Finally interoducing myself

[cyndyt]

I joined here a while ago but am just finding my way around.

My youngest daughter has had guinea pigs for about 5 years but I was afraid of them and avoided them until about 2 years ago.

I was very ill 2 and a half years ago and her guinea pig met an accidental death while I was ill. I ended up in a coma shortly afterwards so Dj didn't get until piggy until about 2 years ago now.

Abby was so small when we got her that she fit in the palm of my hand.
I fell head over heals in love with her.

Last April my other daughter convinced me to get Abby a friend.
A arranged a friend for Abby but unfortunately Abby passed away before Penelope arrived.

Here is my journey from one to 13 guinea pigs.
The middle of April we got Penelope who had lost her cage mate a shot time earlier. Abby passed away between the Sunday I arranged for for Penelope and the time Penny arrived on the Tuesday.

I decided that I was not losing another guinea pig to ignorance so I decided to educate myself.

I live in an area with no rescues.
We have had more guinea pigs previously but they all past away within weeks of up getting them,
A very improtant lesson is to watch where you are getting your piggys. I didn't realize that the one place where we were getting them was actually breeding them as reptile food. Of course they did not really say that what they were doing but when they charge $3.99 for a guinea pig when the only other place in town is charging $25. you become suspious.
We were sold pregnant and ill guinea pigs.

I found this site and Guinea lynx and started reading. Man I have learned alot. I am not nearly so foolish.
My guinea pigs are now in C&C cages, getting veggies and hay everyday,

After Abby passed away and we got Penelope (April 11)I knew I had to get her a friend. As I said there are no rescues in my area so I contacted someone I knew that was a breeder and took very good care of her piggys.
I also at that point didn't know about breeders either.
The breeder I know keeps records on all her piggys from who the mother and father are to the date and time they are born to when they started to eat and when they are separated from their mom.

We adopted Bailey on April 12th, She was born February 22, 2011

In early May someone I contact on Kijiji called to say she had a guinea pig for me. On May 3 Bugz and Luni arrived. It turns out this lady was a breeder but she kept the guinea pigs in her barn and had 83. She told me that she knew that one was a boy because only the boys make noise.
Bugz had been housed without human contact with a rabbit since his birth December 15th 2010. Luni had not been housed much better. Thankfully she was not pregnant.
I wanted Bugz to have a friend so I took him to see my friend Cathy and he adopted two brothers to live with.

Bandit ws born March 27th and Smokey was born March 14,2011. They came home to us May 10th.

I kept checking Kijiji just to look at the piggys. I had no intentions of adopting any more but most of the month there was an ad that read.
" We want to run away from home. Our owner is going away to school and can't take us. Her mom and dad have no time for us. We would run away but we can't carry our cage, food and toys"
I adopted Gabbriella and Paisley May 31 when they were two years old.

Later that day my 2nd daughter arrived with a cardboard box. In it was a beautiful black and white crested male that had been left in the pouring rain in a cardboard box behind the local mall.
I gave Hannah food, hay and everything else to take care of him but after living in a small cardboard box for a week he came to join my herd.

We now had 4 males and 5 females In 4 pet store cages.
I build a two store 2by4 C&C

In July I found a beautiful baby on Kijiji that had been born June 5th, I was horridied at the conditionas she was being kept in. There were shavings in the cage bt no food or hay. The house was discustingly dirty.
The women who was rehoming them had no clue why She was having litter after litter after litter and had finally after about a year decided to separate her male and female.

In November I woke up to find Penelope dead in her cage and decided to get another little female.
I again found a female on Kijiji and went to see her.
Buttercup was 25 days old when I got her November 10th. She was being housed with her dad who joined us also. I separated them as soon as I got them out of the house.

My 13 year old daughter at this point looked at me and said if I brought one more guinea pig home she would move out.

At this point Bugz, Smokey and Bandit were sharing the bottom of a 2 by 4 cage and the girls were in the top. The other boys were upstairs in my room
.
Over the Christmas holiday wmy youngest and I built a 3 by 5 2 storey C&c.

