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Post by 3piggles on Jan 22, 2015 21:41:03 GMT
I have dribbled so much water on the floor filling the plastic ones to the tippy top, that's for sure
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Post by bootygurl on Jan 22, 2015 23:51:01 GMT
Ya. It gets a little messy sometimes. And as we use a water cooler/culligan style urn to dispense our water the plastic ones are tricky as its straight to the floor if its overfilled. We have managed to come up with a sort of solution in keeping the dogs water bowl underneath to catch any overflows and then their bowl gets filled up. The glass ones are much easier because you want to stop a good inch short so you rarely get any messes.
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Post by bootygurl on Jan 22, 2015 23:56:51 GMT
ALSO!! We are in the clear of being pregnant. She would be due any day now and she hasn't gained any substantial weight. Just enough from eating a balanced diet! Yay! I'm relieved though not like we wouldn't love the wee ones. Now we are the search for a female gp friend for Booty. I'm preferring another skinny but a haired pig wouldn't get looked over. I'm allergic to the haired ones (not that stops me from having rats and a cat) and I am allergic to hay which I already have to deal with due to the degus and Booty so what's one more fuzzy sneeze causer? I am scouring pet ads online as well as my friend at the local Animal Shelter will let me know of they get any female piggers in!
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Post by jolovespiggies on Jan 23, 2015 17:49:58 GMT
Wee ones are adorable, I have had them in the past love when a female came to us pregnant, but we kept them all because weren't happy giving them to strangers. A lot of work but they were just gorgeous but there are too many of the little loves being born, as with bunnies.
Hugs JO xx
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Post by 3piggles on Jan 23, 2015 20:27:12 GMT
I'm so glad she's not pregnant. It's as difficult and dangerous a process for guinea pigs as it is for humans. Whew! Guinea pigs actually have the same type of hair we have, so no dander. People who are allergic to guinea pigs are usually allergic to their urine. I don't know what you are using for bedding, but checking in the most absorbent possible bedding might greatly reduce that allergic effect on you. Hay cakes and cubes are also a way to greatly reduce the amount of pollen in the air from hay. It is more expensive in cake or cube form, so I buy the cakes to use when my back is really bothering, and I can't clean the cages as extensively as usual. For two pigs, a cake can last 3-4 days, and there is less waste. I rarely use the cubes, as they are so tiny, they are more like treats. You can also mist/not spray, the cage/hay area, and it will greatly reduce the amount of pollen that gets into the air. That should help with the hay allergies. I had a pig with hay allergies, and had to keep his hay misted so he could eat it. I hope you find a nice friend for her
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Post by bootygurl on Jan 25, 2015 1:59:10 GMT
It very well is the urine off their feet when I'm holding a gp. I know for sure I'm allergic to hay. I guess its a good thing but there are no available female GPs in any of the local shelters or on any pet selling boards for rehome. We'll just have to keep looking and the right one will cross our path like Booty Girl did
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Post by jolovespiggies on Jan 25, 2015 17:50:01 GMT
You will know when the right one comes along love.
Hugs JO xx
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Post by cookie72 on Jan 26, 2015 0:51:09 GMT
Interesting fact about the allergies/urine. Last spring I was having a new furnace installed, and after the guys were down in the basement working for awhile, one of them came upstairs and asked "Do you by chance have guinea pigs"...I said "yes I do". Apparently he's highly allergic and was having problems. I realized later that I had a couple of used furnace filters sitting down there, and they had dander in them and that was what was bothering him. I didn't know they don't even have dander!
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Post by 3piggles on Jan 26, 2015 12:04:21 GMT
It's been my undestanding for years, that their hair and related skin particles are very similar to ours. I haven't seen any studies saying that, but I also haven't looked. When I started with guinea pigs, it seemed to be one of those things everyone who knew anything about guinea pigs, already knew. Also, for those showing allergic reactions, changing the bedding to wick the urine away from the surface, and reducing the hay pollen, seemed to do the trick. It is impossible to separate the hay from the hair and skin particles, so the filter would have been full of hay pollen, too. Not sure what to say to his reaction, but would he have had the reaction in less of a confined area, without the two filters full of hay pollen sitting in that space? I will see what I can find on the subject, but it's been presented as common knowledge on at least 4 guinea pig forums, so I didn't question it.
