One or two sows in Kansas

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JX4

Post   » Sun Jul 26, 2015 10:40 pm


Though we don't want to, we are realizing that we need to re-home one or two of our female guinea pigs. Our cage is a bit too small and we have more than we planned on due to unexpected babies.

The first pig is a sow born April 1, 2015. She is smooth haired, dark brown with light gold flecks on the tips of her hairs and a couple of white spots on her back. She is sweet, but she is submissive and I think she will do better as the submissive member of a pair rather than at the bottom of the pecking order of seven. She would make an excellent new pairing to an older sow whose mate has died, for example.

The other piggy we have is an abby, also a sow. We are not really wanting to let her go unless we absolutely have to, so our preference is to find someone with an existing female who has lost a mate who would like Pig #1. My younger daughter really likes the abby, but if we need to re-home the first pig as part of a pair, I think we could bite the bullet. This second pig was born April 2, 2015. Pig #2 is also dark brown with light gold flecks on the ends of her hairs.

Though Pigs 1 and 2 have different moms, they have the same dad. Both piggies are gorgeous and have been handled since birth and are super comfortable with humans. They don't know any other reality than to be picked up and held every day. Pig 2 is adventurous and likes to run obstacle courses over and under pillows from one end of the couch to the other.

We don't want to re-home either piggy, but our cage is just too small and we have no room for a bigger one. There is a re-homing fee as we wish to make sure our babies are going to worthy homes!

Talishan
You can quote me

Post   » Mon Jul 27, 2015 9:45 pm


JX4 -- which ones are these? I'll link to the photos you sent me here. Photos always help generate interest.

viewtopic.php?p=2204541#2204541

viewtopic.php?p=2204544#2204544

JX4

Post   » Mon Jul 27, 2015 10:36 pm


Pig 1 in the above description is Mouse (Panda is her mom) and Pig 2 is Squeaky (Snuggles is her mom). I don't think you have a non-baby pic of Squeaky. She moves around too much and won't sit still long enough for a pic now!

Like I said, I'd much rather rehome Mouse where she can be a new companion to an older sow whose other friend passed away. Mouse is incredibly sweet, but she sometimes gets walked over or pushed aside by the others in our large herd of seven. She's not shy or anything like that, just not very aggressive in standing her own ground. She is absolutely fine with being held by humans, even strangers.

My younger daughter is protesting quite loudly that I've put Squeaky up for re-homing consideration, so maybe we won't let her go. I am incredibly torn. My daughter has spent quite a bit of time with Squeaky teaching her to run obstacle courses and do other tricks. It's just Squeaky is in her adolescent stage right now and is "sportin' a 'tude" if you know what I mean! (She loves my daughter but turns her bum to the faces of everyone else in our family!)

The other consideration to pair with Mouse (if we have to) is Sugar, the PEW, all white pig with red eyes and the beginnings of Himalayan markings on her ears. (Her mom is Snuggles.) She loves to be held and will sprawl on my chest. She is quite affectionate and purrs easily. Her only "issue" is that when she nibbles and licks us she sometimes nibbles a bit too hard without realizing it. She also likes to bite our clothing, so we have to make sure she doesn't inadvertently pick up a bit of skin under her mouthful of cloth. For that reason my girls aren't as fond of her and want to have her considered for rehoming before Squeaky. But Sugar is as sweet as her name and incredibly smart. She rings a little bell when she wants a treat. I don't want to let her go, either!

And Buffy (aka Buffalo), well, I'd be looking at a divorce if I let her go, LOL, since she is hands down my husband's favorite.

As for the parents, there's no way I'd let Snuggles or Panda go. And I'm not sure how poor Twilight would fare elsewhere. He's our neutered male, and I don't know how he'd be with other (intact) males. He might work OK paired with Mouse, but it's hard to tell in our herd. Very rarely do just one or two of the piggies hang out together just the two of them.

As I said, our cage is too small for all seven, so although they don't fight or anything like that, they all do seek out favorite "spots" to be alone in and don't cuddle in two's much. And because there are so many the fleece gets gross real fast and we are having to switch it out every other day. That is the only reason we are seeking to rehome one or two of them. We love them all, and it is heart-wrenching to decide who we're willing to give up. (My older daughter is not so crazy about the idea of rehoming Mouse, for example!)

