And my zoo gets bigger

[angelicvampyre]

Ok I have some new additions so lets run through the list

Nellie – mixed breed dog – small and fluffy approx 9 years old

Mac – mixed breed dog – small and fluffy approx 8 years old

Miss Kitty – Kitten – a few months old

Tommy & Joy – Yellow Sided Green Cheeks (Breeding Pair who don’t breed)  approx 5 years old

Myle and Nikki – Sun Conures – Breeding pair with 3 bubs in the nest approx 5 years old

Bugz and Anya – Rabbits (you guys know them)

Rufus – Rabbit approx 5 years old

Big Red, Fluffy Butt, Rudy Rose – RIR x Isa Browns Approx 6 months old

Yin – White Silkie – Approx 5 months old

Blue and Lemon – Budgies (Blue is 2 and Lemon is 7)

Currenlty new and coming in residences

– Sexy Lexi – Found Lorie looking for owners if can’t find will re home

– Alex – One winged alex will attempt to re home

– Lorie – Coming in next week already have a new home for

– 2 GP… yeah so should not have agreed to something and now I have two and the girls are coming in a few weeks once the hutches are here.  Not 100% happy about the situation but better of two evils.  Also these guys need names as I refuse to call them stud one and stud two!  Sorry but they need big boy names.  Both are boys and one is a Texel I believe from what research I have been able to do on the web

PS I know very little about pigs so if anyone has any other information about them then please let me know!  At the moment they are in Rufus old cage as he moved into Bugz and Anyas old cage as they moved into their new cage (thank god otherwise they would have had to go in the bath tub!)

 

[RabbitPam]

That’s quite a housefull!

I had pigs growing up. Shavings on the bottom of the cage because they don’t litter pan train. Don’t use pine for bunnies, but OK for pigs. I’d suggest just getting Aspen shavings in large quantities for all of them so you don’t have to switch.

Eat lettuce, carrots, bits of fruit slices – not very different. And gp pellets. They can get fat easily.
Need exercise, but not as much as rabbits. Learn the sound of the fridge very fast and will squeak when it’s opened.

Much less work than rabbits, dogs or cats. Great starter pet for children.

[angelicvampyre]

thank Pam, Trying to find out how to do the hutches as the lady will not give them to me so trying to find cheap alternatives. Took the boys as she said the females are going to be up the duff (oh joy) but figure if they are not least they will not get up the duff if i have the boys. Only thing i could think of, that and if she changes her mind then at least she has to go out and get more males. i owuld have taken all of them at once but had no room and could not live with GPs in my bathroom tub for a week while i get sorted!

[Sarita]

Here’s a link to my friend’s guinea pig rescue in Texas and what they recommend for housing:

http://www.theguineapigrescue.com/cages.htm

There are also links for care and feeding and other stuff.

[Sarita]

I have to disagree though that they are alot less work – in my opinion they are tons more work – cleaning their cages is alot more work than rabbits who are litterboxed trained.

[kralspace]

Wow, I think you do qualify as a zoo…lol

Do you have some NIC grids? They make great piggie cages and you can customize them to the space you do have. I’ve had a pair for almost 3 years now and I really like the personalities.

This site is great with information:
http://www.guineapigcages.com/

With the arrival of Charlie, I’m very short of space too. I converted the 2 level piggie house into a 1.5 level for Charlie and a one level for the piggies right now. Hopefully I can save the money to neuter Charlie and bond him  to one of the couples so I give them back their room. Just for myself, I like using a large towel for flooring (newspaper underneath) and a box lid full of hay (coastal always and their orchard hay portions). Under the box and ‘tent’ I have some sheepskin pads I had made for Hershey that I change out every other day.

They’re not littertrained but they do most of their poo/pee in the box and tent so it’s easy to change those out. The hay box I throw away every week because even with some wood pellets it gets pretty soiled.

I’m planning on giving baths and clipping nails today so they won’t be very happy campers, but they do lots of popcorns when it’s finally over.

Here’s the entire condo setup:

Left side:

Right side. Each week they customize that box until some times it becomes a porch instead of a house.

[angelicvampyre]

wow thanks so much guys. I have e-mailed a group that sell the croplast (sp?) to see if I can buy some and have an old metal shelf that I can alter otherwise my garage is going to become a bunch of cages. I think i am getting three or 4 girls maybe more that all might be going to drop litters soon so have to be all hands on deck. However i do have a friend who is going to help me out with new homes for the young.

