Does anyone have guinea pigs UPDATE not 2 males at all

julie03

mine really love flat leaf parsley and when i feed them they turn their noses up at everything till they find the parsley, same with coriander
also eat kale, carrot , pepper, romaine lettuce , cucumber, chicory, brocolli. they also go mad for fresh grass and dandelion

linda.b_4

I've got 5 piggies. Another good forum is rodents with attitude, where you can get some good advice and can ask any number of experienced owners questions. My neutered boy lives with 3 girlies and I recently "aquired" a rabbit and piggy together. I've split them up and will get him "done" so he can go in with a female. Your 2 boys get along now, but you might have a bit of a problem when they mature and the hormones kick in. They usually settle down when they decide who is boss but the trouble starts if they both want to be boss so you may have to split them up if they fight. Hopefully wont come to that. For evening meal this evening, mine have had spinach, carrot spring greens and cauli leaves which I get free from morrisons. They have wagg optimum pellets and a sprinkling of guinea pig muesli and loads of hay! Enjoy your new pets, they are cute and can be very amusing when you gain their trust.

Rummer

I have oodles of guinea pigs and I feed them pellets as some of mine are very selective. They also have unlimited horse hay and access to a variety of other hay types. Each day they get fresh veg and enjoy dandilion leaves and grass from the garden. The bigger the bags you buy the less expensive it is.

toejumper

Thanks everyone, there not very trusting at the moment but hopefully they will be in time, gave then some freshly pulled grass from the garden this morning but they turned there nose up at it. will go out and find some dandelion leaves at the weekend hopefully they will like them instead.

pug_in_a_bed

Just thinking I would add a question here about matching pigs up as we're on an all pig thread.

I had three pigs, boar and two girls, one of the girls was top dog but sadly died recently.

I know I will get another pig but wondering if its worth getting a more dominant female (my rescue have one) to sort of replace the status quo as it was, or go for a youngster to bond with the girl I have left, as shes very shy and I feel she gets bullied all the time.

Poor pig she is very sad as she grew up with the pig who just passed, but to be honest she got bullied a bit by her too

linda.b_4

The best match for her would be a neutered boar. You often get them in rescues and are much better company than a feisty, hormonal girl

pug_in_a_bed

I know but I already have a neutered boar, I had to give one up previously because the boys were fighting so badly and it just wasn't resolving - i don't want to take the chance again you see, so it has to be another girl to keep norman and betty comfortable

linda.b_4

Ah, sorry thought you meant a girl on her own. No, 2 boys in with a girly wont work. if you have norman and betty together and they get on well, why not just keep them as is, or if you really want a trio, you could ask a rescue to bond one of their girls with them. some females just do not get on, in fact can be worse than boys for scrapping!

skintstudentnurse

Hello everyone!

Can I ask some questions too?:D

I have a 2 year old boar, who I got from Pets at Home (their rescue centre or whatever its called), the staff said he was very timid - he is but has got used to us as a family now. I don't want him to be lonely:o, should I introduce another piggy?

The other thing is, I don't know if hes overweight? He has hay in the morning, pellets in the afternoon(he was having the museli but was picking what he wanted out of it) and fresh veg in the evenings. I was advised to only give him the fresh veg twice a week (to help him lose a bit of weight) as a treat- but that doesn't seem right!

I'll try and upload a photo, see what you all think

linda.b_4

Hi ssn. If you want a friend for him, you would either need to get him neutered so he can go in with a female, or you would have to get a baby boar. They will get on fine, but when the baby hits maturity, at about 6-7months, they will probably have a few weeks of bickering while they sort out who is going to be the boss! this usually settles down but you need to be aware that they may fall out to the point of having to keep them seperate for good, so you need to be prepared to do this if need be. I had a 2 year old who I bonded with a baby and had the same falling out at puberty, but after a few weeks they calmed down and lived together until the oldest one died at 5 years. I've now had the younger male neutered and he is happy as larry with 3 girlies. If you ring your local rescue they may have some babies in and you could take him to meet them and see if he gets on with any of them. Re his weight, guinea pigs are quite rotund and males can weigh between 2-3lbs. if he is more than that I would give him more hay and less pellets/dry food. He should have veg every day for the vitamin C. Also if he is in the house, do you let him have a run round as this would help.:)