How did you meet your piggies?

[Saffie]

I was wondering how everyone else here got to meet their wonderful little piggies. Feel free to share your story! I'm sure we'd all love to hear them

I'll share mine first.

Amy:
Date received: 10th July 2009

I got Amy from a rescue a bit far out from where I live. I remember her being on her own in a small enclosure and from just looking at her, I knew she was the guinea pig I wanted to take home with me. She was very small at the time, and I had to take a picture to text my mum to get permission to get her. My mum reluctantly agreed to me getting Amy. (She doesn't like guinea pigs, she doesn't like anything smaller than a bunny) So then I took her home and spoiled her rotten with toys etc. 1 month later she had a litter of 4 of which 3 survived. What a suprise! but she is the most charismatic guinea pig I ever known.


Poppy and Ella:
Date received: 22nd January 2012

I got these two together shortly after Cecile died. (Cecile is in my avatar, not to be confused with Amy).
I was set on getting Amy a new friend after the loss of her daughter and my dad phoned me up and told me he knew someone who had an accidental litter and the piggies were ready for new homes. I asked him if this person had any females as I didn't want my own unexpected litter and had no room for boys (rabbits took up the other hutches). It turned out there were 3 girls and 2 boys, so my dad came around to pick me up with my sister and brother in tow and drove me to mochdre. When we arrived, I went into the house with my baby sister and the woman showed us to her shed in the back garden where the piggies were kept separately. After taking a first glance and checking they were actually female, I picked Poppy but my sister started having a rant and demanded I get Ella. I initially only wanted one guinea pig but I gave into Lucy's demands and took the two. The woman insisted I didn't give her money even though I thought she might want it for pet food costs for the rest but yeah thats how I got them two.
Dad made me let Lucy name Ella which I guess was ok considering she was highly unlikely to see her again (they don't live with me). Kinda glad she didn't name her Mrs. Pink like her last guinea pig was Mr. Pink due to the red eyes.
My mum asked me when I got home why I got two. Just told her I couldn't say no ")
Amy took to them both instantly. There was that moment just 2 minutes after introduction, she looked up at me and gave me that look that just said 'You got me friends! I love you!'. All three happy piggies ever since

 

[Mother Hubbard]

My boss was going on hols, usual pet watcher couldn't manage, so they came to me for 2 wheeks.

Few months later, they got a dog, big fall out between pets and I got a distraught call...they came to live with me.

Joined forum, had a baptism of knowledgemallethead

Blossom, buttercup, violet in 2009 (rip bloss April 2012)
Millie joined in April 2012 from little thorns -Clare
Captain jack April 2012...adopted p&h *** he has 1eye & no one loved him.

 

[Julesie]

Ludwig and Gilbert: 28/10/2010

Mum told me I could have a guinea pig if I wanted after waiting many years. Excited I headed out to the nearest petshops (I didn't know about rescues back then). Having a look around, the petshop nearest to me (nottcutts) had a stock of new guinea pigs in, all young and close to be ready for adoption but a week to go. Deciding I didn't want to get the first guinea pig I saw I headed around to look at some other petshops and eventually I found Jollies petshop. Walking inside I saw a trio of 3 boars in a cage together. Unsure if I wanted them as they were a lot bigger and seemed to be adults thus I wouldn't know their age I kept them in mind. One of them was exactly the look I wanted. A white guinea pig with red eyes. I went home to think and returned the next day deciding to get all 3 as I couldn't bare to take 2 and leave one behind. Luckily, the third one (I think he was black and brown) had been bought. I then told the woman I wanted the two red eyed white ones and she was delighted claiming no one had wanted them because of their red eyes and plain colour. I then took them home and have had them for almost 2 years (august).
Ludwig: https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.ne...131302_100002221163148_638326_947375386_n.jpg

Gilbert: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v312/dutchese159/fam pics/guinea pigs/IMG_0046.jpg

 

[Julesie]

