I might finally get a pig!(long)

[laura220]

Okay, it's sort of a long story..

So I've wanted a guinea pig for a while but for different reasons I switched to hamsters and was planning on getting a Syrian in August. I knew my neighbors daughters had rats but I hadn't seen them for a while so I thought they may have passed away and I could buy their old cage for my hamster.
I asked my mom to ask their mom about it casually, ya know?
My mom talked to them and found that they actually had had a rabbit too who died last fall and they had sold it's cage. The rats weren't getting enough attention so they had given them to friends along with their cage.
And.. they had two guinea pigs! One of them died in the winter which left the other girl alone. Since their moving soon, here's the good part..they asked if I wanted her!!

Well of course I do!

It's not final because the daughter might not want to give her up so my mom's told me not to get my hopes but I can't help it!

I don't know anything about her except she's an older female. I've planned if I do get her I'll make her a C&C(duh!) and try to find her a friend.

Too bad she's not a male because I was looking through the rescues and there's an adorable young crested male up for adoption.
(broken link removed)

I don't think the rescues here come by pigs often so it'll be hard to find a friend for her.

But if I don't get her I'll be going with a hamster..

 

[daftscotslass]

I've got both guinea pigs and a hamster, so I'm not fit to choose! Guinea pigs are less agile than hamsters but (in my opinion) far more intelligent. Suffice to say the guinea pigs know where the edge of the couch they're sitting on, and the hamster will just walk off the edge!

If you get a male you will need to have him neutered so you don't end up with lots of babies. Even if you don't adopt this female, get a piggy or two from the rescue anyway! You sound like you'll make a great piggy-mother

 

[laura220]

Update!

My mom only talked to her today but they just came over with the girl!

They didn't leave her here though. The girl Amanda will keep her till mid summer right before they move. Then I get her!!

She's a black and tan? abbysinian(sp)? about 2 years old. Her friend was a neutered boar actually.

I'm so excited! I'll start planning the C&C soon.

 

[daftscotslass]

Yay for you! Good news!

 

[laura220]

I've got one problem though. I don't know where I can get plain timothy based pellets. Or good quality timothy hay. Can I just buy that hay from the supermarket?

Is pine bedding really that bad?

I've found space for a 2x4. Is having the cage by a radiator bad?

Do you think if I did get that boar she would accept him? After he's neutered of course. I'll call my local vet to see if they do it and how much it might be.

 

[Piglet]

It is...you could try airing it out before use. That could get rid of the pine smell. What about using fleece or towels?

Congratulations on your soon-to-be new addition! I bet you're ecstatic!

Hay from supermarkets or pet stores is usually brown, dry and stale so I would say avoid it. I don't get timothy hay - my hay is called meadow hay which I think it just regular hay? I get this hay from a farm, so you could try doing that.

Sorry, don't know about the pellets. Pellets are just a supplement to their diet though. On GL, I think a few people don't even feed pellets, so your pigs won't die if you can't find them for a while.

 

[laura220]

I want to use fleece. How should I do it? Put newspapers then one layer of fleece? Or should I sew togther a combo of fleece/cotton batting/fleece?

How are towels used?

I'll make a litter box from coroplast unless I find one of my cat's old ones. Can I use pine in those? It won't be as much or will it still do harm?

Well the hay I've seen in the store was green but I guess I will try a farm. What aboout picking out all the seeds from mixes? Nah, I guess she'll have to go without pellets unless I find some place with plain ones.

 

[laura220]

BTW, her name's Sofie. I don't think I'll change it.

 

[amfeider]

For pellets buy oxbow from the critterstore.com it is the best you can also buy oxbow hay there which is farely green if you cant get farm hay.

I use fleece I made two that fit my cage with a layer of fleece batting in the middle and another layer of flleece.Then I wash it every 2-3 days.

By a small animal litter box from the critterstore and use carefresh also found at the critterstore and put the litter box in their favorite poop corner.

 

[Piglet]

She's from Finland, so shipping wiould be outragous. Oxbow is hard to find over here

I think the batting/fleece would work out better. Would allow you to change the bedding less often.

 

[laura220]

Exactly, so I definantly can't get Oxbow. I'll probably have to buy the grids myself, I may have her like this..
https://guineapigcages.com/images/fun2.jpg
for a month before I can save up. Is that okay? I'll try to buy 1-2 packs of grids right when I find them so I'll be ready to take her in a month.

I'm not sure if I could use fleece in her pet store cage, it'd be kind of a waste of the square when I move her into a C&C unless I just sew onto it.

So for a few weeks is it alright to keep her on dried pine? She'll be abe to get away into that pen which will be up 24/7.

With only her would I stilll need to change the fleece every 3 days especailly in a 2x4?

 

[emithebug]

Make SURE that the hay you get looks VERY green all the way through. That means NO brown bits at ALL. I bought one of the big bags of Kaytee's timothy hay, but the stuff in the middle was brown! their smaller bags are usually pretty nice, though. Just make sure you check.

I use fleece bedding - fleece, 2 layers of the thin batting, fleece. I think it works really well. It's easy to clean, and I think my piggies like it. I have a litter pan - just a regular cat's litter box - in one side of their cage where I put soft-sorbent bedding in the bottom and their hay in one side. It keeps the hay somewhat contained (because it's a PAIN to clean out of the fleece) and it cuts down on the random poop all over the place since they usually poop when they're munching. I think it works, anyways.

Food... I don't know. If you ABSOLUTELY can't get order pellets online, then Mazuri is good, and Kaytee's Timothy Complete is okay only temporarily.

Pine is okay if it's kiln-dried. Kaytee kiln-dries their pine, but I'm not so sure about other brands. Straight pine is no good. MUST be kiln-dried to get rid of phenols. Best wood shavings are Aspen, though... If you're only going to be using it for the litter box, though, then I'd splurge and go ahead and get some of the paper-fiber beddings. Personally, I like soft-sorbent the best, but I've never tried carefresh in their litter box...

 

[laura220]

Well I use pine pellets for my cats litter. Would that hurt the pigs feet to walk on? I'm guessing it would. I haven't yet had time to visit pet shops so I'll see what they have.

Can your pigs just hop right into the litter box or do they need a ramp?

 

[laura220]

This is NOT her but her colors.

(broken link removed)

 

[emithebug]

I *think* the pellets will hurt their feet, but I'm honestly not totally sure. I don't use them because I want my piggies' pampered toes to never have to touch anything hard. ^.^; I spoil my pigs a bunch.

Mine just hop right into it their litter box without a thought. Make sure you wait a while to find out their "preferred" spot - it'll be a pain to get them to go in the litter box if they don't like that particular corner.

She looks just like my Ginger! There's a link to my photo album in my profile. =D

 

[Slap Maxwell]

Generic feline pine is fine bedding. Wood stove pellets (same thing) work fine. But you should start by adding a little pine or Carefresh on top to get them used to the feel and sound of them.

 

[Piglet]

Hmm...I too thought she might be describing those wood stove pellets. I was going to get some, but they looked a little hard, so like Slap said add something on top

Laura, usually the entrance to the litter box dips low, so that no ramp is needed. Those colours on that guinea pig are beautiful.

 

[Slap Maxwell]

Amy uses them. You can see pictures in her gallery.

 

[Eventrocker33]

Fleece- I use a newspaper then one layer of fleece and it works great.

 

[My Baby Mu]

I don't know if you can get it in Finland but Alfa Pet Pine and you don't need to air it out: it is very good, nice large flakes.