Pet advice
Carol Adams
My kids and I are thinking of getting a guinea pig (one of the few pets we *don't* already have!). Are there any guinea pig owners out there? Is it better to get one sex versus the other? Any tips or advice for me would be gratefully appreciated.
Thanks,
Carol, mom to three kids, three dogs, four cats, two rats, four frogs, a rabbit, a bird and a fish!
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Thanks,
Carol, mom to three kids, three dogs, four cats, two rats, four frogs, a rabbit, a bird and a fish!
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Roberta Carl
We don't own any now, but used to have 4 of them. They
are friendly creatures, and usually don't bite.
All of ours were male. Haven't heard about differences
in the sexes (if they are like rats however, the
females tend to get more tumors).
If you get more than one, my experience is that if you
want them together start early or they won't get
along.
They don't like wire cages (hurts their feet) so a
flat solid bottomed cage is best. they eat lots of
different things, but also require salt wheels.
My kids didn't play with ours enough for this, but I
know of one girl who has a male guinea pig and carries
him a lot of the places that she goes - to do this
there has to be a large investment of time early on to
get them uused to it.
Two other things: If anyone in your family has
allergies/asthma the bedding they require can make
these worse. And they go to the bathroom a lot - we
used to have to use towels so it wasn't all over :-)
--- Carol Adams <kaylabee03@...> wrote:
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Finance Tax Center - File online. File on time.
http://taxes.yahoo.com/filing.html
are friendly creatures, and usually don't bite.
All of ours were male. Haven't heard about differences
in the sexes (if they are like rats however, the
females tend to get more tumors).
If you get more than one, my experience is that if you
want them together start early or they won't get
along.
They don't like wire cages (hurts their feet) so a
flat solid bottomed cage is best. they eat lots of
different things, but also require salt wheels.
My kids didn't play with ours enough for this, but I
know of one girl who has a male guinea pig and carries
him a lot of the places that she goes - to do this
there has to be a large investment of time early on to
get them uused to it.
Two other things: If anyone in your family has
allergies/asthma the bedding they require can make
these worse. And they go to the bathroom a lot - we
used to have to use towels so it wasn't all over :-)
--- Carol Adams <kaylabee03@...> wrote:
> My kids and I are thinking of getting a guinea pig__________________________________
> (one of the few pets we *don't* already have!). Are
> there any guinea pig owners out there? Is it better
> to get one sex versus the other? Any tips or advice
> for me would be gratefully appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
> Carol, mom to three kids, three dogs, four cats, two
> rats, four frogs, a rabbit, a bird and a fish!
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been
> removed]
>
>
>
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Finance Tax Center - File online. File on time.
http://taxes.yahoo.com/filing.html
B & S Nowicke
We currently have a guinea pig - she is a rescue piggy (our 2nd rescue) & 3rd piggy. If they are handled properly and early - they can be very cuddly pets. Do Not buy one from the local pet store - instead check w/ yr local 4-h and get a baby from them. Teach it hands/being held are a good thing by giving it the fresh veggies and fruits by hand. Ours have all chirpled - (our word - they make a piggy squeal with a chirp noise at the same time) when we enter the room or go by their cage and talk to them. Our first rescue used to "sit-up" like a little dog when we went over to talk w/ him. It is rare for a piggy to bite. We have had both males and females - and both are very sweet.
They take time and patience and regular daily attention - like rabbits they are social animals. Our piggy and mini rex bunny share a cage together now - both seem to be fine w/ the arrangement and enjoy the company - especially on days we are out all day! But intro them slowly if you decide to do this- and like dogs - do it away from their cages - and be prepared to step quickly if they don't get along!
Good Luck!
Susan N.
Mom to ds-9; triplet dd's-6; 1 parrot; 2 dogs, 1 pacific tree frog; 10 tadpoles and as of tomorrow afternoon - 3 sister rat babies - and prepping for arrivals of a bearded dragon baby and an anole (sp?) lizard.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
They take time and patience and regular daily attention - like rabbits they are social animals. Our piggy and mini rex bunny share a cage together now - both seem to be fine w/ the arrangement and enjoy the company - especially on days we are out all day! But intro them slowly if you decide to do this- and like dogs - do it away from their cages - and be prepared to step quickly if they don't get along!
Good Luck!
Susan N.
Mom to ds-9; triplet dd's-6; 1 parrot; 2 dogs, 1 pacific tree frog; 10 tadpoles and as of tomorrow afternoon - 3 sister rat babies - and prepping for arrivals of a bearded dragon baby and an anole (sp?) lizard.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Kelly
Hi,
I have 3 piggies and they are very sweet and friendly. Some advice:
If you get more than one make sure they are the same sex (that's
where my third one came from ;-). Guinea pigs are social animals so
it's better to get a couple. Pet store cages are not big enough for
piggies...there is an excellent website www.cavycages.com which has
lots of good info on caring for the piggies and ideas for building
deluxe homes for your piggies. Any questions...feel free to drop me a
note.
~ K. Isilme
--- In [email protected], "Carol Adams"
<kaylabee03@m...> wrote:
there? Is it better to get one sex versus the other? Any tips or
advice for me would be gratefully appreciated.
I have 3 piggies and they are very sweet and friendly. Some advice:
If you get more than one make sure they are the same sex (that's
where my third one came from ;-). Guinea pigs are social animals so
it's better to get a couple. Pet store cages are not big enough for
piggies...there is an excellent website www.cavycages.com which has
lots of good info on caring for the piggies and ideas for building
deluxe homes for your piggies. Any questions...feel free to drop me a
note.
