Finally got my piggy!

[*LovesGinny*]

Hey everybody!

After a year (yes, a year) of waiting, I finally convinced my parents that i was responsible enough to care for a guinea pig. I got a female from a pet store ( i know all you people out there are yelling at me right now, but there were no rescue or adoptions in my area, believe me, i triple checked.) and at the moment she is cuddled up in my hoodie pouch, which she found last night when we were watching tv. she is very good about peeing in her litter box, and hasn't done anything on me yet! (I'm so proud!)

I named her Harry (short for Harriette) and she's a long haired crested self, from what i can tell!

I just thought that i'd let all you know that, for anyone that's interested in my pig... I'll have pigtures up soon i hope!

 

[RubyPiggie2]

Congratulations! It's always wonderful getting your first pig. Wow, that took a long time to convince your parents?
OK, somebody sooner or later is going to get on to you about this- try to get another piggy for your animal.
What kind of cage is she in? Her diet, hay, pellets ect?
Sorry, I know someone else was going to say it so I've just said it.
Good luck with Harry! Pigtures soon!!

 

[NoCableIsSafe]

RubyPiggies has done the other side of announcing your new pet. So I'll give you one large post of YEY!

YEY - YOU GOT A NEW PIGGIE!

*cough* Remember to feed it, water it, Hay it, take it to the vet...

 

[RubyPiggie2]

Lol...
water it, hay it, LOL! I think you meant give it water and hay, lol thanks Nocableissafe! Lol
YAY again!!

 

[*LovesGinny*]

i have her in a c&c cage that is pretty big and i feed her hay based pellets that have vitamin C suppliments, as well as some frest veggies. I will be getting another piggy from my aunt really soon, so yes, she will have a friend.

I have a question though, is there such a thing as giving a pig too much lap and floor time? I was wondering this because in the 2 days i've had harry, she's only been in her cage at nighttime, all the other times she's in her living room area on the floor or in my lap getting snuggled. I was just wondering if that was a bad thing or not.

Another question, Harry seems really used to me when she's in her living room cage or in my lap, but in her sleeping cage she's really skittish and runs away from my hand. I've read that this is normal, but the all used to me stuff is kinda scaring me. She seems really fine, and we took her to the vet today to get her checked and she was fine, so is this a bad thing or not?

Ok, here's the last one. I love hand feeding Harry. She'll eat on her own, but i just like giving it to her by hand. is this a bad thing?

Wow, so many questions! ok, please answer asap!

 

[RubyPiggie2]

Everything you are doing is great!! Hand feeding is fine, just make sure that she dosen't become dependent on you hand feeding her. Floor time and lap time is great! Just make sure she dosen't poo and pee all over you. If she is fine, and the vet checked, she is lol. Like I said everything you are doing is great. How many grids is your cage, like 2x3, 2x4, ect?

 

[mncavylover]

I agree, everything sounds fine, no worries!

Please do look into a buddy; your cavy will thank you! See www.cavyspirit.com/sociallife.htm for more info. Thanks!

What type of pellets do you use? (Sorry, I know there are so many questions!) =)

 

[*LovesGinny*]

Pellets, I have umm.. i dunno, they're sorta a greenish color and they came in clear bag with orange writing on it from Walmart. As i said before i am getting a buddy for harry!!!! my cage is a 2x3 grid with a 1x2 loft, so tonn of space for her.

Amazingly, harry is very good at going to the bathroom in her litter bin, so i'm happy for that, she has only pooped once when not in her litter bin, and that was only because my brother was holding her and didn't get the signs, like tugging on the shirt, nipping, etc. she's sitting on my lap right now, munching on pellets (she likes them a lot!) she just purred! lol

 

[Piglet]

Heh, harry, what a cute name for a girl!

 

[mncavylover]

Sorry, I seem to have missed that bit. Where did you say that?

That's a good-sized cage, perhaps you could make it a 2x4 when adding another cavy?

