Who fancies a guinea pig thread?

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 19/04/2015 21:17

They are gorgeous diplod , beautiful strong, clear markings. Are they boars or sows?

My DD 'saw' herself with a tri-colour (like your piggie on the right) when we got piggies but GP1,GP2,GP3 were all self or agouti.

We have GP4 and GP5 (sows) who are a tri-colour (black/white/fawn) and a Himalayan .Luckily for the Himmy she's mine so she escaped being named 'Elsa' like every other white female animal for miles around. And she's a scatty mouthy little critter but I loves her .
DD has gone to bed now or I would have got her to post a photo. She can do that tomorrow.

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diplodocusocious · 19/04/2015 21:21

Thank you 70, I am rather proud of them they are rescued boars (brothers) . I wasn't too sure about getting them having only had rabbits in the past and not gps but I must say I really, really like them technically they belong to the DDs but I sneak them out once the kids are in bed

Wow you have 5 gps! Do yours all live in the same cage or are they separate? I would like more but DH says no more cages :(

So what did you name yours if not Elsa? Ours are called Buzz (the tricolor) and Woody. They came with those names but I think they rather suit them.

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70isaLimitNotaTarget · 19/04/2015 21:39

No, only the 2 ( though they are messier than an entire herd ) We had GP1 and his brother GP2 , then GP2 died we got GP3.
GP1 died we had GP3 neutered and got GP4 and GP5 together .
GP2 died in January so we have the two girls.

(Though when I was a child I had four sows, 2 mums+ their 2 sow piglets. They had to be kept as pairs the old girl didn't like the new ones)

When DD and I collected the sows , i was determined to name one of them, we did a shortlist of colours:names (we knew they'd be females)

I wouldn't have picked a white piggie so I didn't pick a name, and she was a white one (well, himmy) . On the way home, I was wracking my brains. I wanted to call mine Bagheera (from The Jungle Book) but it didn't suit, so I thought of foods and came up with "Oreo".

DDs guinea is called "Trinity" (three colours)

Our piggies are all rescue pigs, there are some tragic cases out there, though none of ours were cruelty cases. The brothers were an accidental litter, kept as bonded pair.
GP3,GP4,GP5 were all part of big rescues.

GP5 thinks I should be grateful she chose to live with me.

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diplodocusocious · 19/04/2015 21:45

Aah, sorry to hear you've lost some :( I did wonder about what happens when one goes first and if you just end up in a revolving door situation replacing them as it's not fair to keep them without company really.

At this rate you will never be alone

Ours have been indoors for window but DH is insisting they go back outside. I will miss them, though, but thankfully they can't be moved outside until DH fixes the hole in the fence to make sure nextdoors terrier can't get to them and it will take forever to do that so hopefully they'll still be here when winter comes round again

I like the name Oreo. I want to get a female GP and call her Jessie. But I don't think the boys would agree to the operation!

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diplodocusocious · 19/04/2015 21:45

for winter

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70isaLimitNotaTarget · 19/04/2015 22:15

You'd need to get two ladies and have two sow/ neutered boar pairs.
If you put Jessie in with two boars, they would fight,(neutering won't change their behaviour. )

A harmonious boar pair is lovely. Our boars were really cuddly, snuggly pigs and they had a very distinctive lovely Boar smell (Aroma de Boar). The sows don't smell but they pee, loads.

We had GP3 neutered and bonded because as you say, you get a never ending spiral of 'next pig'.
He was 6 weeks when we got him, but he was huge and used to try to bonk our GP1 so we were dubious about putting him with a teeny boar piglet.

My sows were adult, had been Mums and feisty. He did try it on (when he was sterile and bonded) but they just gave him the old look .

Our Pigs went out to their Pighouse at Easter, I'm still picking up hay
I keep telling DD that these two will be our last so I want them to live at least another 5 years (when DD goes off to Uni) and slip away quietly together.

tadpole39 · 19/04/2015 22:27

Hello, long time lurker, first time poster. I am devoted piggy slave to four piggies, 3 girls, 1boy. My lovely silver agouti luna, has had an abdominal lump since November, vet says nothing to be done and just tlc, she seems fine, lost a lot of weight but lively and eating and playing, so I'm hopeful we might have her for a while longer. 70 I have followed your pig adventures for ages, likewise fernie b and am happy to share my pig stories with you ladies! .

FernieB · 20/04/2015 15:06

Hi tadpole and diplo! It's great to hear of more piggies.

Diplo - we have recently ended up doing the endless piggie cycle. One of our original boys died and his friend was bereft. They were rescues. We adopted them at 7 months old after their first owners decided they didn't want them any more because one of them needed vet treatment.

