Am I Welcome Here As A Newbie?

mshappy89 said:
Of course you are welcome!
It's a lovely place here. Be sure to check out some of our guides.

How many piggies do you have?
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Thank you! I have two piggies. Oliver (Ollie) and Blue. Oliver is the white piggy with the sexy swagger and Blue is the piggy that wants to eat my phone.

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I have 2 boys and 3 girls Christian is more of the sexy bum waggler than Dennis is. He does it accompanied by his very virile rumbling! He does it to the girlies to make himself look more attractive to them and he does it to Dennis to say "look what a big hero I am!" None of them take the slightest bit of notice of course but it doesn't stop him from trying!
 
Of course your welcome hope you find the answers you need here as for the guinea pig I agree with you I would have no clue what to do a guinea pig that bites me
 
Delitedcavy said:
Of course your welcome hope you find the answers you need here as for the guinea pig I agree with you I would have no clue what to do a guinea pig that bites me
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Most biters are just very scared piggies. Or use it as a way of telling us they feel unsafe or don't like something. Chickpea will bite me if I carry her from cage to sofa, this means she hates it and most probably feels really vunerable. So for her she will always be transported in a cosy, most of our. Other piggies tolerate being carried. It is all about finding what is triggering the biting. Piggies don't bite out of hate, they mainly bite as a way of letting you know they are fearful of nervous of something. Often bites can be mistaken food :))
 
Awwwww :love: thanks for the photos! Stunners!
 
Hi, I am glad that you received lots of welcoming and assuring messages!

I joined here about a month ago, when my piggy was unwell and I needed some advice. There are, of course, some advices I feel I should follow more than the others. But everybody who replied really loved piggies and their replies were sincere.

Sometimes this sort of communication can be difficult as this is only done by writings. As we cannot see other aspects of communication, such as facial expression, tone of the voice, body language, it is easy to misunderstand the tone of the post hence get offended. We need to be careful both when read and write a post but nobody is perfect!

I really think that people here are loving and caring. You are more than welcomed by everybody!
 
sport_billy said:
Awwwww :love: thanks for the photos! Stunners!
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Biters can be difficult. There is a particular jumper that I have that Betsy always nips at (she doesn't do it to any other). I have come to the conclusion that she probably doesn't like it for some reason. Other than that she always gives an affectionate tiny little nip after she has been licking my hand, my finger or my arm. The other 4 pull on my clothes with their teeth when they have had enough of cuddles or if they need a wee. In nearly 2 years of piggies I have not been wee'd on once. I shouldn't have said that as I will probably be wee'd on tonight at cuddle time!
 
Kosson said:
Hi, I am glad that you received lots of welcoming and assuring messages!

I joined here about a month ago, when my piggy was unwell and I needed some advice. There are, of course, some advices I feel I should follow more than the others. But everybody who replied really loved piggies and their replies were sincere.

Sometimes this sort of communication can be difficult as this is only done by writings. As we cannot see other aspects of communication, such as facial expression, tone of the voice, body language, it is easy to misunderstand the tone of the post hence get offended. We need to be careful both when read and write a post but nobody is perfect!

I really think that people here are loving and caring. You are more than welcomed by everybody!
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Well said @Kosson, especially as not all forum members speak English as their first language. I'm very impressed when I read the posts of those I know speak English as a 2nd language.
 
:luv: your piggies are beautiful!
Welcome to the forum, I can't remember what forum I joined before this one but it was not very helpful at all. Coming her was a breath of fresh air! And they still put up with my panicking over daft stuff 2 years later :lol!: great bunch of people.
 
Sian said:
I think guineas are for us to enjoy. I learned a lot from the forum and learned about c and c here. I have no guineas now but I’m still welcome x
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Hi there! Thank you for your response. I've heard a lot about C & C cages, but I'm a little.. well.. skeptical of making one. Not only am I terrible at DIY projects but I also have a doggo and am afraid of not putting the frame together properly. :(
 
yayoiharuko said:
Hi there! Thank you for your response. I've heard a lot about C & C cages, but I'm a little.. well.. skeptical of making one. Not only am I terrible at DIY projects but I also have a doggo and am afraid of not putting the frame together properly. :(
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Welcome to the forum!

