General Bringing In a Baby

[GameOfCavies]

So I will be welcoming a new piggie into the house soon, around the 19th to be exact. Adopting her from the local shelter.
What should I get ready for her? I've had guinea pigs before, of course, but this one will be 3 weeks old when I get her. I've never cared for one so young.
I know she needs higher calcium than my two older piggies. So should I give her kale, collards, parsley etc as her veggie? Normally I avoid those because of the calcium content.
https://www.petco.com/…/kaytee-forti-diet-pro-health-guinea-…
How is this for pellets? Has more calcium than I'd give the older girls but might be good for the baby. Or should I order some baby pellets online? The local petco only has food like that, and I was thinking of doing that just with high calcium veggies
I can get alfalfa hay easy enough from petco or tractor supply, or would a combo of all this be too much calcium?
Thanks for your help!

 

[bpatters]

Babies are a special case.

Ordinarily, we'd recommend a three week quarantine for any pig coming from a shelter. They've got other kinds of animals, so the risk of illness or parasites is higher than with a pig coming from a private home or a guinea pig rescue.

But a baby is going to be VERY lonely. If you're at all able to take care of extra vet bills if your older pigs get anything, I'd go ahead and put them together. Introductions shouldn't be bad with a baby, and she'll be a LOT happier if she doesn't have to spend three weeks by herself.

I'd feed her the exact same things I was feeding the older pigs, and just take her out of the cage for some lap time and some parsley sprigs every day, maybe twice a day.

Kaytee is pretty much crap. The only pellets I'd ever feed my pigs are the new Oxbow formulation that has no limestone, or KMS Hayloft. The KMS pellets have less calcium, and I think my pigs would absolutely revolt if I gave them any other brand.

 

[GameOfCavies]

I have KMS hayloft that I feed my older girls I was just considering Kaytee because it might have a high calcium content

The shelter here is really good, and I saw where they have them. They're in a back room where the only animals they have been with is their mother and grandmother. So I think that it's relatively safe to say they wouldn't have anything. So I'll try putting them together right away. I'll just need to get something to make some kind of good walls on my cage. I have C&C grid and I am only half sure she couldn't fit out between the holes. It's a 9x9 but she's really small.

I'll just take her out for daily lap time and parsley. Could I give her things like kale, cilantro, and collards as well? Just to give her a bit of a mix to her diet. I think you're supposed to have pellets at all times for babies, and I would, but one of my pigs is a glutton. I'm pretty sure she'd just eat it all.

 

[GameOfCavies]

There is kinda a wall right now, but there's a space between the wall and the grids. It's to help it all take apart easy if we need to move it. The wall and grid come off the base they're held in place by wood we have at the corners. But, I'm afraid the baby would get stuck between this wall and the grids.

The cage itself is 3.5ft all walls. so 12.25 square foot, 1.1 square meter. So there will be space for three even when she grows

I know it looks a bit dirty there but that's just their kitchen area xD

 

[bpatters]

You'll need to baby-proof by overlapping grids, or putting cardboard/coroplast around the walls.

You can give the baby a variety of things. But start with one, and then gradually try others. She may not eat them without the other pigs around.

If you've got one that hogs all the pellets, you might want to create a temporary divider for the cage. Put it whenever you want to separate the pup, and give her some pellets when she's by herself. She really needs the pellets.

How old are the older pigs? It might not hurt them to have unlimited pellets for a while.

 

[GameOfCavies]

Would plastic lattice work? It's what the lid of their cage is made from so I have a lot.

this stuff. here it is on the cage

But I could zip tie it on pretty easy and it wouldn't absorb pee like cardboard.

Olena is around 4-5 years, I'm not sure exactly. I got her when she was already well into adulthood, and former owner thought fourish and I've had her for over a year, so I am leaning to her being closer to 5 or maybe 6. it's why I am getting my third, I don't know how much longer she has age wise.

Nym is 6 months. I have 2 pellet bowls which is how I got around hogging with them.

