Emergency Rescue!

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gemnomnom

gemnomnom

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Hello all,

As of Sunday I have become the proud new mummy to two lovely little piggies! I have only ever owned a cat and did not realise how attached I would become to these little creatures! Up to now I thought I was a 'big pet' kind of person, if you know what I mean.

The circumstances under which I got them though was a little less lovely - they were being neglected by a former housemate of mine, and we have since 'rescued' them, along with her boisterous little kitten.

Anyway, after cleaning out the cage thoroughly (God it stank!) and laying down a thick layer of hay (when we rescued them, there was no hay), the piggies appear to be a lot happier! I am concerned for their health though and am taking them to the vet on Thursday.

In the meantime, I'd like to know what else I can do to nurture the little critters? I have put a small cardboard box in their cage with a little 'trap door' cut out but they seem to just be hiding under the plastic roof of the cage!

They have this cage here: http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/hutches_cages/rabbit_cage/120_cm_cages/14083 and although it meets the minimum size requirements, I feel sad they have to be cooped up. I want to give them 'floor time' but my husband thinks it is too soon - considering the move to a new place with new people and the fact they never had free range in their old home. Is there such thing as 'too soon for floor time'?

As for where we're keeping them - they're currently in the living room. There are a few wires about - would sellotaping them to wall and out of their reach be adequate to keep the piggies safe? Their floor time would always be supervised (I am a worrier!) and of course with the cats locked out. Does anybody else house them in the living room?

I have been looking at all the magnificent cages and pig-proofed rooms people make for their piggies and I would like to eventually turn our spare room into 'their room'. I am a little concerned how cold it can be in that room in particular at night time. So far the piggie sleeping arrangements have been in the living room (warmest room in our house) with the thermostat beside them and set to 16 degrees! We also cover their cage with a duvet. Would it be too much for a piggie to have his cage in the living room, but be taken upstairs by hand for a couple of hours every day to roam in the strange new environment of the spare room?

All your advice (no matter how basic; I am a complete beginner!) would be much appreciated!

Gemma
 
I have my cage in the living room and its so nice being able to see them run around always and they will talk to us as well (beg for food mostly). They don't like the hoover, but that's about it! When I have them out though I supervise, and make sure they don't run over to the wires.
 
Hi :wel:to the forum..

Not wanting to bombard you with too many questions but how old are your piggies and which sex are they. If you have a look at the tutorial videos it will show you how to post pictures and videos. Your piggies will be a little skittish at the moment as it's all a new environment to them. The best way to overcome this is to talk gently to them with no sudden movements. It can take a bit of time so don't worry. As for diet we recommend at least 80% hay (unlimited better) 15% fresh veggies and 5% guinea pig nuggets. If you are unsure whether your piggies have not had veggies regularly introduce slowly to avoid tummy upsets. It is good that you are taking them to the vet on Thursday to get them health checked.

There are loads of great threads for you to have a look at but please don't hesitate to post any questions you have in the relevant section and our members will get back to you.

https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/tutorial-videos.109353/
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk...veg-and-fruit-list-with-vitamin-c-grading.42/


Lisa & Ali..x
 
We have tagged @Wiebke who is a very experienced piggy owner and will more than willing to welcome you and answer any questions you may have.
 
Hi everyone!

Thanks for your replies. Yes I haven't hoovered since they've been here, just been sweeping, even the carpets. When shall I start to introduce the hoover? It's a Dyson and it's very loud, even to me!

I don't know either their age or sex. The vet is going to work both out on Thursday, and will let you know!

At the moment the base of their cage is covered in hay. Is this right? Before it was wood shavings. It's not Timothy hay but rather a generic bale of meadow hay. I hope this is okay too.

As for veggies we have tried them on spring green leaves, apple slices and kale. Their droppings seem fine and they seem happy enough. Should I be picking their droppings out on a daily basis?

