Just Rescued 2 Guinea Pigs From A School,need Advice

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DM22s07p21d

Hello I'm new to this site , just need some help, I have just took on 2 Abyssinian male guinea pigs from my girlfriends workplace ( primary school) got given to the school by a pupils mother because they moved to Scotland and couldn't take them with them apparently anyway, I got them both home, had 2 put them both in a tiny temporary cage overnight, went out and got a fair sized cage for guinea/rabbit indoor cage, 1 is living in the big cage now and 1 is now living in the small cage because we couldn't keep them together as 1 is too dominant and keeps jumping on the quiet ones back. even tho the owners before castrated him, this kept going on for days he just wouldn't stop, the 1 in the small cage had a uri (I THINK) when we got him ,god knows how long he had it,(weeping right eye, sneezing and blocked up nose. Anyway I got him a 1 week course of baytril and he seems fine now all clear breathing, he always kept his appetite, veg,pellets and hay, still some sneezing but not half as much, eye weeps a bit still too.
so what I need help with is , am I being selfish by taking them on, they def have a better life now , but I feel its still not good enough, I try to give them both floor time in my living room, but its laminate flooring,( slippy for them) I have no garden, opinions wanted , thanks : )
 
btw I cant let them come out together because...
1 keeps dominating the other constantly in and out of the cage
1 has or is getting over his u.r.i ( keeping a close eye on it, so don't worry ...no weight loss, still eating
and I must mention that 1 cage isn't tiny, but too be fair it is a bit cosey.
 
Well done for taking the boys on
I don't have boars and never dealt with URI directly but there are many on here who have experience in helping the piggies suffering from it
@Jerrybelly
 
Thankyou jesss. I'm in a right mess with them at the moment, it would probably be best for them to go to someone who has a herd or something but I'm attached to my boys now.I thought my gerbils were complicated but guinea pigs are something else! Ive researched so much about guinea's now and they are both on the right diet, and I wont take my eye off of pip until his infection has gone completely : )
 
Well done for taking them on.
The mounting you are seeing is normal boar behaviour, providing there has been serious fights with blood drawn it may be a case of them getting used to their new environment, the fact that one has had a URI may have triggered a bit of a dominance debate . Do you know if their previous owner said anything about their behaviour towards each other?
Here is a link to a guide to dominance behaviours:
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/dominance-behaviours-in-guinea-pigs.28949/

As for the floor time you could pop something down in a section of your living room so the floor is less slippy, you could use newspaper or a cheap fleece blanket for example.
 
Boars tend to have a hormonal period so giving them up to someone who has a herd isn't necessarily the best thing to do.
Make a list and start from the top once you get the handle of piggies it'll be like clockwork :)
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/...veg-and-fruit-list-with-vitamin-c-grading.42/
A list of food to get you started! There are a joy to have especially when they settle in and start to trust as well!
 
no blood shed, but pip the victim with the uri was squealing all night when I put them together, my girlfriend said it was always happening at the school too, they were living there for weeks and wernt watched overnight. so basicly I tried them in a fresh large cage I got and the same happened,il just let them run on the laminate floor, they can run on it but not very easily,might try a blanket :) I did think that the uri may have triggerd it, funny you should mention that
 
jesss said:
Boars tend to have a hormonal period so giving them up to someone who has a herd isn't necessarily the best thing to do.
Make a list and start from the top once you get the handle of piggies it'll be like clockwork :)
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/...veg-and-fruit-list-with-vitamin-c-grading.42/
A list of food to get you started! There are a joy to have especially when they settle in and start to trust as well!
Click to expand...
haha hopefully itl all get easier, I also rescued 2 gerbils from the school aswell , the teacher thought it would be ok to let them live in wet soil, when I got them they were a mess, and shivering, 1 died of a scent gland tumour a year ago, but the other 1 has made it past 4 years now and still like a pup
 
jesss said:
If you need any ideas
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/member-gallery-commercial-cages.53211/

