guinea pig personality question

[Sorrell]

Well I guess we've had different experiences 619 Fish GOD, but I'll still hold true to the fact that we never had less then 25 males together with many coming and going all the time and they were always fine.

After my parents quit breeding, I started to fizzle out just being married and all and my husband and I were down to 5 males and a female. Then we seperated 4 males and left just the pair together. At this point we didn't want more so we had the male neutered. It cost $30. They said since he was smaller then a cat, less anestesia

 

[snowyangel]

$30?!!!? If that was the case our shelter would've have neautered all the guineas that come in but we went to the vet and he said over $500.

 

[steppy104]

so then i guess i'd have to find out from our vet. lol.

one more question....i've been slowly trying to introduce Baby (g-pig) to Blue (my dog). he's been very interested in baby since the first time he seen him...he gets very excited when i take him out, and when i don't let him do much more than sniff from a few inches away, he gets frusterated....i know he just wants to eat baby...you can see it in his eyes! either eat him or play with him....and i know puppy play is definetly not fit for a piggy....but lately i've been letting him get slightly closer...enough to lick him or sniff him....but when i do that, i either shelter baby almost completely with my arms, or i hold blue by the flabby skin on the back of his neck. today i decided to put baby in his playpen and let blue watch. he was good about it, but got excited and wanted to step into the playpen whenever Baby freaked out. so once again i had to hold him by the flabby skin...but most of the time i just kept one hand really close to him threatening to slap him on the snout.

i don't remember how i taught sadie to ignore him....but it was different for her, since by the time i had gotten my other guinea pigs, sadie had already killed a few rabbits and chased dozens of squirrels....so of coarse when we first got the piggys she wanted to play with them....but i forgot how we taught her that they werent toys, or animals fit to play with. now i can put the pig in her face, let it crawl on her, anything and she just ignores it.

so, does anyone know how to teach a dog that guinea pigs are NOT playmates or food?

 

[Lynz781]

I kept two males together and they eventually ended up fighting.

 

[steppy104]

has no one tried to tame a dog to become friends with a rodent?

oh ya....and i finally decided to let blue get into the playpen....he layed down in it, and i let baby in there with him....hold blue by the flab skin of coarse....it was all good till baby tried to climb on blue. lol....then he got excited and wanted to play with baby....sheesh...he just doesn't understand, baby is not a puppy, toy, or food...i'm not sure which of those it is he see's in baby...

 

[Cheese Specialist]

My 3 male pigs were all bought at different times. A year apart for each. There have been no problems really, we took a bit of time to introduce them. I also had another one which died and there was no problems with him. The 2 older ones fight every now and again but nothing major.

 

[black angel]

with our dog and pig we used a stern voice when she got a bit carried away. she soon got the message even though the pig did get nipped once or twice. as long as you are keeping a close eye on the behaviour of the dog then you can ususlly tell when play becomes something more.

 

[steppy104]

Blue is still a puppy, so he's got sharp teeth still...if he did any nipping, he most likely would hurt the piggy....

i'll try talking stern then

 

[GSD]

its best 2 keep 2 females together when you have to introduce them rub some vapor rub (vicks)onto their chins to confuse their sents
worked for me!

 

[steppy104]

yuck. it'd make his fur all nasty. i'll pass. lol.

2 females won't work for me, cuz then i'd have 3 piggies, cuz i'd need to get the 2 girls....i don't have a girl right now, i gots a guy.

 

[plecoperson]

the pigs getting on together isnt the only issue.

can you afford the extra bedding, food, time, etc to look after two guinea pigs? Is the cage big enough to comfortably house two? If not, can you afford another one?

then, do you have room for a bigger cage? with two pigs in a cage they require more cleaning than a single one. Do you have a regular source of income to pay for the extra costs? and how about extra vet bills?

If you're parents thought that they might have to pay for the first one, the last thing they will agree to is you having a second one then having to pay for it!!!

Its one thing having enough to pay for this other pig, completely another to pay its running costs.

for my $0.02 , I wouldnt get another pig unless they get on ok, and you definitely have enough money for them! But if the one you have is happy on his own, why disrupt it? Thats just my opinion though.

 

[steppy104]

pigs don't cost that much to keep up. i mean, a HUGE thing of litter is $5. i've had 2 pigs before, and it wasn't a problem. cleaning isn't a problem. money isn't a problem. 2 pigs would be no worry, except for wether or not they got along.

no i don't have a regular source of income. in fact, i just went broke yesterday i'm a jobless bum. everyonce in a while i babysit. maybe once every few weeks. thats about 10-25 bucks. but it's all good cuz i got a bf.

don't worry....i'm not some newbie who don't know squat about pigs. i just didn't know how 2 would get along under what circumstances.

as for vet bills, thats a private matter i'd rather not discuss my opinion on to avoid getting flamed. B)

but i'm not getting another one anyway....just no convincing my mummy.