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Guinea Pig Lovers!


mango_fandango

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OK, I know there are guinea pig lovers out there somewhere. 

First photo is Fudge. We acquired her and her cagemate back in February 2010. Sadly, on 14th November 2012, we had to put her to sleep. She was ill, we didn't know why. They are prey animals so they try and hide illness. She wasn't eating or drinking. It was the kindest decision but my mum, my brother and I cried our eyes out once we left the vets and were in the car. That was a Wednesday and on the Saturday we acquired two more. The second photo is Darwin, who was Fudge's cagemate. She sadly died last November of natural causes, she was 5. The third photo is of Toffee and Pepper, the guineas we acquired after Fudge died, enjoying some veggies and apple. 

Any other FJers who have guinea pigs? Or indeed any other kind of small pet. At one point we had three Roborovski hamsters, Tim, Tom and Tony, who originally lived together (we were told this would be OK and they are apparently more sociable) but they ended up fighting so we separated them. They died at 2. Then we acquired Daisy, who lived for two years also. She loved to climb the bars of her cage and nibble the corner. 

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Man I had no idea the Fudge photo was so huge!

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Aww, the pictures are so cute! I had a Guinea pig when I was in middle school. He was a sweet guy. Unfortunately, he passed away far too young. He was buried in the pet cemetery at the Army base where we were stationed at the time. I'll have to see if I have any pictures, this was way, way before digital...

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My youngest daughter had a Guinea pig named Kathleen a number of years ago.  Man, can they squeal!  My other daughters had gerbils and hamsters.  I think it was the gerbils that gnawed their Habitrail so badly they could escape.  Sadly, none of these little furries are still with us, but they would be damn old for hamsters, gerbils and Guinea pigs.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I love guinea pigs. I think I've owned 20 or so in my 50+ years. One came from a petco pregnant and I kept them all. The oldest lived 10 years. Now that Ive become disabled I cannot expect Mr. Ute to care for them, so as they aged and passed, we've phased out.

 

dly my house is so quiet. No munching sounds or wheeking for veggies. I really, really miss them. Recently I found a box of their fleece blankets ( google c+c cages - a much better floor for their cage, and wondeful cages you make, easily ) ; )  anyway Mr. his some blankets under his office desk, in a room I can't frequent. He can't be rid of them either it seems.

 

So yeah, count me, ' cause I love them. Your's are very sweet too, btw. 

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I've heard of c and c cages. We don't have much space for a bigger cage, and if there is space somewhere it's not really suitable (eg under a window where there could be draughts etc). Maybe when I get my own place I'll get guinea pigs and do a C and C cage.  

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@Quivering Uterus : sorry to hear you can't have guinea pigs at this time!

Used to babysit my SIL's when she was abroad, and I also miss the little squeeky noises the most. It's so cute when they just do this little "I'm here where are you" squeek. Or the "I know you opened the fridge door" SQUEEK!

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Our guineas are on the landing, opposite my room. Every time I have food for them, I yell out "PIGGIES!" and you can hear them squeak like crazy. It's always fun spotting their little piggie faces as I ascend the stairs. If I have parsley (their favourite) in a plastic bag, I rustle that too, which also gets the squeaking going.

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Finally, I've found my people! I've had a number of guinea pigs over the years. Currently, I have a one-eyed female named Poppy that I rescued from a breeding facility. She was very standoffish and afraid at first ( understand table given her history) and has had a lot of health problems over the years. But Poppy has a very divaish personality, and seems quite fearless for a prey animal. She used to have a neutered male friend, but he died back in 2013, but she actually seems happier to be by herself, which is unusual for guinea pigs who tend to be very spcial. The vet says she may be eight or nine years old, which is about 120 in people years, so I don't know how much longer she will be with us.

Eta I also have a c & c cage and love it, and I also use fleece for bedding. Like cloth diapers, you save money in the long term.

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Wow, your Poppy seems to be one of a kind! 

In Switzerland, it is actually illegal to keep just one guinea pig. So when my folks phased out (first baby on the way) they had to get a "Mietsaeuli" ("rent a piggy") from the shelter to keep the remaining one company...

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2 hours ago, SrMaryEloquentia said:

Wow, your Poppy seems to be one of a kind! 

