Joy What made you decide to get your first guinea pig?

[juldga]

I am wondering how you all came to love the little piggies so much? What made you decide to get your first one instead of another pet? Why do you love guinea pigs?

 

[go_ellie]

I got my guinea pig after my second hamster pasted. I wanted another furry freind to call my own. My mother wanted a hamster, so little and cute. I wanted somthing a little bigger, cuddley; somthing I could hold during the day and hang out with. If any of you guys have had hamsters you know there holding time limit is very short.

I did three weeks of research. Them asked. At first I got a NO, but I'm so glad I kept trying. Then after a month, I finally got a YES!!

Them I got my first guinea pig, and lets say I fell in love at first sight!!!

After three months, my guinea pig got depressed. An hour of lap time, four hours of free range wasn't enough for my little boy.

So I adopted another little boy, Same age, 100% different personalities. They get along great!!

I really am not sure why we love these little guys, but we do!! Is it there week, hair, there personalities? I don't know, all I know is I'm glad my two boys came into my life!!



Happy Holidays every one!!!

 

[sillylittle]

I haven't gotten any yet, but I live alone, and so when I'm at my apartment I'm pretty lonely. I've had rabbits and cats before, but one day I just stumbled across the idea of guinea pigs, and I kinda just latched on and learned what I could about them. I'm going to get two girls shortly after New Years, and look forward to getting to know their quirks and personalities

 

[juldga]

I have always had pets. Most of them from people who no longer wanted them. My previous pets included a guinea pig. My latest cat passed away I had her 11 years and now that I live in a townhouse that allows no cats or dogs. I have fond memories of my guinea pig growing up (fur-face) so I am adopting 2 4 year old sows (charlotte & Fern)

 

[Inle_Rabbit]

I have been trying to remember that for the past few weeks.

I remember that my brother and I were allowed to get our own animals because we were moving across the state. It was a total bribe from my parents. We went to the pet store and I picked out a guinea pig. I don't really remember why from all the other animals there, I think it was one of the first times I had ever seen a guinea pig. They are cute and cuddly and I was 7 so they fit the bill of what a 7-year-old girl wants in a pet.

My first guinea pig's name was Adam and he was a black, white and gray Abyssinian. I loved that guinea pig so much. He lived in a big dog create, the wire kind, even back then my mom knew that a pet store cage was just too small! I played with him every day, he sat next to me eating veggies while I read books or watched TV. I took him outside and fed him long strands of grass and he would just suck them up like spaghetti. I had him for about a year before he died of a URI.

It was during this time that a neighbor kid of ours got a guinea pig as well but she didn't take care of him. She left him tied outside to a tree all night long. After hearing the story and telling my mother she called the girl's mom to talk to her. 10 minutes later the neighbor girl's mother brought over the guinea pig, cage and all, and just said "Take it! I don't want it!" Thus a brown and white male guinea pig called Buddy entered my life. I had him for 9 years before he just finally didn't get up one day. Ever since Adam and Buddy I have had between 2 and 4 guinea pigs except while in college when I just had rabbits and after my kids were born because I didn't want any small animals accidentally getting hurt.

 

[HannibalLecter]

My boyfriends mother asked me to babysit her 6 year old sons two girls for a week, as she suspected that she was "allergic". They came to me neglected, in a too small cage set on the floor for her dog to bark at, with the wrong diet & completely ignored by her at home.

That week passed & I had already decided to not let her take them back as I saw major improvements in them already. She never tried to or asked for them again. I found my way here fairly quickly & was able to get them the right care, cage, environment & love within a few weeks. Unfortunately I wasn't quick enough to find out she had a hamster as well, it was deliberately killed by one of her drunk friends.

I just fell in love with them, unfortunately all my savings have gone towards these animals I didn't choose to have in the first place. I'm sad about how hard it is to make ends meet, but I'll never be able to adopt them out.

 

[SurfingPigs]

I got my first pigs because, when I lived at home, I couldn't have pets. When I graduated college I finally put some thought into pets and researched them. I didn't have the space for a dog, so I opted for a guinea pig because of their personalities (goofy, inquisitive little animals). Then I learned all about them, started volunteering and fostering for a couple rescue, and now I'm a full blown addict.

 

[kirsty91]

My boyfriend and I had fish and decided we didn't like them as much as we thought we would. We have dogs and wanted something cuddly that could hangout with us and wasn't too high maintenance. We decided on a guinea pig. It ended up being more work than we thought but me being an animal lover it didnt matter. I'm the one who takes care of the animals but my bf enjoys them too in his own way haha

 

[macysmom]