Romano: 15/07/2011

I found Romano in a very cramped cage among many young rabbits and about 7 other guinea pigs. The cage was about 2 foot by 1 foot and I was horrified. Romano was curled up in the corner as small as possible trembling and refusing to move. I asked the woman how much for him and she said £30. Upset I went home and returned a week later seeing him in the same place and still terrified. Annoyed I told the woman I would buy him as unlike the other piggies he wasn't moving and was much larger than the other piggies (I was worried he was female and caged in teh wrong cage. After asking his gender they told me female and then male and then female, the two people bickering over the gender). They charged me £40 for him and although I was annoyed they snuck at extra £10 on him I bought Romano and took him home. He clung to me tightly hiding against me and once I took him home he ran to the corner and hid. I then got him a friend, enter Arthur.
Romano: https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.ne...72584_100002221163148_609290_2088841537_n.jpg


Arthur: 21/07/2011

Aware Romano needed a friend but I wanted him to settle first, I got Arthur 6 days later. I made a board on this forum asking if someone had a guinea pig around my area I could adopt for Romano and 6 days later I put little Arthur in. The two hit it off immediately. They've been very close ever since.
Arthur: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v312/dutchese159/fam pics/guinea pigs/P1040164.jpg



...sorry for the long wall of text. ^^;

 

[Claire W]

Connie:
Connie was my first ever guinea pig. She came to us in 2007 from a friend when her two daughters lost interested.

Eliza:
Eliza came to us from pets at home two days after we had Connie. I read that guinea pigs were happier in pairs so Eliza came as a companion for Connie.

Eleanor:
Sadly Connie died 18 months after we had her. Eleanor came to us from Helen (Sokol guinea pig rescue) back in 2009

Erin:
I decided to adopt a third piggy so Erin came to us in 2010. She was born in rescue and came to us again from Sokel rescue. Jane (nutmeg) was her fosterer.

Ena:
Realising that Erin was sometimes left out from Ellie and Eliza's close bond, we decided to add a fourth piggy to the group. Ena was again born in rescue in 2010 and came to us from Suzanne (Logibear) who used to run a rescue in Manchester. She became Erin's playmate and two years later, I have a happy group if four girls.

 

[MissAqua]

Mo or MoMo now 4 yrs old
I piggie sat brothers Mo and Joe Easter 2009 for a team mate at hockey. Then the following year Joe passed away and Mo was left on his own, she then contacted me sometime after saying she was moving abroad and trying to find a home for Mo, she couldn't and said he was going to have to go to a rescue, sooooo I said I would have hime. Best decision ever as he is the most happy and loving pig I have ever owned

 

[scpiggy]

Spike: Spike was my first piggy and my only boy. He was originally my older sisters but when she couldnt look after him he was passed along to me. When she first got him he was a tiny little thing, being sold at a rabbit/guinea pig show at our church.

Pumpkin and Munchkin: These two sisters were got from a rabbit and guinea pig rescue as friends for my sisters lone piggy Sprinkles. Unfortunatly they hated each other and fought quite badly. Pumpkin ended up spending a few years as a lone piggy after Munchkin died very young

Sookie and Sherbert: Soon after looking for a friend for my lone girl Pumpkin my sister started fostering a pregnant sow who had belonged to her friends daughter (a classic petshop mis-sex ) When I first met them Sookie was just a few months old and already had two gorgeous babies. Sherbert was just a tiny 2 week old baby and was so full of energy and character (and she still is ) When Sherbert was 4 weeks old her and Sookie came to live with me and Pumpkin. (Sherbert is the grey baby)

Rio: Rio is my little baby. I got her after Pumpkin died as a friend for Sookie and Sherbert. I took my girls to Milhaven Rescue where they met Rio and another girl. As soon as Rio was bought out I fell in love instantly, I automatically felt she was the one for me. She followed Sookie round the enclosure trying to groom and snuggle up to her and when I had my first cuddle with her she rested her head on my arm and started to fall asleep.

 

[Chappers]

24th December 2011

We got snuggles, rainbow and muffin from pets at home as a Christmas present for each of the kids. However we knew that we would be the ones looking after them and that was fine.

