A Journey Of Growth

[Little Ones]

Quickly snapped a photo of both my boys together and wow, it's unbelievable how they've grown in a year an a half! I hope this is allowed but I'd love to hear stories about how you came about owning your current Guinea pigs (or even your first!) and I'd really like to see how they've grown, from a first photo to the most recent!

Here is mine:
My mum bought me Little One (left) a few weeks after GuinGuin(RIP, baby) passed away since I was dealing so poorly with his loss, she bought him from the pet store as he had been sat all alone for 4 weeks with no one wanting to make him theirs. All of his brothers and sisters had been sold and he was just waiting, the pet store man said his siblings were much nicer coloured and patterned so people wanted the others and not him - which I think Little is beautifully coloured. My mum never liked how Guinea pigs 'looked' but she said to herself that if he was still there after 4 weeks, she would get him because she fell in love with him and thought he was so gorgeous. He was still there, she surprised me at home with him in GuinGuin's cage (we got a new one when we got a Honey) at the end of my bed, at first I didn't notice because I was so use to the cage being there, when she pointed it out, I broke down and cried, I was so happy and I'd missed having a Guinea pig to hold in my arms!
After about a week of him being alone, it was time for him to get a friend. He had settled in lovely and he lived for the attention! We rang up a centre - which isn't exactly a store but isn't exactly an adoption place (we couldn't get to an adoption centre), they said that he'd been alone too long and getting him a friend would lead to continuous fighting and it just wouldn't work. My mum said I couldn't get another but I convinced her in a matter of hours because in my opinion it should be mandatory for them to live in at least pairs. So we went and we bought Honey(right(who is now called Fat Honey)). They clicked, I mean they do still have arguments but they enjoy nestling up to each other to sleep. I still cry sometimes over the loss of GuinGuin and at times I felt like I'd somehow replaced him, but I'm glad my mum bought me Little, which lead onto Honey. I think I would've dealt with Guin's loss a lot worse without my fur babies. I think that when I'm older and I have my own house etc, I'm going to be a mad Guinea pig lady! I wouldn't have it any other way! They are the loves of my life!

This is them on one of their first days together, the 22nd of December 2014!




This is a photo I just took of them. Honey is on the left and Little is on the right



You can really see how they've changed in their faces!

I'd love to hear your stories!

 

[flintstones]

Oh my goodness which story to tell!

I'd moved away from home and really wanted a pet. I decided on a Guinea pig, I knew very little about them in fact I was scared to pick Fred up.

I got him from the adoption center at pets at home, they said he was 18 months that was 6 years and 9 months ago. They advised he'd be fine on his own. This definetly wasn't the case he was terrified.

I did introduce him to a baby male unfortunately things didn't go well so I was able to contact a rescue in England to get him two spayed sows Pebbles and Wilma. Unfortunately there owners no longer wanted them. They settled in amazingly Fred was such a happy pig and the girls where so confident.

Since then, we've moved countries and Alot of amazing piggies have came into our lifes. Fred was the beginning, I then adopted Wilma and Pebbles, Later Patrick, Bette then came to join me, Milo, Esmeand Penfold. Sadly Bette, Patrick,Pebbles, Milo, Esme and Penfold have all passed. They where all such characters and are sadly missed.

I still have Fred and Wilma both are very elderly now but I also have the terrible twins, Toby and Max hopefully sometime soon we'll have a friend for Max.

I can't quite imagine life without piggies.

My original Trio...



Pebbles, Wilma and Fred

 

[Little Ones]

Oh my goodness which story to tell!

I'd moved away from home and really wanted a pet. I decided on a Guinea pig, I knew very little about them in fact I was scared to pick Fred up.

I got him from the adoption center at pets at home, they said he was 18 months that was 6 years and 9 months ago. They advised he'd be fine on his own. This definetly wasn't the case he was terrified.

I did introduce him to a baby male unfortunately things didn't go well so I was able to contact a rescue in England to get him two spayed sows Pebbles and Wilma. Unfortunately there owners no longer wanted them. They settled in amazingly Fred was such a happy pig and the girls where so confident.

Since then, we've moved countries and Alot of amazing piggies have came into our lifes. Fred was the beginning, I then adopted Wilma and Pebbles, Later Patrick, Bette then came to join me, Milo, Esmeand Penfold. Sadly Bette, Patrick,Pebbles, Milo, Esme and Penfold have all passed. They where all such characters and are sadly missed.