I have always had pets, and I am really a cat person, but when my stepdaughter came to us 6 months ago wanting a pet I started doing some research. We dont have her all of the time, only weekends, and my SO and I both work full time so a puppy wouldnt work. His mom is deathly allergic to cats, so no kittens. I had hamsters as a child with both good and bad experiences, I also had a dwarf bunny that I loved but I couldnt find any in the area. My research finally led me to either a guinea pig or a rat. My SO couldnt get over the "creepy" rat stigma so we started looking for a piggie. He still really wasnt that thrilled even with that but we had promised her. And yep OK I was getting excited too.lol
We've now had Macy for 3 1/2 weeks and I cant imagine life without her, funny thing is the SO is more in love with her than I am. He constantly carries her, hand feeds her, whistles to her and she responds, and even calls me just to tell me "Oh Macy did ...." Its so funny. He never was allowed pets growing up so he was sort of aloof about getting her but now it makes me giggle just thinking about how he is with her. We are looking around now for a second little girl and planning to expand her 2x4 c&c to a 3x5, and hopefully tonight her fleece liners will be finished and I can get those in there.
I would not have thought that having a GP would have brought so much extra joy to our house, funny how pets do that huh?
Oh and her cage is in our living room and when his parents said something snarky about it, he just looked at them and said well Macy likes being around us and I wouldnt want her to be lonely. I was so proud

 

[pinky]

My parents bought us two guinea pigs from the state fair when we were kids. This was a long time ago & I'm not advocating it. We always had a lot of pets when I was at home. When I got married, we didn't have any pets for a few years and then had cockatiels and finches. It wasn't until my daughter was about 7 and my son was about 3 that we got our first family guinea pig. We had the guinea pig's cage next to the cockatiel's. The guinea pig was a pet store pig (this was back in the 90's) and she had pups a few weeks later....figures, right?...... We kept two and gave one to a friend. We've never bred any of them but we've had pigs ever since.

 

[Macy K.]

I got my first guinea pig only about two weeks ago. I just got one because my parents wouldnt let me get two. My stepmom didnt really want one at all but she was going to let me get one. She is completly attached now to him and I can soon get him a buddy. Anyway I got mine from Petstore and while i wanted to get him from a shelter I felt I was rescuing him from the store. I brought him home and evernight he sits in my lap and we watch movies on my laptop. He is a gray abbysinian and only 5 months old. His cage is quite the responsibility but it is a small price to pay for all the joy he brings to me!

 

[CavyMama]

I had always enjoyed going into petstores and just looking at the animals. I had seen the ferrets and thought they were amazingly clownish and adorable but in researching them, I realized that they were also quite the little sneaks as well (stealing socks or whatever else they could grab). I also heard a lot about their musky scent and people having to ferret proof their house because the ferrets can squeeze into very tight spaces.

It was at this time, that I noticed the guinea pigs there. I hadnt thought much about them and admittedly at the time, didn't know much about them either. So I started to do some research. Of course, the books they had were outdated and mostly inaccurate so I did some research online. Found a guinea pig forum on Myspace and talked to those people.

All the while getting more and more enthusiastic about these lovely little critters. I would feverishly google image search them just to look at the pictures of them. I would research for hours just trying to find as much info as I could on them.

It was at this time of the year in 2005 that my enthusiasm for getting one had grown to a fever pitch! I specifically remember being on my computer on Christmas Eve, while guests had started to arrive downstairs.

Less than a month later, I brought home Shammy. He was 6 mths old at the time. Admittedly, despite my research I was still pretty ignorant about proper care so poor Shammy was the focus of a lot of my rookie mistakes...at least at first.

That was January of 2006 and thus began my piggy obsession. Shammy passed on, this past May. Over the past 5 years (almost 6 now), Ive had 10 pigs. It started with Shammy and I havent looked back since

 

[Kimberly713]

It's sad to say, but my first guinea pig was an impulse buy basically. My mom always liked to look at the birds in petsmart because she thought they were funny, and I wandered over to the rodents. They had about 9 pigs in a cage and about 4 of them were romping around all cute like. I decided I wanted one and about 2 weeks later my aunt gave me about $80 for going to cedar point with her (haha awesome I know) and so the next time we went to petsmart I bought a pig and a tiny "starter pack".

Within maybe 2 weeks I wanted to know everything there was to know about my newest piggy and ended up here. I learned about companions and larger cages, didn't know anything about adoption yet. Built a 2x3 cage in my room and by week 3 I had Calypso in the family as well. I still wish I had not been so naive at the time, and researched beforehand, but I don't regret it, I love my girls.

I love my piggies and their unique personalities and quirks, plus they are so darn cute! I will probably have pigs again in my life but not until well after college is over and such.

 

[arionat799]

Well I don't have a piggie yet but I first started wanting one when my friend first got her piggy and I went over to see her. I thought she was so cute and loved that she would cuddle with you all day long. I didn't really get into it much at first but then I went to the pet store and payed a little more attention to them. One day I asked if I could hold one and absolutely just fell in love! That second I got home I started researching all I could about them and while researching stumbled upon this amazing site! -Thank the Lord because I didn't know a thing about guinea pigs- and after hours of researching-meaning learning about C&C cages, where I can get the grids, calling every coroplast place I could find in the state to see what colors they had, dragging my grandpa out to the humane society so that I could look at more pigs, figuring out what food to feed the pig, etc.-I started making a presentation to show my Dad why I wanted a guinea pig and how to take care of them. I think it;s been 2 months now and I am 99.9% sure I'm getting a little piggy for Christmas!

