I am a piggie parent again!

[retro]

Hey all. It's been a while. I had five boys around 3 years ago and the last time I had my two boys that were left was 2 years ago. But I have finally reached a point where I am ready and prepared again. So I got two young girls. I don't know how old they are, but they fit in the palm of my hand. You can definitely tell they are young. maybe 4 to 5 inches long and small. They are the same tricolor, but one is short hair the other is an Abby. Is it possible they could be siblings? They came from a pet store (Please don't judge. We don't have breeders here. I was scared someone would take them and put them with kids as well. I also saw skinny pigs in real life for the first time ever! What interesting little hippos!) so, I got some food (I remembered never get food with molasses) and some hay with a bit of foliage "salad." We're getting some veggies today. My boys liked cilantro and celery. I got the child life vitamin c...How much liquid vit c do I feed them? How often? I already have the syringes. I cannot remember anything. To explain why I am asking these beginner questions... I have lost a good chunk of memory in general in my last two years because of ADHD, anxiety, and graves disease...yeah, it's been a wild ride.. My mom got extremely sick and I had to be a nurse for a while as well. But now everything is calm, I'm getting so much better. I made sure I was prepared for this before acting on it and I am! I kind of need a refresher course and how to take care of girls. The girls get along swell, more than boys. Sometimes they wheek and play a bit rough, but they are quiet and cuddle together more than anything. I have never had girls. I have never held one until I got my girls. I know with boys you had to do boar cleaning...is that the same for girls? I don't want to go sticking q tips anywhere that they aren't supposed to be. They are in the proper size cage and their liners are on the way soon. Including a nice bonding burrito so they can hang out with me and my best friend when she comes over. (We are basically co-parents to them. She wants to name hers (the short hair) Athena. I thought about the greek pronunciation of Aphrodite but I'm not really into the greek female goddess game, I think the guy names are more interesting. Are there any suggestions? On names? Here is a picture of them when we first got them!

 

[piggieminder]

Congratulations, they are beautiful.

 

[jayne]

Beautiful !

 

[Merab]

What stunning piggies. It’s nice to see you back and so pleased that you are feeling better.

They should get all the vitamin C they need from their food so won’t need any supplement.

Have a browse through the diet guides as a refresher for you.

More pictures Will be welcome

 

[Piggies&buns]

Congratulations.

Do not supplement them with vitamin c. They don’t need it - they should get all they need from a healthy balanced diet. As they excrete excess vit c in their urine, If they get a good diet and you them supplement additional vitamin c beyond their needs, all that will happen is the vit c you are spending your money on will just be urinated straight out. It’s a waste of time and money!
Additionally, and more seriously, long term supplementation has the potential to cause them health problems. Their bodies become too accustomed to higher vitamin c levels than they actually need. If that level then drops for any reason (even if the level it drops to is still within a level which for any other piggy would be normal , then you cause them to get scurvy.

Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts)

 

[Wheekallweek]

Eee, cuties! Congratulations on your new arrivals

 

[Cheekypigs]

They are adorable. I think it is very likely that they are siblings.
Sounds like you are off to a good start. Girls do not need any cleaning of the back end, so you're off the hook there! If you can get them to a vet to get the sex confirmed that would be a good idea, pet shops are not reliable on that.

I don't have any good ideas on names, I'll give it some thought.

 

[retro]

Congratulations.

Do not supplement them with vitamin c. They don’t need it - they should get all they need from a healthy balanced diet. As they excrete excess vit c in their urine, If they get a good diet and you them supplement additional vitamin c beyond their needs, all that will happen is the vit c you are spending your money on will just be urinated straight out. It’s a waste of time and money!
Additionally, and more seriously, long term supplementation has the potential to cause them health problems. Their bodies become too accustomed to higher vitamin c levels than they actually need. If that level then drops for any reason (even if the level it drops to is still within a level which for any other piggy would be normal , then you cause them to get scurvy.

Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts)

Really? Interesting. My boy Bowie (the one in my profile picture) died from scurvy. But someone told me to give the child life liquid vitamin c so that is what I was doing. So it's not my fault? I have been living with this burden. I had no idea. He is cremated. I loved him so much. But I have the bottle, I will just return it to amazon maybe, or keep it around. Thank you!

 

[retro]

They are adorable. I think it is very likely that they are siblings.
Sounds like you are off to a good start. Girls do not need any cleaning of the back end, so you're off the hook there! If you can get them to a vet to get the sex confirmed that would be a good idea, pet shops are not reliable on that.

I don't have any good ideas on names, I'll give it some thought.

I was wondering because the fact that they were two different breed types. But they love eachother so much. The only hurdle I am facing is them getting used to the midwest cage ramp, so they can go from their kitchen to their play area. They are smart and sweet.

 

[Bill & Ted]

What absolute beauties, looking forward to seeing loads of photos as they grow

 

[Princess Dustmop]

Well, if you want a Greek goddess name, you could go with Hestia, Iris, Nike, or Hebe. In the mythology theme, you could also go with the Roman equivalent of Athena and name her Minerva. Nothing says they have to have themed names, though.


They're adorable regardless of name!

 

[Cheekypigs]

Mixed breed guinea pigs can have all sorts of funny combinations of coat types and colours. Some of them don't look alike at all. We had two brothers, born in our house so we know for sure: one was an all-blonde sheltie, the other was a shorthair with patches of cream, white and agouti.

The fact yours have almost the exact same pattern makes it very likely they're siblings, even if the coat texture is different.

 

[weepweeps]

Welcome back. Your piggies are gorgeous.

 

[retro]

Mixed breed guinea pigs can have all sorts of funny combinations of coat types and colours. Some of them don't look alike at all. We had two brothers, born in our house so we know for sure: one was an all-blonde sheltie, the other was a shorthair with patches of cream, white and agouti.

The fact yours have almost the exact same pattern makes it very likely they're siblings, even if the coat texture is different.

That’s so cool! They love each other so much. I gave them some cuddle time today and my abby shakes a little when I hold her. I can’t figure out if she’s trying to pur or if she’s scared, she’s definitely more skittish.

 

[retro]

Well, if you want a Greek goddess name, you could go with Hestia, Iris, Nike, or Hebe. In the mythology theme, you could also go with the Roman equivalent of Athena and name her Minerva. Nothing says they have to have themed names, though.


They're adorable regardless of name!

We’re thinking Ophelia for the shorthair and POSSIBLY Tulsa for the Abby (she looks like she’s been in a tornado) Not sold in Tulsa yet though.

 

[retro]

Mixed breed guinea pigs can have all sorts of funny combinations of coat types and colours. Some of them don't look alike at all. We had two brothers, born in our house so we know for sure: one was an all-blonde sheltie, the other was a shorthair with patches of cream, white and agouti.

The fact yours have almost the exact same pattern makes it very likely they're siblings, even if the coat texture is different.

oops double post

 

[Jenni85]

They're beautiful I love their tri colour.

Regarding names I think Athena and Aurora go quite nice together or Athena and Artemis.

 

[Princess Dustmop]

On the tornado thought, you could go with Miranda or Ariel as a reference to Shakespeare's The Tempest to go with Ophelia from Hamlet. (I mean, Ariel is technically male, but the role is played by either gender in modern renditions.)