I still have Fred and Wilma both are very elderly now but I also have the terrible twins, Toby and Max hopefully sometime soon we'll have a friend for Max.

I can't quite imagine life without piggies.

My original Trio...



Pebbles, Wilma and Fred

Thanks for sharing! they are so gorgeous! I bet Fred was so glad to see another piggy, it must be so strange for them to be on themselves - and lonely. One day I want to have lots of Guinea pigs to love, they're so cute and all have amazing personalities! Rest in peace to all your your babies who have crossed the rainbow bridge. I can't imagine my life without them either

 

[Keiko The Pig]

I too got my first Guinea pig from a pet store as I didn't know about rescues/adopting in my area. The girl who helped me with him was actually a piggy owner herself so she knew what she was talking about. Funnily enough I actually directed her to get a different piggy. A tri-coloured aby with gorgeous orange stripes but they had just gotten the baby pigs in from the breeder so there was many and they were all running like mad which just broke my heart. She ended up grabbing a gold agouti aby and asked if he was the one. He wasn't, but I didn't want to stress them and after seeing his little face and those big eyes I was done for. I said yes and she handed him to me as she went to fetch the take home box they provide and my mom (huge animal lover like me) went and picked out his edible house and grabbed the food hay etc. I had gotten a cage of kijiji that was minimum size for one Guinea. I read they did better in pairs lurking around on here before getting one but when sexing the little aby the girl seemed unsure so we went home with one piggy who I named Keiko. Keiko was alone for 2 months (I don't work and am off school so I was with him 24/7 almost) and because of this we created an extremely close bond. Within 2 weeks of being here he learned to give us piggy kisses by rubbing his nose and occasionally licking our cheeks/noses etc. However he started to cry when left alone, if I ever went out with friends for a night or if went into work to help my mom. We decided then to get him a friend. I found the rescue site online and saw they had 3 babies that would be sexed within the next 3-4 days. I instantly emailed inquiring about a single boar as a friend for my piggy. The lady was very helpful and promised that if one of the 3 was a boy (if they had two boys and one girl they weren't willing to separate the boys despite companionship being based on personality and not blood relation) he would be mine. Low and behold they had 2 girls! And the one baby who I wanted the most was the boy! I filled out the adoption forms and application and picked him up within a week. I introduced them myself and they love each other dearly. Here are the before and after pics. Baby Keiko is beside a toilet roll so you can see how small he is. Milo went from being a fluffy aby to a more longer haired piggy. And as a little bonus a pic of Milo cuddling with Keiko for a nap<3 they really do love each other

 

[Little Ones]

View attachment 48279 I too got my first Guinea pig from a pet store as I didn't know about rescues/adopting in my area. The girl who helped me with him was actually a piggy owner herself so she knew what she was talking about. Funnily enough I actually directed her to get a different piggy. A tri-coloured aby with gorgeous orange stripes but they had just gotten the baby pigs in from the breeder so there was many and they were all running like mad which just broke my heart. She ended up grabbing a gold agouti aby and asked if he was the one. He wasn't, but I didn't want to stress them and after seeing his little face and those big eyes I was done for. I said yes and she handed him to me as she went to fetch the take home box they provide and my mom (huge animal lover like me) went and picked out his edible house and grabbed the food hay etc. I had gotten a cage of kijiji that was minimum size for one Guinea. I read they did better in pairs lurking around on here before getting one but when sexing the little aby the girl seemed unsure so we went home with one piggy who I named Keiko. Keiko was alone for 2 months (I don't work and am off school so I was with him 24/7 almost) and because of this we created an extremely close bond. Within 2 weeks of being here he learned to give us piggy kisses by rubbing his nose and occasionally licking our cheeks/noses etc. However he started to cry when left alone, if I ever went out with friends for a night or if went into work to help my mom. We decided then to get him a friend. I found the rescue site online and saw they had 3 babies that would be sexed within the next 3-4 days. I instantly emailed inquiring about a single boar as a friend for my piggy. The lady was very helpful and promised that if one of the 3 was a boy (if they had two boys and one girl they weren't willing to separate the boys despite companionship being based on personality and not blood relation) he would be mine. Low and behold they had 2 girls! And the one baby who I wanted the most was the boy! I filled out the adoption forms and application and picked him up within a week. I introduced them myself and they love each other dearly. Here are the before and after pics. Baby Keiko is beside a toilet roll so you can see how small he is. Milo went from being a fluffy aby to a more longer haired piggy. View attachment 48274View attachment 48275View attachment 48276 View attachment 48277And as a little bonus a pic of Milo cuddling with Keiko for a nap<3 they really do love each other View attachment 48279

