A Tale of Two Pigs

kailaeve1271

Post   » Tue May 01, 2018 7:42 pm


Now to continue on our journey! My guinea pigs were happily in there c and c cage getting the best care I knew to give them (there has been so much I've learned and changed though!) I noticed Charlotte getting plumper and plumper... almost pear-shaped... I went to research what was going on *scrolling* "bloat? no that's not it..." *scrolling* "pregnancy? no. It can't be... WAIT A MINUTE!" I distinctly remember someone at Petshmo telling me they shipped all their guinea pigs in the same crate (cruel in my opinion). Could this mean males too? Apparently.

Petshmo has a 30-day guarantee that any bought animal can be brought to a local vet through the company for no charge. I called and scheduled an appointment. We brought her in and I was told she'd be available for pickup anytime after 3. Perfect! I get out of school at 3. So I called after school and informed them I would be coming in. They told me there wasn't a guinea pig there. I completely freaked out. "I trusted you to follow your own policy and take her to the vet, one simple task and you lost her?!?" The poor girl didn't know what to say. All I got was uh uhm, uh, well so I asked for the manager. I was already mad at the company for what they did to Jitterbug, but now they LOST my other guinea pig? I was furious.

The manager picked up and she was not the same one as the day I bought my guinea pigs. Then the manager laughed when I told her the situation. I wanted to scream. Why was the situation funny in any way. She informed me that she kept the guinea pig in her office personally since she seemed stressed and it was loud in the back. I felt kind of bad for freaking out, but I was relieved she was safe and that at least one person who worked there actually cared about the animals wellbeing. When I got there I apologized for yelling at the girl who picked up the phone. She was fine. She just didn't know how to react to the "angry guinea pig mom that was freaking out on the other side of the phone". Sounds like me.

Turns out Charlotte was pregnant. She gave birth to two guinea pigs less than a week later. I named the all-white guinea pig (he was not lethal) Juuzou, after my favorite anime character. I am a little nerdy. The other one was named Minnie because she looked like a miny version of her mom. They were identical. Once they were 4 weeks old I separated them and brought them to my friend's house who claimed she had 2 different enclosures. She also claimed she really wanted guinea pigs and were going to give them the best care! Long story short, she didn't. You think after being around me she'd know proper care, but I'll tell you guys all about that next time.

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daisymay
Supporter 2016-2021

Post   » Wed May 02, 2018 4:53 am


So glad you got your baby girl back! Shame she was pregnant though. Hoping you got your two fur babies back from your friend. Hoping all goes well with your little babies!

kailaeve1271

Post   » Wed May 02, 2018 3:03 pm


I didn’t believe she was in all honesty. I took a shower, walked back in my room and saw a small amount of blood and Charlotte resting in the center of the cage. I moved some fleece drapes and saw two teeny furballs. Just when I was thinking they gave me false information, I find my piggy have birth in under 10 minutes

kailaeve1271

Post   » Thu May 03, 2018 8:32 am


One day I decided to go check on my friends guinea pigs. We arranged a day for me to stay overnight. Here is what I saw when I came over:
One small living world deluxe cage
Limited hay
Unlimited colorful pellets
No veggies
One water bottle which kept leaking empty
And two pigs being mishandled the whole time.
I freaked out. What happpened to multiple cages and proper care?!? She claimed one cage broke and she didn’t have to money for anything better. She also claimed whenever the male tried to breed, the female attacked him. I pointed her to this site, told her what she was doing wrong and that eventually they will breed. There is no brother sister concept when it comes to intact guinea pigs. I offered to take back the female (my parents couldn’t have gotten too mad) and help her find the male a home with someone who had the money to give them the proper care. She refused, I felt defeated and had to go home the next morning with no progress made.

About a month later I got a phone call “Uhm I have three baby guinea pigs in my cage” wow really? Big surprise! Suddenly she started listening to me. Once they were old enough I separated them into two cages (she bought another way too small cage!) and spoke to her about proper cage size. We ordered material for a large 3x5 c and c cage and also ordered a Midwest Deluxe cage (wayyy better than before). The Midwest came first. She panned in eventually getting rid of the males so her Midwest was the temporary cage/travel cage. I told her she needed to place Juuzou and the two male babies in the Midwest until the c and c cage came. Males need more room and I was trying to get them that ASAP. The females were then to go into the Midwest until the males had new homes. Well the males were on the Midwest for three days when I got a call “they ate Charley” (charley was the runt make). I was shocked. Guinea pigs don’t just eat each other! Then I saw an image she sent me. The face and neck were completely mauled. I actually made a post on here and all anyone could think of was lack of space. The c and c materials were literally a day from arriving too! She’s now terrified to go too close to the males and the remain in the Midwest because of this but her females have a c and c. It’s sad what happened to Charles but at the same time I’m happy for the others. They now are on limited pellets (even if they are still bad), unlimited hay, larger cages, vegetables given multiple times a week (still not enough in my opinion) and full accesss to water.

