Ask A.A

Guinea Pigs are probably the most common pet amongst children to pre-teens besides hamsters or dogs, but there are us few who are adults and are still in love with them. I'm here to answer any questions you might have over them as they are more high-maintence as you think. As a woman in her early 20's that has researched these animals, is a mommy to 5 piggies, and will be going into Animal Husbandry, I feel like it's my duty to help anyone who needs it. Feel free to ask me anything you are troubling over and I will answer with complete honesty and to the best of my ability. If I don't know the answer, I will send you over to a website that helped me more times than many. I pledge here and now to never place judgement over you and I will keep an open mind over absolutely everything as in the past, I have been judged many times in the "guinea pig fandom" and I know how it feels. So! Ask away!

[dailyanamaria-deactivated201509]

Omg!!! I have to do this.

[youraskaa]

The best kissing booth ever.

[youraskaa]

As many guinea pig owners nowadays, I use C&C cages to house my pigs and also use fleece. I transferred from bedding and store bought cages about a year and a half ago and I sincerely don't regret it. If you have any questions about C&C cages, feel free to ask! :)

[youraskaa]

Meet Rowena!

After Nox passed I told myself that I couldn't bare to take another guinea pig home for a while.

  Then I found the Abyssinian I had wanted from a very long time ago. Enter Rowena. She is the star child for Abyssinians and has what we call "Abby-tude". As the photo tells you, she is a talker. She still after a year will not let me pick her up without me chasing her and she still squeaks loudly when I pet her. I assume it's because of her rosettes, as Zalea used to do that with me when I first took her home. I feel like it could be uncomfortable because their hair grows oddly.

  She ended up having pink eye shortly after bringing her home and I had to take her to the vet to get medications. After Nox I was terrifed to let anything happen to my pigs. It healed quickly and I finally named her Rowena. I named her that because she used to pull the fleece up like a dog would so she could burrow underneath. It didn't matter that she would do her business under the fleece, making it difficult to spot clean. And she also would stick her head through the bars in order to get into treat jar next to her cage... the sly girly.

  She got along with the other girls and ended up "tolerating" them too. It's so amusing to watch them rumblestrut to each other and act all silly to tell each other who is the top pig.

  She is now 1 year old and is just as adorable as she was the day I got her. Despite her reluctance to bond with me personaly, she has bonded to a degree and now comes to my hand to feed treats to her.

[youraskaa]

Meet Nox!

The story of Nox is something that weighs heavy on my heart. Nox was a TINY little black boy that I saw at Petco one day. I fell in love with him immediately because I've always had this attraction to all black animals and he was incredibly sweet. He pulled at your heart strings instantly.

  It was sad to say that as soon as I picked him up I knew that he was sick. He had the tell tale signs of an upper respiratory infection (URI) which I knew was common in guinea pigs. Especially store bought animals. He had crusty eyes and a runny nose. I brought this up to the small companion specialist, who was the lady who gave me V and we had grown close to. I had this obligation to this baby because I was sure that he wouldn't recieve proper help at the store. The lady gave me antibiotics without her co-workers knowing and so I took him home to care for him.

  There was only one day that he acted like a true pig and played with his little wood toy. I thought that he was getting better, but I was wrong. The very next day his breathing became labored and you could hear a very loud rattling in his chest. I didn't think he'd make it through the night. We curled him up in some of his fleece and took him to the 24 hour animal hospital and they took him back immediately and put him into an oxygen tank.

  Come to find out he was so very close to having hypothermia because he couldn't breathe. Then the ultimatative came. They told us we can either let him go or spend about a grand to attempt to heal him, but since it looked so bad they didn't think that it would help. We didn't have the money for a chance, and so on that day we let him go. It was the single most difficult day that I had ever been through. Despite having him for such a short period of time and knowing he was sick, I loved him so much.

  I said goodbye to him as he lay in the oxygen tank and sobbed my eyes out, of course. And that was the last time I ever saw him.

  Thankfully, the vet sent me a letter telling me that if I needed anything, to call her or write her. She was the most compassionate woman I've ever met and I appreciated it because she saw how much guinea pigs meant to me.

  The photo above is the only photo I have of him and I will remember him till the day I die.

[youraskaa]

Meet Zalea!

[Zalea First Photo]

[Zalea now]

So with great difficulty I accepted the fact that V was one of those pigs that couldn't be with any other pigs. But that didn't mean that Pyxi couldn't! Since looking at all those photos of pigs and learning the different breeds, I knew that I wanted an Abyssinian! But NO ONE in my area had them. So then one day when I went to Petsmart to buy food and hay for my two, I happened to glance at the guinea pig babies they were selling. Turns out there was this small little gray fluff ball amongst a couple short hairs. I knew right away she wasn't completely Abyssinian, but my desperate need and calling for her took over. Needless to say that as soon as I held her, I had to bring her home.