I'm not surprised you fell in love! Agoutis have such a gorgeous and unique colouring. Keiko is so small, oh my goodness! It's so hard to believe that they were once that tiny! I noticed that when Little was alone, we did have a better bond, they love the attention, don't they ? I'm so glad that Milo and Keiko got along, it always a bit daunting introducing two Guinea pigs and hoping they like each other. It was fate for you to get the both of them! They are both so cute, thank you so much for sharing

 

[DanielleMeyer]

Over the past 9 years I've had a total of 10 pigs. But I'll just tell the story of my current 4. I had been without piggies for about 6 months, I had gone to my local shelter to donate some dog blankets and ended up coming home with Willow and Clover. Then about a month later my sister told me about this woman in her neighborhood who had her pig living in a hamster cage and was trying to sell it to a snake owner. Obviously my sister took it so it wouldn't end up snake food but she didn't want to bond her with her girls since they we're both elderly. So I agreed to take her. The bonding went well and then I had a trio we named her Ivy. They all got along well but I felt like one of my girls was more of an outsider so I decided to get one more. So I went to my nearest rescue which is 4 hours away and adopted baby Daisy. And that's how I went from 0 to 4 piggies in 6 months lol.
From left to right Ivy, Clover, Daisy, and Willow

 

[Keiko The Pig]

I'm not surprised you fell in love! Agoutis have such a gorgeous and unique colouring. Keiko is so small, oh my goodness! It's so hard to believe that they were once that tiny! I noticed that when Little was alone, we did have a better bond, they love the attention, don't they ? I'm so glad that Milo and Keiko got along, it always a bit daunting introducing two Guinea pigs and hoping they like each other. It was fate for you to get the both of them! They are both so cute, thank you so much for sharing

They really do love the solo attention! But it did break my heart every time I had to leave to do something so I'm happy he has a friend he's so closely bonded too your piggies are also gorgeous my gosh those faces just melt my heart

 

[Eriathwen]

I lost the last of my previous herd about 3 years ago, almost 3 years to the day that I got Blackberry and Bramble if I remember right. I'm not sure what happened really, I just woke up one day thinking of piggies and just couldn't not have them anymore so I started planning some space, got a cage etc and then on a trip to pets at home to get food for the rest of the animals we saw some bundles of fluff... Mum had already started thinking of names for them so I couldn't leave them.
Blackberry was very skittish to start with but otherwise, perfect. No different to a lot of other guineas settling in, she is now a very sweet, calm little lady who I must say out of the 20 pigs we've had over the years, is hands down the easiest to groom, she practically hands you her little feet to have her nails trimmed!
Here she is the day she arrived..

And this is her the other week enjoying the sun!



Bramble had a few issues, ringworm and ear mites to start with then an URI that turned out to be a bad reaction to some dusty hay. She was incredibly scared when she got here and to be honest, I felt horrible for buying her, I felt like I had come along and ruined her life! She seemed quite happy in the shop. As soon as she got here I thought she was dead, which was repeated for quite a while and I was pretty concerned about her. Turns out she was just incredibly anxious, once she settled, she came out of her shell, stopped 'playing dead' and has turned out to be quite a confident little sausage!

I took this picture in order to prove what I was saying to the shop in case anything happened to her, I was going to delete it but it reminds me of how far we've come and while she still isn't a big fan of being picked up and groomed, she's more than happy to have a cuddle, it's only been 4 or 5 months so I suppose over the years she will carry on getting calmer.


And a far happier one, also the other week having a great time in the sun digging holes in the moss and generally making a big mess


The boys don't have much of a story, they've only been here 8 days so there's no then and now pictures xD but they were looking for a good home and from a friend of my Mums who we were visiting...so home they came with us! Here's Leonard and Sheldon.

