[Gpdd] Care: roaches (ugh) & a busy piglet month

[Carla Martinez]

Hi! I'm so excited the gpdd is back. Had to subscribe to other lists in the
interim, but I remain loyal to the virtual gpdd community. (~..~)

While you were gone, a couple of significant events happened for my two
boars. I went on a quest to trace my piggies' roots and learned they are NOT
brothers as I was told they were.
I also had the good luck to visit a breeder in my area, who I met through
various internet contacts.  My friend and I drove to her house about an hour
away, and spent an afternoon there with the breeder Lisa and her daughter. I
learned so much from her, and her pigs are so beautiful and healthy and
happy. She has about a hundred and fifty pigs, if you can imagine. To keep
that many pigs in excellent shape is quite a labor of love. She also told me
of a cavy show in our area on October 4 in Magnolia, Texas, if anyone near
here is interested.

Another event in our lives is kind of gross, especially if you come from a
part of the world where this is unusual. The thing is that the climate where
we live is termed "sub-tropical", meaning humid air and lush foliage. So it
engenders pests like cockroaches. So this summer the things found their way
into our house and would invade my guinea pigs' pen in the living room at
night while we slept. I would come out early in the morning and the horrid
things would scurry away, probably carrying pellets in their hideous jaws. I
only saw one or two a day but that is way too many, they are so disgusting
and they are huge.

I would battle them however I could and was seeking answers on how to get
rid of them permanently without having to use chemicals that would mean
taking the pigs out of the house for hours or a day. My pigs reacted to the
roaches by becoming more nervous and spending more time in their pigloos.
Recently the problem has improved significantly, I've only caught one roach
in about 8 days. What seemed to help is using boric acid in a very thin line
on the baseboard behind the pig table. As long as it does not contact the
pigs it is not harmful but you must follow instructions. I would then pick
up their pellet dish and store in the frig for the night. Plus I also put a
topical ointment of teatree and eucalyptus oil on the window sill and the
edges of the tablecloths. Supposedly roaches abhor eucalyptus. I don't know
how many other people have had this problem. My pigs and their pen are clean
and don't smell. I don't know how the roaches find their food sources. I
could not bring myself to take away the water at night, but I think roaches
like water too, I don't know. Anyway I am interested in hearing from others
who have dealt with similar problems.
Happy wheeking,
Carla, Snickers and Snowball