I also have dogs and am lucky enough to be able to keep my guinea pigs in a separate room (dining room). I also keep them on tables so that if the dogs did get in they would be out of reach, much easier for cleaning too.

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Hope you find a good solution.
 
VickiA said:
Hello and welcome to the forum. At some point we all had our first guinea pigs. At some point we have ALL made mistakes with our piggies. At some point we all joined this lovely forum and made our first post. We are a friendly bunch, we help and support each other to give our piggies the best possible life. Happy piggies make happy owners.
We have some very useful guides. If biting is a problem please have a read of this guide. Even as an experienced owner I had problems with a biter a few years ago. This guide helped me help her to stop biting. " Biting" And What You Can Do
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Hello there ^^ I'm sorry for skipping you, I could have sworn I'd already responded! But, I'm sure I just got distracted and didn't hit send. Anyway, you're right, we all have to start somewhere. I just don't think that GPC was the right place for me. So far I'm feeling much more welcome on here so I'm happy about that ^^ I'll be sure and read the link you provided. The person on the other website recommended that I sharply tell him, "NO", but if I were to be honest, I don't know that negative reinforcement always works and I think I just scared him worse. I also don't think I need to be sharp with him, as I'm pretty sure guinea pigs have excellent hearing. Plus, I doubt he even knows what the word no means. He just probably thinks I'm a scary person and.. that kind of makes the whole trust building thing a lot harder.
I don't know. I had a lot of questions, and I had an opinion, and GPC did not like that.. at all. I think we should just respect one another and respect that we all have different opinions. What I don't think however is that we should attack each other when our views or opinions are threatened. That's basically the jist of why I was done with them after post #1. That and they made out like I was a bad mom. Kind of miffed me a little. Or a lot.
 
Flutterby said:
Hello and welcome! Please relax and enjoy this forum, we are not like others. We never judge and are always here to help. No question is 'too stupid' as at the end of the day we all want what is best for our piggies :)
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Hello! First of all, I adore your username! Second, thank you! I can tell that there are plenty of wonderful people on here ^^ I'm excited to start asking questions, as silly as they might sound XD
 
yayoiharuko said:
Hello! First of all, I adore your username! Second, thank you! I can tell that there are plenty of wonderful people on here ^^ I'm excited to start asking questions, as silly as they might sound XD
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Thankyou :)
 
Scooby& Shaggy said:
Hi I can only speak for myself but I got my piggies without really knowing a thing about them other than they are cute. After months of up and down as a new piggie slave I'm still asking questions in this forum and being treated with respect and understanding. So I think you'll be fine.
As one of the other posters has said your only duty to this forum is to provide us with more piggie pics.
There are lots of guides on the forums that will generally answer your questions but if you read something and don't fully understand what is being said I'm sure if you create a thread you'll receive a helpful informative answer.
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OK so this is going to sound really mean but... can I just be honest and say I did not think guinea pigs were cute until AFTER I bought them? I actually thought they were kind of creepy. Or, at least I thought Oliver was. The red eyes really gave me chills for a little bit. I can remember looking at him though (obviously being the oldest guinea pig there) and thinking.. okay, he's not exactly what I'd call cute, but he seems to be well-behaved.
I've had him since december of 2017 and since then I cannot stop taking pictures of him. He's the most adorable and sweetest guinea pig ever in my opinion. The red eyes no longer scare me. I'm not sure why they scared me in the first place to be honest.
Warning: Deeper back-story:
Now that I'm thinking about it, I am almost certain that the red eyes scared me because I developed a terrible fear of rats/mice when I was little. My dad would buy me rats because he knew they would bite: he didn't want me handling any creatures because they would end up lost in the house. So- all the rats he bought always had those really bright red eyes and always bit me HARD, even when I was just cleaning the cage.

