As promised, here's the story of our new additions...
Ok, well it started the day after Frida passed. As I mentioned in a prior post Nellie and Maggie were very mopey. The mopey-ness progressed over the next few days, and one of the only cures for the loss of a piggie friend is a new piggie friend, plus I really was not happy with the emptiness of the herd. So on Wednesday I started my search for a new pig, but it had to be the RIGHT new pig. Generally speaking it's easier to introduce babies and senior pigs to an existing group. A senior pig was unfortunately out of the question because I cannot stand the thought of losing another pig right now. I needed a baby pig. First I went to PetFinder. There were a few baby pigs in rescues about an hour away, they didn't scream out "MINE" but I kept 'em in my maybe file. I decided to check out Craigslist for teh lulz. Usually Craigslist pigs either come from a) Idiots who "don't have time" for their pigs anymore, or b) breeders. FUN FACT: If you see a Craigslist post for a baby guinea pig without the word "rehoming" or "adoption" fee, they are breeders. Do not support them. Most of the posts were idiots selling pigs, but none of them were close to me. I scrolled down a little and found a post from a month ago from my area. A rescue had acquired 3 young female pigs and they were looking to adopt them out. I figured I'd shoot the rescue an email inquiring about the pigs. Honestly I wasn't expecting much out of this inquiry, it was a month old after all. Anyways, flash forward to 15 minutes later. I get a facebook message from the rescue... because I went to high school with the person running the rescue! Small world ain't it? She told me that the piggies were still available, after I answered the basic adoption form questions she said I sounded like the perfect owner for the pigs.
Here's the thing, there was always a chance that the new pigs would not get along with Nellie and Maggie, if that was the case I offered to foster the pigs until a better home could be found. We settled on that agreement Thursday. So... when I wrote that post about wanting new pigs I actually had these pigs lined up. I would've mentioned 'em, but I didn't want to jinx anything.
I arranged to pick them up yesterday. Once I met the new pigs I knew they'd be mine. They were so friggin cute! First thing I did though was double checked that they were all girls. Seriously, whenever you obtain a guinea pig CHECK THE GENDER FIRST! Once I was certain they were all girls they were placed in a box and into my car (the box had a seatbelt around it). They were very good during the car ride and barely made a peep, granted that was probably because they were freaking terrified. By this point Nellie and Maggie were clearly sad so I wanted to get this introduction over with ASAP. They needed friends damn it! So the new pigs were placed in a giant playpen in my living room with Nellie, Maggie and a big ass bowl of salad. The biggest tip I can give anyone who is introducing pigs is feed them. The food distracts them enough and kinda works as a "peace pipe". The introduction went fairly smoothly. Two of the new pigs and Maggie quickly accepted recessive roles. However Nellie and one of the new pigs did not. New pig thought SHE was the boss and Nellie thought SHE was the boss. So they spent an hour running around the cage and biting each other's butts. I supervised with a towel to break up any bad fights, but I mostly let them work it out. Remember, as long as no blood is shed they're ok. Eventually they got tired and stopped fighting. By this point all of the other pigs were sleeping so I declared the introduction a success. I put all five pigs in their new cage expecting a new battle but I was pleasantly surprised. The new pigs were like "THERE ARE SO MANY TOYS HERE" and happily roamed around the cage. Nellie would periodically bite one in the ass, but again to be expected. Maggie clearly does not like change as she spent a few hours hiding in a corner. The cute thing was one of the new pigs loves Maggie, she would sit by her while she was cowering in fear. Again, no blood was drawn so that means that over the next few days the "Quints" will learn to be buddies. That also means that I am again the proud owner of six guinea pigs.
Wanna meet my new babies?!?!
This is Eleanor, she is a grey, cream, roan and white shorthair. Her coloring is so unique, I love it. She is the one who was fighting with Nellie. Even though she is the dominant one of the new pigs she's very timid at the moment. She SCREAMS when you touch her in the cage (she's louder than Aggie which says something) but once you remove her from the cage and put her on your lap she turns into quite the snugglebug. She kinda reminds me of Emma sometimes.
This is Prudence. She's a white, cream, black, and chocolate brown shorthair. Again, beautiful color and such a pretty face. She is, without question, the sweetest freakin' thing I've ever seen in my life. She is enthralled with Maggie and she LOVES her new humans. She loves to give nuzzles and kisses. She was actually kissing my grandma's face earlier. SO DAMN ADORABLE!
Last but not least, this is Lucy. She's a black, red and white shorthair. She has the same coloring as Frida and some of her marking are similar. I think she is a month or two younger than the other two. Here she is sleeping through the introduction. Lucy can be best described as "special", apart from sleeping through intros her hobbies include fearlessly wandering the cage, outsmarting other pigs for food, sleeping by water bottles, and apparently swimming. As if her having similar markings and colors to Frida, they also share a similar manner when dealing with humans. Lucy's idea of being affectionate is nibbling you. Not quite as painful as a bite, but not a pleasant experience. Oh well... nothin' time won't fix. In the meantime, Lucy can only be handled by people who don't mind the nibbles.
I cannot begin to describe how happy all of the humans in house are. We felt incomplete before them. Losing Mama Pig and Frida in such a short time put a massive hole in our hearts. I'm actually getting kinda emotional right now just thinking about them. Lucy, Eleanor and Prudence are not "replacement pigs". I will never be able to replace Frida, regardless of how Lucy is eerily similar to her at times. Prudence is quite the cuddler, but she's not Mama Pig. Eleanor is a cuddly lil' butthole, but she's not Emma. Now that all the pigs are settling in everything feels as it should. Everything is back to normal, a new normal, but a normal nonetheless.
Crippie's Tippie - Never buy a pig from a pet store, always adopt
