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[shelterpiggy]

Hi, my name is Brooke. I'm 27 and live just north of the Houston area.

I just adopted my very first guinea pig from the SPCA yesterday. She is 7 months old, brown and black, and absolutely sweet and adorable. I'm still working on a name for her. I've cared for guinea pigs before so I'm not exactly new to them, but I did tons of research before adopting her anyway.

I built her a custom cage out of a HUGE (length-wise) under-the-bed storage bin (over 4 feet long), one set of mesh shelf cubing from Linens N Things, and a bunch of zip ties. The cage has a hinged lid that is very strong and is completely dog and cat proof (I have both :crazy: ). I LOVE the mesh cubing, because it doesn't have the wide bars of some cubing, therefore no nosy cat paws can come through. (My cats are friendly, and liked my pet rats in the past, but it's always wise to err on the side of caution with any little animal).

She loves her timothy hay "Rollin' The Hay" toy/feeder that I got at Petsmart. And her cuddle cup. And her fleece blanket. Her home is lined with towels and fleece - mainly because I have allergies to every kind of small pet bedding. She really seems to like it, and cleanup is a snap.

The SPCA was out of timothy hay, and running out of food for the bunnies and guinea pigs (I guess most people forget the small animals when donating to shelters). So today I bought a bunch of that stuff and took it to them - grateful for the good care they gave my baby before I got her. Hey, if I can't adopt them all, at least I can make their shelter stay more pleasant.

I hope everyone will consider adopting their next piggy from their local shelter.

 

[shelterpiggy]

(broken link removed)

 

[nonamian_girl]

Aw, she's so cute! Thank you for adopting instead of buying. Are you going to adopt a friend for her as well?

 

[shelterpiggy]

Aw, she's so cute! Thank you for adopting instead of buying. Are you going to adopt a friend for her as well?

Yeah, there's no way I could justify buying, when I am avid about adopting dogs and cats instead of buying - and I knew the SPCA here usually has 4 or 5 on a regular basis that need homes.

Don't know if I will be getting her a friend. Once she's settled in a bit, she's not going to be in her cage very much - I certainly didn't get her to leave her in the cage! (I've only handled her a bit this weekend, because I don't want to stress her - she's been through a lot lately!).

Also she'd need a much bigger cage with a 2nd piggy. And I'd need to find a compatible friend.

So there are a few things that I need to consider before adopting a second one.

 

[nonamian_girl]

Well, you could build a bigger cage for about the same cost (but it would cost extra for a lid, an extra package of grids would be required). Guinea pigs do well in herds, and that way your piggie would have some company whenever you're not around.

 

[shelterpiggy]

I'm happy with the cage/one piggy situation now - but thanks for the input!

 

[nonamian_girl]

Well, look around and do some research. I'm just trying to give you some information to keep your piggie happy. Took me a while to be convinced too, but it's well worth it .

P.S. welcome to the forums!

 

[Aertyn]

Wow is she cute! And welcome to the forum mate.

and omg she looks like Frank's twin!

 

[standuprookie]

Welcome, another Texas member! Congrats on adopting, there is a huge overpopulation problem here.

 

[Myspoiltpiggies]

Hello & welcome! She is a little cutey. Well done on rescuing her.

Guinea pigs really do need a cagemate. I have lots and seeing them together just makes me realise how much they need each other. They chat to each other, cuddle each other, they follow each other when they have floortime. Only one out of my 13 will not live with another piggy - I have tried but he just won't have it. I can tell that he is not happy though, he is bored. I'm considering neutering him or putting him in with a really young boar in the future to see if that works.

 

[cookie_gal]

Welcome, good on you for rescuing, so many people forget that whilst there's lots of dogs and cats, guinea pigs end up at rescues too.

Really cute piggy too!

 

[shelterpiggy]

Wow is she cute! And welcome to the forum mate.

and omg she looks like Frank's twin!

LOL! They do look alike!

 

[guineabeginner]

I would suggest a friend to, Chum and Chocolate are such a pair, and they seem so happy together. It's amazing the difference you see when you adopt a buddy for them.

 

[shelterpiggy]

Well, finding Dagny (her new name!) a friend is not as easy as going out and adopting one and plopping it into her cage. I'd hate to end up with a second one that didn't get along with her, and end up with two "lone piggie" problems.

I already have 3 cats, 2 dogs, 1 gecko to care for. I'm running out of room!

 

[guineabeginner]

Well, don't be too skitish about finding a friend, I got an older male buddy (Chocolate) for Chum, and they got along rite on the spot. So, concider a friend, look at local adoption agencies, I'm sure it won't be half as hard as you expect to match him up with a life time buddy.

 

[PiGgIeCrAzYBaBy]

Did you adopt for the Houston SPCA? And if so do you know if they have any boys available. Oh, and the being worried about them not getting along, I don't blame you. When I first adopted my second boy he didn't like Harry at all. But eventualy they learned to put up with each other. And she looks like Hagrid (the one I adopted from the SPCA) too!