Pandemic Class Pet Piggie

[MJ2020]

Taking care of class pet since pandemic shut down schools

Hi everyone,
We were the family that signed up to take the class pet home the weekend school shut down. He is a male boar and is probably 9months old. He was very little when we first hosted him in the beginning of the school year. I noticed his pee seemed to be leaving white stains and realized he might have too much calcium in his diet and switched him to kms pellets and veggies that are not high in calcium. He just loved Romaine lettuce so I kept giving it to him along with spinach, dandelion greens, parsley, an occasional carrot, all higher in calcium it seems. He’s always rejected every color pepper, but is good with cilantro, endive, red lettuces and of course cucumber bits. Is there a special diet recommended for pigs that might be sensitive to calcium and prone to kidney stones? I just looked at the general lists of veggies and they never mentioned watch out for too much calcium...but through various internet searches it seems like this may be a common problem.

Does anyone else have an accidental pandemic piggie? I don’t want him to be a class pet again as that seems stressful since he was going home with a new family every week. Turns out the teacher is no longer going to be teaching, sooo... Since we have hosted him this long I feel somewhat obligated to adopt him permanently. I was prepared to give him back as a single boar so I did upgraded his cage to a Midwest 47x23. If we keep him, do I need to find him a friend to live with? If so will I need a larger cage? It seems small for 2 piggies. I had no idea how much work piggies are, does it get easier as you figure it out? Also I have a 6 year old dog who is very jealous of the attention we give the guinea pig. Has anyone else had a dog who eventually adjusted well to piggie siblings? I know this is a lot of random questions for just an introduction, but any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much and I’ve enjoyed reading everyone’s posts and responses on this site.
MJ​

 

[Smileandnod]

Here is a good chart from the forum that will help you with the calcium issue: https://www.guineapigcages.com/foru...vy-Nutrition-Charts-amp-Poisonous-Plants-List

Try giving him green leaf lettuce rather than romaine and spinach. If he likes red lettuce that is good too.

The switch to KMS pellets was smart...I have found they help IF you also monitor the fresh veggies he is getting.

As for the cage...You need something bigger as he grows and if you get another male guinea pig for him (which is suggested) you will definitely need a much bigger cage. There are lots of posts on this forum regarding cage size & styles. You can buy a C&C kit from the cage store (tab is at the top of this forum) or you can make your own by looking through the pictures and reading tips on this forum. They are easy to clean and provide the room needed.
https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/forums/10-About-Cages

If you do get another guinea pig make sure it is definitely male... don't trust a pet store...and definitely check them yourself by comparing their genitalia to make sure they are the same gender BEFORE putting them together. Don't trust what you have been told that he's a male unless you have confirmed it for yourself.

Then make sure you quarantine the newbie to check for illness and afterwards do proper introductions before just putting them together in the same cage. You don't want a fight.

If the dog is the jealous type, I would suggest to definitely keep them separate and make sure the guinea pig is on a high enough stand or table where the dog does not have access. Soon enough the out of sight, out of mind, may bring harmony. Guinea pigs can be easily injured from a unintentional swipe of the dog paw or playful mouth. My cats and dogs completely ignore the pigs now.

Good luck! Welcome to the forum and the wonderful world of guinea pigs!

 

[ItsaZoo]

Welcome to the forum. How nice of you to take this little guy, I'm sure he was stressed having a different family each week.

You made a good start with all the research on food and care. The food isn't too complicated, I just feed cucumbers, leaf lettuce, a little bit of carrot, and green pepper for fresh veggies. The KMS pellets are a good quality brand. And timothy hay is the staple for food, he should always have hay available.

A place to hide is important as well. An overturned box with two entrances will work starting out. Remove any tape or glue in case he chews.

For now I wouldn't worry about the cage size or getting a buddy for him. Let him get used to his new surroundings and see how he does. He's at the age where boys start to get testy with one another due to hormones, so finding a buddy now might not work too well.

As Smileandnod mentioned, be sure to keep him safe from the dog. Even after they're used to each other, guinea pigs tend to jump and run which gets dogs excited to chase, so keep them apart and make sure the cage is secure.

Once you get the routine down it's really pretty easy to care for guinea pigs. Good luck with your new little guy.

 

[MerryFriarTuck]

I'm so glad you've taken him in, and you're doing good so far! It must have been terribly, terribly stressful for him to be going home with different people every week, poor guy.


That's awesome you switched him to KMS pellets! Good pellets, 24/7 hay, and healthy veggies are the best things you can do for a piggy.

Romaine, parsley, dandelion greens, cilantro, and I believe endive are all high in calcium. Spinach is very high in calcium, vitamin A, and oxalic acid, all of which you don't want too much of.

This link that Smileandnod already gave you ( https://www.guineapigcages.com/foru...vy-Nutrition-Charts-amp-Poisonous-Plants-List ) shows everything! You can look up anything, see what's in it, and how often you can give it to them. Some piggies never have problems with romaine, etc; others are very sensitive to it. It sounds like your boy definitely is, boars tend to be more apt to have those issues.

