New Cavy Slave

[Piglet]

Does anyone know where they get the URI from?

 

[Christys GPS]

I have no idea where, this is all new to me, but I would like to know also.

 

[Slap Maxwell]

After a pig goes through a stressfull siduation (in my case, it was traveling from Maine to Connecticut) and then is in contact with something like a draft (in my case it was a bath, where she didn't get as dry as she should have) They can get URIs. I know there are other ways, too.

 

[Christys GPS]

I am reading that they should be off the floor and away froom drafts and vents, is this correct?

Well my guys are safe away from drafts also I have a question, where can I find out what are normal weights of gps and diffrent breeds of them. I would like to know exactly what kind of gps I have, I can across one site buit there are no pics, just discriptions. Any help?

 

[Slap Maxwell]

You can keep them on the floor as long as there are no drafts.

Breeds: (broken link removed)
Pictures of breeds: (broken link removed)

An average male weighs 2.5-3 pounds, a female, 2-2.5 pounds. You should weigh your pigs weekly

 

[Slap Maxwell]

Rex and Teddy are the same. American Crested and White Crested are the same. And Silkie and Sheltie are the same.

 

[Christys GPS]

I am still having problems guessing what they are,later when I post pics mabe you can help me slap. Intill then I will look, my girl is all redishbrown all over and kinda long. My one boy is all white short hair with br eyes, and my other boy is all black with one brown patch on his side he is also short hair, what kinda of scale do you use, I have one here but it is not digital. Is it still ok.

 

[Slap Maxwell]

All of them sound like Americans. Americans can be in any of the colors (one, two, or three colors). The best scale to use is a kitchen scale, that weighs small amounts, a regular human scale really can't do it.

Good Luck!

 

[Slap Maxwell]

Also, if the pig is one solid color, it is called a 'self'. Like your female may be a Brown Self American.

 

[Ly&Pigs]

Hi and welcome Christys GPS. I am sorry for your thread being hijacked. I wish people would understand that we all are human and we misunderstand things from time to time, but some people here love to pick on others for their misunderstandings.

It sounds like you have three wonderful piggies. As far as a scale you need a digital one that weighs in grams, kilograms, ounces and pounds. It's good to weigh weekly to monitor for signs of illness through major weight loss. Did your vet do a skin scaping to see if the pigs had mites? If so, they don't always come up positive and they aren't really a good thing for the pigs to have anyways because all they do is cause pain. It doesn't hurt the pigs to be treated if they don't have mites and mites are microscopic so I don't see how your vet could say they don't have them for sure.

 

[guineagurl]

Slap, I'm sorry you thought I was being rude, it wasnt my intention..I would have told you sooner but I only just saw this thread now.
EDIT..I saw some other people mentioning that you do jump to conclusions alot, I myself was only talking about the one comment here, not any other threads, I can see how it may have bugged you thinking I was bringing up something else, it was just a coinsidence I swear.

I didn't hijack anything Ly, he assumed something that I though was quiet clearly not the case, I don't even remember now what it was...I'm allways getting into trouble on here. I'm not a nasty poster!

 

[Ly&Pigs]

I don't think you or slap are nasty posters. I may read a post in a different way than you or others do and vice versa. The moral of the story is that we are human and are allowed to make mistakes and misunderstand things. I have misunderstood some posts myself. Now can we not discuss that situation anymore and get back to the topic of this thread please.

 

[Ketus15]

I have a couple of comments, and due to the strange sub-conversation, I only read the posts from Christy. Forgive me if I'm repeating information.

Eating too much hay: A guinea pigs digestive track is designed to keep moving. The fiber in the hay wears down their constantly growing teeth and maintains proper GI function. This means they constantly eat hay and make poop. As long as they get enough vitamin C in addition, this is just fine. Also, if they like hay more than their pellets and you worry about vitamin C, you can give a supplement. Many people here like to use tablets broken into 1/4 pieces. I use liquid and a syringe. Just make sure whatever you choose is sugar free and the only vitamin or mineral listed is "asorbic acid".

Carrots: Daily carrots can damage a pigs liver because it has "soluable Vitamin A". From the other explanations on this board, I gahter that its sort of like smoking. Not everyone who smokes will get lung cancer, and not every pig which eats carrots every day will get liver damage. I figure, don't smoke or over feed carrots, just in case.

Pellets: Don't know if this was mentioned, but high quality, timothy hay based, pellets are what should be offered to your pig. No nuts, seeds, treats, or colored bits.

Scales: I use a kitchen scale from Walmart. It is the 5 lb variety.

URI's come from bacterial infection. Bacteria is always present. When the pig goes through one of the stressful events already mentioned, then its immune system might be less effective, allowing the bacteria to take hold.

Symptoms of mites are soreness, scratching, hair loss, scabs, and a few others. Many people treat all new pigs for mites, because they can be easy to miss and are very painful. If you decide to treat, it is a good idea to treat all of the pigs in your house at the same time.

Good luck, and please post anymore questions.

 

[Slap Maxwell]

I didn't hijack anything Ly, he assumed something that I though was quiet clearly not the case, I don't even remember now what it was...I'm allways getting into trouble on here.

I'm a girl.. LOL.

 

[Sabriel]

My husband was very surprized when I told him you're a girl. I read him alot of things from this forum (he doesn't post on forums. He just gets his info from me, and sometimes trys to post through me. I made him get his own account on GL since I didn't want him spiuting nonsense under my user name) and he always loved your user name. He says the Maxwell part is decieving and is probably the reason he thought you were male.

But back to the conversation at hand, is there a normal cavy weight? I assumed animals came in all shapes and sizes. I feed both my cats the same diet but one is very tiny and one is mid sized.

I always worry that my girls are too small, but as I don't know thier ages for sure and they are still growing, anything can happen I guess.

 

[Slap Maxwell]

Cavy weights vary tremendously. One of my females is 1.1 pounds... one is 2.5 pounds... another is 2.1 pounds, and the male is around 2.1 pounds, too. There really isn't an average weight... it's hard to say.

 

[laura220]

Woah, your a girl!

 

[Slap Maxwell]

Yeah... LOL. I swear.

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/slapmaxx2/Snap3.bmp

 

[Denise]

Yeah... LOL. I swear.

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/slapmaxx2/Snap3.bmp

Wow, you most certainly are! And a pretty one at that, if it's OK to say.

 

[Slap Maxwell]

Aw, thanks!