When his friend died, we took Scruffypig to a rescue and he chose a baby boar - Gingerpig. Ginger is growing fast. We did suspect he could end up long haired but he only seems to have a couple of long haired tufts on his rear making him look like he has a mullet. The plan is to get Ginger neutered when he's big enough, so he could be matched with an older girl in future.

FernieB · 20/04/2015 15:08

Tadpole - sorry to hear your piggie is unwell. How old is she? Bet she is enjoying the tlc. There's nothing pigs like more than having their people run round after them fetching them treats.

tadpole39 · 20/04/2015 17:14

Hi fernie, she is a rescue about 3, she is very slender not Lardy like a pig should be, you can see too much of her legs when she runs! I have a real weakness for the pigs, kids think i am bonkers but it could be so much worse, handbags or shoes or other such nonsense. But I have to hold back, four is enough for now especially with boldpig!

Sleepingbunnies · 20/04/2015 20:07

Daisy & Poppy say hello!

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 20/04/2015 21:00

guineas do get lumps tadpole some fatty , some malignant. Sometimes there is nothing that can be done except give them the best life they can have (especially with rescue pigs, so my hogs tell me ).
And if you have to make tough decisions, you do it in the interest of the guinea-pig.
Not all guineas are lardy , one of our pigs we had as a child was a strange long legged tiny little girl (her Mum was young, she was a BOGOF).

Hello sleeping Daisy and Poppy are gorgeous little girls

Sleepingbunnies · 20/04/2015 21:21

Lost daisy the other day... Heard rustling.... Found her!

tadpole39 · 20/04/2015 22:54

Here is my pighistory, not too long, I inherited two boars woody and Hugo from charity where I worked.

They were bought by the director, separately from dodgy petshop and luckily got on really well. The idea was to let children with special needs cuddle them, but lack of handling had made woody bitey and afraid. So they came to live with me!

Woody died, Hugo was neutered and Daisy (boldpig) arrived. Then I got jane but she was a boy by mistake, obv couldn't stay so went to local rescue and back came luna!.
Then, for no reason at all, I got baby betty who is beautiful and noisy.

I'm hoping that's it for now, but who knows?

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diplodocusocious · 21/04/2015 14:58

Ah, loving daisy and poppy! So nice to hear about other peoples piggies, they are such lovely pets aren't they?this seems a good place to get tips,am a bit of a novice so good to hear from those of you who have been through the revolving door scenarios

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diplodocusocious · 21/04/2015 14:59

Tadpole I hope your lady is ok and her lump is nothing to worry about

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FernieB · 21/04/2015 19:28

Diplo, I can talk pigs for hours (as my vet will testify)! My lovely boys were out mowing the lawn today. I like to work them hard.

FernieB · 21/04/2015 19:32

My boys!

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 21/04/2015 22:13

Fernie was Smooth judgey in the outdoor run? (I'm asking as he was a white red eyed like my Himmy sow) my GP5 really doesn't cope with The Great Outdoors. She'll hide under a trug or in the tunnel but she cannot stand the light on her baby ruby eyes.

Last summer we had to shroud the run with a black sheet - she'd run round like a little mad thing though I'm sure GP3 and GP4 were .

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diplodocusocious · 22/04/2015 10:11

Aww, fernie they are dead sweet! I'm gonna put mine out on the lawn in a minute, they've still got loads to clear.

70, gp being 'judgey' makes me laugh, I know exactly what you mean.

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FernieB · 22/04/2015 22:23

70 - Smooth loved the outdoors. I thought he'd prefer shade, bring a delicate, white haired, pink eyed, distinguished gentleman. He was a sun worshipper though. We think he was trying to get a tan.

The boys were out again today and Current Bun went out on his lead. Every time he ran past the pigs, Ginger scurried up to the bars and ran with him doing popcorns. Thinks he luffs his Uncle Current!

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diplodocusocious · 23/04/2015 11:52

Ah fernie yours sound so cool! Mine only popcorn for food but even then it's more of a guinea pig riot they have going on, they didn't get fed til 9 today as I forgot to do it before school run and they were practically banging their mugs on the bars

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clippityclop · 23/04/2015 16:21

Our girls gave been outside today, and after 20 minutes got fed up with munching and retired to their woven house thingy. Newbie 2 did a brilliant popcorn yesterday, I went in early with their breakfast and caught her napping on the top of the covered part of their cage. She bounced up and down whistling like mad to let Newbie 1 know that grub was up. So funny...piggies always make me smile.

FernieB · 23/04/2015 19:01

Diplo - can't believe your pigs were fed so late. Mine have me very well trained and have taught me to feed them first before any people or other animals.

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diplodocusocious · 23/04/2015 20:01

Haha, Fenie, dog gets fed first in this house ALWAYS because she comes into our room at 6 demands it. Pigs are behind a closed door and easier to ignore

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