  Turns out she is an Abyssinian/Peruvian mix. So yes, she has those rosettes I wanted, but she has LONG hair! I have to groom her and make sure she gets a bath more often than the short hairs to keep her clean and un-matted. She also has black nails so it can get pretty nerve wracking clipping her nails. But I love her!

  So she was introduced to Pyxi. They didn't fight, which was what I was worried about after handling V, but they didn't love each other either. After researching the introduction phase, I learned the signs of aggression (That V had) and the getting to know each other that the girls were doing: chasing, nipping, humping, lifting their chins, and rumblestrutting. Pyxi literally chased Zalea around for about 2 weeks until finally they decided who was top pig in the cage. However, I am super sure that they never decided. I think both of them think they are and they just tolerate each other.

Zalea was named because of the Azalea flower. I love them and I am never one to give a guinea pig a common "Cupcake" name (no offense to any Cupcakes!) for personal reasons that I have a very common name and I'd prefer anything in my care (animal/child) to have a unique name. She is 2 years old now and hates getting her hair cut! Her favorite veggie is carrots, of course, but she also likes to nibble at bananas as a treat every once in a while.

  [Below is a photo of Pyxi and Zalea when they first became cagemates]

[youraskaa]

Meet Pyxi!

[Pyxi first photo]

[Pyxi Now]

After reading about guinea pigs online and with a few books, I quickly realized I needed to obtain another pig. They are herd animals and do better together than alone. So V needed a friend. I looked all over and couldn't find a guinea pig that just clicked with me like V did. I even took V into an adoption to see if he mixed well with a boy pig. They ended up not getting along, which was discouraging. And then when I had introduced him to other pigs, he just didn't like them. I looked online to see if this was possible, and they said that some guinea pigs just don't get along with others.

And then, for Valentine's Day my other half brought home a cute little girl. She had that cute specklies on her face and a black dot right on her behind! Adorable! She of course had to be in a different cage than V, but it was nice to have another friend. She was more skittish than V was and as the photo above shows, wouldn't leave that tunnel for a very long time. I was almost worried that she wasn't eating because I never saw her leave it! But at night, she would venture out when she felt safe.

  I named her Pyxi Stick, because she was very small and short, but also because of her sweet disposition. (Boy, did I learn different later on)

  She is now 2 years old and her bossy attitude with her cagemates has lessened and actually gives me hugs when I hold her.

[youraskaa]

Meet V!

[V's first photo]

[V now]

Above is V. He is an american short haired guinea pig and was my very first guinea pig ever. He was a rescue. At the time I adopted him, I was very depressed. I had just moved out of my families' house because of not so good reasons, I didn't know anyone, and I didn't have a job either. My best friend in school had a guinea pig and I remember how cute they were. So I began thinking about getting one. Hence why I went to Petco -- just to browse.

  At the time I didn't know anything about Guinea Pigs besides the fact that they were adorable! The small companion specialist spoke with me about my interest and brought up the fact that they had just received a guinea pig that morning in a shoe box outside of the store. She offered for me to take a look and as soon as I held him, I knew that I had to have him. They didn't know his sex or how old he was, but the way he just snuggled up to me immediately I just knew I had to get him. I adopted him that day and I will never regret it. Since that day I researched guinea pigs as a whole every day, with him in my lap.

I named him V because he has a "V" on the top of his head.... and I also had just watched V for Vendetta and had become inspired! Hehe!

  Learning different things like that they can't produce Vitamin C on their own and of course that they need unlimited hay at all times. I bonded with him and he became my best friend.

  Despite the fact that I don't know how old he is, I have had him for 3 years now and he is just as happy and lovable as the day that I brought him home.

[youraskaa]

Hello There Fellow Guinea Pig Lovers!

[Rowena (1 year old) Abyssinian]

Guinea Pigs are probably the most common pet amongst children to pre-teens besides hamsters or dogs, but there are us few who are adults and are still in love with them. I'm here to answer any questions you might have over them as they are more high-maintence than you think.

As a woman in her early 20's that has researched these animals, is a mommy to 5 adorable piggies, and will be going into Animal Husbandry, I feel like it's my duty to help anyone who needs it.

Feel free to ask me anything you are troubling over and I will answer with complete honesty and to the best of my ability. If I don't know the answer, I will send you over to a website that helped me more times than many.

I pledge here and now to never place judgement over you and I will keep an open mind over absolutely everything as in the past, I have been judged many times in the "guinea pig fandom" and I know how it feels.

So! Ask away!