what about guinea pigs?

I love guinea pigs! We got our first guinea pig when I was in 1st grade from a pet store. Little did we know that she was pregnant! So a couple weeks later we were the happy owners of not one but 5 little piggys! http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif Well we couldn't take all of the little guys so we gave 2 to our cousins and kept the mommy and the other two. They were such great little pets, one of them even won me a second place ribbon in our school science fair for my project on whether guinea pigs were able to see in color or not (they can't!) Sadly over the years our piggys got older and passed away.
http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/frown.gif http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/frown.gif But now I am the proud owner of a black smooth coated guinea pig named Shadow. Shadow is one funny guy he likes to keep me awake at night while banging his water bottle around and he loves to run laps around his cage! He loves music and sometimes he'll even sing along. Guinea Pigs are great!

I LOVE guinea pigs. I am the proud owner of two abyssinians (one is an abyssinian mix) named Peaches and Apache. I am pretty sure that Peaches is pregnant. Apache is tortoiseshell and white carrying agouti, basicly she's a calico color. Peaches is broken variety, in other words, he's white iwth a bog blue (gray) patch on his back. E-mail me at [email protected] for pics of em!!!!!!!

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*Get a Grip Get an Aussie*

Just adopted my first guinea pig 2 weeks ago and I'm so psyched!! Had a hamster as a kid, but never a guinea pig. His name is Mr. Squeekers and I rescued him from our local animal shelter. I'm not too knowledgeable re: breeds. Squeekers is a short hair, solid pumpkin colored. I love him already. He is still a little skittish and I don't know his background, or if he was handled much. Will be held, but doesn't beg to be picked up like I hear so many do. http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/frown.gif Even when I take him out to play, he really doesn't seem to want to run around much. I put him on my bed and he just rests quietly. Hey, all you experts, give me some advice on socializing him. Do you think he's lonely for another piggie? I heard they love cage mates, but won't bond as closely with their humans then. Also, little confused about how much to feed him. I leave his bowl filled with piggie pellets, give him a handful of alfalfa hay twice a day, and about 2 tablespoons of fresh fruits and veggies a day. Is this too much or too little? He doesn't like any piggie treats like yogurt drops, but likes a honey/fruit/seed stick I got him and a mineral salt lick. And how often do you clean your cage? I was changing the bedding daily and everyone says once a week!! Squeekers make quite a lot of poopies and I like him to sleep in a clean cage. (I'm a nurse!!) Anyway, I'd love to learn more about them. So please tell me about yours and how you care for them! Thanks

[This message has been edited by tatsxxx11 (edited February 08, 2001).]

Sounds like you are doing fine with the feeding.
Personally I don't like to see a piggie on their own - they love company of their own kind and you will love the way they "Talk" to each other. How about getting a really tame one or a baby to put in another cage next to the one you have now for a few days until you are good friends with the new one. Then the one you have now can gain confidence from that too.
One more thing - piggies can't make their own vitamin D, just like us, so they need a supplement, or even better, plenty of fresh air and sunshine.

I only ahve one guinea pig but I think that if you give it enough attention it won't get very lonely, but if you have a busy schedule then you should probably get a little friend for it. http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif Thats just my personal opinion

My brother's Guinea pig was scared of the dark, every time he turned the light out it would start screaming. So on night he turned the light out and it was making noise and then it stoped;e turned on the light and it was dead. it had died from fright. http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/frown.gif

Thats really sad http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/frown.gif My guinea pig started making a really weird noise awhile ago after I had gone to bed. I thought it was dying because one of my previous guinea pigs had sounded like that when it died so I ran and got my mom because I ws scared to look in the cage but it turned out he was fine, and he hasn't made that noise since. I still don't know why he was doing that.

Thanks for all your good advice. Mr. Squeekers is still a little skittish. I'm worried because he doesn't seem to want to play and get the needed exercise. I take him out into a quiet, safe play and he mostly just sits and stares; maybe walking onto my lap. I found so many websites that have the sounds of piggies! I play them for him and he really responds. I may think seriously about getting him a friend. I feel he is lonely!! He doesn't mind being held, will eat from my hand and such! Would love to see him "popcorn" hop as the literature describes. What fun that must be. Maybe he'd be more playful with a friend. I'm so sorry about the loss of your brother's piggie "Owner of...". So sad for you guys! Thanks again.

[This message has been edited by tatsxxx11 (edited February 11, 2001).]