General New piggy! Yay! And questions about care.

[Onlyinred]

So I got a new guinea pig. The owners just dropped her off. The cage is bigger than I expected but smaller than the one I wouldve made . Also, the previous owners left the piggy alot of treats. 3 whole strawberries, 4-5 leaves of lettuce and a large bowl of pellets.

My question is
1)does she need a bigger cage for the 2 weeks of quarantine (if not , that's good too cuz very limited room in the house)
2)is that too much food?
And 3
This pig and my own pig are seperate by a door and a bit of hallway. (3feet). For better quarantine, should I move my piggy closer into my room or is this quarantine enough?

Here's a pic of the cage itself (I belive it is 39 by 20 inches)
And the space between piggy cages (don't mind the mess plz)(also, i plan on keeping the door closed at all times)

 

[bpatters]

No, maybe, and yes. I can't tell what the food is. Those cages are close enough that airborne diseases could pass between them.

 

[CavyMama]

Quarantine is an isolation period so moving them closer is the opposite of what you would want to do. Because the door is open, any possible airbourne illness that would have been prevented with quarantine could have passed between them already. Quarantine should be 21 days and in separate rooms behind closed doors for this reason.

As bpatters has said - for the 21 day quarantine period, the small cage you have is large enough. How big is the cage you want to eventually house them both in? Is your current pig, female as well?

As for the food, how old is the new pig?

 

[Onlyinred]

Patters: k. I plan on moving my own guinea pig further into my room and then I'll send a diff pic to see if it's further enough. Unless you mean they must be in entirely seperate rooms in which case, poopy I'll have to figure something out.

What about products owned by the new guinea pig, such as food, water bottles and a moving cage thingy . Can they be stored next to my other piggy? How about if I cover them with something?

Cavy: really? 21 days not 14?
The cage I have is very large. 3 grids by 4 grids.

Yes the curgent is female as well.

The new piggy I'm told is about 4yrs old.

Question (to both). What about creating a second "door" to my room? That way , one will always be closed whike the other is open.

 

[bpatters]

Quarantine is to protect your old pig from any diseases/parasites that the new one may have. Many diseases have a 21-day incubation period -- that's why three weeks is recommended. It's your pig and your pocketbook if you have to take them both to the vet, but I'd wait the full three weeks unless I got it from a reputable rescue where I knew it had already been quarantined, or from a reputable family that had definitely taken care of it.

Moving the cages as far apart as you can is the safer option.

If you clean all the stuff up from the new pig, you can store it next to your old pig.

And FYI, you need to change clothes after handling the new pig. I'd keep a large shirt or smock close to the new pig's cage and wear it when handling her, then take it off and wash my hands and arms when I was done.

 

[Onlyinred]

Patters: ok
Thanks

 

[lisa325]

Congrats on your new addition .Being that you already have a piggy I'm assuming that you've put hay in the new piggies cage.
They need an unlimited supply of hay. Take the strawberries out, that's far too much. Fruit should only be given occasionally , if at all, in small amounts, as they don't process sugar well.( Learned that from bpatters . )
Way too many pellets in there too, adult pigs should only be given 1/8 cup of pellets per day.

 

[Onlyinred]

Thx lisa. Will do

 

[CavyMama]

Yes separate rooms completely for quarantine - and closed doors between them. If you can manage to close your door every time you enter or leave your room and you move the pig farther away, then it might work. Otherwise, I would find a different place in the house for the quarantine period.

 

[Onlyinred]

C.mama
I got her a seperate room (yay)

Question to all:
Right now, I have a robe I keep in that room by the entrance. I take off my shirt and put it on when I'm taking care if her. Afterwards, I'll take it off, put on my shirt, wash my hands in soap and warm water, before entering my room (where the first piggy resides).
I usually feed the first piggy and then the second before leaving home (as opposed to the reverse) to minimize cross contamination.
Am I missing anything? Is there anything I'm doing unnecessarily?