Originally Posted by
aliwin
Ok, GuineaPigQueen, question for you if you come back on this thread as you haven't posted enough yet for me to pm you.
I have been looking on the forums and links you sent me. If I am going to go with the new piggy idea I shall need a new home for them. At the mo I have just bog standard traditional hutch. I did try one with ramps but one of the piggies couldn't ever get to grips with that. I see on the site they seem to prefer these grid ones. Does anyone in the UK make them do you know? And what set up have you for your piggies?
P.S who are you on the piggy forum????
I got my grids from Robert May -
http://www.shopfittingsonline.co.uk/
and I have got my two girls in an 11 x 4 (grids) cage - which is extremely huge but the average size you would need for two pigs is 2 x 4 (grids) - although the bigger the better
I am Char-x
Originally Posted by
wishbone
How long do piggies live, as he would be 5 1/2 now?
Depends on the piggies. On average those who live indoors do tend to live slightly longer, but on average I would say guinea pigs with no obvious health problems (e.g. a heart pig, diabetic etc), a good diet and happy etc should be around 8-10 years.
Originally Posted by
youngstevie
Wooooooooooooooooo sorry hun, I am not offended, but can you chill alittle please.
First my vet knows (whom can I say I have used for many years) know mine live together. They have vaccinations etc., and regular checks, as for the balanced diet I can assure you there is enough of both mix for guineapigs and rabbit and greens,fruit,carrots etc., for both, they have an enormous cage which was build purposely to house a Giant Flemish which I owned, who incidently lived with two guinea-pigs for 9 years.
Yes there are incidents I agree which I have heard of, fortunately I have never experienced them, these two have been together for a long time, and they are bonded, (if I thought for one second anything was a miss I would separate) they are checked 4 times daily as I have to go up to see to my chickens, our rabbit is out of the cage during the day with the chickens (yes the chickens) and during the summer months the guineapig comes out too with them all.
I have no desire to get into an arguement, OK I am lucky then.
As for your info yes thank you for the information it was nice of you xx
Ps no Dandi (rabbit) doesn't groom Chocolate.
You say they have their vaccines? Piggies dont need vaccines? Unless you mean just the rabbit?
How are you sure the guinea pig eats from his bowel and the rabbit from theirs? Since the nutrition would be completely different? E.g. the guinea pig needs the added Vit C.
You probably know this but piggies should have access to green pepper really to ensure the vit c and its very nutritious for them. For example I feed mine round lettiuce, corriander, a baby carrot, 1/4 green pepper and a seedless tomatoe in one day - sometimes supplemented with a small amount of dill and parsley. Whereas fruits shouldnt be given too often as pigs are sensitive to sugar, especially if they eat a mix which is heavy in it.
Your vet may know about it, but unfortunatly many vets dont know much about guinea pigs medical side let alone care because they barely study them at uni - aprox 2 months on all exotics. Which is why the vet I use, although I have to travel for him, has specialised in guinea pigs - I wouldnt trust anyone else. I'm not saying you vet is bad or anything, just surprised he hasnt said anything, but I guess if your bringing money
I am slightly worried you say your rabbit etc goes out with chickens again there is always a chance of salemella (sp) being transferred. And a giant flemish with a guinea pig?
I'm sorry but thats just ridiculous. Feel free to tell me to calm down again but honestly
I dont see why you wouldnt just get a friend for the animals of their own species? Its much fairer and safer on the animals
So many people have said how thier rabbits and guinea pigs have got along fine for years, and then one day they go out and theres a dead or injured pig. I just dont see the sense in creating a high risk enviourment - maybe I'm odd though and like peace of mind.
Does your rabbit not binky around?
Originally Posted by
Shanik
Hello,
Can I pop in here if no-one minds, I would like some advice too. We have one guinea pig boy at the moment, sadly we lost his brother to a probable stroke (vet advice) towards the end of Summer. Our boy who is left is 2 years old and now on his own. He was the more dominant of the two who were litter brothers. I have received conflicting advice, one from a Piggy breeder who said that if I introduced them slowly and through a seperation area that it would probably be fine, another person who owns guinea pigs told me to get him neutered and introduce a female of around the same age. Finally another person told me to just let him live out his years alone or we could end up with death on our hands. So being a bit frightened (I don't want to be the cause of a death) We have left our boy living alone, I feel guilty that he may have years ahead of him with no Guinea pig company and I know they are social creatures. We do handle him, take him through to sit on our laps and watch telly, talk to him, groom him, he is kept indoors but we have always let them outside into a secure run (with cover) during the better weather when it is appropriate. He was upset when his brother first died but seems to be happy enough now. I just feel guilty that he has no company of his own kind?
Any advice? Thanks so much.
If I was you I would have his health checked out by the vet - make sure there is no underlying problems and do your research regarding neutering. Heres some useful links :
http://www.guinealynx.info/links.html#neutering
http://www.cavyspirit.com/neutering.htm
He is a great age considering he is healthy and a good weight for being neutered, and it will be much easier to bond female and males together compared to a dominant male and younger males - you could get a baby male however you cannot be sure of their personality and most pigs get abit big for their boots during adolescence (sp) and if he is also dominant boy then there could be possible problems.
Also if you neuter then he will be less likely to get the dreaded and extremely common (and smelly!) impaction problem as they age. Not to mention if theres any more loss then it will be easier to find him another female - rather than have the same problem down the years.
If you choose not to get him done then I would go to a rescue that will be able to fit personalities to your piggie. If you choose to get a baby boy then I would say get the boy neutered - it doesnt stop their dominant behaviour, like it would in dogs - they simply cannot impregnate anymore. It will just mean that in the future if your older male goes first, you can choose a female which would be easier.
But if you neuter then make sure that you get a very good guinea pig vet, not all are actually that up on guineas because they are exotic animals and infact my vet said unless you do it specially (as he does) then you get 2 months roughly on exotic animals in uni
On the guinea lynx forum I think they have a list of good vets, if not ring the local rescue and ask them who they use - the more experiance the better.
http://www.guinealynx.info/vet.html
I hope this helps, and makes sense...