[kralspace]

that’s great news about the help, Sarita’s right, piggies do take more time for just housekeeping than the bunnies. oh, and they need some vitamin C everyday because their bodies don’t make it. I buy a generic bottle of chewables and cut them in half. I have to hand feed them as a treat because Sweetpea would grab both of them.

If the group doesn’t have the chloroplast(sp) you can get it from most sign companies, just tell them it’s for a pet cage (so they don’t think you’re a sign rival). The one I use doesn’t mind cutting it down for me if they’re not busy so it fits in my car.

My first one had a terrible skin condition, bald hot spots and itching. Dr. Erving suggested bathing once a week with Selsum Blue shampoo and applying just the tiniest touch of Ivectum behind the ears. She said that could clear up a number of problems and narrow it down to more serious ones that she needed to take care of. Luckily, after a few weeks she was completely healed and her fur was growing back luxuriously.

They are a lot of fun to watch, I have a hard time walking into the room now to decide who gets first attention!

[jerseygirl]

Gosh AV, you’re getting the girls as well as these 2 boys? B-U-S-Y is an understatement.

You can by coroplast at Bunnings. It’s called Fluteboard. Might be an idea to ring ahead before if you do try Bunnings. I also saw the NIC grids (they’re called add-a-cube) seem to have dropped in price to 12.95. I thought they were something closer to $20 before.

[angelicvampyre]

Wow JG thanks for telling me that i will ring around the three bunnings near me and get some. Not sure when the girls are coming in, lady seems to have a hard time letting them go so will have to wait and see

[jerseygirl]

Oh, I’ve remembered those grids are only like 5 per pack which is Lame! At least when I last saw them. So don’t get your hopes up on them. So, have the boys got names now?

[Lintini]

Piggies!!! I love pigs!! Their little noises are so cute!! Awww I love texels too!! *steals*

[angelicvampyre]

JG I have about 30 odd spare squares so only had to get the board which finally found and had to drive to a non local bunnings to get. No they do not have names yet but discovered veggies it was cute they looked and screamed at them and then decided they where not a threat then sniffed and then well it was all out piggies in the middle! Then both just so over the moon fell asleep in the veggie dish (which had been LICKED clean) with their little bums in the air!

[kralspace]

Piggies are so cute with their squeals, squeeks, weeps and siren sounds. My favorite is the purring and chuckles they do. I know you will enjoy them. I was thinking of adopting another pair or some gerbils from the Guinea Pig Rescue because they’ve taken so many in from recent seizures, but then along came Charlie!

Pics of pigs are mandatory here too!

[bunnnnnnie!]

Guinea Pigs are quite similar to rabbits in some ways.

– They need hay in front of them all the time.  I always fed mine Timothy, but other types are probably okay.

– They also make timothy-based pellets that are better for them, Kaytee makes “Timothy Complete” for piggies.

– They need wood to chew on to keep their teeth from overgrowing.

– Pine really isn’t a good choice for piggies either.  If you have the money Carefresh and similar brands is the best choice, but if not Aspen shavings are acceptable.

But in other ways, they’re different.

– The piggies in those photos are NOT being held correctly and can get badly hurt holding them like that.  You NEED to use 2 hands holding a piggie.  With one hand, wrap your fingers (not too tight!) around their waist.  The other hand, SUPPORT THEIR BOTTOMS.  This is VERY important!

– Do NOT use wheels or exercise balls, piggies are not agile enough for these and can harm themselves.

– Their cages must be cleaned regularly, spot cleaning it a few times a week is great.  If not, strip the entire cage at least once a week.

Cage-wise, if you don’t want to bother trying to find those grids and the chloroplast or whatever that bottom material is called.. you can buy an entire “kit” here:

http://www.guineapigcages.com/buycc.htm
 

They’re great, I had one for my piggie (may he RIP) and it was a bargain compared to the commercial cages.

[angelicvampyre]

@ bunnnnnnie! I made the cages as it was the easiest also I am in Australia so I can’t get those kits I got a Huge amount of pine shavings that are dust free but so far hate them so thinking of switching to fleese as it seems to be what others are using. Sorry about holding them wrong that is how the guy that passed them to me was holding them and them seemed ok with it so I assumed it was right, I now know that is wrong and will not do it again.

