Jenberra
New Member
Cavy Slave
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2013
- Posts
- 2
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2013
- Messages
- 2
I have just had a very distressing incident; one of my new babies got her head stuck in a 9-space grid. She's OK, but I wanted to share my story, both as therapy because I'm so upset and also as a warning to others.
I am a GP newbie - I picked up two shorthaired baby girls (now 7 weeks old) 9 days ago. Our boys (7 & 9 yo) have named them Toffee and Nibbler. We have no experience with guinea pigs and I have been researching online since deciding to get them ten months ago.
Nibbler seems to be the dominant piggie but is very shy of us - she rarely comes out of her hidey when we're around. Toffee is more adventurous, coming up to the bars to sniff the air near me when I sit next to them, etc. I haven't been giving them very much lap time as they get extremely distressed when I pick them up to move them to the grass pen or indoors, so I dread picking them up just for a cuddle when they hate it so much. Toffee is more expressive in her displeasure at being handled (nipping, squirming, etc) while Nibbler goes quiet and might even enjoy a pat once she's been captured. I've been trying to sit by their pen for at least an hour a day, talking to them and enjoying their antics. I'll have to keep working on getting them to trust me and letting me pick them up - was thinking of trying a cuddle sack, but will have to make my own and that might take some time.
Hubby was not keen on having animals in the house but agreed to them being on the deck, so I bought a lockable timber and wire hutch/run combo which I've set up with a chloroplast and carpet floor (aiming to fit fleece in the near future). The run is equivalent to 3x2.5 grids with a decent sized loft above, and I am intending to add an extension to the run to make it 5x2.5 equivalent. I have a second movable run I've been using to give them some time on the grass most days, and I've been bringing them indoors when the weather is hot (it's summer in Australia).
I've been trying to work out what to use for a decent sized indoor pen for hot days (or on cold nights when we get to winter). On Monday I was VERY pleased to spot some grids at a second-hand shop, swooped on them and counted - 9 spacings! Yippee. Managed to get 13 grids plus 3 ramekins for food/water (that's another story - they're not drinking from bottle) for $5, which given a coffee costs $3.50 here I think was pretty good!
I work away from home 5 hours a day and this morning they were forecasting a maximum temperature of 33C (91.4F), so before I left I set up 2x3 grids indoors on tiles covered by 2 bedwetting pads (no coroplast). The girls had a lovely time exploring and popcorning at first, and were very happy when I checked them in the middle of the day and again when we got home. I spent some time sitting down on the floor next to them while I worked on the laptop, and tried to handfeed some carrot (ended up letting them take carrot from next to my hand, which was resting on the floor of the pen). I was pleased to see Toffee yawn while she was lying down with her legs tucked up under her (more relaxed than the usual "ready to run" way she usually stands).
Then I cleaned out their hutch/run and went to move them back outside. Caught Toffee fine (short panic, run, squeal, then cuddled her straight to my chest in a hand-towel and she calmed down). When I went back for Nibbler she ran straight to a corner and got her head stuck in a grid spacing. She started screaming and I panicked. I managed to get her to back out but she ran before I could catch her and she got stuck a second time. I was so scared for her. This time she couldn't back out and I had to sort of force her head back through. She seems absolutely fine now, but I am definitely not putting them back in the grid cage until I get coroplast with high sides. I'm presuming she got stuck because she's still a baby, but I hadn't been aware that 9-space grids might be dangerous for them.
Being a guinea pig carer is proving an amazing experience and I am learning so much every day, but I would rather not have learnt that lesson first hand! :weepy:
I am a GP newbie - I picked up two shorthaired baby girls (now 7 weeks old) 9 days ago. Our boys (7 & 9 yo) have named them Toffee and Nibbler. We have no experience with guinea pigs and I have been researching online since deciding to get them ten months ago.
Nibbler seems to be the dominant piggie but is very shy of us - she rarely comes out of her hidey when we're around. Toffee is more adventurous, coming up to the bars to sniff the air near me when I sit next to them, etc. I haven't been giving them very much lap time as they get extremely distressed when I pick them up to move them to the grass pen or indoors, so I dread picking them up just for a cuddle when they hate it so much. Toffee is more expressive in her displeasure at being handled (nipping, squirming, etc) while Nibbler goes quiet and might even enjoy a pat once she's been captured. I've been trying to sit by their pen for at least an hour a day, talking to them and enjoying their antics. I'll have to keep working on getting them to trust me and letting me pick them up - was thinking of trying a cuddle sack, but will have to make my own and that might take some time.
Hubby was not keen on having animals in the house but agreed to them being on the deck, so I bought a lockable timber and wire hutch/run combo which I've set up with a chloroplast and carpet floor (aiming to fit fleece in the near future). The run is equivalent to 3x2.5 grids with a decent sized loft above, and I am intending to add an extension to the run to make it 5x2.5 equivalent. I have a second movable run I've been using to give them some time on the grass most days, and I've been bringing them indoors when the weather is hot (it's summer in Australia).
I've been trying to work out what to use for a decent sized indoor pen for hot days (or on cold nights when we get to winter). On Monday I was VERY pleased to spot some grids at a second-hand shop, swooped on them and counted - 9 spacings! Yippee. Managed to get 13 grids plus 3 ramekins for food/water (that's another story - they're not drinking from bottle) for $5, which given a coffee costs $3.50 here I think was pretty good!
I work away from home 5 hours a day and this morning they were forecasting a maximum temperature of 33C (91.4F), so before I left I set up 2x3 grids indoors on tiles covered by 2 bedwetting pads (no coroplast). The girls had a lovely time exploring and popcorning at first, and were very happy when I checked them in the middle of the day and again when we got home. I spent some time sitting down on the floor next to them while I worked on the laptop, and tried to handfeed some carrot (ended up letting them take carrot from next to my hand, which was resting on the floor of the pen). I was pleased to see Toffee yawn while she was lying down with her legs tucked up under her (more relaxed than the usual "ready to run" way she usually stands).
Then I cleaned out their hutch/run and went to move them back outside. Caught Toffee fine (short panic, run, squeal, then cuddled her straight to my chest in a hand-towel and she calmed down). When I went back for Nibbler she ran straight to a corner and got her head stuck in a grid spacing. She started screaming and I panicked. I managed to get her to back out but she ran before I could catch her and she got stuck a second time. I was so scared for her. This time she couldn't back out and I had to sort of force her head back through. She seems absolutely fine now, but I am definitely not putting them back in the grid cage until I get coroplast with high sides. I'm presuming she got stuck because she's still a baby, but I hadn't been aware that 9-space grids might be dangerous for them.
Being a guinea pig carer is proving an amazing experience and I am learning so much every day, but I would rather not have learnt that lesson first hand! :weepy:
