I guess this is a good place for an introduction.

[dansamy]

My name is Amelia. I came home one Sunday night from work. There was a cage in my living room with a guinea pig in it. At first, I was really ticked. I had told my husband repeatedly that I didn't want a pet, and particularly not a rodent. But, there it was. In my living room. Very small. And VERY scared.The cage my husband bought was the SuperPet MyFirstHome "Complete Guinea Pig Kit". He also bought cedar shavings. Everything had come from the local Petsmart, including the pig. I was incredibly ticked off. Then, I looked at the poor thing sitting there. Pathetic. Lonely. Scared. So, I did what I always do. I jumped on the net and started searching.

I found out pig1 (unamed at the time) would be lonely and depressed. I bought pig2. (Unfortunately also from Petsmart - I had no clue there were pigs in animal shelters.) I bought cage2 (SuperPet Extra Large 2-level). I quarantined pig1 from pig2 for 3 days. (They had already been housed together at Petsmart. I figured they probably both had the same germs, bugs, etc.) I bought pine bedding. I cleaned out cage1 and replaced the cedar with pine. I introduced pig1 and pig2 to each other during floor time. (I had enough sense to know that cage1 was WAY too small for even 1 guinea pig. I had bought a small animal playpen for pig1 to have play time.) While they got (re)acquainted, I cleaned out cage 2. I only had one house, though. Which they still argue over. Whover wins, sleeps in the house. Loser sleeps under the ramp to the 2nd level. I will buy another house. Probably today as they need more feed as well.

Then, I read some more. I have used almost all of the pine (which is a kiln-dried brand). I have a bag of Aspen waiting to go. (CareFresh is insanely expensive. I'll hafta make do with the best of the wood choices.) My pet store (NOT Petsmart!) sells Aspen in huge 30lb bales for a very affordable price. They also put stuff on sale for their "members" on a regular basis. Small animal pellets were on sale last month - 50% off. *sigh* If I had only KNOWN then, I would've stocked up!

More reading. And the dismay that my "extra large" cage will also be too small. Fortunately for me, Target put their cubes on sale this week. Yay! I bought one box already. I'll buy the second box today or tomorrow. It is now their 2x3 playpen until I figure out where I'm going to put at least a 2x4 C&C cage. I know I want a 2-level cage. 2nd level will probably be 2x2.

Here's their photo album on Picturetrail: (broken link removed)

I'll probably ask tons of questions over the next few weeks. The pigs are about 4 months old. They are both boys. (I looked. They have penises.) They are still in the SuperPet cage while I figure out where to buy coroplast and where to put the cage. It'll all come together soon enough.

Amelia

 

[pennick]

What made your husband bring home a piggy? You would think since you were not interested in rodents that your husband would have been the one doing all the work.

Anyway, nice to have you on board and good luck with your piggies. Don't forget all the good veggies they will need.

 

[dansamy]

Nostalgia, I suppose. He had guinea pigs as a child. My husband rarely takes care of anything with regards to "running the household". That is seen as my responsibility. We have 3 children. He works 50hrs/wk. I am a nursing school student and I also work 24hrs/wk. There's not a lot of extra time around here. BUT, I simply can't bear the thought of unhappy, unhealthy pets anymore than I could allow my children to be unhappy/unhealthy. So, it falls to me.

 

[Piglet]

Welcome! Since they were bought from pet smart, I suggest you going to www.cavyspirit.com and checking out the sexing pages. You may well have a differnent sex pair

 

[dansamy]

I have checked many times. I definitely have 2 penises that pop out when pressure is applied. Small penises, but they are definitely NOT vaginas.

 

[Poohbear]

goodluck. I am so happy that you were so responsible and found this site. That shows how much you care about your piggies.

 

[LiciaMommycott]

Neo is so cute - that is the color pig I wanted but didn't get. I was the one in our house that wanted pigs and my husband relented and we got one. It was only after we had it home that I did the research (I know wrong order). So quickly I figured out that we had too few pigs (only one) bought from the wrong place (pet store) with a too small cage, wrong food, harmful snacks (all petstore issued).

I returned the guinea pig kit (cage and all) to the petstore and built myself a cavy cage. Then I had to work on my hubby for the second pig. But before I knew it, he had picked out a pig of his own so now we have two and I guess he's been converted.

 

[Ly&Pigs]

So how do you feel about the "rodents" now. BTW, piggies are not rodents. At least that is what I read on www.guinealynx.info which is a great site and has a great forum too. Welcome to the boards.

Don't forget the hay! Piggies need an unlimited supply of good quality grass hay to help keep their teeth in shape and their tummies working well. Timothy, bluegrass, orchard grass and bermuda are all good hays. Since your boys are only 4 months old you can give them some alfalfa for a couple months or so. I have found the best place to get hay is my local feed store. You can buy it by the bale and if you store it properly it can last a very long time. You can also order some good hay from either of these two places, www.oxbowhay.com or (broken link removed)

I myself am partial to Km's hay. Her bluegrass (now known as blue orchard grass) is to die for, or at least thats what my 4 sows tell me all the time, lol.

 

[LiciaMommycott]

I've actually posted this before but in fact guinea pigs are rodents:

Rodents have a single pair of incisors in each jaw, and the incisors grow continually throughout life.

Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Suborder: Histricomorpha
Family: Caviidae
Genus/Species: Cavia porcellus

 

[shell29]

Congrats on your new babies and don't feel bad about asking questions. I am still preparing to get mine and found this site to be wonderful as well as everyone I have spoken to so far. I will be asking lots of questions too. Have fun with your new babies.

 

[Ly&Pigs]

There is new scientific evidence that shows that pigs may not be rodents. Here is a link to an article I found.
(broken link removed)

BTW, piggies are not rodents. At least that is what I read

Honestly, I don't know if they are or if they are not but I was expressing what I had read. I hate thinking of them as rodents because they are so different from other rodents like rats, mice, gerbils, hamsters.

 

[LiciaMommycott]

That's funny (and interesting). I still think of them as rodents but I have no negative association with the word as I am fond of most rodents (as long as they are tame, friendly and pets). I've seen lots of contradictions as to whether gps are rodents or not but no one seems to argue about the capybara which is the world's largest rodent. I can easily picture a gp being a rodent because they are like tiny twins of the capybara.

 

[dansamy]

Honestly, their status of "rodent" doesn't bother me that much. I *do* prefer predatory animals, though. I've never owned a prey animal before. I guess I'll learn as I go. They have very different instinctual behaviors than those exhibited by predatory animals. (I've had cats and dogs mostly. I had a brief stint with a rabbit as a child, but I don't think that really counts since we didn't have it long. My mother hated it & the odor.)

However, I am making progress. Neo will crawl halfway into my hand if I hold very still. It makes picking him up much easier since he panicks & runs if I "chase" him with my hand. Morpheus recognizes me as "Giver of the Fresh Foods" and sits still when I try to pick him up. Then as soon as he is in the play pen, he starts whistling/squeaking at me. He really IS a p-i-g. I'm convinced he possesses porcine DNA.

Neo has also figured out he can fit his head through the squares in the cube grids. No C&C cage until they are full-size. The so-called "extra large" home they are in now has plenty of room for 2 youngsters of their size. They are supervised when I use the grid panels as a "play pen", so I'm not overly concerned about an escapee on the loose.

Judging by testicle size, I think Neo might be a little older than Morpheus. But Morpheus is definitely the boss, for now at least.

Amelia

 

[dansamy]

Another newbie question: Which is preferable? KM's pellets, Oxbow pellets, or Kaytee Forti pellets from the pet shop. The pigs are currently eating Nutriphase. (I think. It is the one included with the kit my husband bought.) I ran out of the "sample" hay the pet store gave my husband, but I bought more Kaytee Timothy until I got around to ordering off the net.

 

[Ly&Pigs]

Oxbow Cavy Cuisine for pigs over a year, Oxbow Cavy Performance for pigs under a year.
Kaytee Forti and Nutriphase are both crap. I believe the Nutriphase has stuff besides pellets in it and the piggies only need plain pellets with nothing else mixed in.

The best hay that can be found is at (broken link removed)