January 13 DJ came into my room and said there is alot of noise coming out of the guinea pig cages,
We came downstairs and checked the cage and discovered a female missing.
Dj climbed up and moved the hidey hut. I said Oh my God Buttercup is d and DJ said has two baibies.
The placenta was still laying on to of them and I thought something had happened to her,

I have decided that I am resposible for all the guinea pigs in my home until they pass away from old age.

To recap I have 13 guinea pigs.
2 that were two when I got them, and the rest were born bete\ween Februray of last year and January of this.

 

[Luna8]

Good story, and welcome to the forum!!
Wow, 13 piggies? I only have 2 females and 1 male, (male in different cage), and they are brother and sister, although their mummy, Smokey, is dead, sadly. So is their freind who acted like their aunt, Luna, my first little snuggly wuggly. So, shall we get to see any pigtures soon? I certaily hope, I can just imagin them, I know they must be adorible!! Someday I am sooo going to have a herd! (; But not yet, (not that my nine-year-old self couldn't handle them, although it would be alot of work, but my room is too small, unfortunitely.
Well, hope you learn everything you need to, find you'r way around, and make yourself at home!

 

[cyndyt]

Can I use photo bucket to post here

 

[kananaka]

Hi. You don't need to use photo bucket to post pics here, just click the attachment button and add the pic there (looks like a paper clip).

 

[boofp]

WOW, What a story and my husband thinks im obsessed lol. I cant wait to see pictures of them all.

 

[cyndyt]

Here are pichures of my Babies in the order I got them last year.
Please ignore the cages. they are now in a 3 by 5 C&C
Penelope she away in Novemeber 2010

Bailey

Bugz

 

[cyndyt]

Sorry I didn't know I had pichures of our first two
We had RyRy first

This is Abby. She is the girl that made me love guinea pig

 

[cyndyt]

Luni arrived in a box with Bugz

I then got
Bandit

and Smokey

 

[cyndyt]

Then the end of May came
Gabreilla

And Paisley

And Misfit

 

[cyndyt]

I just discovered the other pichures are still on the camera.
I will finish tomorrow

 

[petgal49]

Wow they all look so different from each other! A nice variety!

 

[Alaskangurl]

Wow, welcome! 13 wonderful furbabies. What luck for them they have you. Your story had my head spinning there were so many twists.
The pictures you provided are way too cute for words.

 

[cyndyt]

My 13 year old takes wonderful pichures.

Recently she took front and side views of everyone for me but it appears that I printed them instead of up loaded them. Tomorrow I will try to put the on the computer and then post them here.

I never thought I would ever have this many piggies.
I love them all so much and can't imagine our life without them.
I am not planning on getting any more.

 

[cyndyt]

Sorry for my spelling.

 

[cyndyt]

In July came
Tiny St. Calire Dey La Ritz.
I call her rits and DJ called her Claire.
She is about 6 weeks old here and despite the way it looks she is not pregnant.

 

[cyndyt]

In November I said goodbye to Penelope and hello to
Buttercup who was just under 4 weeks old when I got her

And her Dad

They were in a cage together and then the guy put them in a box together.
As soon as I got out of there I separated them

 

[cyndyt]

But on Friday the 13th of January we woke up to

This is Jazzy

This is Andy

 

[cyndyt]

Unfortunatly today I went and looked at the local pet shop.
I usually go in and talk to the ladies that run it and sex their piggies for them.
Today I went in and she had two either silkie or peruvian boys with really bad haircuts.
I asked her about them and apparently someone brought them in a couple of weeks ago. The story was a women came in with two 8 month old males that her son refused to take care of.Sheila felt bad for them and took them in.
Of course I looked and asked if they were long or short haired.
Sheila said she wasn't sure but would I like to hold one.
I pick one up to check and it was obvious that their hair has been cut. Some places they are cut to about 2 inches (5 cm long) and some they are at least 6 inches (15 cm)long.

The white one snuggled into my chest immediately.
The Black one was frantic and almost jumped out of my arms.

 

[cyndyt]

Anyway as we talked asked if I would take them because she really wanted them to have a good home.
We stood talking for a while and the whole time I was holding the balck on and just quietly talked to him. Of course he snuggled in.
Introducing no name one

and two

 

[Inle_Rabbit]

Wow what a story! Piggies have a way of growing on people. Even my husband said that he likes our guinea pigs, after we've had them for a year. lol