It's Been Awhile for Me

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Tehuantl

Post   » Tue Aug 09, 2022 5:21 pm


Hello, let's try this again. Just lost my entire draft lol.

I have gone on quite the journey since Hanna passed away. I now have much more guinea pig experience and 9 lovely furry potatoes watching me as I write.

I still have Mia, Hanna's sister as well as Oreo and Ginger. Mia is slowly going blind as her retina's are detaching, Oreo is still Queen of the Herd, and now is known as wrinkly bum. Ginger has gone deaf, but despite a few scares, is doing well. I have my piggies trained to a whistle/verbal que system. For Ginger I use finger thumps and a soft gentle blow to get her attention. All are fast approaching 6 years of life.

Next up is Gracie, the future herd mistress. She is just as grumpy and crabby as usual, even after her spay. She will find a reason not to like something. She has been fairly healthy other then a recent UTI that started going south from the antibiotic. Yes, it was a piggie safe one and yes, I do use probiotics and Critical Care/herbivore EmerAid. She is also finally accepting ear rubs and nose rubs and enjoying them!

Then it's Buttercup. I almost lost her in the last 6 months from what started as a UTI. She had one before and did great. This time at the end of her treatment I noticed her poos went tan and started shrinking and her tummy was off. I started emergency care and got her into her vet's. She had gone into GI Stasis and was bloating badly. After 2 months she is almost normal, but does require "degassing". I feel really bad as she is still warry of me from having to inject her with the motility meds due to the severity of her stasis. I can now say that I am excited when one of my piggies toots. My husband has also learned that yes, guinea pigs can toot, and quite loudly. She is still not at full health and despite many lab tests and images, has trace amounts of blood in her urine with an odd orange color. Otherwise she is quite normal and even has a "boyfriend".

Next up is Mya, who is quite pretty and has the nickname of "Party Pants" from her coloring. She is the first piggie I have had with a bladder stone. She had just been into the vet for her annual wellness several days before. When I noticed her hunching and squeeking so softly it was barely audible, I promptly got her into the vets. He was able to get it out without surgery thankfully as it was dangerously large and located. It would have made a human cry for its size.

These remaining sisters are all just over 3 years of life.

I also intervened a few months ago and took over care for my nieces 2 boars. She was not intentionally cruel but after trying to teach her it became apparent that the desire to care for them properly was not there. The boars are George and Gizmo. Both have behavior issues and some bad habits. I am working on these.

George, who survived being mauled by Gizmo's father, is bar aggressive. A hanging chew toy every 4 inches and a lot of Phooey on the bars is starting to work. George, was neutered almost 5 weeks ago, and he had an undescended testicle. He is recovering well, but just had an emergency vet visit today. He had an area on his right side swelling, the place where the fat deposit instead of a testicle was. I had a vet appointment, but it ruptured before I got in. The swelling started Friday night, so I did keep a close eye on it. My vet took him in ASAP, and everything does look ok. I am giving him antibiotics as well as a nice antiseptic lavage two times a day. He is not a fan, but wound care needs to proceed. I also have pain meds for him since it is not in an ideal location for sitting.

Gizmo, who is younger and skittish, is now Buttercups' boyfriend. She was spayed so no babies. Despite him not getting the hint all the time, they do complement each other well. He now has spots from when she gets peeved at him, as do the walls, hence I have splash guards. I call them the Terror Twins as the cleaning of them is intensive.
George is about 2-1/2 and Gizmo 1-1/2 years of life.

Lastly is little Annabella. I adopted her after her owners permits for her were revoked. He was moving out of country. She has never been in a herd so I will try and introduce her to George as she is the only other piggie he bothers to notice in a good way. Once he can no longer father babies, I will try the introduction.

I did try an introduction to my herd of 5 girls, but she butted heads with Gracie. I knew Gracie was the one she had to get along with, but both are mule headed. Gracie's first impression of her was when she ended up splayed across Gracie's back with all 4 leg sticking out in different directions while attempting to show dominance. Gracie was not amused and since she is three times the size of Annabella, promptly bucked her off and started chattering and nosing up. Annabella did not back down and so down went the separation blanket.

Annabella has also never had fresh food so I am in the process of showing her the yummy world of veggies. She ate bell pepper for the first time today after rejecting it for the last couple months. I am hoping sweet George can help her and they can be bonded and not be loners.
Annabella is about 2-1/2 years of life.

After I lost Hanna I was heartbroken, but even with the recent passing of my first boar Charlie and fierce little Cookie, I still have room in my heart. It still hurts, but I know that they were loved and taken care of. I have much love to share and a very big garden.

