courtasaurus
New Born Pup
Hey everyone,
So I've recently become a guinea pig owner (kind of) through odd circumstances... I'm an elementary school teacher. Before Winter Break, one of the kindergarten teachers asked me if I could take care of her classroom pet for her over the Winter Break because she knows I love animals. I said yes of course, which is how I ended up with Donald the skinny pig for two weeks. I knew almost nothing about guinea pigs, but I've always loved little rodenty type pets and had pet rats in university that I ADORED, so I knew a little bit about guinea pigs from the obsessive amount of research that I did for my rats.
Now because I'm the kind of person who always wants to give the absolute best care to any animal I have in my home, I immediately researching guinea pigs. I very quickly realized that this kindergarten teacher, although well intentioned, knows nothing about guinea pig care. His cage is way too small, his diet is completely out of wack, and he lives alone. During Winter Break I cut back on his pellets (she was giving him unlimited pellets) and gave him LOTS of hay (she fed it to him 'as a treat'), plus nice fresh veggies everyday. I'd take him out of his cage almost everyday to hang out with me, and he really came out of his shell and became a super interactive, curious, chipper little guy. She had told me he was super shy and didn't like people, but he started coming to the cage door making little squeaking noises whenever he heard me talking to him.
Anyway, at the end of the break I was really sad to bring him back, and told her I'd take care of him anytime she wanted me to. The second day of school after the break, she found me while I was in the library with my students and starting raving to me about how happy Donald was! How he was out of his cage all the time now, he'd let people touch him, etc. And then she asked if I wanted him and I immediately said YES!
So now here's the weird part. She doesn't want to upset the kids in her class by having Donald disappear all of a sudden, she he's going to stay in the classroom during the week and then I take him home on weekends and Spring Break. When school ends at the end of June, he's mine for good! I know it's not ideal and I'd rather just have him at home full time, but at least I can take good care of him on the weekends, and I go and check on him in her classroom almost everyday after she's left and make sure he's got hay and take out most of the fruit she gives him (she feeds him wayyyyy too much fruit and also says that lettuce is bad for him? Super weird info she's got).
SO. I've got a couple of questions I'm hoping you guys can help me with.
1. Getting Donald a buddy - I kind of guessed this already due to my experience with rats, but it seems like it's really important that Donald have a friend. Now I've been told by his current owner he's about 5 years old, so he's a senior guy. Is it still a good idea to try and introduce him to another piggy? I don't know if he's ever lived with another guinea pig. Also, should I look for a boy who's around his age or is it better if I introduce him to a younger pig? I know with rats sometimes it's easier to introduce baby rats to adult rats (especially males) because adult rats see babies as less threatening. Is this the same with guinea pigs? Another issue is that I'd really like to avoid getting my second guinea pig from a pet store, however almost all of the guinea pigs on Kijiji (Canadian Craigslist) and at the SPCA right now are bonded pairs. The closest single male is at a shelter almost 4 hours away from me. What are the odds of getting a pair of males to successfully bond with my single guy? Is it likely to work or would it be better for me to make the road trip to get a single piggy? I'm not planning on getting a second pig until late May/early June so that I don't have to keep separating them bringing Donald back and forth to school each week, so I've got lots of time to search for the perfect buddy for him.
2. Getting Donald a better cage - So originally I was planning on getting him one of those Midwest cages that every website recommends, but aren't they a little small? Everything I've found online says they need a minimum of 7.5 sqft, but ideally 10.5 sqft which is what I'd prefer. There's some new guinea pig cages at PetSmart that I think might work. Generally I'm highly suspicious of pet store cages from owning rats where every cage marketed towards rats in pet stores were wildly too small. However PetSmart has this new brand called Full Cheeks, and their cages seem to be much more appropriately sized. I am a little confused on the sizing though.
For example this cage. On the website it says it's 7.5 sqft, but when I type the dimensions into a calculator it says it's 10 sqft? Do you think this cage will work? If not I'm probably going to go with this one that should definitely work. Please let me know if for any reason you think these cages aren't good for him!
If there's anything I mentioned here that set off alarm bells for you please tell me. I'm doing as much reading about guinea pigs as I can but I know I don't know anything yet. I won't be offended, absolutely any advice is very welcome!