Talishan
You can quote me

Post   » Tue Jul 28, 2015 9:56 pm


Here's Mouse:

Image

Here's Squeaky (very young):

Image

If it were me -- I'd look very, very carefully for a good home for Mouse, perhaps to pair with a lone female as you suggest. Squeaky's adolescent-ness will settle down in a few months. She'll probably always be outgoing, but she will settle down as she enters adulthood.

I'd be very, very careful about rehoming Sugar. That's easy for me to say, because I'm not doing your laundry (I would if I could! ;-), but the vast majority of people don't understand a little nibble that goes a little too far. She could very, very easily end up dumped at a shelter or at a petstore, or end up being completely ignored, neglected and ill-cared-for if folks get freaked and don't want to go near her. This happens far, far too often.

My $0.02 only.

FWIW -- you can build C&C's on top of each other. The grids are sturdy enough to support one cage on top of the other. This takes some engineering and logisticizing so you don't end up destroying your back or knees cleaning the bottom cage, but it's doable. If you could build upward without enlarging the footprint of the cage, it might help you keep them all (and keep relative peace in the household).

JX4

Post   » Tue Jul 28, 2015 11:25 pm


I don't know how it would work to build two cages on top of each other. Our cage has a cover (we have 2 dogs and a cat) that we are always opening to reach in and get the piggies for cuddle time. I can't see that we could reach them going in from the side, and how do you open the top of the bottom cage if another cage is on top of it?

Maybe that is a stupid question and I'm just not able to picture it properly.

We have limited space to build up, even if we could figure out how. The cage is already on a one-grid-high cage stand because I can't get down on the floor.

I know rehoming just one piggy out of seven probably won't make much difference, but I was hoping it would help at least some.

For the record, our cage is a 2 x 5 grid C & C from the Guinea Pig Cage store -- with a 1.5 x 2 grid "patio" loft halfway up the cage on one end as a sort of second floor (the cover covers it -- the piggies can reach up and touch the cover when they are in the loft).

I was under the impression that a 2 x 5 cage would hold up to 5 piggies maximum when we got it for our three original pigs; we got the patio to try to contain the hay from being spread throughout the entire cage, which has worked very well. Since all the pigs use the loft a lot, I'm hoping it is sort of like having an extra grid length to the cage (though I know it really isn't).

Because all our piggies have been together either since birth or close to it, they all get along great. There are no "issues" with fighting from being crammed in the cage, for which I'm thankful.

The main problem is keeping it clean. The cage is in our living room and I don't want it smelling, which means we have to clean the loft (where they pee a LOT because that is where all the food and hay is) every day and we vacuum poo pellets twice a day throughout the cage and flip the fleece flippers every other day or every two days. We didn't have to clean it so often when the babies were smaller, but now that they are about as big as their parents, cleaning is getting to be a real chore.

But, fortunately for them, the piggies don't seem to mind the close quarters. We have several hidey holes and they all have their favorite spots to go to when they want to be alone. They have moments when they all race around the cage and zoom up and down the ramp, too, but mostly they seem pretty laid back and happy. The only loud wheeking they do is when they hear food or hay bags rustling. Mostly they either are doing their squeaky wagon wheel noises with each other or are quiet as they lounge around.

We do try to give them lots of lap and floor time, which I'm sure helps. If it just weren't so hard to keep their quarters clean!

Talishan
You can quote me

Post   » Wed Jul 29, 2015 11:33 pm


It is hard to keep things clean with that many. They poop and pee a LOT. Clueless owners (not you) find that out the hard way if they haven't done their homework.

We don't have tops on our cages, so I don't have any real good suggestions on how specifically to double-decker them. I will take a guess that the top cage would essentially serve as a top for the bottom cage, requiring only that the top cage have a formal lid.

I **think** what some folks have done is make one or two grids on the bottom cage semi-removable, so you can get in to catch them and clean. I think. Again, I haven't done this myself so I'm reluctant to make suggestions. Hopefully those that have constructed cages like this will see this thread and chime in.

http://www.guineapigcages.com/photos/g5 ... level.html

http://www.guineapigcages.com/photos/index.php

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