new family member.

[undergunfire]

It's a guinea pig! He is a 5 week old boy and he is just as cute as can be.

I have wanted a piggy, but wanted to wait to get one until I researchedmore. Well, Ryan and I went to the local mom & pop pet storewhere I rescued the mouse...and well.....there was someone there tryingto get the pet store to take this little piggie. I jumped in and saidI'd take it.

It's a cute chocolate color. He is just so adorable. He is just a tadbit shy here, but in the store I was able to hold him without astruggle. I guess the person had an accidental litter and this was theonly little guy left. I wish there was another brother!

I checked him over in the store and watched him for a while to makesure he seemed healthy. He looks great! I got the food that the guysaid he was on...and I will wean him off of it and onto Oxbow once Iorder it and it comes in.

Would it be smart to take the little guy to the vet for a check up? Is5 weeks too young to be away from mom? What the heck do piggies like toplay with?!

I am trying to do MEGA research on piggies so I know EVERYTHING.

I can't wait until he gets used to me so I can see what piggies are truely like.




- Amy (Mallory, Morgan, and Madilyn-Mae):hearts

 

[grumpybabies]

Lucky you! I would have done the same if i hadbeen there! So 5 weeks is ok to be away from mum, i have hearddifferent things but people have said they have to be seperated frommum between 3 and 5 weeks of age so he should be ok. I would try andget him another friend asap because they will probably get alongstraight away at such a young age, and i had a guinea pig that wentinto shock from being on his own, but i expect that is rare.

As for the vet check, mine does them free so i would say yes, but ifyours will charge to check the guinea over then it is uop to you, canyou check his teeth and nails yourself?

So they are shyer than rabbits, they love tubes and igloos to hide in,but as they get to know you in a few weeks they will come out more andmore and then eventually start squeaking demanding food and attention!I have found that they don't like any sort of treats that you may givea rabbit, like shop bought stuff such as yoghurt drops, none of minewill really eat them. They will eat grass until the cows come home lol!They are lovely characters, you will love him! Do you have a name?

 

[binkies]

Fair warning though.....when male guinea pigshit puberty they REALLLLY hit puberty. And usually if they are the sameand hit together they will fight. If you find a friend for him, I wouldadvise an older male or a spayed female.

 

[naturestee]

Congrats! I want pictures! *pigtures?*

 

[undergunfire]

Thanks for all the advice, grumpybabies!



I cannot get a friend for him until Ryan and I move to our own place in2-3 months. I don't feel as if there is enough space in the cage, whichis a Ex-Large Super Pet (the one with the purple base) and I do nothave room to build any sort of NIC cage in our bedroom. I also wouldn'tfeel right bringing home another animal because this IS Ryan's mom'shouse, not ours.

I have some little willow balls, chewing blocks, and a ball with a bellinside of it in his cage. I also have a little litter box with hay andaspen bedding, as well as a huge igloo that he likes. For the floor ofthe cage, I am using no-pill fleece.

My next piggie, when I can get him a friend, will be from Piggie Poorescue in Anthem, AZ. It's about an hour from me. They usually havespayed females.

I can check his teeth and nails myself, yes. I feel like I can look himover myself instead of taking him to the vet. The vet does the samestuff. So far, I haven'y found a vet here that REALLY knows a lot aboutmy type of pets. When I took my rats to the vet before, it was 15minutes and $55 dollars later and I could have done the same thing thevet did. If I notice anything wrong with him, then he will go to thevet.

Is is best to get my little guy neutered? Will anything effect his lifeif he isn't neutered? Will he become aggressive with me when he hitspuberty?


He doesn't have a name yet. I am thinking, beleive me. It has to start with an "M" though, of course.






- Amy (Mallory, Morgan, and Madilyn-Mae):hearts

 

[binkies]

I'm so glad you will be able to find a spayedfemale! No, not neutering doesn't hurt them a bit like rabbits. Itdoesn't change their attitudes or anything like that. Somepeople says it curbs aggression towards other pigs, but most researchsays it doesn't. And believe me it doesn't because I triedit! I've had to have someone sewn back up because of fights.