The cage they sold us wasn't big enough and after coming on here, we were told that 3 boys wouldn't work, and then about a week later the fighting started and snuggles found himself on his own.

We got a new cage purpose built and snuggles is still on his own, but will have a friend in about two weeks. Rainbow and muffin are getting on fine, but since they went into the new cage they do argue a lot more.

30th may 2012

Chewbacca and gizmo joined us from the rescue and the two brothers seem happy enough, in there new home and are hopefully having a happy life.

Buzz will be coming soon from the resuce to join snuggles and then our piggie family will be complete.

 

[Saffie]

Cute stories everyone! They are so lovely to read!

I thought I'd post up my story about the guinea pig in my avatar. I didn't mention her in my first post and I dunno how to edit it so yeah.

Cecile (R.I.P)
D.O.B: 8th August 2009
Died: 19th January 2012

Cecile was one of the babies Amy gave birth to a month after I first got her. She was the tiniest of the litter and I had my concerns about her. After realising the enter litter were all females, I decided to keep Cecile because I believed she needed her mother the most and Amy seemed to enjoy having company alot.
Cecile was a skittish but friendly guinea pig, she also still remained extremely small and never reached anywhere near the average guinea pig size at 18 months of age. Although she was skittish, she also was very cheeky, always stealing her mother's treats and running away with them, Amy just looking on in disbelief. The two were simply inseparable.
Cecile died last January and Amy was very very sad, she stopped wheeking and stood in her bedroom all the time instead of usually greeting me.

Cecile turned out to be of similar colouring to Amy and many people used to get confused between the two of them on first glance. She did inherit her mother's extremely photogenic face.

2 days old - far left

4 weeks old

8 months old

2 years old

Day before she passed away

 

[Julesie]

Thought I'd bump this as its an adorable thread.

 

[piggy_paradise]

fudge and Nibbles
We got these as my first piggies as an adult in 2009. after convincing my OH that piggies are a great pet to have he gave in to me and we went to the pet shop - not knowing about rescues at this time. They were the 2 cutest piggies, me choosing nibbles and gav choosing fudge. they have lived outside ever since. a bit of fighting meant we bought them seperate hutches and this has done the trick.. Gav has made a mahoosive outside run with their hutches in, they are very happy, if not a little pudgey from all the grass |)
fudge

nibbles

enjoying the sunshine

Cocoa 2011 - 2012 RIP
Gav told me bout this adorable piggy in the adoption centre in P@H. was all alone and needed a friend. we went to see him and took to him straight away. Paid 10 pound for him and bought lots of toys and an indoor cage. the plan was to bong him with the boys outside but he became such a big part of life in the house, spent most of the day out his cage with us
Unfortunately when we went away this year, not knowing the temperature would be sooo high, cocoa developed heat stroke and passed away while on his own. we were heartbroken, never thought he would be taken away from us so soon, he was still only a baby.
cocoa enjoying cuddles with Gav

Pablo
We got Pablo a week after cocoa passed. The house was too quiet and there was such a gap without the wheeks and squeeks all the time. without the wheeking every time we went into the fridge, it was horrible. I was also very worried about leaving Gav on his own when i went back to work as he doesnt work and would get lonely and upset on his own - cocoa was his company. we went to P@H to see how he was with another piggy and we both fell in love with pablo. unfortunately when we wanted to buy him i noticed that he had an abcess. P@H took him to the vets and treated him. they kept us in touch with how he was doing, and we visited him at the shop before he could come home with us, just to make sure he was ok. A week later we got a hpone call to say e was ready to be picked up, and he has settled in with us really well. He's a bit of a monster, deciding he wanted to go jumping down the sofa when having time with us. he is very lively and nibbly, wanting to get everywhere we don't let him. he has free time in the hall and bombs about like a fool. He's a character and will live a very happy life with us

tired after free time in the hall

 

[kaz617]

Primrose & Honey 27/08/10 for my daughters 12th birthday.

After months of pleading I gave in and got the girls from my friend who bred at the time. They were about 5 weeks old.

Alfie & Oscar. Nov 2010.

2 lovely fluffy baby boys again from my friend. This time for me as I had now caught the piggie bug.

