Proud Piggie Owner of Peruvian Princess Penelope! =)

[ArabianMagicat]

Hello!
My name is Laura, and two days ago I became the owner of a cavy named Penny! =) I decided to join, because I want to make her a C&C cage when I find the materials! I'm actually not supposed to have pets in the apartment complex I am in (I'm a 19 year old college student), but most people I talked to say that guinea pigs don't count as pets, and they don't care about the two hamsters we have in our apartment.. Soo I decided that as long as I hide her while I am in classes during inspection week, I'll be okay =)

I'm an animal lover, and I have two horses named Magic and Bear. I suffer from fibromyalgia, and decided to get Penny to keep me company, especially when I'm really stressed and in pain!

She's in the petsmart Premium Deluxe Guinea Pig Starter Kit right now, which is pretty small but I want to make a C&C cage once I can afford it! Since we aren't supposed to have pets, I figure I can leave the C&C cage up, and then take it down for inspection week (which we have once a semester) and keep her in the petsmart cage until they check our apartment.

I want to get her a buddy eventually, probably not until after Christmas though. She is still getting used to me, but I was wondering what treats might be good..? I tried giving her "Healthy Bits," a piece of strawberry, a piece of banana, a piece of apple, but no luck. She likes her romaine lettuce at least!!

She's still getting used to me, but she will come up to me during playtime now, and lets me hold and brush her! I'm really excited to have her =)

 

[bpatters]

Welcome to the forum. We'd love to see pictures of Penny.

When you think treats, think herbs. Mine go absolutely wild over dill and cilantro, love basil, and one really likes thyme. Fruits should be an occasional thing, as the sugar isn't good for their digestive tracts. The treats that are sold in pet stores are junk -- just save your money.

Read the "read me" and "sample menus" stickies in the Diet and Nutrition forum here -- they've got lots of information about what to feed your pig and when.

One word of caution about romaine lettuce. Some pigs do very well on it all of their lives. Others, for reasons not yet understood, will produce excess calcium in their urine, and that may lead to urinary tract stones. So if you see white spots in her bedding when the urine has dried, then switch her to red or green leaf lettuce.

 

[ArabianMagicat]

Oh okay, thank you! I'll try feeding her herbs and she if she likes those! And I guess I'll end up throwing away the pet store treats, she doesn't seem interested at all. Also, I read that they are supposed to have a minimum of 1 cup of veggies every day, but I can't get her to eat carrots or green pepper or celery =( I try giving her about a third of a cup morning, afternoon, and at night, but she still won't touch it! She'll eat the romaine lettuce and a bite of the parsley, but that's about it. She's just interested in her pellets and hay. Any suggestions on to why she isn't eating any veggies? I'm probably going to have to pick up vitamin C drops to put in her pellets at night, I don't know how she would get enough otherwise.

 

[bpatters]

They're like kids, you have to teach them to eat veggies. Start with one veggie -- say green or red leaf lettuce. Chop some very fine, and put it over her pellets. She'll get enough by accident to get used to the taste, and then you can feed it in larger pieces. Give that one a week, then try green bell peppers the same way for a week. Mine learned to eat several vegetables that way.

 

[RubyRain]

Welcome!
Be careful about hiding your pets. You wouldn't want to get evicted or have to take your pig to a shelter if the manager got angry about it. Some apartments are fine with pets that are in cages so you may be OK. If they allow hamsters they will probably allow guinea pigs. I would ask in a general way to see what their answer is so you have an idea of their reaction if you get caught.

 

[Hhbean]

Welcome! Would love to see a picture of Penny!

 

[ArabianMagicat]

Thank you, bpatters! I read this a couple days ago, and have been chopping up teeny pieces of parsley or green pepper, and putting it over her pellets (as I haven't made it to the store to get her red leaf lettuce). I don't think its quite working =/ but hopefully the red leaf lettuce will work. She just keeps picking the pellets out of it, unfortunately, but I keep chopping it up in case she changes her mind.

I can not wait to get her a bigger cage - when I have her out for playtime, she's so much happier and sweeter, and will come up to me so I can pet her! But the second she goes back into her cage, she just runs to her pigloo and starts making that low rumbling noise (I'm not sure if it has a name, its kinda like a purr, except I read it means something along the lines of they are annoyed/warning.) So I'm pretty sure she hates her cage =( But I have her out for at least three hours a day (One in the morning or afternoon, while I'm studying or working on homework, and another two hours in the evening when I'm studying or watching tv, sometimes longer).

Thanks Ruby Rain, but I know I won't get evicted because its for college students, who have done a lot worse and still were able to stay (ex: having so many people on a balcony that it breaks). I am in one of the few complexes that doesn't allow pets, which is part of the reason they are losing business. I would get fined however, but I am the only one who has a walk in closet that is off to the side, so I can just slide her cage to the corner in there and leave the door open when they come.

I have pictures of her on my iphone, so I will definitely post some later!! =)

 

[ArabianMagicat]

Here's a picture of Penny!



Also, I just found out that we apparently are now allowed to have pets in my apartment complex! =)

 

[bpatters]

Cute! How are we doing with our veggies?

 

[ArabianMagicat]

Still not much luck! =( She'll eat green leaf lettuce and romaine, but no luck on anything else. So now I have celery, green peppers, and carrots just sitting in the fridge. I keep cutting up fine pieces and mixing it in her pellets, but she manages to pick around it. Eventually she WILL eat it!!!!!!!

I read somewhere that a second guinea pig helps, because then if one eats it, the other one doesn't want to miss out.
Also, where is the best place to get a second guinea pig? I'm in VA, and I don't really want to drive two hours there + back to pick one up. One of the closer (by closer I mean two hours out of the way) rescue places charges $55 per female and $70 per male (all of theirs are spayed and neutered), and I just can't afford that in gas right now either. I keep checking craigslist in four different cities, but so far no luck in female guinea pigs. Will there be more after Christmas? Is it common for people to get them as gifts, and them sell them/give them away on craigslist? I just hate to wait that long, since I know she lived with her son before I got her, so she isn't used to living alone. I'd rather adopt than get one from Petsmart, though.

Also I contacted a sign store, who can sell me a 4' x 8' sheet of coroplast for $20 - not bad at all! Unfortunately, I've yet to find any grids that I can use. The only place that has any is target, but they only have 8 squares per grid instead of 9. I go home this Friday, and I know that the walmart near my house has the grids in stock!