Can this work?...

[sleepingbunnies]

Yesterday I took my DD to her friends party at her grandmothers house and I haven't been able to stop thinking about the grandmothers guinea pig since :-(

He is all alone, matted, no toys and just looks so so sad... I wanted to bring him home with me but couldn't as we have 2 girls (although the size of their hutch would easily take another piggie). She said I could have him and said 'I don't even like him'! It made me so sad to think how happy our girls are and how happy we could make him!

So my question is this.. If we get him 'done' is impossible that he would live nicely with our girls? Is there anything special I need to do?

I want to rescue him now!!!

70 I only conspire to pig-nap in extreme circumstances! (or where the boars are especially gorgeous....)

I know

70 Quick question...do you have a technique for cutting your boars nails? I remember you saying one or both are tricky and Little pig refused to behave tonight and the fecker managed to bite me twice before I gave up.

Big pig a peer usual was a Angel!

I warn you though. You will rue the day you nap Little Pig

I am a wimp and mine go to the vet to have their claws clipped! :-)

sleeping Does that.not get pricey?
I've heard its £10 a time per pig round here

I bought some.proper nail scissors and its easy....when they sit still.

Yeah its £9 a time here - but our vet said as we have a paved garden letting them run around on that also keeps their nails trimmed so we take them about once every 3 months for a trim...

We used to have a lovely grassy garden but had to move :-( Now I cut grass from whenever we go to friends / family houses to take back home for our girls!! So they still get it at least 3 times a week - I felt so guilty that our new place didnt have grass :-(

Bonkey my DD sits the pigs on her lap so they are facing me. She's got both hands round their tummy and they sit on their rump on a towel (I worry about their spines being on a hard surface )

Then I can hold a paw at a time. I usually do hind feet one day and front a few days later. They get a bit arsey if I try to do all four paws.

I've got some of the big nails clippers from Boots (with the lever to press). On the thicker claws I need to hold them sideways to cut the length then cut the tips straight.
GP1 has one brown claw, all the others (and all of GP2s ) are black.

I can't take them to a vet because IRL I'm an NHS chiropodist/podiatrist (so I should know a thing or two about nails )

Not that my boys are in the least bit impressed

GP2 grabs his paw out of my hand and gives me a Paddington Bear Hard Stare.
It's hard to grab them back when their front legs are so fragile.

GP1 curls his paw round my finger in what he thinks is a sweet gesture -aaaahhh

I really should learn to cut my piggies nails myself!

sleeping Next time you take them to have it done ask the vets to show you! I have these and its really easy if they sit still

70 Thanks, it seems I shall have to get dh to hold him while I snip. That may well be a battle in itself, I don't think dh has touched the pigs in the 5 months we have had them .

bunnies next time you take your pigs to the vet, see how much they take off. Much easier if they have pink claws but you can still judge with black claws because the 'dead' bits look opaque and sort of dusty. Whereas the quick is clearer and darker.

I can honestly say I've never made a GP nails bleed. When I was a child my mum had to hold them and she hates the sound of nail clipping. So I had to train my pigs into sitting nicely to do it single-handed.
Some are happier sat normally ,on 4 feet,and hold one at a time. Others would sit like they were on a chair, but on my lap.

When I took my old sow to have her teeth clipped the vet caught the quick. They bleed a tiny bit but heal fast.

I made Big Pig bleed once, felt so guilty :(

I trained one of my guinea-pigs to lie on her back, completely still, until I clapped my hands. (It was the female piglet we kept from my original guinea-pigs as a child)

I can't remember how (or indeed why) I did it.
Took patience but she was a very laid back GP

Not something I'd try with my current pigs (unless I wanted skin grafts)

I made them bleed once about 6 months after we first got them - so have never tried again - the sqeaking put me off - I have never felt so bad in all my life! :-(

Bonkey vets use a bleed from a claw to take a blood sample from GPs so don't feel bad.

unless Big Pig is a haemophilliac

It was the squeal that made me :( . You would have though I had stuck a needle in his eye. It actually wasn't that bad, stopped quickly but I still got 'you hurt me, give me parsley....NOW!' eyes

Today GP1 had a huge piece of grass or hay stuck between his front teeth (he's broken the two bottom ones at the moment but it doesn't stop him eating)
Had to grasp his little muzzle and hoik it out without pinching his top lip.
Luckily DD is very hands on and knows I'm not hurting the hogs but you do have to hold them in a half nelson restrain them for their own security.

DD1 bought a parsley treat bell today for our girls while getting hay from pet shop with her Dad - I've just gave it to them and their squeals tell me they 100% approve of her purchase :-) Spoilt little hogs!

Ahh the parsley bells!

My pigs lurve the parsley bells

I don't buy them very often because I have to buy two and they're not cheap. Plus Big Pig scoffs the lot in a few days so I have to limit his chew time .

Damn right they aint cheap! Am waiting to get paid then I have an amazon basket of £30 for my pigs to checkout... They are far too spoilt!

They love those willow tunnels... thats a fiver a throw! they last about five minutes!

Yep willow is a firm favourite here too. :)

They like kiwi sticks too, they are a bit cheaper.

I bought a green plastic tunnel for the outdoor run- they should like the Billy Goats Gruff as they tripp-trapp through it.
And they've got a willow hedgehog house (IIRC I paid £16 but they reduced them later. Lakeland Limited).
They've had a sample of the willow but not damaged it (I've put it in the Pighouse to protect it from rain)

Mine chomp through willow like there is no tomorrow.

I love the look of it but I daren't buy too much because it will end up as bits if twigs, thats the bits they don't eat!

Now I am jealous girls, with all this guinea talk! Thank you for showing us the photos, loved the one of the strawberry guzzler, arent they both gorgeous,sleeping. Bonkey - yours made me smile, Big Pig is so divine looking with his serious face, and we had one just like Little pig, caramel coloured, with a white crest though, and an extra toe on both back feet - cutting her toenails was always a challenge, and she walked with a waddle to accommodate the extra toes. Bless her, although she was a mutant I loved her to bits! ( her name was Astra because her crest was star shaped!)

Mutant piggies! That's a claim to fame :-)