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Post by msdani1981 on Sept 4, 2016 19:10:20 GMT -5
I went to a horse auction today.... and am coming home with a guinea pig!!!! :-D Pictures coming when I get home in a few hours. :-)
Going to buy supplies on the way home. Super excited!!!!!! :-D
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Post by Jan and Shah on Sept 5, 2016 1:15:11 GMT -5
Good grief Dani, how did you get a guinea pig from a horse auction?  |
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Post by msdani1981 on Sept 5, 2016 3:59:45 GMT -5
One of the employees at the auction house brought him in. Apparently she got him last week and decided that she didn't want him. So I bought him!
Zach nearly divorced me when I told him about "Squeaky" (the name might change), but he took one look and calmed down. :-)
He's white with adorable little brown ears, very calm and likes to be held. :-)
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Post by Jan and Shah on Sept 5, 2016 5:43:36 GMT -5
I am envious as I would love to adopt a "pig" or a dwarf rabbit but am still settling in with the animals I have  Squeaky is a great name. Look forward to seeing the photos. |
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Post by msdani1981 on Sept 6, 2016 18:30:42 GMT -5
Okay, I'm on my desktop computer now...here's the whole story.  I went to the horse auction on Sunday for the sole purpose of buying used halters at the tack sale. I'm out of spare halters, because I've sent all of them with the rescue horses. Well, there were NO used halters. Zero. So, I bought one new halter and lead rope for Cami, a used saddle pad and a leather hole punch. Just before the tack sale started, an employee carried in a plastic bin and set it on a shelf. The bin was translucent so you couldn't really see what was inside, just that it was some sort of animal. Then the employee brought the animal out, and was holding it. It was an adorable white guinea pig! She said he was definitely a male, and I asked how old he is. She didn't know - she had just gotten it the week before and decided guinea pigs weren't her thing, so she brought him to the sale. Someone else asked what his name is, and she said "Ummm...Squeaky!" I knew absolutely nothing about keeping guinea pigs, except that they're rodents and absolutely adorable...so what did I do when he came up? I bid on him...and won! He's not exactly a pile of used halters....but that's okay. Since I knew nothing about guinea pigs, on the way home (it was a 3 hour drive, and I was the passenger) I did a bunch of Google searches. Thank goodness for Google and smartphones!!! I think the most interesting thing I learned was that they shouldn't have frozen, cooked or canned veggies because they lose a lot of their nutrition, and as we know canned veggies are loaded with salt. Also, potatoes are toxic to guinea pigs. My poor hubby almost divorced me when I told him, but he took one look and decided to forgive me. LOL However, he did NOT approve of the name "Mr. Squeaky", so after much discussion his permanant name is Pork Chop. It's a very fitting name, because Pork Chop LOVES to eat...he is definitely NOT a picky eater! Here are some pictures of Pork Chop:        |
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Post by msdani1981 on Sept 6, 2016 18:37:42 GMT -5
I should mention that before I found Pork Chop, my hubby wanted to name him G.P. Puffbottom, which I thought was pretty darn cute, too! |
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Post by cnyguy on Sept 6, 2016 20:44:27 GMT -5
Welcome to Pork Chop. |
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Post by msdani1981 on Sept 6, 2016 22:06:38 GMT -5
No pictures yet, because my phone died...
I was reading about piggie behavior, and found out that they like to "arrange" fabric and ribbons...so I cut a piece of cotton fabric and tied it to his cage. Then I put his coffee can hide underneath it.
I noticed that he was having a grand time going in and out from underneath his fabric, so I let him be for a few minutes.
When I checked on him a minute ago, true to piggie form, he had folded the ends inside of his coffee can, effectively wrapping it in blue cotton! Too funny!
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Post by msdani1981 on Sept 6, 2016 23:00:26 GMT -5
And he's no dummy! He's already learned that the sound of plastic bags means FOOD!! Zach was in the kitchen and grabbed a bag of fruit and Pork Chop ran to the side of his cage and started squeaking. LOL So I gave him some cilantro. Spoiled! |
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Post by duckysmom on Sept 7, 2016 8:28:29 GMT -5
I used to breed guinea pigs. How cute he is! From the looks of him, he must be part peruvian or silky because of the longer hair on his backside. If his eyes are truly red, as I see in the picture, one of his parents or grandparents was albino. Funny how the red eyes can pass down, but not the total albino genes. Make sure he has plenty of things to chew on. Pet shops sell little wooden sticks that are safe. Their teeth never stop growing (like our fingernails) and he will need to keep them naturally ground down. I had one baby whose teeth didn't meet properly and had to keep trimming them for him so he could eat, but out of all of them that was the only one. Being a good eater is great,but if you notice him slow down make sure to check his teeth before jumping to conclusions. It's a simple and usually cheap fix.
Congratulations on the new baby! They are fun, sweet pets!
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Post by easttex on Sept 7, 2016 16:50:17 GMT -5
What a sweet little fuzzy face! In the US Navy, supply officers are all referred to as pork chops. |
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Post by biteybird on Oct 2, 2016 5:31:04 GMT -5
I just noticed this thread. Pork Chop is adorable!
When I was a kid we had guinea pigs - unfortunately 2 wild dogs broke into their cage and killed them. Mum rang the local newspaper to ask them to put in a warning about the wild dogs. Next thing, they were on the doorstep with a camera and my brother and I had to be in a photo, with the cage and one of the dead guinea pigs...it was awful. I still remember it clearly, even though I was probably only about 7 or so.
We didn't get any more after that, but I do remember that they make lovely pets and are affectionate and easy to look after.
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Post by msdani1981 on Oct 3, 2016 15:22:01 GMT -5
Thank you, biteybird! He's super cute!!
He still runs away from me when I pick him up, but hopefully that will pass eventually. LOL
Awww, I'm sorry for what happened to your piggies, that would be traumatic! :-(
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Squeaky is a great name. Look forward to seeing the photos.