Anyway, sorry for the long drawn-out story. Perhaps the moral of the story is to always face your fears :)
 
rome_italy said:
welcome!
just an advice, both for "virtual" life and for real life (in my opinion they are just the same, though): DON'T CARE of what people think of you and your opinions and keep in mind that in "real" life a lot of people don't agree with you as well, but they don't have the gut for saying a word... (in front of you of course!). Online it might be easier (for weak people) to express a negative thought. A forum is a big square where only few people write, other people read only. If among the few who write there are 2-3-4-10 who don't like your feedback, who cares? are you sure that those people are right and have an healthy mind? what if it was only a HERD of lambs or stupid wolves? many people read your feedback, too, they may agree with you or may not, but they will learn from reading your experience even without adding a word or a post.
Of course the matter is different if you join a forum only for getting approvals... That is something too far from me and I cannot give you any advice; but consider that there is always someone who agrees with you, although they publicly prefer being silent or prefer (as we say in italian, using vulgar words) "licking the intimate parts" of the leaders of the group.
In real life it is just the same! :D
I hope you will tell us the whole story of your piggie, explaining [you]all the details[/you] and what you think about. If it can help you, consider that my left hand has three little holes who were bleeding some days ago. My male piggie can't stand when I collect the poo from the cage...:flame:

welcome again! I am here only for learning from other members' experiences, reading their stories and for expressing my personal opinion. If also the God does not agree with me it is HIS problem and not mine.
bye for now and have a good Sunday!
Oriana:)
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I couldn't agree more! I'm always shocked at how people can act online versus in person. I always try to stand by the fact that whatever I tell you over the phone or online, I will tell you in person as well. I do find it difficult however to take what people say with a grain of salt, especially on forums, since it is supposed to be a place where you can learn and grow from what others tell you. I end up invested in what people are saying to me on places like these as compared to regular social media because I feel like I'm telling people something important about myself.. if that makes sense?
I tend to avoid social media in general for this reason I think.
Also, I'm so sorry to hear about your hand! I hope it heals quickly.
Is it terrible that I giggled a little bit at it! Especially with the blow torch emoji at the end. That was hilarious. You made my day :)
Thank you~
Shannon
 
yayoiharuko said:
OK so this is going to sound really mean but... can I just be honest and say I did not think guinea pigs were cute until AFTER I bought them? I actually thought they were kind of creepy. Or, at least I thought Oliver was. The red eyes really gave me chills for a little bit. I can remember looking at him though (obviously being the oldest guinea pig there) and thinking.. okay, he's not exactly what I'd call cute, but he seems to be well-behaved.
I've had him since december of 2017 and since then I cannot stop taking pictures of him. He's the most adorable and sweetest guinea pig ever in my opinion. The red eyes no longer scare me. I'm not sure why they scared me in the first place to be honest.
[you]Warning: Deeper back-story:[/you]
Now that I'm thinking about it, I am almost certain that the red eyes scared me because I developed a terrible fear of rats/mice when I was little. My dad would buy me rats because he knew they would bite: he didn't want me handling any creatures because they would end up lost in the house. So- all the rats he bought always had those really bright red eyes and always bit me HARD, even when I was just cleaning the cage.

Anyway, sorry for the long drawn-out story. Perhaps the moral of the story is to always face your fears :)
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I must admit that before I adopted my first guinea pig who was in desperate need of a home, they wasn't really an animal I had thought of owning. 10 piggies down the line and they are one of my favourite animals.

Don't feel bad about finding red eyes scary. Sadly, red eyed piggies and other red eyed animals are often overlooked but I'm glad that you looked beyond that, faced your fears and adopted Oliver. I have had 3 red / pink eyed piggies in the past and personally find them adorable.
 
TheLottiediarys said:
Urgh I really it when people act superior online about things because it just doesn't make anything fun anymore, you know?