As it turns out the lady that had the females has decided to keep them which was good as I got a call on Friday night and a guy wanted to drop off a female as he could not get out to the ACS so i took her and already had the cage set up. I then found a female in a pen with a bunch of boys being sold for snake food, the poor little girl was getting humped like mad and the boys where all fighting over her so I convince the owner to give her to me, wish i could have taken all the boys but I am going to report the guy because it is not legal to sell live animals for snake food and he was not even trying to hide that is what he was doing!

So here are my girls.

Martha who is all blue eyed and really cute and just so sweet! (oh and there is another hand under her bum you just can’t see it in the picture)

And unnamed little one who is as scared as all bugger poor little mite so hard to get a picture of her, did not want to stress her out to much!

Also got an Alex in who had to have a wing taken off by the vet who is also VERY scared but we are working with her.

However the Lorie that I had in went to his new home today and it was great!

[angelicvampyre]

GRRR not sure why the pictures are so big I resized them on photo bucket!

[RabbitPam]

The pix look fine to me, so you or someone else resized them.

I do a spot on vocal imitation of guinea pigs, if I say so myself.

Sarita, they were easier for us than my Diva bunny! LOL (And the first two pigs belonging to my older brothers who had to take care of them may have had something to do with it as well. )

[Beka27]

They are so cute!!! I had some piggies as a teenager. Purchased a female from a petstore, got her home, and she had 4 babies. I didn’t take that great of care of them at the time, but I really liked them. You know, but now I have buns and I’m just not in the market for another species.

[leyley904]

I just wanted to say (it may have been mentioned) they need a wide variety of veggies daily. It is essential. Not just leafy greens, everything. 1/8 of bell pepper per pig daily (green is best, then yellow then red). Bell pepper has lots of vit C which guinea pigs don’t make in their bodies naturally so the need extra in their diet.

I don’t suggest Kaytee (I saw someone mentioned this). It’s okay, but oxbow is definitely best.

The link to this site
http://www.guineapigcages.com
has been posted, but I just want to add a recommendation. It’s absolutely wonderful for info, just beware of some vary passionate pig owners…. be careful what you say.

[bunnnnnnie!]

Posted By leyley904 on 06/21/2010 11:02 AM
I just wanted to say (it may have been mentioned) they need a wide variety of veggies daily. It is essential. Not just leafy greens, everything. 1/8 of bell pepper per pig daily (green is best, then yellow then red). Bell pepper has lots of vit C which guinea pigs don’t make in their bodies naturally so the need extra in their diet.

I don’t suggest Kaytee (I saw someone mentioned this). It’s okay, but oxbow is definitely best.

The link to this site
http://www.guineapigcages.com
has been posted, but I just want to add a recommendation. It’s absolutely wonderful for info, just beware of some vary passionate pig owners…. be careful what you say.

 

I think that’s debatable, depending on who you ask.  I don’t consider Oxbow the best.

[leyley904]

Yup.
Actually, I don’t know why I said oxbow is the best. I don’t even think that
But I do think Oxbow is better than Kaytee. But, yes, it depends who you ask. I think (I may be remembering wrong) that kaytee has some more fatty ingredients.
Yes, it depends who you ask.

[Nibbles_NZ]

It does depend on who you ask but in my opinion it is the best. I switched to Oxbow because it was recommended by almost everyone on this site and by my Veterinarian. My Vet also recommends Kaytee if you are anable to locate Oxbow. I think as long as the pellets don’t have all of that extra stuff in them like seeds and such they are not too high in fat and have all of the dietary needs than they are okay. I go by what my Vet recommends.

[Beka27]

My issue with some brands (like Kaytee) is that they make a superior quality food and an inferior food, and both are available on the same shelf… For someone who is not familiar with what their pet requires, they may be tempted to purchase the inferior product. SO… why not ONLY make the superior quality food? All the products Oxbow makes meet the highest of standards, for each individual species, and they stand behind their products better than some other companies do. They don’t give options for junky food, b/c they recognize that plain alfalfa and plain timothy pellets are the best, depending on age group.

[bunnnnnnie!]