I need pigtures!!

 

[grumpybabies]

Binkies, you must have had bad luck with yourboy piggies because i have had a few mixed boy lots and i have not hada single fight or threat of a fight even, and i can put new ones withmine easily, do you have females too because that will make malesfight, even if they only can smell them.

Neutering doesn't affect the boys aggression or attitude in guineaslike it does rabbits, just means they can live with a girl, andboy/girl pairs are meant to be easy to bond but i haven't had problemswith my boys.

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Cool Amy!

Can pigs be litter trained?:embarrassed:

 

[lucylocket]

can we have photo's please

and is that right they sqeek all the time

do they sqweek when they are sleeping

 

[undergunfire]

I am heading out right now to the tattoo shop tosee how much my chest peice tattoo is going to cost as well as my firsttattoo I am planning.....OF A BUNNY!

The piggie is really skiddish. I put my hand in the cage and he runsaway from it. I heard that piggies are skiddish....but once he getsused to me will he be a bit calmer? He is still young....only 5 weeksold.

Also...can I switch him over to Oxbow at such a young age? He is onKaytee Supreme piggy food right now, since that is what the store hadhim on. I will put him on the alfalfa based Oxbow until he is 10 monthsold, since that is what I have read.

What do piggies play with?

I am sorry....I haven't had much time to sit down and do a thoroughresearch. I will be able to tonight though. I also have the whooooleweekend off from work to read as well!

I promise to have pictures a bit later. I don't want to scare him, butI should be able to snap a few. I am also going to take him out of hiscage and hold him and let him run around in a pen to get used to me. Ilike to handle my new pets right away, instead of letting them get usedto being at a new house.



- Amy (Mallory, Morgan, and Madilyn-Mae):hearts

 

[binkies]

Oxbow makes an alfalfa based pellet for youngand nursing pigs. Oxbow Cavy Performace. It would be best to switch tothat soon. Or Kleenmama's alfalfa pellets if you can afford it.

As far as running from your hand. Just about evey pig will do that.After you catch him, and hold him he should calm down. Unless he isjust really calm, you will probably have to chase him to catch him.

Playing: brown paper bags, toilet paper rolls, similar to rabbit toys actually.

I wanted to mentionwww.guinealynx.com for some reallygood info. And they have a forum too if you wanted to speak to others.

 

[undergunfire]

I put him in his little box and took him out ofhis cage a little while ago. I had to chase him, but once he was in thebox....I was able to calm him down a bit and pet him.

I hate chasing him, I feel like I am going to scare the junk out ofhim...but if you say that piggies will put up a chase...then I guess Iam not scaring him so bad?

What is Kleenmama's? Where can I find it? Is it the best food out there for piggies?


Thanks for ALL your help!


p.s....I couldn't get any good pictures. I also didn't want toscare him with the flash...I will have to get some tomorrow when I canlet natural light into the bedroom. Hopefully by then I will get hiswhole body in the picture and not just his little tushy.





- Amy (Mallory, Morgan, and Madilyn-Mae):hearts

 

[binkies]

www.kmshayloft.comShe takes more pride in her product than any company would. She picksthrough the pellets herself before shipping to check for impurities. Iwould buy it in a heartbeat if I could just afford the shipping. Beingacross the country makes it horribly expensive.

Just go the guinealynx forums and read around. You don't have to jointo read and you will see that others have the exact same "chasingproblem".

 

[undergunfire]

I have been reading on "Wheekers" forum. It isthe best one I have found. I am not liking any of the otherforums....all the posts I have read have been VERY harsh to members ofwhom were just asking for help.

I am about to take the little piggie out and see if he will just cuddle in my lap.

I am going to look into getting that Kleenmama's food. I really likeOxbow, but if you say that the Kleenmama's is good....then I will goahead and try it. The shipping isn't bad at all for me....probablyabout the same as ordering Oxbow.