Some cage ideas :)
Click to expand...
Thankyou ! I did think of an idea, get another large cage the same , cable tie it firmly on top and save space by having a double decker( if you like cage) except theyl have their own living areas, the bottom 1 would have to open with the side door, and the top cage with the top door.i have hardly any space in my flat, cant really bang a cage right in the centre of the living room
 
Neil Davies said:
no blood shed, but pip the victim with the uri was squealing all night when I put them together, my girlfriend said it was always happening at the school too, they were living there for weeks and wernt watched overnight. so basicly I tried them in a fresh large cage I got and the same happened,il just let them run on the laminate floor, they can run on it but not very easily,might try a blanket :) I did think that the uri may have triggerd it, funny you should mention that
Click to expand...
We hAve laminate flooring and i picked up some small builders red bricks from diy shop for 40cent each. We put one on each corner of fleece and use coffee table/ chairs etc to keep other corners down and tight so they can run around there.
 
Neil Davies said:
haha hopefully itl all get easier, I also rescued 2 gerbils from the school aswell , the teacher thought it would be ok to let them live in wet soil, when I got them they were a mess, and shivering, 1 died of a scent gland tumour a year ago, but the other 1 has made it past 4 years now and still like a pup
Click to expand...
Why are the school still taking in animals? Surely they learnt their lesson with the gerbils?
 
Germaine said:
We hAve laminate flooring and i picked up some small builders red bricks from diy shop for 40cent each. We put one on each corner of fleece and use coffee table/ chairs etc to keep other corners down and tight so they can run around there.
Click to expand...
good idea thankyou!
 
Germaine said:
Why are the school still taking in animals? Surely they learnt their lesson with the gerbils?
Click to expand...
The gerbils were bought from pets@home (hate the place) to teach kids about ''responsibility'' the guinea pigs were given to the school by a kids mum. so we begged to take them too. But there is still 1 guinea pig and a rabbit living there. but I cant take them aswell else ull be calling me noah
 
Hi and welcome to the forum, as you can see we're a right friendly and enthusiastic bunch of people.

Aww aren't you a sweetie for taking them on, super of you, and no doubt the guidance youve had so far will help you greatly. Shout up if youwant to ask a question, we're always here to answer what we can. And naturally we look forward to see pigtures of your new boys.:wel:
 
Well done for taking the animals on and trying your best to give them good care!

Are that poor piggy and the rabbit living together? Whereabouts are you? You may be able to contact a good rescue to take them on. We have got a UK rescue locator on the top bar; all those rescues are of good standard, practice and ethics.
 
Hi welcome to the forum, thank you for taking these poor boys in and the gerbils too.
 
A double Decker cage is a good idea but would you be able to make each level big enough to find each of them a friend as they,are social animals.If you can't bond them with each other this may be something to think about.
 
Hi there
I think you are doing just great :) You sound very responsible and thoughtful, and I'm sure with a bit of reading and as the days go by you will be feeling much more confident with your piggies. It sounds like they will have a good home with you so no, of course you are not being selfish in taking them in!
 
Well done for rescuing these poor piggies. As the boars did not draw blood they may have been happy together. With guinea pigs one is dominant and will assert themselves by mounting and chasing the other. Guinea pigs are social animals and should not live alone. I would get a large enough home for them and try to bond them. A c and c cage is ideal as you can build it any size you like. If you make it big enough you would not even need to give them floor time. Here is a link explaining what they are.
http://www.candcguineapigcages.co.uk

What bedding are you using? Fleece or vetbed is hypoallergenic and cosy for piggies. I do not recommend shavings as they can cause allergies.

Please ask anything you are unsure about.
 
Neil Davies said:
The gerbils were bought from pets@home (hate the place) to teach kids about ''responsibility'' the guinea pigs were given to the school by a kids mum. so we begged to take them too. But there is still 1 guinea pig and a rabbit living there. but I cant take them aswell else ull be calling me noah
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You are very good to get those two. Could you suggest a rescue? The kids could help write a letter to the new owners detailing what foods the animals like etc. that would be educational too!
 
madguinealady said:
A double Decker cage is a good idea but would you be able to make each level big enough to find each of them a friend as they,are social animals.If you can't bond them with each other this may be something to think about.
Click to expand...
I would like them to each have a friend, I know pip would be ok with a friend for sure, but I cant risk sky dominating another pig and then getting stuck with 3 cages haha, I am going to try and bond them outside of the cage soon.
 