Posted By Beka27 on 06/21/2010 12:30 PM
My issue with some brands (like Kaytee) is that they make a superior quality food and an inferior food, and both are available on the same shelf… For someone who is not familiar with what their pet requires, they may be tempted to purchase the inferior product. SO… why not ONLY make the superior quality food? All the products Oxbow makes meet the highest of standards, for each individual species, and they stand behind their products better than some other companies do. They don’t give options for junky food, b/c they recognize that plain alfalfa and plain timothy pellets are the best, depending on age group.

 

Most likely because not everyone can afford Oxbow.  Kaytee makes a wide range of products because they are probably trying to market to a wide range of budgets. 

[angelicvampyre]

Thanks guys, I can’t seem to find Kaytee over here (was going to compare prices) however when i buy my Bunny hay and Oxbow bunny pellets from me vet I do it in Bulk or the local petshop (that does not sell animals) also has it and is bringing in the buy 9 get one free and they don’t care if it is oxbow for GPs or Oxbow for Bunnies so I think i will just keep them on the oxbow. Everyone is settling really well and loving their new cages and the room. Was out today giving them their veggies and the fluffy male came popcorning across the cage, funniest thing I have ever seen. Martha came running as well however the other girl was still hiding which i don’t blame her for.

[Nibbles_NZ]

Well, when you think what is cheaper and what you can afford, you also have to consider the health benefits. Vet costs are much higher than food costs. I am not saying that if you buy a cheaper brand than your pet will end up sick from it however, like Beka said, getting a food that you know meets all of the nutritional needs of your pet and is recommended by a Vet will keep your pet healthier. Small animals especially are very delicate when it comes to what they eat. That is just my opinion.

[Beka27]

Exactly Nibbles. It’s part of having a pet… Buying quality food, hay, and veggies. It all adds up, but it’s necessary. And if pellets are fed in the correct amount, it’s very inexpensive b/c it only makes up a tiny fraction of the diet. Junky pellets are more expensive b/c rabbits pick out the bits they want to eat and the rest gets thrown away.

[angelicvampyre]

Beka I agree. My guys eat ALL their pellets when I give them to them. They eat all their veggies and their hay which is also good. I have a friend who goes through the rabbit coles mix (cheap supermarket mix) for her bunny. I have time and time tried to get her to come across to oxbow but she say at $35 a bag it is to expensive. Now I have one bag between three rabbits and get just over a month with that sometimes more depending on how much fresh veggies they get and the variety. I went shopping with her and she bought 4 boxes of rabbit mix at $11 each as each box last her a week. I again explained and as of yesterday nibbles is now an oxbow bunny. My friend still thinks it is going to cost her more but a bag should last her around 3 months so that is $35 for Oxbow for three months supply or $132 for cheap cole mix for three months supply, not hard to do the maths!

[bunnnnnnie!]

Posted By angelicvampyre on 06/29/2010 07:23 PM
Beka I agree. My guys eat ALL their pellets when I give them to them. They eat all their veggies and their hay which is also good. I have a friend who goes through the rabbit coles mix (cheap supermarket mix) for her bunny. I have time and time tried to get her to come across to oxbow but she say at $35 a bag it is to expensive. Now I have one bag between three rabbits and get just over a month with that sometimes more depending on how much fresh veggies they get and the variety. I went shopping with her and she bought 4 boxes of rabbit mix at $11 each as each box last her a week. I again explained and as of yesterday nibbles is now an oxbow bunny. My friend still thinks it is going to cost her more but a bag should last her around 3 months so that is $35 for Oxbow for three months supply or $132 for cheap cole mix for three months supply, not hard to do the maths!

Man that sucks.  Don’t you hate when friends won’t take your GOOD advice?

 

[Lunar~Atticus]

i dont understand why pine shavings are no good for guinea pigs…i know cedear will slowly kill them.

i used pine for my guinea pig and he lived to a ripe old age of 10 years old. so, i personally dont have a problem with pine shavings!

[angelicvampyre]

Lunar since getting the GPs it seems that the jury is out in regards to them. Some people swear by them some hate them. The ones I got have the dust removed that can cause issues with their eyes, and as I am not keeping these guys and only having them until new homes can be found then that is what I am going to use.

[Deleted User]

The volatile phenols in pine shavings can harm a small animal’s respiratory system, especially if housed in poorly ventilated habitats. You can get pine nowadays that has these phenols already removed by a process of heat-drying.

[Author]

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