New piggie owner - hello everyone!!

[lmcmen]

Hi everyone,

I adopted my first guinea pig - Angelo - almost two weeks ago. He is 10 months old and my first. He came with a cage which looked like just a standard starter you can get from petco or petsmart and while looking at reviews of cages on the petsmart website I found a recurrent poster who insisted a C & C cage was best for piggies. I had no idea what a C & C was but happily I do now!! Poor Angelo living all those months in such a little cage! Anyway, I have today ordered some coroplast from a local supplier (which I added to the listing) and hope Angelo will have his new cage in time for Christmas. As I also have 4 rats, our living area is already animal friendly and all electrical cables are covered in hosepipe, plants out of reach etc so Angelo is currently free-ranging full time until I can get him the cage he deserves.

I'm so glad I found this wonderful site! A big hello from me (Lindsay) and a grateful Angelo (and Teddy, Millie, Pepper and Molly - the rat pack!)

 

[SurfingPigs]

Hello and welcome!

Wow, what a lucky pig Angelo is! And so handsome, too (if that is him in your avatar). I was in the same position as you when I first got pigs... I thought I had the biggest, best cage ever, and then I found C&Cs. Thanks for putting your pig's happiness and needs first and upgrading him to the big playground he deserves. Look through the galleries for fun cage ideas and post up with any questions you might have.

Oh, and more pictures of your little guy are a must!

 

[lmcmen]

Thank you! I will definitely be looking at the pictures for inspiration. My avatar is indeed Angelo, I fell in love with him. Once he has his new cage, a friend for him is next on the list.... will let him settle in for a while first and then maybe get him a girl pig - after a trip to the vets for him.....

 

[SurfingPigs]

I bet he will be really excited to get a friend in the future! I'm assuming your mention of the vet is because you know he needs to be neutered to be with a sow? If so, good for you for doing your research, you are way ahead of the game!

If you have a rescue nearby, they may even let you bring Angelo along to pick out his new friend. That is how I have always added members to my herd, and it really helps make introductions at home easier. I still can't get over how handsome your boy is. Have so much fun and stick around!

 

[Hhbean]

Hi and welcome! Angelo is a cutie!

 

[CLV71]

Hello and welcome to the forum. Your pig sure is cute.

 

[lmcmen]

Thank you everyone, Angelo and I are pleased to meet you.

SurfingPigs - yes, if we were to get a sow then we will have him neutered although I'm currently having a read through all the information I can about introductions. It seems we may be able to successfully introduce him to a baby boar? He came from a home where they kept over 10 guinea pigs and apparently got on well with the other male when outside the cage so this may be a way of avoiding surgery for him.

My husband and I have successfully introduced rats in the past, in fact our current 4 are made up of 1 male and three females from 3 unrelated litters so we have some experience albeit with another species of rodent.

If anybody has any advice on introducing boars then I'd love to hear it,

Thanks again

-Lindsay & Angelo

 

[go_ellie]

I've just intoroduced to boars together, and after some chattering, they are now best buds!!

go to caviespirit.com, and about half way down the page is the introductions. I used this method and it works great!!

 

[MoosesMommy]

First off, WELCOME!
Secondly, I have two boars that were recently just introduced, and while they do have their arguments (and only at veggie time) they get along great. Before I put them in a cage together I introduced them in an unfamiliar place to both of them. They sought eachother out , out of comfort and necessity. Before putting them in a cage together I completely cleaned, sanitized, and rearranged the food, water, hideys, toys, etc. That way all scents were gone and everything was new to both and there wouldn't be territorial issue right off the bat. There was quite a bit of butt sniffing and mounting at first but now they chase, play and popcorn together
After one incident over a piece of lettuce, I bathed both my boys and before putting them back in the cage i cleaned it and put LOTS of fresh Timothy Hay in the cage and swaped out the hideys for different ones and when they got back in they had so much fun they forgot all about their spat! And it's so adorable when they groom after a bath.
Hope this helps

 

[Hhbean]

We just introduced our two new guys to our two original guys and it's turned out better then I thought it would. As the others advised, start with a neutral area and give the cage a good scub down. Make sure you have hideys for each piggy, plus an extra one. The hideies should have at least 2 exits(fleece forests work for us)! You will also want to have 2 kitchen areas so a piggy can't guard both at the same time. The most important thing is making sure you have a large enough cage because boys need room to get away from each other. Good luck on getting him a friend!

 

[bpatters]

lmcmen, read Guinea Pigs Social Life and scroll down to the Introductions section about halfway down.

The key to boars getting along is lots of space. Some long-time boar owners swear that they do better in cages that are at least three feet/grids wide rather than two, because they're less likely to get in each others' faces.