I’m slowly but steadily making progress with her and I hope to make so much more but she just added a puppy to her array of pets: 4 piggies, 3 dogs and 2 birds. I don’t know how much more I can do when she can barely take care of the ones she has and she’s trying to get more!

Ugh! It’s frustrating but hopeful they will receive the care they deserve soon

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daisymay
Supporter 2016-2021

Post   » Thu May 03, 2018 10:51 am


So sorry to hear about Charley!!!!!!!!!! Didn't she hear squealing from the poor little dear? I would perhaps talking to her parents and tell them your concerns. The worse thing that can happen is you lose her as a friend. I'm having visions of the puppy getting to the rest of the piggies. All you can do is your best and pray she sees sense before her other piggies suffer!

So glad your piggy gave birth safely! I would suggest keeping them or sell them. If people have to pay odds are they'll take better care of them!

kailaeve1271

Post   » Thu May 03, 2018 11:57 am


My pig currently doesn’t have babies. They are my friends pigs now (the once’s in this story). Her babies however are now staying with her because she now has two pairs (two boys in one cage, two girls in the other) she’s trying to sell the boys as a pair but people call asking for just the baby never the adult. They say he’s older than they like or they think he’s “albino” and won’t live long. By the way he’s not albino or a REW. Just happened to be all white.

I have spoken to her mom but she said the rule was she has to learn to care for them not the parents because they don’t always have time. Her mom is already the one paying for veggies every week.

She didn’t hear because she’s partially deaf and the piggies are in their own room.

The dogs and puppy aren’t allowed upstairs where they pigs are and the pigs door always stays shut (I convinced them of this as well!)

Thank you! If I ever happen to get a pregnant piggy again (hopefully not even if the babies are cute) I will either keep or sell rather than give them to a friend because that clearly has bit me in the rear

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu May 03, 2018 3:00 pm


What I challenge! At least there is one person (you) trying to point her in the right direction!

kailaeve1271

Post   » Fri May 04, 2018 1:16 pm


It is certainly a challenge but I hope I can help even more

So sometime in the middle of this chaos I took my pigs outdoors for the first time. Jitterbug stayed with me casually eating. Charlotte on the other hand decided to do her own thing and took off down into a chipmunk hole. I started freaking out and my mom came out to take my other pig back inside.

We couldn’t figure out how to get her out. Eventually my mom brought me a piece of lettuce that we placed in front of the hole to coax her out. I waited for hours laying in the ground a few feet away. Every once in a while she’d let out a little squeak. I was just about to assume the worst when I see her head poke out and slowly take the lettuce. I took off and dove my arm into the hole. I caught her but barely caught her. She was fine. A little stressed but perfectly okay. We brought her inside and let her rest with Jitterbug. We filled in the hole to prevent anything from happening again. This first incident probably should have been my first clue to never bring them back outside.

P.S Charlotte almost always seems to be the one getting into strange situations. Jitterbug just tends to nap in my lap

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri May 04, 2018 3:16 pm


I found the safest way was to find a nice shady area and put a dense fence around it (something they can't run through). Make the area big enough that you can get in too. If you are there, you will know if it gets too hot or is not safe.

kailaeve1271

Post   » Mon May 07, 2018 8:39 am


I think I’m going to try and make one with c and c grids that are crossed for smaller holes.

kailaeve1271

Post   » Mon May 07, 2018 8:52 am


So the second incident I had with Charlotte involved a paper towel tube.

I saw online that you can make a scarecrow out of a paper towel tube, hay, and popsicle sticks and it was piggy friendly! I believe I saw it on Pinterest. I made one for my piggies and gave it to them after their salad that night. I turned the light out and crawled into bed.

To make things clear my piggies live in my room. We have a hunting dog so she can’t go into a community space and I spend most of my time in my room reading anyways.

So at about 3 at night I heard several loud banging noises. I ignored it at first thinking my dog was jumping on the furniture outside my room. Then I hear squeaking so I jumped up and checked on my piggies. Charlotte managed to wedge half of her body into the roll (with all the places she’s squeezed into I swear her grandfather was a hamster). I had to pick her up and carefully pull her out of the cardboard. With her freaking out and me scared of hitting her it turned into a 30 minutes process. Once she was out she acted perfectly fine and I gave her extra veggies.

Since then I always cut the cardboard tubes so they can’t get stuck.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Mon May 07, 2018 9:19 am


Heh. Many years ago I put a somewhat large diameter paper tube in for my guinea pigs. I snapped a shot of Nina, full of shame (shoe buffer, anyone?), and quickly removed it.

You'll find the story here:
https://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewt ... =14&t=1035

And here's the picture!
Image

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