I realise I have made a mistake in buying 'muesli' and not nuggets for them. I shall buy some nuggets tomorrow and mix it in with the muesli so that hopefully both will get eaten up (unless this is bad practice?)

Cheers!
 
You are doing great. :D Meadow hay is fine for the bottom of their cage as well as plenty for them to eat. If they have been on muesli gradually swapping over to nuggets is the best way to do it. All of our piggies are in the livingroom but as we have wooden floors we don't use a hoover.

Lisa & Ali..x
 
I think after giving them a few days to settle, you can hoover. Mine will hide in their house, but as soon as I'm done they're out and about again. With the müsli I would just be careful that they're not just picking their favourites and leaving the nuggets.
 
Hi and welcome! Great for giving these two (and the kitten) a loving new home! Are they boys or girls?

It is good that you want to have them checked over by a vet.

The cage is perfectly adequate for the time being until you can do your research and have the time to plan and set up things properly.

I wouldn't start with run time until your piggies have settled in and are being confident with you and interested in their new surroundings. That will take a few days. When you start run/roaming time, please take into account that many piggies are initially scared by open spaces and like boltholes they can explore any new space from. But they can be quite happy with being transferred to a special play room; you can train them to come into a "transfer shuttle" of some kind.
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/faq-how-do-i-settle-shy-new-guinea-pigs.36239/
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/boars-a-guide-to-successful-companionship.76162/

Start with veg slowly and work your way through our veg list bit by bit. Your piggies will probably not have had much in the way of a good diet. A good diet consists of about 80% hay, 10-15% veg and 5-10% pellets.
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk...veg-and-fruit-list-with-vitamin-c-grading.42/

For the rest, take your time to snoop through the information threads at the top of our Care section and don't hestitate to ask any questions you may have.

Sellotaping won't work; piggies have an uncanny knack of finding whatever you don't want them to get at! You may either consider getting small hard plastic pipes to run the cables through or hide any cables behind wood or perspex.

With members from all over the world, you can help us to always give you any appropriate advice straight away (including product tips) if you added your country, state or (for the UK) county/general area to your details. Click on your username on the top bar, then go to personal details/location.
 
Hi and welcome! I am a relatively new owner (had my two for nearly a month) and can totally understand how quickly you get attached to the little furballs! As for mine, they are in my living-room and make me laugh with all their little antics and hyperness! I introduced mine to the hoover by starting it in the furthest away room and working my way to the living room, so that I wasn't turning it on right beside them and they got used to a gradually increasing noise instead. They still don't like it, but just seem to hide away until I'm done.
I don't think there will be a problem having floor-time in a different room. I have floor-time in my study/spare room because my living room and kitchen are all open-plan and it would be a nightmare! I don't think that sellotaping wires to the wall would be a problem, I have one wire in the way, but I just drape it over something out the way. Might ruin your wall though!
As for nurturing them, as long as they have unlimited hay/water/pellets, veggies daily, a house (cardboard box with door cut out is fine!), and perhaps a tunnel and a little soft-toy (always check for signs of destruction though, in case they try and eat the stuffing). Some piggies snuggle beside a soft-toy or just tip it over and hide under it.
Since they are new to you, and obviously haven't had much attention, I would suggest perhaps sitting beside the cage and talking softly to them. I did this with mine - I sat and read my kindle to them just so they would be familiar with my voice and me being around but not causing them harm. I did this before I tried offering treats from my hand.
I hope that these little bits of advice from a newbie will help you too. Oh, and don't expect to accomplish everything in one day. The biggest lesson I have learnt is that everything takes time. Persist, and the rewards are fabulous - I have seen the tiny steps that my two have made in the little time I have had them x
 
hi and well done getting them out. They could do with some kind of bedding under the hay. There is fitch, finacard,auboise, or ecobale. Shavings are not recomended as can cause respiratory problems. Some people use fleece (i do cos have c&c cages).There will be a review on bedding somewhere on here. Apple is an occasional treat as high in sugar. Mine eat peppers, celery, green beans, cucumber, broccoli (not every day) lettuce leaves (not iceberg) parsley (now and then) and baby sweetcorn.If they mess in one place you could pick that up every day. You are doing everything right so far and they will be fine in the living room then free ranging somewhere else under supervision, just make sure they have places to hide.To pick the up at first herd them into something so you arent grabbing them.Its amazing how quickly you become attached. I have 10 sows
 