~ K. Isilme
--- In [email protected], "Carol Adams"
<kaylabee03@m...> wrote:
> My kids and I are thinking of getting a guinea pig (one of the fewpets we *don't* already have!). Are there any guinea pig owners out
there? Is it better to get one sex versus the other? Any tips or
advice for me would be gratefully appreciated.
>frogs, a rabbit, a bird and a fish!
> Thanks,
> Carol, mom to three kids, three dogs, four cats, two rats, four
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
David Tyler
--- In [email protected], "Carol Adams"
<kaylabee03@m...> wrote:
there? Is it better to get one sex versus the other? Any tips or
advice for me would be gratefully appreciated.
Several years ago my daughter's guinea pigs "got married" (one male, three
females) and produced more babies than I care to remember. :-) Happily, her
guinea pig phase is over. Now she is into astronomy (age 12).
I would recommend getting females over males (though it is sometimes hard to
tell them apart when they are young). Guinea pigs are social critters who
are happier if they have a friend or two to snuggle up with when they sleep.
Males tend to fight with each other unless they are brothers from the same
litter who have always lived together. Females are pretty mellow and will
get along with just about any other guinea pig, even if the second pig is
introduced much later.
Our male seemed to be messier than the females. He was always strutting
around marking his territory, flinging the bedding out of his cage and
knocking over his food dish. This went on even when we kept him in a
different cage well apart from the females. He would still try to impress
them from across the room!
We have great memories of our piggies. No regrets. The only down side I can
think of is that you also have cats. We once had two cats who thought our
piggies were the most delicious playthings in the world. Our cats liked to
lounge on the tops of the pig cages with their forelegs dangling down
through the bars. They'd often make a quick grab for the pigs whenever they
came out of their hiding places. This resulted in some ugly looking
scratches on the piggies backs. (We treated the wounds with neosporin.) The
cats also liked to knock the cages off of the table and/or pull the cage
doors open, so we had to fasten the cages to the wall and lock the doors
shut with zip-ties. All those security measures were hard to work around at
feeding/cleaning times.
But I'm sure that your 4 cats are more civilized than mine were. If they
have not yet eaten the rats, frogs, rabbit, bird, fish (and dogs--lol) that
you already have, welcoming guinea pigs into the group should be easy as
pie. Enjoy! :-)
Julie Tyler--mom to three kids (12, 9, 6) but no pets at the moment.
<kaylabee03@m...> wrote:
> My kids and I are thinking of getting a guinea pig (one of the fewpets we *don't* already have!). Are there any guinea pig owners out
there? Is it better to get one sex versus the other? Any tips or
advice for me would be gratefully appreciated.
>frogs, a rabbit, a bird and a fish!
> Thanks,
> Carol, mom to three kids, three dogs, four cats, two rats, four
>Hi Carol!
Several years ago my daughter's guinea pigs "got married" (one male, three
females) and produced more babies than I care to remember. :-) Happily, her
guinea pig phase is over. Now she is into astronomy (age 12).
I would recommend getting females over males (though it is sometimes hard to
tell them apart when they are young). Guinea pigs are social critters who
are happier if they have a friend or two to snuggle up with when they sleep.
Males tend to fight with each other unless they are brothers from the same
litter who have always lived together. Females are pretty mellow and will
get along with just about any other guinea pig, even if the second pig is
introduced much later.
Our male seemed to be messier than the females. He was always strutting
around marking his territory, flinging the bedding out of his cage and
knocking over his food dish. This went on even when we kept him in a
different cage well apart from the females. He would still try to impress
them from across the room!
We have great memories of our piggies. No regrets. The only down side I can
think of is that you also have cats. We once had two cats who thought our
piggies were the most delicious playthings in the world. Our cats liked to
lounge on the tops of the pig cages with their forelegs dangling down
through the bars. They'd often make a quick grab for the pigs whenever they
came out of their hiding places. This resulted in some ugly looking
scratches on the piggies backs. (We treated the wounds with neosporin.) The
cats also liked to knock the cages off of the table and/or pull the cage
doors open, so we had to fasten the cages to the wall and lock the doors
shut with zip-ties. All those security measures were hard to work around at
feeding/cleaning times.
But I'm sure that your 4 cats are more civilized than mine were. If they
have not yet eaten the rats, frogs, rabbit, bird, fish (and dogs--lol) that
you already have, welcoming guinea pigs into the group should be easy as
pie. Enjoy! :-)
Julie Tyler--mom to three kids (12, 9, 6) but no pets at the moment.
Carol Adams
Thanks to everyone who replied to my question about guinea pigs. We are now the proud owners of a baby named Pema, named for one of my favorite writers, a Buddhist nun called Pema Chodron. My Pema is just lovely, sweet and affectionate, and a terrific addition to the family zoo. Kayla (4) just adores her, although she gets her small furry creatures confused and calls Pema a Beanie pig! I am still experiencing the hormonal surge which resulted in my bringing Pema home to nurture, so I am considering other pets. I'd love to have a goat, although my husband rolled his eyes, shook his head and walked away from me when I mentioned it the other day. Anyway, thanks for the advice.
Carol, keeper of the zoo
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Carol, keeper of the zoo
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]