Piggie Post: Obtaining Pigs

Ohai

Two "Piggie Posts" in a row... WHAT IS THIS MADNESS! Crippie had a very busy day. Apart from seeing an adorable production of "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" Crippie had to go to the pet store to obtain dog food and guinea pig treats, and while we were in the area we bought an extra bag of piggie treats and brought them to our local animal shelter. Going to the two main places to obtain a guinea pig in the same day really highlights the differences between the two.

First off, all of my piggies came from the pet store. Crippie was not a very educated customer at the time.

If you are serious about obtaining a pig, AVOID PET STORES. Why?

1) Depending on where you live there are tooooooooooooooons of guinea pigs in shelters.

2) Pet store guinea pigs are not properly taken care of... for example a few months ago Crippie saw some guinea pigs at her local mom and pop pet store. There were two adults and two babies. I held one of the adults and saw that she was a female (I know how to check the genders of guinea pigs) then I held the other adult and much to my horror it was a boy. That is reallllllllyyyyyyyyy bad. I soon as I saw that I knew that the adult female (who has to be under a year old) was pregnant again. The problem with that is that guinea pigs have a high mortality rate when it comes to childbirth, for both the mom and the babies. I asked the owner of the store why a boar was being housed with a sow and he promptly removed the male. I returned today to find this same female but with four new babies. Thankfully she seems to be alright, but that poor girl had 6 babies within a few months :(

3) Pet store pigs have a higher chance of not being healthy. On average guinea pigs live for 6 years. My Emma was 3 when she died and Frida has tumors. Part of me wonders if this is because of careless inbreeding. Nellie, Emma, and Frida were born in the pet store. Me thinks Mama Pig was accidentally placed with a male, possibly one she was related to. Pet store living conditions have been known to cause Upper Respiratory Infections which can kill pigs.

Crippie is not completely against store pigs, so if you do obtain a store pig limit the amount of money the store gets from the pig. Pigs are relatively cheap. It's their cages, bedding, hay, and food that are expensive. DO NOT BUY A PET STORE CAGE, they are too small. Buy a C&C cage beforehand and have it ready for your pig. Buy your hay and food online (it's ultimately cheaper too) and you can probably find tons of great guinea pig toys online. Have everything ready so you only buy the pigs at the store... nothing else.

Breeders are an option as well for obtaining pigs, but I seriously don't recommend them. Mainly because of the high mortality rate for the pigs and the fact that inbred piggies have issues. If you want a certain breed, check petfinder and craigslist daily... one will pop up sooner or later.

Crippie went to the shelter today to deliver the treats and naturally I had to give them to the piggies myself. There are two boars at the local shelter, a crested and a silke-shorthair mix (two uncommon breeds right there... hint hint people who want to obtain one from a breeder). If Crippie had the resources to take care of them she would have scooped them up.

Even though Crippie can't adopt them I want to make sure that they go to good home. These guys are a bonded pair and need to be adopted together. The top one is an attention whore. As soon as I walked into the room he was like 'LOOK AT MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE". The one on the bottom is very shy, mainly because their prior owners did not take care of them properly. But Crippie thinks that within a week or two of cuddles and treats he'll be fine. If you click on their pictures you can see their petfinder profiles.

Crippie actually decided to volunteer at the animal shelter to help take care of the piggies. These boys are in desperate need of cuddles. 

Crippie's Tippie - Piggies are not low maintenance animals, and if you really want a pig... ADOPT!

Piggie Post: Outside Time

Ello!

Crippie is taking a break from posting about how much my hip hurts to focus on PIGGIES!!! The weather was in my favor this afternoon so I figured it would be a good day to give Aggie a little sunlight. Since the weather was sooooooooo awesome Crippie and her sister opted to bring Maggie, Aggie, and a playpen outside so they could be "free range piggies".

First and foremost... PICTURES!

Munch munch munch munch munch

Helen being a "guard dog", and Maggie and Aggie are still eating grass

Maggie doesn't know what to make of this "outside" business

Maggie saying "What the hell is this?" and Aggie still nomming on grass

Maggie wondering where she is, and Aggie still eating grass

 They spent about 20 minutes outside and I swear to God Aggie spent 19 minutes and 30 seconds eating grass. SHE LOVED IT. Maggie on the other hand was like "where the hell am I?"

If any of you were wondering why Aggie looks s'darn white it's because she is a satin pig. She was probably bred to have a more lustrous coat. Cute, right? Nope... satins have greater chance to develop osteoporosis. As Crippie has mentioned before, I'm giving her some natural vitamin D in hopes to prevent it. Also, the shiny coat made it damn near impossible for Crippie to photograph her.

As awesome as outside time is, it's not something to be taken lightly... here are some tippies for successful outside time.

1- Know your grass - We took the pigs out on our lawn. Do NOT put pigs on grass treated with pesticides. The main concern Crippie had about her lawn was that deer are frequent visitors, and deer leave "presents" and ticks. Crippie picked a spot for the pigs where other animals don't like to hang out. It happened to be right by her driveway.

2- Watch them like a hawk - NEVER take your eyes off your pigs. There are a lot of hawks and other birds of prey by Crippie who could easily snatch them up. You need to stand guard and make sure nothing hurts them.

3- Make sure the weather is good - Piggies are very demanding when it comes to temperature... if its too hot your pig will have a heat stroke and die, if its too cold your pig will get sick and die. The 65-80 degree range (give or take) generally makes for a happy piggie. Also, if your pig is a skinny I would probably keep the pig in the shade.

4- Clean Up - When you're finished don't forget to check for any bugs or anything that might be stuck to them. Since we have deer Crippie checked each pig for tics before putting them back into their cage.

So there ya have it folks, hope your piggies enjoy the warm weather while it lasts!

Crippie's Tippie - Playpens for small dogs work wonders for piggies

P.S. We had some severe thunderstorms tonight, hopefully that explains some of my pain