Before you say anything, my guinea pig does not need socialization or other pigs, the vet strongly advised me against it because as soon as my guinea pig sees the other pigs, he panics, and then (unfortunately) he is fine alone.... PS: The cage and everything cost me $190🥲

My 9 year old son worked hard for months to earn getting a pair of guinea pigs as pets. Part of his work was learning about guinea pigs and how to care for them. He read two books from the library, watch a lot of YouTube videos, and together we read several of the posts here.

We got them on Friday and he was really hoping to be able to pet or even hold one today. Problem is, he hasn’t been spending much time with them in his room. Due to having other pets and a toddler, the safest place for the piggies is in his bedroom. I’ve been telling him that it’s going to take time to earn their trust and one of the brothers is particularly skittish.

I grew up on a farm and always had a ton of animals around but never such small prey animals. So I have no firsthand experience to share with him. Closest I have is my mom’s laying hens and those bitches were mean.

What knowledge do you have to impart on a sweet, excited 9 year old? Other than sitting with the piggies and offering way too many treats, is there anything else he should do to help gain their trust?

trigger warning

I honestly don't know if this is allowed, but I just wanted to share how my guinea pigs save my life literally every day .

This year was so rough on me, mentally, emotionally and physically . I honestly didn't think I would make it to my 34th birthday this year ... seems like things just kept getting worse . Around my birthday I decided I had enough, I was tired of trying, tired of working and getting nowhere, just tired like so many other young people trying to figure out life . 3 months ago, I took a walk around 2:30am to the bridge, I planned on jumping . As I stood there, alone, all I could think about over and over again was, "they wouldn't understand." They wouldn't know why I disappeared or where I went, they wouldn't understand why they would need a new home . The thought of them being left behind literally made me rethink so many things . I was stopped by a state trooper and bridge patrol and honestly, I'm happy someone was there because to think that I would leave these boys behind to wonder when I will be coming home, hurt me more than the impact I would have felt that night had I gone through with my plan .

I'm truly grateful and lucky to have such amazing pigs, I'm not sure how I got so fortunate in that aspect . They make me want to be here, not for myself, but for them . I can't believe I was so selfish in that situation, but I'm glad that I can still hold them, love them up and watch them grow . Things won't be easy and my mind will have its moments, but to see those little faces in the morning and before I go to sleep at night definitely makes staying on this planet so much more enjoyable . Just knowing that I have little fur babies who love me unconditionally and depend on me for survival, keeps me going . I make sure they have everything, even if I don't have what I need for myself . They have taught so much about life, I can't even put it into words the amount of gratitude I have for them .

I'm sorry if this isn't allowed, I've only told 3 people about that night and I've finally come to terms with what I could have done and how it would've effected those I love ... thank you for being here and reading 💕

;

Whenever I go on a trip I am always to anxious to leave my piggies. I trust my family/ friends but know that nobody loves them like me. This past weekend I went out of town and had a family member housesit for me and take care of my babies. When they left my house, both girls were doing well. In the two hours between them leaving and me arriving home my girl crossed the rainbow bridge. It’s so hard knowing nobody was there. I am always so worried that they will be ill and the sitter won’t notice. It looks like she went in her favorite hide and just went to sleep.

Two weeks ago somebody decided to drive on the sidewalk and hit me as I was walking to work. As a result I broke my pelvis in two places. Luckily I can still move around with a walker and I have a physical therapist visiting to work on my leg and hip musculature.

The first time she visited I was doing a marching in place exercise while sitting and my pig Marshmallow decided to popcorn every time I lifted my knee. We laughed about it and thought that would be it.

This week she did it again. This time I was supposed to stand and kick my leg sideways. As I did so Marshmallow jumped up and kicked her leg out. Me and the physical therapist lost it laughing.

I think Marshmallow thinks she is helping me with my rehabilitation. Coaching me as I do my exercises. Does anybody else's pigs copy them as they exercise or is Marshmallow a weirdo? Either way she is making my recovery better. Thank god for peegs 🥰😊😆

I don't have a picture of Marsh's exercising with me (my phone smashed with my hip) but here are some pictures of her and her sister Mogwai (RIP) as a pig tax.

So for some reference I've never owned any type of rodent ever in my life unless you count the time my house got mice XD, I'm baby sitting my friends guinea pigs just for tonight and tomorrow morning till the afternoon-ish well she's at a business thing and one of them keeps squeaking at me everytime I walk past, give them food/treats, or even sit by their pen and he gets louder/more frequent when I pet him (which I've stopped out of concern in case that means he's in pain). I know enough about how to care for these guys for the short amount of time they'll be held at my place and my friend gave me their schedule so I'm pretty sure I'm doing everything right but this little guy has some things to say! I'm a dog guy so maybe I'm just creating links between the squeaking and a dog whining which isn't usually a good sign but I'm genuinely starting to get a little worried about how vocal he is :[ is this a normal thing piggies do or should I think about taking him to the vet to get checked? His brother hasn't said a word since he got to my house, absolutely dead silent

Again I don't know the first thing about rodents, all my animal work has been with dogs, so if I sound stupid that's why lol

The photo shown is the last time I ever got to cuddle him. He was on the older side, and I noticed when I first moved into my new apartment a couple months ago, his gut was starting to get really strange. He had a lot of flatulence, and he was slowly losing muscle tone despite eating. I took him to the vet multiple times, and they gave him probiotics and gut motility medications. However, once each course was run, he would bounce back for a couple days, then decline again.