I will try and get some pictures of the little guy if he lets me takehim out of his cage. He is so skittish though! I'm hoping he will likeme someday, hehe.

He still doesn't have a name. I have been calling him "Mr.Piggie".....very original, I know. I don't know what else to call him.He will have some cool name in a few days I am sure. I like "M"names....as you can tell, haha.

I found the CUTEST camo piggie jacket on ebay that was made by someone.I am buying it for when he gets to be full grown....even if he won'twear it, haha. I am so rediculious!




- Amy (Mallory, Morgan, and Madilyn-Mae):hearts

 

[undergunfire]

Well......."Mr. Piggie" now has a friend. Idecided to call the local HS "just-for-the-heck-of-it" to see if theyhad any piggies for adoption. I wasn't expecting it at all....but theydid! They had what I was looking for...male piggies!:bunnydance:

So...Ryan and I welcomed another piggie to our family today. Mr. Piggie and this new piggie are so happy together!

The chocolate guy is "Mr. Piggie". Ryan calls him "Mixter Piggie"though, hehe. The new guy looks like vanilla ice cream with peanutbutter and fudge. He needs an "M" name. They BOTH need names actually,ugghhhh, lol..




EDIT TO ADD: Mr. Piggie looks like the same size as the other piggie inthe pictures...but really....the other piggie is WAY bigger! YAY forlarge squishy piggies.


- Amy (Mallory, Morgan, and Madilyn-Mae):hearts

 

[katt]

oh, i love piggies

i am super allergic to them and cannot breath if i am in the same room with them for more then a few hours.

i had a black piggy as my very first pet (not including the bottomfeeder fish named eeyore that was mine in the fish tank) her name waspiggy!

they are super cute!

i think the white/chocolate/orange one looks like a gilbert to me

and the chocolate one looks like a lucas or luke

did they instantly fall in love with each other? a few years ago (mysenior year of hs) i had 9 pigs. . . well, i had 3, then rescued 3 morethen one of the rescues had 3 babies. . . the first 2 that we had wastilly and sasha. . . we got tilly at a rabbit show and then i got sashafrom a petstore. . . i put them together once to see how they would actto each other and it was instant love. i went to go put them in theirown cages (didn't want to leaving them together full time right off)and the shrieking i got from both of them was glass shattering. . . sothey stayed together and are now a spoiled pair of piggies to a littlegirl that lives in my hometown. . .

 

[napoleon]

Congrats on yournew piggies! They're beautiful! We have a fawncolored female named Bindi...she's such a cutie. Here's a few"M" names I came up with... hope thishelps!onder:



Mocha, Mango, Meeko, Max,Macadamia, Magnus, Magnum, Malachi(MAL uk eye -->Biblical),Meshach(MEE shak--> Biblical), Marcell, Marco, Marcus, Mario,Marshall, Mitchell, Martin, Marvin, Marty, Mason, Matteo, Maddox,Maurice, Maxmillian, Maxwell, McIntyre, McKenzie, Melvin, Mervin,Micha(MIKE uh -->Biblical), Michaelangelo, Miles, Milo, Milton,Moe, Moses, Montana, Montego, Montel, Montgomery, Morris, Mortimer,Murphy, Murray, Myron, Marble, Milkshake, Milk Dud,Milkyway...

 

[undergunfire]

Thanks for the name suggestions! JadeIcing chosea name for the HS piggie and his name is Mason (Mace for short). Therescue piggie's name is Merlin.

They instantly fell in love, yes. They are so happy together!




- Amy (Mallory, Morgan, and Madilyn-Mae):hearts

 

[naturestee]

Congrats on the new boy! They're so cute together. :inlove:

 

[undergunfire]

Thank you! They are very cute together. I now have my chocolate and a "dutch". HAHA.

They aren't bunnies though!





- Amy (Mallory, Morgan, and Madilyn-Mae):hearts