[Gpdd] Re: CARE - Adopting an unwanted Pig

Ben Treichel btreichel at comcast.net
Sun Jul 3 23:20:04 EDT 2005


He will arrive on July 16th when his present owner comes over for a 
sleep over. He leaves, nameless stays. He 'might' be called Harvey. My 
son and I are going to build him a multilevel cage in the family room 
with C&C. Should be fun. Probably storage floor level, his two levels, 
and then the Bird cage on top. Sort of a critter apartment building.

Cindy wrote:

> Ben, it's so great to hear that you will be adopting an unwanted 
> guinea pig.  The little guy is very lucky that he's going to be part 
> of your family.  You are smart to read up on piggies before adopting 
> him; your new knowledge will be a benefit both to him and to you.
>
> It's hard to know how being ignored in the past will affect him.  
> Piggies are like people -- all different -- so he might be 
> well-adjusted despite his previous environment, or, as you suggested, 
> he might be unhappy.  In any case, it will be an adjustment for him to 
> move to a new (though much better!) place.  He might be skittish at 
> first.  When I adopted Sunshine and Tumbleweed, two rescue piggies, 
> they would run whenever I entered the room.  I learned to announce my 
> presence before I went in; I'd just basically say, "OK, guys, I'm 
> coming in to give you a treat," or whatever.  It took about a week for 
> them to realize that my arrival was a *good* thing.
>
> Your new piggie will probably want something to "hide" in or under 
> when he's in his cage.  You might drape a towel over one end of the 
> cage or put a PVC tube or wooden "hidey house" in his cage.
>
> Oh, if you can get some of his food pellets from his current family 
> (or ask them what they buy, and then buy the same), that would be a 
> good idea.  Switching to new pellets is kind of a shock to a piggie's 
> system.  If you want to serve a new type of pellets, get some of their 
> pellets and mix with your pellets for a while, then gradually lower 
> the amount of the old pellets and increase the amount of the new, so 
> the piggie has a chance to become accustomed to his new diet.
>
> We're sure others will be able to offer lots of good advice as well.  
> Do let us know when your new friend arrives!
>
> Cindy, Sunshine, and Tumbleweed
>





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