Don't worry too much about the hoover after a while, my pigs just watch it now and sometimes come out of the cage to have a sniff. I can't offer anymore advice since everyone else above has said more than I could x
 
Hi all, thanks for the many replies! I've decided to stick to the plan now then - keep them in the living room but let them roam in my spare room. I've grown so attached to having them in my living room. I'm watching them nibble away as I write this!

Thanks for all the info on food too. It's fabulous that guinea pigs are vegan, because we are too! (minus the hay of course)

Soon (tomorrow?) I am going to buy some bedding to put down under the hay. And also some cute hiding places! At the moment for bedding there's only newspaper, which I can't imagine is very comfortable. Would some generic fleece from a second hand shop do the job do you think? And how often should it be changed?

Thanks everyone for hoover advice, and on run time too! I think on Monday if the vet's cleared it and the little guys are more confident I'm going to try them out of their cage. I hope they like it!

Each morning when I change their water and give them a portion of veggies, should I also check under their wee plastic 'house' to see if any dirty hay needs scooping out? I can't tell so far if they've used any hay outside of the house to pee on.

I think one is more confident than the other with having me around right now (btw, neither have names yet!) and unfortunately the one who is less social is also the one whose health I am more worried about. He/she looks quite 'scraggly' and both have a very thin coat, with slight bald patches :( This is the main reason I want to take them to the vet. Perhaps I will go over to the general chat forum and vent about people who take on far too many animals, and neglect them all :(
 
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Hope all goes well at the vet x welcome x newspaper with hay ontop is fine gor bedding there are people on here who use that as bedding. If you want to go for fleece places like b&m and homebaygains sells them very cheap. They need to be washed 3 times prior to use to make them "wick" and you mustn't use softner as this stops them wicking. You also need an absorbant layer underneath such as towels or puppy pads or a mattress protector.

hope you enjoy it here and your new little additions x
 
Thanks for the tip! I shall have to go down to B&M, been meaning to actually. So the layers go: towel, then fleece, then hay?

Does anybody else own cats with piggies too? My cat (in my picture) just stares at the piggies, looking constantly alarmed! The other little ginger kitten always sticks his paw in. I think he just wants to reach in and touch them and see what on earth they are... Well, this was until yesterday my husband caught him sticking his paw in and trying to 'pull' the piggie over :( Luckily the piggie bolted.

At one point next week we are going to put them up on a table, so they won't be within the cats' eye level. But would this just make things worse, like a toppled cage should one of the cats pounce on it?

They're in our living room (my husband and I are both happy with this arrangement) and before I leave the house I try and lock at least the kitten out of the same room. But I do wonder if this will be sustainable every time I go out for the next 5 years or so...
 
I have a cat as well and I didn't put my lid on my CC cage, instead I close my living room door when were not home/at night. My cat is not really interested in the piggies, every couple of days she'll take a quick look at them as if to see what all the fuss is about. She has never tried to jump in and gets bored of them quite fast. My cage is on a table though, so she doesn't see them constantly.
 
You will need one layer of towels and two layers of fleece. You can put hay in a pile for them to eat and explore but you do not need to cover the whole area with hay. You will need to wash and dry fleece three times without fabric conditioner to make it wick water.
 
Thanks guys! Sorry to annoy with another question but I can't seem to find the answer to this one... Right now the guinea pig cage is in front of a window on the floor. Sometimes the sun shines in quite brightly in 'blocks', some of which fall into the piggie cage (if that makes sense!) Other times it is less bright/no 'blocks' at all. Our living room is south-facing if that makes a difference.