Germaine said:
You are very good to get those two. Could you suggest a rescue? The kids could help write a letter to the new owners detailing what foods the animals like etc. that would be educational too!
Click to expand...
I'm going to keep them with me and keep trying to progress with there bonding, there must be a way lol
 
From reading what you said it sounds as though one guinea pig is just asserting his dominance over the other. The screaming you hear from the one being chased is just him submitting to the dominant one and letting him know that. The reason I imagine for the dominance a lot would be their cages being too small. Boys need at least 4 by 4 foot cage to live together and two of everything. OBviously their past cages I imagine were far too small if they were in a school which increases the dominance as they are stepping on one anothers toes.

A C and C cage would be perfect even if you don't want them together as if they end up fighting (blood shed and lunging at one another) then the grid down the centre lets them still be together but unable to hurt one another. I did this once with an old pair of boars that attacked one another.

As guinea pigs are herd animals they really need to be with a companion and from what you have wrote it really doesn't sound like anything more than dominance and them getting used to a new environment which can bring the dominance back on.
 
P1050134.jpg

Here you can see an example of a split CC cage. This was just temporary as I was getting the boys used to one another so I could then bond them as a pairing but its the same idea after a fight and fallout. Though if your boys haven't had a serious fight I wouldn't recommend doing this but rather just putting them in a bit CC cage. =)
 
piggyfan said:
Well done for rescuing these poor piggies. As the boars did not draw blood they may have been happy together. With guinea pigs one is dominant and will assert themselves by mounting and chasing the other. Guinea pigs are social animals and should not live alone. I would get a large enough home for them and try to bond them. A c and c cage is ideal as you can build it any size you like. If you make it big enough you would not even need to give them floor time. Here is a link explaining what they are.
http://www.candcguineapigcages.co.uk

What bedding are you using? Fleece or vetbed is hypoallergenic and cosy for piggies. I do not recommend shavings as they can cause allergies.

Please ask anything you are unsure about.
Click to expand...
il look into the c and c cages asap, I have a plan for a slide out play pen that il make from strong cardboard and will slide under my sofa without even needing to set it up each time, il have to line it with something I can wipe down after every wee they do though. itl be the same length as a 3 seater sofa which should be great. I use newspaper flooring , meadow hay bedding, and timothy hay for eating, plus teared newspaper. no wood shavings
 
Julesie said:
From reading what you said it sounds as though one guinea pig is just asserting his dominance over the other. The screaming you hear from the one being chased is just him submitting to the dominant one and letting him know that. The reason I imagine for the dominance a lot would be their cages being too small. Boys need at least 4 by 4 foot cage to live together and two of everything. OBviously their past cages I imagine were far too small if they were in a school which increases the dominance as they are stepping on one anothers toes.

A C and C cage would be perfect even if you don't want them together as if they end up fighting (blood shed and lunging at one another) then the grid down the centre lets them still be together but unable to hurt one another. I did this once with an old pair of boars that attacked one another.

As guinea pigs are herd animals they really need to be with a companion and from what you have wrote it really doesn't sound like anything more than dominance and them getting used to a new environment which can bring the dominance back on.
Click to expand...
real interesting stuff , thanks. they were in a big cage in the school apparently but still the dominance, there wasn't 2 of everything though , the large cage I have is big enough for 2 so I'm going to set it up for 2 and see what happens.
 
Neil Davies said:
real interesting stuff , thanks. they were in a big cage in the school apparently but still the dominance, there wasn't 2 of everything though , the large cage I have is big enough for 2 so I'm going to set it up for 2 and see what happens.
Click to expand...
That's good. Two of everything makes sure one guinea pig cann,ot hog or bully the other out of anything. Two hidies, two food bowls, two snuggle snacks etc etc should make it so they live peacefully. =)

Most pet shop cages are too small for guinea pigs - especially males- to live in sadly despite petshops claiming they are fine which is why most people tend to go for CC or homemade cages.
 
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