Thanks for reading
So I've recently become a guinea pig owner (kind of) through odd circumstances... I'm an elementary school teacher. Before Winter Break, one of the kindergarten teachers asked me if I could take care of her classroom pet for her over the Winter Break because she knows I love animals. I said yes of course, which is how I ended up with Donald the skinny pig for two weeks. I knew almost nothing about guinea pigs, but I've always loved little rodenty type pets and had pet rats in university that I ADORED, so I knew a little bit about guinea pigs from the obsessive amount of research that I did for my rats.
Now because I'm the kind of person who always wants to give the absolute best care to any animal I have in my home, I immediately researching guinea pigs. I very quickly realized that this kindergarten teacher, although well intentioned, knows nothing about guinea pig care. His cage is way too small, his diet is completely out of wack, and he lives alone. During Winter Break I cut back on his pellets (she was giving him unlimited pellets) and gave him LOTS of hay (she fed it to him 'as a treat'), plus nice fresh veggies everyday. I'd take him out of his cage almost everyday to hang out with me, and he really came out of his shell and became a super interactive, curious, chipper little guy. She had told me he was super shy and didn't like people, but he started coming to the cage door making little squeaking noises whenever he heard me talking to him.
Anyway, at the end of the break I was really sad to bring him back, and told her I'd take care of him anytime she wanted me to. The second day of school after the break, she found me while I was in the library with my students and starting raving to me about how happy Donald was! How he was out of his cage all the time now, he'd let people touch him, etc. And then she asked if I wanted him and I immediately said YES!
So now here's the weird part. She doesn't want to upset the kids in her class by having Donald disappear all of a sudden, she he's going to stay in the classroom during the week and then I take him home on weekends and Spring Break. When school ends at the end of June, he's mine for good! I know it's not ideal and I'd rather just have him at home full time, but at least I can take good care of him on the weekends, and I go and check on him in her classroom almost everyday after she's left and make sure he's got hay and take out most of the fruit she gives him (she feeds him wayyyyy too much fruit and also says that lettuce is bad for him? Super weird info she's got).
SO. I've got a couple of questions I'm hoping you guys can help me with.
1. Getting Donald a buddy - I kind of guessed this already due to my experience with rats, but it seems like it's really important that Donald have a friend. Now I've been told by his current owner he's about 5 years old, so he's a senior guy. Is it still a good idea to try and introduce him to another piggy? I don't know if he's ever lived with another guinea pig. Also, should I look for a boy who's around his age or is it better if I introduce him to a younger pig? I know with rats sometimes it's easier to introduce baby rats to adult rats (especially males) because adult rats see babies as less threatening. Is this the same with guinea pigs? Another issue is that I'd really like to avoid getting my second guinea pig from a pet store, however almost all of the guinea pigs on Kijiji (Canadian Craigslist) and at the SPCA right now are bonded pairs. The closest single male is at a shelter almost 4 hours away from me. What are the odds of getting a pair of males to successfully bond with my single guy? Is it likely to work or would it be better for me to make the road trip to get a single piggy? I'm not planning on getting a second pig until late May/early June so that I don't have to keep separating them bringing Donald back and forth to school each week, so I've got lots of time to search for the perfect buddy for him.
2. Getting Donald a better cage - So originally I was planning on getting him one of those Midwest cages that every website recommends, but aren't they a little small? Everything I've found online says they need a minimum of 7.5 sqft, but ideally 10.5 sqft which is what I'd prefer. There's some new guinea pig cages at PetSmart that I think might work. Generally I'm highly suspicious of pet store cages from owning rats where every cage marketed towards rats in pet stores were wildly too small. However PetSmart has this new brand called Full Cheeks, and their cages seem to be much more appropriately sized. I am a little confused on the sizing though.
For example this cage. On the website it says it's 7.5 sqft, but when I type the dimensions into a calculator it says it's 10 sqft? Do you think this cage will work? If not I'm probably going to go with this one that should definitely work. Please let me know if for any reason you think these cages aren't good for him!
If there's anything I mentioned here that set off alarm bells for you please tell me. I'm doing as much reading about guinea pigs as I can but I know I don't know anything yet. I won't be offended, absolutely any advice is very welcome!
Thanks for reading