I have read that piggies shouldn't be in direct sunlight. But I also don't want to give them a sunlight deficiency. Is the cage fine where it is? I was originally worried by the intensity of the blocks of light falling on their cage, and would move it along as the sun crossed the sky!
 
my layers are shower curtain (on the floor no correx)then incontinence pads or puppy pads. Be careful when buying puppy pad that they have no scent on them as piggies can sonmetimes try to get at them cos of smell. Aster that is my mainn fleece then litter trays which i cover to encourage them to use them as piggies like shelter when doing their business then smaller bits of towel and fleece where they wee now and then. The smaller bits get changed when wet then main fleece every week and puppy/incontinence pads as needed. B&m do pet blankets or 2 normal ones for 3.99 (150x120). You can wash them in a duvet cover tied at the top to stop hay and bedding from clogging your machine.Bedding with hay would be fine for a cage if you dont want the hassle of fleece,( it is quite time consuming keeping up with it and sweeping up poos twice a day), you could just line the cage with newspaper then bedding then hay in one corner. If they only wee in one bit (which mine used to in the cage) just scoop that up every day and do a full change maybe twice a week.I wouldnt leave either cat in the room with the piggies unsupervised as you would never forgive yourself if anything happened.I had to move my cages into my spare room as my dog wouldnt leave the cage alone and it was stressing the piggies out. They are prey animals.
 
I think as long as the sunlight isn't covering the ENTIRE cage and the piggies have somewhere they can use as shade (hidey house/box/other half of the cage) then I don't see there being a problem.
 
Hi everyone!

Took the piggies to the vet yesterday. They were weighed, and found out their age and sex. Looks like I'm the mummy to two boys (named them Piggles and Pigaloo, though might have to consider more manly names...) who are roughly 2-3 months old! It was a strange sight watching the vet sex them...

As for the bald patches on their fur, they were treated for mites just as a precautionary thing as no mites showed up under the UV light. This, coupled with the fact the fur situation has markedly improved since I have been providing fresh greens, water, hay & muesli (all of which were absent at one point or another in their old home) leads me to believe it was actually a poor diet which was causing their skin/fur problems.

They are really coming out of their shells now. I am so happy! Piggles will come right to the edge and sniff both me and my cat. Both of them have eaten a little sprig of greens out of my hand, which was delightful!

We attempted a very makeshift run time session yesterday which didn't really work. More planning & preparation will have to go into it next time I think!

Thanks for all the fantastic info on fleece. We went out yesterday to B&M to buy a couple of fleeces (really happy with the value & choice there, could've bought all 6 colours! Thanks for suggesting it) and puppy pads and next time we clean the cage out we will be putting down the pads then the fleece. We will see how we get on. I think it's a time vs. money thing when choosing bedding. Hubby loves the idea they have a nice soft fleece though!

Yesterday whilst the piggies were out of the cage we took the opportunity to clean it out and change the newspaper and hay. Does anyone else find it really hard to distinguish wet hay and dry? When cleaning it, all the hay appeared dry - it was only the smell that was giving away the fact it needed changed... The wet hay was only clear once I scraped off the top layer of dry hay... Does that make sense?

Anyway, thanks again all! I am actually going away this weekend and have hired a petsitter to look after both the cats and the piggies. Does anyone have experience with this? Is there anything I should be wary of?
 
there is a small animal pen in argos which i use when doing a big clean out for my piggies. It is 25 quid a metre square and you put it together with hook and eye kingd of thing. You could get two and put them together. No good for outside though as no roof.You could get c&c type grids that can be cable tied together for inside and these would fold. I got mine form ebay. Vonhaus interlocking storage. Plastic coated and i got about 32 grids for 22 quid but they do about 24ish for 18.
 