I think the thing about being a pet owner is so much of it isn't readily avalible to new owners or even seasoned owners unless you look for a community to talk to about it,
In my opinion, it's this, an not being a newbies that's the issue with owning any animals,

I'm sure in time by chatting to people on the forum you'll realise that there's a lot of things about owning little animals like Guinea Pigs, Rabbits and even Hamsters that's sold to us as okay by the big companies like tiny cages and diet, treats and toys that just aren't suitable for our pets and I think that's the real issue in animal owning.

I think as a community we should all be angry at the company's that are actively harming our pets by selling these less then adequate standards of care rather then the new owners who are only going by the advice given by pet shops and such,

You are very welcome here and like there have said this forum is friendly and very welcoming!
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You are so right :) I do wish people didn't act so silly online. We're all just people here, with sometimes silly questions :(

OK so you are, again, completely right in what you said about pet stores. I mean, I can say that I shop often at the pet store for things like food and whatever else... but I've made so many mistakes when it comes to buying animals. I feel so stupid for doing so, but I bought Oliver and basically got him a cage fit for a hamster... because that's what the people at the pet store said would work. Thankfully I started doing research right after that, and about three days later went back and exchanged it for a much bigger one. Did more research.. and found out that they were social creatures! Again, was never told that at the store. But- I didn't go back to the store. I adopted one from someone who felt they could not take care of theirs, and that's how I ended up with Blue. Did more research... as it turned out, I would need two of everything. More research.. they need a playpen. They need to be more active. They don't need vitamin c drops. Was not told of any of this at the store. This was so frustrating.

Anyway, sorry for all the complaining. It's just... I wish they would tell you more before you buy, you know?
Thank you for your response~
Speaking of playpens, it's time for Ollie and Blue to go in theirs. Wish me luck! Blue still loves to bite me D;
 
Also is it possible that Oliver and Blue are two different breeds? Oliver's ears are flat against his head and his nose is straight, whereas Blues' ears are floppy and his nose has an arch in it, giving him more of a teddy-bear look.
I could ask this in a separate post if you guys like, with pictures and all.
Also I'm still replying to everyone's posts so please bare with me here. I know it's not necessary to reply to all of them but I'd still like to.
 
yayoiharuko said:
I couldn't agree more! I'm always shocked at how people can act online versus in person. I always try to stand by the fact that whatever I tell you over the phone or online, I will tell you in person as well. I do find it difficult however to take what people say with a grain of salt, especially on forums, since it is supposed to be a place where you can learn and grow from what others tell you. I end up invested in what people are saying to me on places like these as compared to regular social media because I feel like I'm telling people something important about myself.. if that makes sense?
I tend to avoid social media in general for this reason I think.
Also, I'm so sorry to hear about your hand! I hope it heals quickly.
Is it terrible that I giggled a little bit at it! Especially with the blow torch emoji at the end. That was hilarious. You made my day :)
Thank you~
Shannon
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Dear Shannon,
I don't know social media to be honest... I have fun reading comments on italian newspapers and also on Daily Mail! very often people are able to express own opinion only keeping themselves well hidden and this is something I don't understand. In italian we call them "keyboard wolves". What I found absurd in the other forum, about your thread, was the fact that after that silly reply no one else added another reply! and that before that reply nobody (and no moderators) welcomed you. And the moderator did not even write again for explaining to you that the tone used before hadn't to be considerated offensive, that it was only a friendly feedback. When you said goodbye, no one else added anything. All the members-sheep silent after the moderator's bad reply!
I have an account there, although I have used it only for visualising pictures... and if english were my first language I would write something for defending you in MY personal SHARP way. But I am able to do that only in my language... :sly:

But you have won a treasure, you should thank that experienced moderator and his brilliant reply: because just that reply sent you here... and I am sure that here you will never receive bad replies, although you might read some feedback which you don't agree (especially if I am the one who writes:woot:).

