[MerryFriarTuck]

It's awesome you're such a concerned piggy parent, and it sounds like it's going quite well despite her escape accident!

It's probably best to give her a short break from getting picked up and held, but don't think you can't hold her for months now! It's important she learns nothing bad and good things will happen when you hold her. The best thing is giving her special treats when you hold her. I'm very glad you were on the ground, now you know why that's so important! Next time you have her out, shut all the doors to the rest of the house, so if she does escape it won't be another chase ordeal. It's also good to piggy proof the room so she can't get under/behind heavy furniture, etc. It sounds like she's recovered now

You can teach her to like veggies! Leafy greens and bell pepper for vitamin c are very important for a healthy piggy diet. Of my two piggies, I was lucky and Friar ate veggies right away, and Robin Hood at first only ate carrots and romaine. Start mixing tiny pieces of veggies with hay and pellets and give the mix to her. You can also experiment with different ones and see if she'll try them right away, and you can branch off from there. Once you find things she really likes you can handfeed her treats, and she'll associate you hands/voice with good, yummy things!

Guinea pigs mostly sleep at night so you don't have to really worry about her then...I do a final check on them and their cage/water/food and then say good night

Don't get discouraged! One day she'll run to greet you and enjoy pets, and I bet it'll come sooner than you think!

She's adorable and her name fits her so well! Her breed is Crested just like my Friar Tuck I think it looks like her pattern is Bicolor and get colors Red and White.

 

[petluv]

It's awesome you're such a concerned piggy parent, and it sounds like it's going quite well despite her escape accident!

It's probably best to give her a short break from getting picked up and held, but don't think you can't hold her for months now! It's important she learns nothing bad and good things will happen when you hold her. The best thing is giving her special treats when you hold her. I'm very glad you were on the ground, now you know why that's so important! Next time you have her out, shut all the doors to the rest of the house, so if she does escape it won't be another chase ordeal. It's also good to piggy proof the room so she can't get under/behind heavy furniture, etc. It sounds like she's recovered now

You can teach her to like veggies! Leafy greens and bell pepper for vitamin c are very important for a healthy piggy diet. Of my two piggies, I was lucky and Friar ate veggies right away, and Robin Hood at first only ate carrots and romaine. Start mixing tiny pieces of veggies with hay and pellets and give the mix to her. You can also experiment with different ones and see if she'll try them right away, and you can branch off from there. Once you find things she really likes you can handfeed her treats, and she'll associate you hands/voice with good, yummy things!

Guinea pigs mostly sleep at night so you don't have to really worry about her then...I do a final check on them and their cage/water/food and then say good night

Don't get discouraged! One day she'll run to greet you and enjoy pets, and I bet it'll come sooner than you think!

She's adorable and her name fits her so well! Her breed is Crested just like my Friar Tuck I think it looks like her pattern is Bicolor and get colors Red and White.

Thank you much for your encouragement and advice!

 

[petluv]

She is venturing out a little more. And is being more vocal. So sweet! I don’t think she’s talking to me personally yet, but she was so quiet yesterday it was eerie. When I go over to feed her or whatever she still hides instantly, but if I sit just far enough away about 10-15 ft and am very still she comes out while I’m on the other side of the room. She probably no longer sees my shadow, or feels my footsteps over there so feels safe. Still drinking and eating hay well. The pellets seem about half gone overnight. She also finally drug a piece of red leaf lettuce into hiding with her. She wouldn’t take it from me of course, so I laid it in her dish, but yesterday she wouldn’t have been that brave. I had to put hay in her hidey yesterday for her to eat. Now when I’m at her respectable distance away, she’ll find the food on her own. So definitely progress.

ETA: I read a unique fact that crested piggies tend to be some of the shyist ones. So with that in perspective, she’s doing quite well!

 

[MerryFriarTuck]

She is venturing out a little more. And is being more vocal. So sweet! I don’t think she’s talking to me personally yet, but she was so quiet yesterday it was eerie. When I go over to feed her or whatever she still hides instantly, but if I sit just far enough away about 10-15 ft and am very still she comes out while I’m on the other side of the room. She probably no longer sees my shadow, or feels my footsteps over there so feels safe. Still drinking and eating hay well. The pellets seem about half gone overnight. She also finally drug a piece of red leaf lettuce into hiding with her. She wouldn’t take it from me of course, so I laid it in her dish, but yesterday she wouldn’t have been that brave. I had to put hay in her hidey yesterday for her to eat. Now when I’m at her respectable distance away, she’ll find the food on her own. So definitely progress.

ETA: I read a unique fact that crested piggies tend to be some of the shyist ones. So with that in perspective, she’s doing quite well!

That's great!

I've read that as well! They're supposed to be both the shyest and especially intelligent. I don't know for sure if it's true, but it absolutely fits my Friar Tuck! He's on the shy side, is gentler, and startles more easily than Robin Hood, who's American. And maybe it's in my head, but he plays with his toys very intently ... while Robin Hood simply shreds them to pieces as quickly as possible lol

 

[MerryFriarTuck]

P. S. How to post pictures just came up here if you haven't got it to work yet: https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/122290-New-piggie-grandma

 

[petluv]

Thanks!

But I’m still having troublelol

i Select the image to upload but it doesn’t. So strange. I’m just the lucky one I guess, or technologically challenged. lol

 

[petluv]

Oh wow! Yay it finally worked!!! Thanks MFT!

Thats nice to know that your crested is still on the shy side. That’s too funny about the intelligence level and the playing versus destroying toys made me laugh! lol

 

[petluv]

Ugh! We won’t make headway petting wise for a few days, im coming down with something fast. I know it’s best to stay away from piggies when sick. I’ll still do her basics and talk to her, but no touching her. What timing I hope she stays well.

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

Ugh! We won’t make headway petting wise for a few days, im coming down with something fast. I know it’s best to stay away from piggies when sick. I’ll still do her basics and talk to her, but no touching her. What timing I hope she stays well.

When I get sick, I always always ALWAYS wash my hands with antibacterial soap before handling anything that I give my boys. Anything that comes in contact with them that I have touched is cleaned before they get it. Maybe it helps and maybe it doesn't......

But it helps MY peace of mind.