Poppy & Blossom Jan 2011.

Went to visit a friend of my friend who has about 100 piggies. Saw these 2 gorgeous tri colour 4 month old girls with coronets. They were just sat there looking at me I couldnt resist.


Tried to introduce 2 pairs of girls but Primrose wouldnt have it, so had 3 hutches with 2 in each. Meanwhile boys had serious falling out (Alfie came off worst) so split them up. Decided to have them nuetered as they looked so lonely on their own and Alfie went in with Poppy & Blossom, Oscar with Primrose & Honey.


Ruby July 2011

Well you know what its like when you see mini pigs all the time....... one of my friends girls had babies on my birthday (June) last year and so Ruby came to live with us. Alfie & wives were lovely and welcomed her with open paws. After Alfie told Blossom off for chasing Ruby into a corner I might add.

Minnie October 2011

An ex work colleague had a lone pig after her mate had died, and she could see how happy mine all were being with their cage mates so she asked if we could home her. Not sure how old she is we are thinking about 3 or 4.


Group photo

Poppys bum, Blossom, Alfie, Ruby being kissed by Minnie, Oscar, Honey, Primrose.

Poppy & Co

Alfie, Ruby, Poppy, Blossom

Primrose's Gang

Minnie, Honey, Oscar, Primrose

So then there were 8! x)

 

[twiams]

Bentley and Chester

My first two piggies after begging my mummy for guinea pigs she said no, i'd been in and out of all of the pet shops and was quite upset on my way home thinking i wouldn't get piggies, my boyfriend suggested we just have a look in this pet shop i'd never heard of that was just tucked in behind and i met two gorgeous piggies and had a cuddle and the shop assistant helped us price up everything which was really helpful took us through what we would need and everything and so i went home to my boyfriends mum and begged a little she said yes and we took her to visit them, after calling them "Rodents" she fell in love at the shop just as we had and we reserved them as they still were in quarantine. We took there cage home set it up and the next day we went to collect them. Our first baby piggies between 10-16 weeks old. That was back in September 3rd 2011 and we've been falling deeper in love with them every day, i joined the forum a couple of days after they came home to find out a little more about them !

When we got them

Now, Chester,

Now, Bentley,

January 2012 ...
Wondering around Pets At Home and waddle past the adoption centre, i see the most gorgeous piggie sat there in a cage all alone, just a pile of hay with him, he was in the corner hiding away, and i felt so sorry for him, he had no information up about him, he was just there, on the way home i burst into tears over him feeling really sorry for him, so i get home and my boyfriend, being the lovely boyfriend he is, called up to ask more about him, we found out he'd just been brought in, hence the lack of information, he was an "aggressive" boar who needed to be kept alone after fighting with previous piggies, i knew i'd have a spare cage soon as my boys Bentley and Chester were getting upgraded to a C&C with the christmas money i'd saved up, so i spoke to my mum she said "we'll see" as her argument before was i wouldn't look after them and i'd loose interest after a while and she couldn't say that now with Bentley and Chester being pampered as they are ! SOOOO the day she decided okay we'll go have a look at him, off we went to have a nosey and he was gone i was close to crying but mum said go ask he may have just been taken out back or something so i did, to find he'd been adopted they day before BUT brought back to the shop after fighting because he'd been placed with 2 other boars, he was in quarantine but we got to have a quick cuddle and we were told we could come get him in a few days, in meen time i built the C&C and then Marmite came home and lived in Bentley and Chesters old 100cm cage, he's now been upgraded to a 120cm and is looking to maybe find a friend soon ! We got Marmite on January the 3rd 2012

Marmite

 

[Julesie]

Such adorable stories. I love reading these! x)

 

[klee]

Rosie and Georgie

These two beautiful girls were our first piggies, we got them from a pet shop in summer 2006- I was 15 and my brother was 8 and we were able to pick out two girlies that we wanted to take home- I chose Georgie and Luke chose Rosie, they were both teensy tiny.

Georgie passed away aged 3 and a half in December 2009, and Rosie unfortunately went onto live a solo life for a further 2 and a bit years.