Look, I have no great esteem for international groups whose official rules are written with grammar mistakes or in a slang style. That is a sign of ignorance and closure. Those moderators don't write rules in a correct and serious way, no wonder that they are so closed...
 
BossHogg said:
Welcome to the forum, I was made to feel as welcome as a fart in a spacesuit on GPC as I dared to keep my mob outside in a shed. Their loss, enjoy your time with us and I hope your piggy settles down. ;)
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This was absolutely hilarious. Thank you :)
I'm sure that GPC has its uses and I'm sure it has some good people.. but I don't think it's a place for asking certain questions and questioning others who feel that they already know all there is to know.
I already told the person that contacted me from GPC this so this is nothing that they haven't already heard from me.
Again this is my own opinion and I'm sure others feel differently and that is perfectly okay with me.
On another note, I keep my guinea pig playpen in the garage. I know not everyone will agree with this, but my room is already kind of crowded with the cage and the garage is perfectly warm and comfy right now so I'm not worried about the cold or the heat. So I definitely understand you wanting to have your guineas in the outdoor building/shed. I think it's actually pretty creative :)
 
Betsy said:
You are very welcome here! Since I signed up last year I have many forum friends and I am looking forward to meeting some in Birmingham in 3 weeks at a meet up in the Wetherspoons and then some others around 6 weeks after that in Salisbury. I feel I was made very welcome by everyone on here. It is a very friendly forum where nobody is made to feel 'stupid'. We treat each other with respect and are serious and sympathetic when needs be but we also have our fun. Spend a while having a rootle around the various forums and enjoy spending time here.
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Thank you! I'm glad. I was actually a little nervous going here because oddly enough Google seems to have a preference for GPC and being someone that lives in America I quickly realized that this was a UK-based forum. I've never really used a forum outside of the US but I didnt see why I couldn't at least try it.
It's kind of hard to explain my reasoning here. Hopefully it makes sense.
 
sport_billy said:
Hello :)

Welcome to the forum! Sorry you have had a negative experience elsewhere :( please don't let this put you off forums, they can be very rewarding and helpful. Not to mention a community of like minded people to hang out with online. Here at TGPF we pride ourselves on offering a friendly online experience and try to be very community focused.

Now to the biting... I know how you feel we had a biter.... Vimto - she was a vampire piggy who we in the end reformed :))

Some piggies while fine in the cage and interacting on their terms with you but when on laps feel a little vulnerable, the nibbles are her way of telling you she does not like it. I used to get actual snaps off Vimto and she would draw blood too :(

She was just a very scared piggy and felt vulnerable on laps, she didn't appear frightened (but obviously was) but she was confident enough with me not just to freeze and it was here way of saying 'please put me home i don't like this'. We worked at it and would take her out for 30 seconds then pop here home, we did this 3 times a week for around a month, then slowly increased it up to 5 mins via 30 second increments . Each lap session she'd have a sprig of coriander. It took us 6-8 months but in the end she'd rarely bite now and would happily chill on laps for a while but not for too long :)) We would never let anyone else have Vimto on there lap in case she wanted to taste the forbidden flesh once more :))

Gentle nibbles on laps can be a way of saying please pop me home i want to wee... piggies also nibble fingers to test if they are food also. So it is trying to find out what the biting may mean.

Please enjoy the forum and it would honestly be lovely to see some photos of your piggies

Lee
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Hi there! What a lovely success story about Vitmo.. thank you ^^ The way you handled Vitmo might work for me as well. When I first got the pigs their playpen, I noticed that they were under an immense amount of stress when I would move them back and forth. I can and probably will create a new post about Blue's biting problem later this evening (it's 4pm here) where I will explain everything in more detail- but long story short I began feeding the pigs a baby carrot after taking them out of their cage and when putting them back in. This did help them considerably but as soon as Blue would finish his carrot, he would begin acting up again. The one bit of good news that I do have from doing it this way is that they will now eat things like bell peppers as a healthier alternative since they are used to me feeding them in between playtime and bedtime.
 
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