 

[sport_billy]

Have really enjoyed reading these stories this morning, thanks so much to everyone for posting. @Little Ones - great idea for a thread

 

[Little Ones]

Over the past 9 years I've had a total of 10 pigs. But I'll just tell the story of my current 4. I had been without piggies for about 6 months, I had gone to my local shelter to donate some dog blankets and ended up coming home with Willow and Clover. Then about a month later my sister told me about this woman in her neighborhood who had her pig living in a hamster cage and was trying to sell it to a snake owner. Obviously my sister took it so it wouldn't end up snake food but she didn't want to bond her with her girls since they we're both elderly. So I agreed to take her. The bonding went well and then I had a trio we named her Ivy. They all got along well but I felt like one of my girls was more of an outsider so I decided to get one more. So I went to my nearest rescue which is 4 hours away and adopted baby Daisy. And that's how I went from 0 to 4 piggies in 6 months lol.
From left to right Ivy, Clover, Daisy, and Willow

View attachment 48281

That sounds like something I'd do, you can't help but fall in love! Willow and Clover are so lucky, there are so many pigs waiting for adoption. I'm so glad that Ivy didn't end up snake food, I know that other animals need to eat too but gosh it's so horrible to think that that could happen to an adorable and loving Guinea pig They're all so gorgeous, I'm so glad all of them bonded well, it can always be daunting, thanks for sharing!

 

[Little Ones]

They really do love the solo attention! But it did break my heart every time I had to leave to do something so I'm happy he has a friend he's so closely bonded too your piggies are also gorgeous my gosh those faces just melt my heart

Exactly! I think it's better for them to have a bigger bond with another pig, rather than a human, we can't be there 24/7 and it just wouldn't be fair. Thank you! I love them so much, don't know what I'd do without them!

I lost the last of my previous herd about 3 years ago, almost 3 years to the day that I got Blackberry and Bramble if I remember right. I'm not sure what happened really, I just woke up one day thinking of piggies and just couldn't not have them anymore so I started planning some space, got a cage etc and then on a trip to pets at home to get food for the rest of the animals we saw some bundles of fluff... Mum had already started thinking of names for them so I couldn't leave them.
Blackberry was very skittish to start with but otherwise, perfect. No different to a lot of other guineas settling in, she is now a very sweet, calm little lady who I must say out of the 20 pigs we've had over the years, is hands down the easiest to groom, she practically hands you her little feet to have her nails trimmed!
Here she is the day she arrived..
View attachment 48287
And this is her the other week enjoying the sun!
View attachment 48288


Bramble had a few issues, ringworm and ear mites to start with then an URI that turned out to be a bad reaction to some dusty hay. She was incredibly scared when she got here and to be honest, I felt horrible for buying her, I felt like I had come along and ruined her life! She seemed quite happy in the shop. As soon as she got here I thought she was dead, which was repeated for quite a while and I was pretty concerned about her. Turns out she was just incredibly anxious, once she settled, she came out of her shell, stopped 'playing dead' and has turned out to be quite a confident little sausage!

I took this picture in order to prove what I was saying to the shop in case anything happened to her, I was going to delete it but it reminds me of how far we've come and while she still isn't a big fan of being picked up and groomed, she's more than happy to have a cuddle, it's only been 4 or 5 months so I suppose over the years she will carry on getting calmer.
View attachment 48289

And a far happier one, also the other week having a great time in the sun digging holes in the moss and generally making a big mess
View attachment 48290

The boys don't have much of a story, they've only been here 8 days so there's no then and now pictures xD but they were looking for a good home and from a friend of my Mums who we were visiting...so home they came with us! Here's Leonard and Sheldon.
View attachment 48291

Piggies are such special animals, once you've seen their precious faces you're hooked! I wish my boys liked their nails trimming, Little doesn't mind it if I'm quick but Honey will do everything to avoid it, I hold him and he paddles his legs trying to run even though he's not on the ground! Sometimes it takes two of us to keep him still, poor thing. I'm glad Bramble settled in, you definitely didn't ruin her life, you probably made it! I know how you feel though, my first Guinea pig died of UTI caught too late they have both grown so much, especially Blackberry (and her fur!) and they are both so beautiful! I hope Leonard and Sheldon continue to settle it nicely, they are very lucky to have a good home. A lot of people don't understand the lengths that Guinea pigs should be cared for, I know people who buy them and then forget about them or try to sell them after a few weeks. They all truly are lucky

 

[Little Ones]

Have really enjoyed reading these stories this morning, thanks so much to everyone for posting. @Little Ones - great idea for a thread

I have too! And thank you, I just thought that it's to easy to forget how small they were and how they've grown as personalities, it's always nice to reminisce