Last night, when I came home from work, I saw Cookie puffed up, and he was trying to walk around, but couldn’t balance. I immediately reached to take him out of the cage. Another red flag was that he usually runs away from me the first time I try. He didn’t even fight it. He just let me scoop him. The emergency vets in my area had no guinea pig expert. It was already 9 PM. I tried to force feed him critical care. I DoorDash gas drops, hoping maybe it was blue and I could at least keep him stable until I can get him to my primary in the morning. About an hour and a half into me attempting to keep him stable, he began to roll on his side. He had such a bad seizure he almost launched out of my bed and I had to catch him. It was at this moment that I knew the end was near, and there was nothing that could be done, except to keep him comfortable.

I feel so terrible. I was unable to keep calm. I’ve always been so afraid of losing him. And I was all alone, crying as my sweet man reached out for my hand and I held his paw as he took his last breath. The mobile pet cremation service I have on standby had to basically pry me off of him.

I have been inconsolable and non-functioning since. I haven’t changed my clothes since he died. I haven’t showered. It’s been 3 days. I spent the last 48 hours unable to stop vomiting, and I can’t sleep at all. I have still made sure to spend lots of time with his bereaved cage mate, and I’ve been ensuring he eats enough and remains stable. But I feel sick. I still can’t get the feeling of slowly feeling his body get colder and colder out of my head. I’ve been all alone, with all of the thoughts just going through my head. Every time I look at the cage, I break down. It’s so quiet without him rumbling all the time. I can’t bear to me in my room because now when I’m in there, I see the blanket he took his last breath in. I’ve been unable to go to work.

Cookie was my emotional support pig. Whenever I was sad, he’s the pig I would lay with. Knowing he’s gone has shattered my heart to pieces. I am not okay. How long does this process of grief take? I’m in agony.

Bagels had been dealing an ear infection for months and losing alot of weight. The lowest he dipped was in the 600s. I'm happy to say after many visits to the vet he is off of all medications and doing well and has been steadily gaining weight back. He will have to live with a permanent weeble wooble but it hasnt been slowing him down and it kinda adds to his silly personality.🥰 Last time we weighed him we were so happy to see he broke through into the 800s.

Jelly likes to put his whole face in his hay, so I walked into the room with him looking like this 😭

I miss you little buddy ... You're in grass heaven now.😅

A

Hi guys me and our family are new to the guinea pig world!! We use wood shavings as a base layer in their home but I notice in almost all of your posts you have blankets? Is that better approach?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!!

Bluebell was just stood like this for ages, completely still, i was trying to video that but instead got Bluebells true personality

The boys were examined yesterday and had many little tests done to their skin.

Mio had a sellotape and hair pluck. Tito had the same and a skin scrape, which he hated. It was kinda awful holding him when the skin was being scraped, i felt so bad!

the vet came back the results and given ringworm is absolutely hard to diagnose - she thought it was the likely case.

There is oral medicine to buy - £122, mind you…but she suggested waiting to see how they get on over two weeks as guinea pigs can end up solving it by their own.

Of course, if I see any worsening of their skin even over the next few days or week - the medicine will be bought. i’m not irresponsible!

the boys are not struggling, they’re eating well, drinking and playing. I monitor them daily anyway but I wanted to give everyone an update on these fungi pigs lol.

and yes we brought them to the vets in a microwave box

Hello-

I’ve noticed that my two boys start bickering and trying to establish dominance when I clean their cage. I’m certain that they find it stressful and new when I switch everything out so I’ve started to leave one of the old mats in there/gradually change things out when I clean so some of the old scents are still there and that helps a bit.

I made a large pen with multiple hides, hay, and waters for them to have floor time in but every time they get in the larger space they begin to chase each other, mount, scream (more than what I feel is normal).

Are they just stressed about the new pen and amount of space and aren’t sure about it yet? Do they just need time, or should I not put them in the larger playpen together?

(Pigture for piggy tax and also to show that they do love each other most of the time)

My boy is about seven years old. He has lost his hearing, but is a good weight and eats well. Recently he’s been very fond of his pellets— he used to never want to eat them; so this is odd change for him, but not unwelcomed. I have never had a guin this old, nonetheless one who has gone deaf. My hamster lost his hearing in old age as well, but guinea pigs are obviously different than hamsters! He still has his big personality, such as chittering his teeth when he gets impatient with food and occasionally doing small popcorns.

Does anybody have any recommendations for caring for an elderly guinea pig? What kind of enrichment is best for him at this age? How can I avoid startling him while also giving him interaction? It feels like his age hit him all at once although I know it’s been building up. My main concern is the potential of him losing weight— he was once underweight when he was a young guin. Food tips as well for his weight maintaining?

This is my newest addition to my herd of 7, Jupiter. She's 4 months old and I got her back in August. I've never had a guinea pig with a double crest before, nor ears that stick completely up.

Dinner Time for Guinea Pigs 🫑🥬

Ravenous roars,
not from boars,
but sows

Plead and beckon the sky
for a downpour,
verdant and crimson

Their rapturous cries
heard through the winding halls
and down the gilded stairwell

A sound,

crinkling

Cuts through the chorus

And hark

Anew, the creatures begin once more,
their incessant appeal

For a rain, of bell pepper romaine

I have lots of sweet piggies that are looking for forever homes! All but the last 2 are girls. They all have their own stories and are all very sweet!

Their personalities can speak for themselves. 😂 They got carrot after this ordeal