 

[GameOfCavies]

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Tenax-3-ft-x-25-ft-Black-Poultry-Hex-Fence-206866/100384028 this is exactly what I have.

 

[bpatters]

It should work as long as it's not edible.

But if that's a 2x3 cage, it's not really large enough for three pigs.

 

[barbaramudge]

It should work as long as it's not edible.

But if that's a 2x3 cage, it's not really large enough for three pigs.

Looks like a 3x3 to me.

 

[GameOfCavies]

They shouldn't be unless the pig puts in a LOT of effort xD and I provide better stuff to chew on

And Barbarasmudge is right it's 3x3



I do not know why that came in upside down, but there's the girls eating breakfast xDD Bell pepper and radicchio.

edit: @bpatters OH. And for the baby's safe place....see those grid hides? Well I need to make a new one anyway. I was thinking...What if I make three like I planned, just have the lids be curtains like what they have in the pics. And I make a grid box. So she would be able to slip through the bars and get the extra pellets, I could even out little bits of cilantro or something in there. But, the other two girls can't get in.

 

[bpatters]

Sounds like a plan to me. Just watch as she get close to being big enough to get stuck -- you don't want her hung in the grids between two cages.

 

[GameOfCavies]

I'll just do that for a couple weeks until I can find something better. I might also do where instead of through the bars, I have where I just raise one of the walls a couple inches off the ground. High enough she can slip under but the older girls can't. And it's harder for them to get stuck if they do try putting their heads under than if it was some bars. I'll just raise it up a bit as she gets older. And Nym will be growing too in that time, so we shouldn't reach a time when Nym can fit as well. Would that work better? If what I said make sense xD

 

[GameOfCavies]

Well sadly, it looks like the baby is a no go after all. We double checked since they are a bit older and it's easier to tell...And they're all male Mama is bonded with Grandma and I don't have space for 4 total. So for now I keep hunting.

 

[GameOfCavies]

And I found a baby xD Apparently it is guinea pig breeding time. TBH I was afraid this would happen. The local petstore switched from females to males a couple months back, and I am sure a lot of people are buying a friend for their pig a friend and ending up with litters.

Here's my baby proofing job:



And here is new baby. I triple checked sow by putting a little pressure around the privates. Something popped right out for her brother but she's good 3 weeks, 4 on Sunday.



She's mixing in well with the older girls @bpatters does this look alright for the baby area? The house is in there since I am sure she needs some privacy. There's KMS hayloft pellets in there, as well as some parsley and a little green bean. But I don't think she's seen veggies before. But she likes holding onto the green bean so I think she'll try it haha

 

[bpatters]

I don't quite understand the cage. Is she just in that 1x1 grid area?

 

[GameOfCavies]

Right now. She can get out of there. She's able to go out from under the bottom of it. There's a space about as tall as one of the gaps in the bars under it. That way she can get in and out but the older pigs can't, and less risk of being stuck

 

[GameOfCavies]

Upside down for whatever reason, but that's the bolt hole. She's been using it Mostly because Nym likes popcorning around the cage and that level of activity is a bit much for her haha

 

[GameOfCavies]

Changed up the inside. She's got her food bowl, little hay pile, a water bottle, and a fleece snuggle sack folded up into a bed. I think she's a little intimidated by the older two. But I don't want her just hiding from them because I want the to see and smell each other. Nym sadly has he personality of a hyperactive wrecking ball. When she sees the baby, she runs over to her. She's always popcorning a bit, and she hasn't drawn blood or anything, but she's a bit much for the baby to handle. At around 6 months, Nym still has a whole lot of energy.

Olena has decided to just ignore the baby. Gave her a sniff and a few licks, then lost interest.

 

[GameOfCavies]

@bpatters. Sorry if I am getting annoying with the tagging but I want to make sure I did alright haha xD

Does this setup work or would putting the hide back in be better? And is the entrance/exit okay?

 

[bpatters]

As long as she can get in and out when she wants, she's fine. You just don't want her to be trapped in anything that small.