Hi from fresh guinea pig owner

[elinak9]

Hi,

I'm a 'fresh' guinea pig owner Elina from Estonia. Our baby girl Rui (a bit over a month old) has been with us for a week now. She's an Abyssinian with wonderful colour and really big ears . I'm really happy that she has adjusted so well. She's still a bit shy but already lets us touch and pet her and also eats her favourite veggies from our hands (she also likes to lick our fingers). Wants to run and hide when we're trying to take her out, but once she is in her tunnel, the procedure goes really easily.

She currently has a regular cage, but a C&C cage is in the making. When the cage is ready, I'm sure she'll have a sister as well.

I could say her favourite thing is eating and popcorning- she always does this when we sit by the cage or take her out for floor time. That piggy is happy as a puppy and I can't imagine how happy she will be with another cage mate.

She was not bought from a pet store





It is really nice to meet you all!

Elina & Rui

 

[pepperbelle]

Hi and welcome!

 

[guineapigsxo]

Hi, welcome to the forum! Your pig is adorable

 

[BaconAndEggs]

Welcome! She's so cute! I've never seen rosettes on Abyssinians with that placement before... adorable.

 

[ColinJellybean]

Oh my goodness, Rui is just beautiful! What a cute piggie!

Also, thank you spy9doc for posting pigtures of the champion pigs, I have never seen ones like that before. I had no idea that the rosettes could be so ordered. As a first time piggie owner I have just been going by my wee guys' whirls which are all over the place!

 

[kawaii.piggies]

Rui has really pretty colors! She looks super cute That's exciting you're going to make a c&c cage! For me it was a bit difficult but totally worth it, good luck!

 

[BaconAndEggs]

If you have ever seen show-quality Abys, then you know that those are not rosettes........they are more like cowlicks. lol My Chester's coat is not top quality either. He has this longer hair just in front of his bum. We call it Chester's "tu-tu".

FYI.......here are a couple of pics of champion Abys:



And I quote: Abyssinian guinea pigs are characterized by their rosettes and ridges. On a pedigree Abyssinian, rosettes number between 8 and 10. They radiate outwards and upwards from pin point centers.

The correct placement of ridges and rosettes should give the overall effect of a checker board on a show quality guinea pig. If the ridges are dense, upright, erect and well placed, the rosettes usually take care of themselves.

BTW......Rui is adorable! Who could resist that face!

Hehe... actually I've only been a real piggy owner for about a year, and I really don't get into shows, or show pigs. I'm fine with my boys being the celebrity to me and me only! lol And truthfully, the only guinea pigs I've ever seen besides mine are the ones in pet stores, so that kind of speaks for itself.

 

[aqh88]

I had one with only a pair of butt rosettes which made all the fur on the top half of her body grow the other direction. You had to pet from her butt to her head. lol

 

[mamaduck71]

Before knowing they were called Abby's, I always called them "bed head' piggys.

 

[EcthalionMCB]

love that phantom of the opera face! half and half its great! welcome to the forum!

 

[piggielover200]

BEAUTIFUL! I think my girls could be show pigs haha they have perfectly placed rosettes!! BUT your girl is soooooooo cute!

 

[elinak9]

Hi,
Nice to meet you all.

Thank you for the information, spy9doc. I never knew there were so specific rules for show guinea pigs. But I still love my baby's messy coat and funny face.

I also forgot to mention that we weighed her on the 27th of February (3 days after we took her) and she weighed 248grams. Has any of you weighed your guinea pigs consistently to see how they grow? What were the results?



Elina

 

[elinak9]

Thank you very much for the useful information about the weighing and trimming. I have read a lot about guinea pig care but never came across of this kind of information. I will keep track of my guinea pig's weight. Right now I have given her veggies every day, fresh hay and dry food as well with fresh water.

I just changed the cage bedding from wood chops to fleece. She seems really happy but I also noticed that she likes to chew the fleece. I also made her a baldachin bed from fleece. Should I replace it back to wood chops or is it just a thing at first until they get used to the new material?

 

[maddy harper]

hi and welcome