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Post by cookie72 on Jan 27, 2015 0:20:28 GMT
Yea, it definitely could have been the hay pollen. Easy to assume it's the pigs themselves though, and not something in their cage. Reminds me of that Brady Bunch episode where they thought Jan was allergic to the dog, and right when they were about to ship him off, they realized it was the flea powder she was allergic to...LOL I have allergies, mostly seasonal, pollens, mold, etc. They get really bad in the summertime, and it's horrible in the mornings. Alot of times, when I'd go in to clean the piggy cage in the morning before my allergy pill kicked in, I'd get worse instantly. But I think that's because my allergies are already in full attack mode in the mornings. Haven't had problems lately, I wonder if it's because I only have 1 pig now. Or maybe now that I have the C & C cage and it's on a lower table, where before the cage was on a dresser right at my head level, and I was directly inhaling whatever was the irritant.
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Post by bootygurl on Jan 27, 2015 1:08:25 GMT
Its definitely the hay for one for me. As soon as she's running around or when I feed her I'm sniffling. She alone on the couch doesn't bother me which she's a skinny so no hair and she's got perfect skin and LOOOVES her coconut oil massages She is getting more social and definitely more chatty with us. It was great to hear her respond to me talking the other morning and now when she wheeks my fiance is like "what does Booty-Girl need?" She has daddy wrapped around her little whiskers! Its good though. If she eats all her pelleta or hay and wants more she asks (loudly I might add) for more. The other morning my fiance was at work and I was sleeping in and I woke to hear her wailing because she was out of hay and food and her water hadn't been freshened up yet haha spoiled girl! She will stay out of her pigloo longer when we are hanging out. We have a new plan of where to put her cage so she's more central and elevated so we're not towering over her and more chest level so she can talk to us better. She's so much a part of our life now. It was very entertaining the other morning because I could hear 3 distinct chirps happening as I was headed for the bathroom, it was Booty and Winnie and Danica (the degus) all chatting away. It was like they were whispering though. It was so soft! Very cute!
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Post by jolovespiggies on Jan 27, 2015 15:49:48 GMT
She sounds adorable hun, I too love the little noises they make. They very quickly become a part of your life; I couldn't live without piggies now, or a bunny.
Hugs JO xx
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Post by bootygurl on Jan 27, 2015 17:42:51 GMT
Here's video of Booty and the degus the first day they met (in the degu cage)
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Post by 3piggles on Jan 27, 2015 22:22:48 GMT
I don't know anything about Degus. Are they friendly? I bet she wishes she could join them on the running wheel, but it could kill her. She'll have to show them how to do zoomies, instead
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Post by bootygurl on Jan 27, 2015 22:51:31 GMT
They have played in her cage too. I am always right there when they play. Degus are quick, harder to hand train but they interact, they are sweet and vocal. They are social with each other. They need lots of vertical room and horizontal space as they need a large wheel and lots of hiding places. Easy to keep if you have piggies because they eat the same pellet and hay. You just have to watch their sugar intake as they can become diabetic easily. They love green veggies! Right now they are munching on a veggie cracker. I have had the degus since October and I am just finally able to pick them up. They are 3 and I am at least their 3rd home and they didn't have names until I got them. I was only going to keep them temporarily but I'm attached now.
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Post by jolovespiggies on Jan 28, 2015 18:46:35 GMT
That was adorable love, thank you s much for sharing t with us. I loved it when she had a kiss, please keep us updated as to how they get on and what they do, they are gorgeous.
Hugs JO xx
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Post by 3piggles on Jan 28, 2015 20:40:34 GMT
Ah, yes. The old "they are only temporary" routine I had two piggy girls I fostered for their whole lives. Never really planned to give them up
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Post by bootygurl on Jan 28, 2015 23:25:42 GMT
I have a lot of rats that are that way too. A set of triplets that are now a year old and I have had them since they were 11weeks.
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Post by jolovespiggies on Jan 29, 2015 17:53:59 GMT
I couldn't part with them once I had them, I would be hopeless as a foster mum LOL!
Hugs JO xx
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Post by 3piggles on Jan 29, 2015 20:24:32 GMT
Great excuse to get more pets, if your hubby isn't as keen on it as you are
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