Hi all,

Been away for the weekend and hired pet sitters who were lovely and piggies appear all well :)

Except today I have been noticing they are displaying signs of agression towards each other - teeth chattering and rumplestrutting. There is also a fair bit of chasing each other around the cage, but I can't be sure if this in aggression or play.

Any ideas on how to aid this, or if it is really a problem at all? They're not attacking each other as such. Do you think a bigger cage will help this problem? We have had to put the project on the backburner due to our house being utter chaos right now for other reasons!
 
How big is your boys cage? I would extend as soon as you can if it's small as they are approaching adolescence and anything you can do to with regards to space will give them a far better chance of getting through the hormone phase and still be friends.
 
Sorry just read back through everything I see you have a 120. This is big enough as per rspca but ideally you vould do with upgrading. Is there anyway you could get a small animal or puppy play pen and set it up with cage inside and door open so they can come and go? On the fllor of the pen you could use a cheap tarpaulin from a poundshop or the like then puppy pads and fleece or towels and fleece?

you could put a hidey outside aswell that way if they've had enough of one another one can go outside for a breather (so to speak)
 
similar cage to my one zooplus is very expensive for cages try amazon !
 
Hi,

Thanks for the advice with regards to the cage. So is this just a phase? It has seem to come out of the blue and I hope it goes away as quickly too! How long can it be expected to last for?

As for our plans for a bigger cage, my husband is very much DIY so he bought some hutch wire and wants to build a floor time area himself! This is before we heard of C&C cages, or as you suggested Briony, a puppy pen. He is concerned as we bought pine 'sticks' to build it with - but have since found out that pine is no good for piggies? Or is this just pine shavings...

We are also unsure whether we could use MDF/plyboard in the cage. Researched it for a quick bit and from what I remember it's not the best but it will do? We would use it for the flooring (as one option) so hoping the piggies wouldn't be able to chew it and thus perhaps eat the dust which is bad for them...

Astrid, the cage came with the piggies from the girl we rescued it off of.

As for RSPCA guidelines, I am skeptical to listen to anything they say since I originally reported the animal neglect of my former housemate to them and it was dismissed! When I phoned back to say the hamsters she also kept had either all died, been eaten, or escaped - and that the piggies were in a filthy cage with no hay or greens and food pellets indistinguishable from their droppings - well, that's when they decided to investigate i.e. when it was too late.

Have washed the fleeces I plan to use for the first time out of three now. Hopefully will be trying that bedding out soon!
 
Could he not just put three sides together and use the cage as the fourth side for now?if you use wood as a base would line it with something that wipes clean
 
If using ply as flooring I would suggest using lino on top or lino tiles. If you use tiles its best to seal the joins with something so nothing gets into the "cracks". Pine is no good for building as pigs may chew it and I believe its bad for them. I would take it back and swap for softwood to be safe! The "phase" is equivalent to human teenage hormones. It can last upto when they are 14-16 months old. A lot of boys get through this fine but sadly 5 years ago I had my first two pigs (boys) in a shop bought 120 and they fell out and had to be separated for ever as blood was drawn.
 
Hi.
gemnomnom said:
Thanks guys! Sorry to annoy with another question but I can't seem to find the answer to this one... Right now the guinea pig cage is in front of a window on the floor. Sometimes the sun shines in quite brightly in 'blocks', some of which fall into the piggie cage (if that makes sense!) Other times it is less bright/no 'blocks' at all. Our living room is south-facing if that makes a difference.

I have read that piggies shouldn't be in direct sunlight. But I also don't want to give them a sunlight deficiency. Is the cage fine where it is? I was originally worried by the intensity of the blocks of light falling on their cage, and would move it along as the sun crossed the sky!
Click to expand...
.

Well done you for rescuing them. I have one pig in particular who will home in on a bit of sunshine and chill out once she's found it. As long as they have shade as well and they don't get too hot. They don't fair well in the heat. Cardboard boxes are a good temporary hidey hole till you can go shopping. I have a feeling your little piggies are going to be very spoilt!
 
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