Georgie: Not a very clear photo but one of the few I have

Rosie

I found out about TGPF through a friend and had never considered rescuing guinea pigs before this point. I didn't even know that there were such places as 'Guinea pig rescues', and up until then I was very wary about finding Rosie a friend after having negative experiences about past pets falling out and being housed separately- 3 gerbil brothers who decided they no longer wanted to be friends and we ended up forking out for 3 glass gerbilariums to separate them! mallethead

Ruby
After researching rescues we decided to try and find Rosie a new friend through the sow dating service at the potteries. On the 7th May 2012 after a successful date we came home with 6 month old PEG sow Ruby. Rosie seemed to change for the better, she ate a lot more, is more vocal and much more active.

Rosie and new friend Ruby

Esme and Tia
We got the girlies a new bigger hutch and on the 19th May we headed back to the rescue with the intention of adopting 2 sows I had fallen in love with. Needless to say the introductions did not go smoothly, and with working I would not be able to keep an eye on their antics as much as I would have liked to. This was the point at which Helen suggested introducing Rosie and Ruby to Mother and baby PEG's Esme and Tia- introductions went well and we brought them home to live together. Apart from the odd argument over food the girlies get along great!

Esme and Tia: My most relaxed piggies!

Altogether: Huddles of piggies!

 

[<3 my boys <3]

love seeing everyones gorgeous piggie droolx)

we got our baby boys from pets at home after looking at some fish and saw the gorgeous guinea pigs. so the next day after begging my boyfriend to let me get them lol and got Rocky and wanted an all beige one but unfortunately he had a scab on his ear so they wanted to treat him before letting him go, so i didnt want rocky to be alone so i picked scruffy to come home with him. never had guinea pigs before but have fallen absolutely madly in love with them as has the rest of the family

here is Rocky:

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here is Scruffy:

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both developed ringworm, my poor lil boys, but both seem to ge responding to the medication so looks like there are getting better. have only had them 4 weeks now so are around 12-14 weeks old and have just made a c&c cage for them and may look to getting 2 more piggies. am just in awe of them

 

[Shellza]

Lexi and Freya- Sept 2009

I got these 2 girls from a housemate at uni. Her aunt had guinea pigs and one of the kids had put a boar in with the girls mallethead so they were from an accidental litter. I had been wanting guinea pigs so my mate suggested I take a couple and thats how I got my little girls.

A year later I joined the forum and learnt a wealth of knowledge and that other guinea pig mad people DO exist

Archie- Oct 2010

I'd gone into the nearest pet shop (I know...rookie mistake) and saw a load of little boys in a tiny cage with a load of rabbits. I saw Archie and immediately fell in love, but not wanting to just go with my instinct I left him over the weekend to see how I felt about it. I had been looking for a boar, but ideally didn't want one from a pet shop. That poor little mite didn't leave my mind all weekend. By the Monday me and the OH went back and enquired. He was still sat there with the bunnies, huddled in a corner. OH asked to hold him (another rookie mistake rolleyes) and the shop keeper got him out and passed him to me. I was shocked...he was literally skin and bones and I knew then I could not put him back in that cage. OH bought him for me |). I would never buy from a pet shop again, but I don't regret getting that little monster who makes me laugh every day.

 

[Shuvvy]

Peanut (grey) and Crumpet (brown)
We went to a local pet store (which I wasn't sure about) but it has a good name in our area, they're good to their animals and it is also a rescue so we decided this was good enough to get our piggies from. Anyway, we went in there to look at how they were priced, not intending to actually fall in love! We saw and held our boys and I knew they were for us but my OH said to wait a little while and make sure their home was perfect before we got them. He also wanted to wait to see others from a litter that were nearly ready to be homed. So the next week we went in and tbh I thought that they'd have gone as the shop owner had said there was a lot of interest in them. I was so happy when I saw they were still there that I didn't even look at the new piggies that were there, we had to have these two. So we put a deposit down, came back the next day with a cardboard box, and bought them to their forever home on the 6th of May this year |)