In Switzerland, it is actually illegal to keep just one guinea pig. So when my folks phased out (first baby on the way) they had to get a "Mietsaeuli" ("rent a piggy") from the shelter to keep the remaining one company...

I remember reading about that. I don't think Poppy would have been opposed to another guinea pig, but she just seems indifferent to other pigs, possibly because she was crammed in with a bunch of other guinea pigs at the breeding facility. Her deceased friend , Chip, was crazy about her and she mostly wanted to be left alone to graze. It was like an unrequited romance. I asked the vet if I should get another guinea pig when Chip died, and he said that since she wasn't depressed about it (I was more upset about Chip than her), that it would probably be best for her to stay by herself. Here's a picture that really captures her essence (PS in case you're wondering, she's not in an exercise wheel, which would be grossly inappropriate for a guinea pig, but is sitting in a plastic pigloo that has been turned on its side)

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  • 1 month later...

Pepper isn't very well right now. Her breathing is a bit rough, not pooped or peed for ages. Mum is feeding her critical care. Hope pepper gets better soon.

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Ugh, bad news. Pepper died this morning. Go join Fudge and Darwin at the Rainbow Bridge, squeaky piggie. Miss you.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks @GreyhoundFan. We're thinking of getting Toffee a new cagemate- probably adopting one. We're going on holiday on Saturday, though, so we'll wait till then. Toffee seems to be fine so far- we've been watching to see if she had weird breathing/wasn't eating, but she's totally normal. She got on pretty well with Pepper and previously Darwin so hopefully she'll be nice to a new friend.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

I have two pigs now.  Bob and Stitch.  Stitch had a brother Lilo he was adopted with. Lilo passed away in April, 2015.  After that, Stitch was lonely so we adopted Bob.  Stitch is 4 and Bob is now 3.  They are happy each is around, but we have to keep them in separate cages next to each other as they do not get along well when put together.  

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I just dropped in to this thread to thank all you guinea pig lovers that posted on one of the Duggar threads when we were talking about Jennie's poor piggie and noting how it was not adequately cared for.  Not Jennie's fault, of course, but the fault of her lazy, uneducated, lazy and uncaring parents.

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We adopted two new guineas recently. They came with the names Katie and Grace and we liked them enough to keep them. They live with Toffee now. They seem to get along OK, there've been a few minor scuffles/squeaking incidents but nothing major thankfully.

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see my profile pic.  RIP Goldie.  We have a new piggy, his name is Cinni and he is a lovely cinnamon brown, hence Ciinni the guinea.

 

On ‎7‎/‎27‎/‎2016 at 8:54 AM, mango_fandango said:

Ugh, bad news. Pepper died this morning. Go join Fudge and Darwin at the Rainbow Bridge, squeaky piggie. Miss you.

I am so sorry!  worst day of my life as a mother was when we put Goldie down.  The whole household sobbed and sobbed. 

 

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  • 4 months later...

Thought I'd add some photos of Katie and Grace. First is Katie (the one with the white fringe). Second is Grace (browny one). We've had them a while but they're still quite scared of us. 

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Our Hamster, Whiskey Jack was 2 1/2 when he died in 2011. He was a very characterful Hamster. Sadly he suffered a stroke at around 9.am on the day he died. We pipette fed him his favourite dilute mango juice to keep him comfy ( vets orders) but sadly the Vet had to make the decision to euthanise him at Lunchtime. I was in tears driving #1 home from the vet. We took him home so that #2 could say goodbye. The following day we took him to an animal cremation facility.

We have his ashes in a beautiful wee casket.

We haven't had the heart to get another Hamster, although we have begun to think about the idea just recently.

Hamsters and Guinea pigs might be small creatures but they have huge characters and make a huge hole in our hearts when they leave their mortal exercise wheels.

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1 hour ago, PennySycamore said:

@mango_fandango, Katie and Grace have more luxurious coats than my Shih tzu.  Chloe would totally be jealous of their wonderful coats.

 

My mum says they look like wigs. 

They squeak when they hear the food bag rustling, but only Toffee accepts food from my hand. Katie and Grace act like I'm trying to poison them. Of course once I've dumped the food in there and closed the cage they begin eating frantically. Hopefully they'll start getting less scared soon. 

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