Oh, and by the way, the likn I posted was more than just about getting a second cavy--it tells you how to quarantine, introduce, etc. Just letting you know. =)

As for the pellets, the best ones are from Oxbow ((broken link removed)): Cavy Performance for piggies under a year and Cavy Cuisine for older cavies.

 

[*LovesGinny*]

one more thing, we want Harry to be used to our golden retriever being in the same room with her, so we just have them together and, she is acting completely fine, she's not shaking or running away from Jack (the dog) whenever he comes over to sniff. She actually likes him, during the open floortime she went over to jack and crawled over him to get across the room! just to say that it can be done (tho the cat is a different story, he's been on 24 hour watch since Harry came home because the cat ate my hamster a couple of years ago [hence why i haven't been allowed more pets])

 

[rabbitsncavyluv]

They don't sell the best quality of pellets at Wal Mart. Isn't there anywhere else you can go? It isn't Hartz, is it?

 

[*LovesGinny*]

They don't sell the best quality of pellets at Wal Mart. Isn't there anywhere else you can go? It isn't Hartz, is it?

I just checked and it is Premium Quality by a company called Topcrop. There is no where else i can go to get food, except the pet store, but it's really expensive there. Harry seems to like it a lot, and on the pack it said that it had all the needed vitamins and minerals and then some.

I will expand my cage to a 2X4 grid when i get my other piggy, but for now, it's a 2X3. I still have to fix the ramp, because i accidentally made it too small, so the upper floor is out of order.

Sorry about the buddy thing, i must of thought i said it, but didn't. Opps! Any other advise on anything?

 

[mncavylover]

It's fine, don't worry about it. =)

How about ordering food online? If you can get the ingredients you can post it on the food thread and I'll tell you what's good/bad about the food. (psst--packaging always wants to sell the product, lol!)

I'm sure you've got all the hay and daily veggies, right? If so, then I don't really have any other advice for now.

 

[*LovesGinny*]

ha, we never buy stuff off the internet. Never ever ever, no matter what it is. My parents are so old fashioned. I have veggies and hay, plus the pellets so little Hary will be fine i hope. O she has to pee, i g2g! lol

 

[mncavylover]

Ok, well then you can look on their site and find out a location near you that stocks the food. I know there are some by me.

 

[dagwellismypigy]

while yours on the subject of food. i have a few questions. why is the mix-y food bad? i know it is im gonna get some plain pellets maybe the oxbow stuff not sure. and once i switch how much fresh fruit and veggies should i give dagwell?

ps i love this site im learning soo much!

 

[*LovesGinny*]

i know! i have a question too, even though this should probably be in the food thread. Is it ok for Harry to have banana peels? she just goes crazy for them, and i was wondering if it was ok for me to give her some (not the whole thing, but a piece) as she doesn't really care for the banana.

 

[liluqt]

For you guys who use cavy cusine.. what makes it the best pellets out there? I just went to their website and I don't see how much vitamin C is in it.. and also, how long can it be stored once you open it? I saw a pellet based feed from sweetmeadowfarms.com and it had 750mg/lb of Vitamin C! That was by far the best I'd seen, but I haven't read any reviews about it.. so I didn't know if it was any good. Anybody try it? Also, the oxbow one actually tells you how much to feed the pigs daily.. like 1/4 - 1/8 cup daily. But aren't pigs supposed to have an unlimited supply to pellets as long as you keep it fresh? My pigs currently eat Nutriphase Pellets with Vitakraft Menu Diet from Petsmart. I'm definately looking for a better source of pellets.. but they're so used to it after 7 months!

 

[cinn&sprinslave]

Nutriphase has Ethonoxquin (sp) a preservative that can kill piggs if they eat it for a long period of time. So ditch the Nutriphase. I don't know anything about VitaKraft. Cavycuisine has a 6 month shelf life. It is your choice whether or not you feed a certain amount of pellets or unlimited. I prefer to feed unlimited. Have a look in "What is the best food..." thread. To see which foods are good or bad, and for more info on CavyCuisine. I don't want to post too much info about food in this thread when there is a whole thread dedicated to cavy food.