Introductions Meet Lilly, Marshmallow's brand new cagemate

[mamattorney]

Marshmallow's cagemate passed away in early November. Today, I answered a craiglist ad seeking to rehome a baby girl guinea pig (born 10/27). We did a half hour introduction at her house with some spinach on a big fleece blanket - all went well. Not a chatter, a rumble or even an offended squeek. They've been home and in the same cage (disinfected, new hideys, clean fleece) four about 4 hours and the worst I've seen was two nose offs - and that included eating dinner together. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping for the best. One thing I noticed is that Lilly has four toes on each back foot. One is tiny, one is pretty substantial. I read it can be caused by inbreeding. Hopefully it won't be an issue. I have to imagine a vet could remove them if they are a problem. Here are some pictures:
Right side

Left side

With Marshmallow

 

[Princess_Piggie]

Awww, what cuties!

Your Himalayan is GORGEOUS. I have twin Himalayans and I just love the contrast of the dark ears on the white fur hehe

Here's a great informative page about what to do with extra toes. http://www.guinealynx.info/feet.html

The general rule that I've noticed is - if there's no nail (sorry I can't tell if there is or isn't - poor eyesight!) it doesn't really need removing as it doesn't pose much danger.

 

[RandomCavy]

Awe! they are cute <3 The toes could be inbreeding or I have heard cuy's tend to have extra toes...

 

[SandyPig]

How old is Marshmallow? I"m jealous that your intro went so well!

 

[Starthecavy123]

She is very cute, as for the extra toe I do not know. I would do what the others have said. You could also get and experts opinion by going to a vet. Just to see what they think. But I don't see how it would be a problem unless it poses any danger.

 

[mamattorney]

How old is Marshmallow? I"m jealous that your intro went so well!

I've been reading your thread and prior to getting a new pig, I was worried about a stressful introduction like you've had. I think it went well for a couple of reasons - first, Lilly is just a baby, six weeks old today. I'm sure that made a big difference. Second, both pigs were used to living with another. Finally, Marshmallow was the more submissive pig of the pair before her cagemate died, so I didn't think she'd be too mean to the baby. In fact, I was worried about the baby being mean to her. I'll continue to worry about the baby's personality as it develops over the course of the year. Hopefully, she won't grow up to be a bully.