You can still give him small amounts of romaine/cilantro/etc as treats once every week or two. For now I'd only give him green or red leaf lettuce, cucumber, and a small piece of carrot ( like half a baby carrot) daily.

You could try giving him a small piece of orange once a week for vitamin c, since he won't eat bell peppers yet. ( If you cut the bell pepper in very tiny pieces and mix it with things he does it, he may start eating them )


For now, all I'd worry about is watching his calcium and help him settle in to being a happy healthy piggy


I have a dog who gets jealous of the piggies, too. He was quite jealous at first, but adjusted very well. Now he never does more than sigh and plop down on the floor when I'm by my piggies. It really helps to have the cage up on a table or stand. It's safer for the piggy, and it's " out of sight, out of mind " for a dog.


Once you figure it out and have a routine, guinea pigs are much, much easier than it feels right now! Besides here, this is another great site---it's very readable with great info: www.guineapigmanual.com

Best of luck, and if you have any more questions ask away!

 

[bpatters]

Actually, romaine is no higher in calcium than the other lettuces. But in some pigs, it causes excess calcium excretion. Others are not bothered. Cilantro can do the same thing.

 

[MJ2020]

Thank you so much for all of the great info, the food chart is great. We always keep the dog away from Pumpkin. He is in a locked cage and room with a closed door. So far so good, the dog seems more interested in eating the little poops left in his playpen now after I put him back in the cage. I need to do a faster clean up!

 

[MJ2020]

Thanks for the easy feeding ideas. He has a hidey and loves to also snuggle under the flap in the fleece liner for his cage too. Good to know about the hormones, We will hold off on a friend for now. He seems to be picky about the pellets, I tried to switch to oxbow and he just isn’t having it, so I will probably switch back to kms. I’m not working at this time and was trying to save a bit of money, but now I see why everyone calls themselves a cavy slave

 

[MJ2020]

Thanks so much for the advice and idea of cutting up the peppers really tiny. I will do that and see if he warms up to them for the vitamin c. His cage is enclosed and in a separate room, I even have locker locks on it, just to keep my 3 year old away, but it seems like it would be hard for the dog to access. At least he’s shown no interest in that, I just give him extra treats too, apparently he likes cucumbers and lettuce now. Good to know the dogs adjust, he is sighing and plopping down too, so I guess he’s reluctantly accepted Pumpkin as a family member. Thanks for the other website, I will check it out. I recently tried the oxbow pellets, but he won’t eat them so I will order the kms again. Or can I try and mix the two? Or would two pellets be bad for a piggies digestion? I blended them at first and he just picked out the kms ones. The kms do seem much fresher. He had kaytee at school with kaytee hay. And now I have oxbow hay, Timothy, and a few varieties to mix in, he loves the oat hay! Thanks again!

 

[MJ2020]

Thanks for the info, good to know that he will still get some needed calcium in his diet but it won’t irritate him the way the Romaine did. I’ll have to be sure and check if I notice the same thing with cilantro, I didn’t realize that was a calcium veggie too, I’ll definitely limit both now.

 

[MerryFriarTuck]

Thanks so much for the advice and idea of cutting up the peppers really tiny. I will do that and see if he warms up to them for the vitamin c. His cage is enclosed and in a separate room, I even have locker locks on it, just to keep my 3 year old away, but it seems like it would be hard for the dog to access. At least he’s shown no interest in that, I just give him extra treats too, apparently he likes cucumbers and lettuce now. Good to know the dogs adjust, he is sighing and plopping down too, so I guess he’s reluctantly accepted Pumpkin as a family member. Thanks for the other website, I will check it out. I recently tried the oxbow pellets, but he won’t eat them so I will order the kms again. Or can I try and mix the two? Or would two pellets be bad for a piggies digestion? I blended them at first and he just picked out the kms ones. The kms do seem much fresher. He had kaytee at school with kaytee hay. And now I have oxbow hay, Timothy, and a few varieties to mix in, he loves the oat hay! Thanks again!

I'm glad I could help, and everything's going well! That's so funny your dog likes cucumber and lettuce now, too ...my dachshund does the same thing with lettuce and cilantro lol As long as the cage is doggy proof it sounds like you're good. And he's learning to associate guinea pigs with good things, like treats!

Oxbow and KMS are both the best of the best, so I wouldn't worry about switching him to Oxbow or mixing the two if he doesn't like it. Also, I'm pretty sure that KMS is even lower in calcium then Oxbow, which would be a bonus for him.

Oxbow hay is really great quality, and it's awesome he's enjoying the different kinds! Do watch out for too much alfalfa hay, because it's higher in calcium. I think that's the only hay that is---maybe a more experienced forum member will chime in.

My two boys eat Oxbow timothy hay and Oxbow pellets. For example, their daily veggies are yellow and green bell pepper, greenleaf lettuce, cucumber, and corn husks if I have them ( just make sure you wash corn husks well... but they love them!) Their favorite treats are carrots, cilantro, oranges, red bell pepper, and watermelon