Here is my Cavy Acres
https://photos.app.goo.www.guinealynx.info/

And my resting place for those who have passed on. Hanna is the winged one, with the big one being Charlie and the little Abby being Cookie.

https://photos.app.goo.www.guinealynx.info/

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Wed Aug 10, 2022 8:36 am


Thanks for sharing such colorful descriptions of your group of guinea pigs! They have a lovely home. Do you let them run around on occasion on the floor? That can be quite entertaining too (in a large space with compatible guinea pigs).

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Renonvsparky

Post   » Wed Aug 10, 2022 10:45 pm


I was looking at the picture of your cavy acres and wishing I could set something like that up for my 10 guinea pigs. I have a couple of logistical issues though. The first and most obvious one is space. The only place in the house where I have room to do that is the basement. I'd never keep them down there because it's too cool and damp for them and they'd be sick all of the time. The second issue is the 2 girls. It's not really feasible to neuter 8 boars; especially 6 year old Mr Bubbles and 5 year old Dean. The girls could be spayed, but it's really not necessary since I'll never be able to put them all in an area like that.

Luckily mine are happy in their current setup. Everyone has either a neighbor, a cage pal or both and the girls are next to a single boar and far enough from the pairs of boars so their presence doesn't cause any rifts.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Wed Aug 10, 2022 11:25 pm


You can't put multiple boars with any number of sows anyway. You can put a boar with as many or few sows as you want, but a second boar will destroy everything. I can only imaging what 6 or 8 would do.

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Renonvsparky

Post   » Thu Aug 11, 2022 2:35 am


I wasn't suggesting that I could put all 10 of them in the same enclosure with spaying or neutering as needed to prevent mating. My boars would still have to be physically separated into the pairs they currently are along with the 2 singles because they don't get along outside of their pairing. A barrier that they can see each other and touch noses through is sufficient. The two sows couldn't be next to any of the pairs. That's the whole problem I mentioned with having the girls. Even if I had the space to set up something like that, the only remotely possible way to situate them would be with the girls on one end with Mr Bubbles and Dean in separate areas in-between them and any of the 3 pairs of boars; Gilligan and Skipper, Wilber and Grady and Kahlua and Jack. That would make for at least a 24 foot long and at least an 8 foot wide setup. Even then the possibility of any of the pairs getting a whiff of the girls and fighting over them exists.

As it is now, none of the pairs of boars are where they can sense the girls. Dean is next to them and Mr Bubbles is above and they're both single. Gillian and Skipper are above Dean, but not where they can see or sense them. The other 2 pairs are across the room. The ultimate setup would be all boars. Even if they don't get along, I could put barriers between them. Second best would be a totally separate room for the girls. If I had that, I'd get a couple more sows. It's nothing more than a pipe dream for me, but I really admire the way theirs is set up.

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ItsaZoo
Supporter in 2023

Post   » Thu Aug 11, 2022 2:20 pm


Tehuantl, that is a really nice cage setup. Lucky piggies!

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Tehuantl

Post   » Fri Aug 19, 2022 3:42 am


My piggies all get turns for floor time. In good weather its a grassy pen created between my raised beds, which are grass and clover. Otherwise its either upstairs or downstairs. I let out the piggies in groups. I also use this time to clean cages, lol. I have put down squirmy piggies who absolutely hate what I am doing, just to have them freeze and start inhaling the grass, lol. I do put down hay for them, even with the grass, but they all have very round tummies when its time to go back.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Aug 19, 2022 7:14 am


:-)

Sounds like you really take good care of your piggies!

By the way, Chili had an excellent way of handling her guinea pigs (putting them down in the cage) that I added to the handling page. She would stop just short of the floor and not set them down until they stopped squirming. It makes for calmer pig and (with new owners) fewer accidents from jumping!
https://www.guinealynx.info/handling.html

By the way, would you like me to add your picture of your cages permanently to your topic for future readers? I generally only add medical pics but your cages are helpful ideas for others.

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Renonvsparky

Post   » Sat Aug 20, 2022 5:59 pm


Grass grazing time is by far the most favorite thing for my guinea pigs. I'm glad to see someone who gives their piggies the same treat. Grass is very good for them, but you have to be aware of the dangers of them being outside; especially predators and over exposure to the weather.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sat Aug 20, 2022 10:49 pm


Ditto on watching out for the weather. Guinea pigs outside should ALWAYS have shade available. A nice day in the sun can be deadly. Best if you are outside with them.

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Renonvsparky

Post   » Mon Aug 22, 2022 10:19 pm


You know full well that I don't take my eyes off of my little ones, even for a second (I'm just razzing you LoL)! All kidding aside, I'm even more vigilant since we've moved to the country where there are more predators and some of them are pretty sneaky. I can't reiterate it enough. It only takes a split second to lose one of these little ones to a predator.

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