 

[lmcmen]

Thank you all for your wonderful advice. It's good to know that it can be done successfully. I'd prefer for him not to have surgery if at all possible so think another boar may be the way forward here. I'm ordering the grids today - we have a fairly large space in one corner of our bedroom that might just accommodate a 3 x 4. In any case, I'm buying an extra pack to make it as big as possible for Angelo right now and any new additions. There is a couple of rescue centers not too far from here that seem to be bursting at the seams with piggies so we'll be checking them out in the new year and will keep you posted on how it goes.

Will have had Angelo 2 weeks tomorrow (time flies!!) and the change so far is incredible. He follows me around (especially to the kitchen) and is getting more and more vocal every day, although only once so far has he called out for treats - it was so adorable but my husband missed it and so far he hasn't done it again. He still doesn't like to be held but at 10 months I'm thinking maybe he is never going to be 100% comfortable with it. Time will tell I guess

Thank you all!! Best go get those grids ordered

Lindsay (& Angelo)

 

[anydue]

Welcome! I am new here too! I have 3 boys and they get along great. I do have a couple of questions for you, out of curiosity...

1. Is your male rate neutered?
2. If you give your new piggy free reign and/or your ratties as well, what do you do about poop and pee? I just wonder how people handle this with floor time. I have only held mine with no accidents, but I am sure they would go potty if I put them free reign on the floor. TIA!

 

[bpatters]

Big blankets on the floor...

 

[lmcmen]

Hi anydue,

Yes, our male rat is neutered. He came to us from a petshop where he had been returned because his brother had died suddenly. He was so stressed out that he was pulling out his fur. He was such a cuddly little thing that we rescued him and after a month or two in a separate cage, and being neutered in between, the girls adopted him. It makes us very happy that he has adapted so well - king of the cage... the girls pander to his every need and fight over who gets to groom him.... and he's so so happy, he never walks - just does really exaggerated hops everywhere.

As for the Angelo pig, his 'cage' is currently in the living room and is constantly open apart from the hour or so when the rats come out to play when he has to go to another room in the cage. He has claimed an area under one of the tables and I have put a mat down underneath (great advice I found on another thread) which he poops on. I have also made him a little nest box under there and I put some hay down for him the eat/play. There are sometimes a couple of stray poops elsewhere which are easily picked up but for the most part he does them either in his cage (which really is a glorified litter box) or on the mat under the table. He seems to only pee in the cage - I haven't felt wetness or smelled anything anywhere else - good boy!!

Hope this helps

 

[anydue]

Thanks! That does help! I have been researching rats ever since I got guinea pigs because I was told that they were much more outgoing and friendly than piggies. This was by a rat owner, of course. I was curious how you kept a male with females. Thanks for the info! I have my hands full with my new gp's, but I think rats are so interesting!

 

[Fizzlepop40]

Welcome to the forum! You'll love it here. Angelo is such a cute guinea pig!

 

[Japonica26]

Welcome to the forum! Sounds like you're off to a great start and have a wonderful cage planned.

I got a kick out of reading about Angelo's free range adventures, following you to the kitchen etc. We do floor time, but not free range, so I really appreciated reading about how it goes when piggies are living "wild and free" LOL.

I had two boars who got along great. One passed away two weeks ago and we'll be introducing our new adoptee--Pumkin, another young boar--to our resident pig sometime after Christmas when quarantine is up.

 

[lmcmen]

I'm glad you are interested in rats anydue, they really are the most amazing pets. Affectionate, intelligent and very clean. I've been keeping them for about 7 years now and the most recent four really are just fantastic. I moved from Scotland to PA in January and they flew from Edinburgh the following day. Poor little things were jet lagged for a few days but there was no way I was parting with them and as they travelled in pairs I believe the stress was minimal - as compared with stress to both owner and animal if I had to rehome them. I can't bare to think about that!

Japonica, Hi! sorry to hear about your boy, it's just so horrible losing a little furry. Hope the other one does well with his new friend...

As for free range time, I think it's like having a small dog running around sometimes. Most of the time Angelo is sleeping or hiding in his box or igloo and I'm trying not to disturb him too much while he's adjusting to his new surroundings but when he appears it's quite funny. He gets very excited and will run laps round the furniture. Of course I have very little experience with piggies, but if they are all like him then I would say as long as you carefully animal proof the room then I see no reason to not let them run riot! I can't wait to get him a friend and see him really come out of his shell!!

-Lindsay

 

[grace&piggies]

Angelo sounds like such a well-mannered little man And so cute! When I first got Willy he had just been neutered so for almost two months he was free range. I'd put dvds on my laptop so he had something to break up the silence if I wasn't around and he'd sit and watch them. He'd also wake me up by dragging newspaper over to beside my bed and rustling it! Free range brings out the loveliest behaviours. I miss it!