 

[ILoveMillie]

My love for guinea pigs started when I was little. I don't remember how old I was or how the love for them started, but I asked my parents and they said no. So then I asked my grandma, who loves animals, and she said sure! She said she would take care of them as long as I came over all the time to help her. We went to the Humane Society to see if they had any, and we met two cute piggies! We sat in a pen with them and they were really scared and I knew nothing about them so I thought they didn't like me. We went home to think about it and when we told my grandpa, he said there was no way a guinea pig was living in his house and their dog is a Carin terrier/corgi mix and they thought for sure he would get the little piggies. And honestly we didn't really know anything about them. So no guinea pigs for me yet. Now I am happy we didn't get them because they probably wouldn't have had the best life.

Last summer I started to volunteer for the Humane Society as an Assistant Camp Counselor for the younger kids and I am there to watch the kids and make sure both the animals and kids are being safe when in the same room. One day they brought in a big white abby guinea pig named Casper to meet the kids Casper was adorable and had a very sweet and spunky personality and I fell in love with guinea pigs all over again! The entire week I was asking my parents and kept taking my mom over to Casper's cage so she could look at her. Of course the second I got home I started doing some research and looking on petfinder for guinea pigs to adopt, and then I became obsessed. I found a local small animal rescue and was glued to their website for months!

I made presentations, wrote letters, and always talked about it at dinner. My mom was ok with it, but my dad was the one I had to win over. In November I found this website and learned about C&C cages. I was nervous to join because I had never joined a forum so I was just a lurker for a few weeks. Right before Thanksgiving, my mom took me to the local small animal rescues adoption event. There I met Anastasia (now Millie!) who one of the volunteers described as a "little monster". She was just 2ish months old and they said she didn't like to sit still and didn't get along with other guinea pigs. I sat with her for it felt like hours and she settled down and fell asleep in my lap and that was it; she was mine.

We had just gone there to look at them though, so I had to leave little Anastasia behind and I cried on the way home. That's when my mom knew I had really fallen in love! I joined the forum, found another member on here who volunteered for the same small animal rescue, and about a week before the next adoption event I emailed the main person at the rescue saying I was most likely going to adopt my little black and white baby pig! I took a picture of her on my phone and looked at it during passing period and lunch break at school. I was truly in love The morning came of the adoption event and I asked my mom if we could go get her and she said yes! Anastasia became Millie and I now volunteer and foster for the same small animal rescue I got her from!

That's how my love, and obsession, of guinea pigs evolved.

 

[Keekers]

I got my first pig Eevee for Christmas two years ago, she was my very first guinea pig, and still alive and wheeking today! I have to say she was a lucky pig, because not usually, but sometimes pets and Christmas do not mix, and they get dumped at a shelter. This was not the case, and she grew on me. Sadly, she had to go 4 months without a friend!

But then on my birthday, April 2, my Dad bought, yes bought, another guinea pig from the pet store. Millie. Back then i was still inexperienced, and just plopped her in with Eevee. Boy, they had a tiny tiny cage. Lucky for me there was no fighting, probably because Eevee was so desperate for a friend!

So far i haven't picked out one pig on my own, they've always (sadly) been gifts. My dad's girlfriend last Christmas wanted to get me another pig for christmas. "It was SO cute!" They said. "And looked just like millie!" (She's a roan.) But i denied the third pig, and want my next addition, if ever, to be adopted and chosen by me. Millie and Eevee are living happily in a 2x5 C&C cage to this day.

 

[Peanuts]

I fell in love with guinea pigs five years ago. I first saw them in a pet store and fell in love with their adorable faces. Of course, my parents said no. So, I went home and researched them constantly looking for any information I could get about them. I was always asking and pleading with my parents to allow me to adopt some. They kept saying no, the said that we had too many animals (two dogs, two cats, many fish, two hermit crabs, and two hamsters). I would occasionally not mention guinea pigs for maybe a few months or so and my parents hoped that I forgot about them. But, no, I was always researching. Finally, at the beginning of this year I wrote up a long packet all about guinea pigs, how to care for them, and why I wanted them. It took about a few weeks and then I gave a copy to my mom and dad. They finally accepted, and now I'm the proud owner of Linus and Snoopy!

 

[Rayvn]

Wonderful stories everyone! Well, my story isn't so tragiC, but this is Leo's story:

I had been going to the pet store for hamster supplies when I saw him. There was a beautiful tricolored Abyssinian guinea pig. When I walked over to the tub (the piggies were kept in a open top plastic tub), and he sort of looked up at me with a blank expression on his face. Well, he didn't cower in fear when I looked at him, and that was good enough for me. On the other hand, I had little to no idea how to care for a piggy (other than what I learned about them through rabbits), so I left the store without the piggy. I researched guinea pigs, and stumbled upon this site. It was really helpful, and I quickly made a C&C cage. About a month later, I came back to the store and was relieved to find that he hadn't been sold yet. I scooped him up and walked out of there. Now, I realize I could have done that better, but by the time I learned about pet stores I already had my heart set on him. Next time, though, I'm defiantly adopting (next time being t=within the next few months). Good luck with the piggers!