Panic & Pain

I have two new guinea pigs here - and they are huge! They were posted about on a different forum, and I was able to meet up with their kind hearted rescuer.

Here's a little of what she wrote about them:

I got a call at work last month from a woman who had two gp's to give away. She said her daughters had lost interest after two or three years. They came with cages, and I have a manageable number of rats, so I figured I'd take them in...

The first thing I noticed was that the pigs were on pine, and their cages are fairly small (but still larger than most gp cages). The pigs looked healthy, and were certainly responding to what we were doing (putting them in boxes for the short drive to my parents' house). However, what should have tipped me off was that the stupid, flighty preteen girls COULDN'T REMEMBER THE PIGS' NAMES.

I looked again at everything in the light, and it turns out that these pigs had been badly neglected for who knows how long. Their front nails had grown into TRIPLE CORKSCREWS, and their back nails were so long that they were walking on their ankles with their feet twisted to the side. After clipping their nails, the pigs had to relearn how to walk on their footpads rather than their ankles. They had been eating Kaytee Fiesta food, which has a bunch of junk foods mixed in, so they're fairly overweight. I dumped out their bowls, and there was some sort of fur/pee/ mix CEMENTED to the bottom in about a half-inch layer! I tried to get it out with a chisel and hammer and didn't even make a dent. Their water bottles had opaque layers of algae and bacteria goo which took me 15 minutes with a bottle brush to remove. When I went to change their bedding from pine to Yesterday's News, I saw that their cage trays were ETCHED from pig urine sitting on them for long times, repeatedly-- disgusting!!

So, to sum up: two fat boy pigs, non-neutered, with smallish, but serviceable, cages. They each have their own, because they don't like each other, though they "talk" in piggy language all the time through the bars. I cannot afford to replace the cages, and since the trays just look disgusting, I don't think it's top priority. They've been getting a much better diet with timothy hay, good pellets, and fresh greens and veggies, plus more out-of-cage time than their old people gave them, so they're not gaining more weight, at least.

One is skittish, tri-colored with medium-length fur, very fastidiously clean. His name is Panic. The other is less skittish, maybe a little on the nippy/aggressive side, tortoiseshell with short fur. His name is Pain.

Sorry for the long post- these pigs' situation made me so sad, and they need homes.....


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The girl I got them from had mentioned that they were celan - I don't know what to say about that. I'm not allergic to guinea pigs, but after handling them the night I got them, my face broke out terribly and my arms, too. I had to take medicine to try to get rid of the burning feeling rash.

I have no idea what she was using as bedding. It looked like rabbit food or something, but it had a strong odor and was weird.

The next day I bathed them real well. They are peruvian mixes, really beautiful. Guinea pigs shed like crazy and these guys were a mess! I think, because of their former living conditions much of the allergy problems were because of that. I'm fine with them now, and the pigs are a lot less itchy.

As it would be, Pain is a female and she looks as if she may be pregnant.

Both are calming down some, and Panic will come out of the cage on his own when I give him the option.

They dont seem to know that they are supposed to eat fruit/veggies, so thats a little frustrating, but theyshould learn.

I clipped their nails some more last night. It'll take a few times to get them to the proper length. It was funny, after I clipped Panic's nails she acted all funny - as if her feet were uncontrollable. Even though the corkscrews had been clipped off they were still very long making it hard to walk. I think as they get more comfortable walking they'll straighten up with their attitudes quite a bit. Not being able to walk right has to be terrifying, especially if they feel threatened at all.

 

What a sin. When will parents realize that kids can't take on a resposibility for a pet and the parent will soon have to take over. My son got the privledge of taking home the class guniea pigs for a long weekend. I have cats, frogs, fish and dogs....now pigs for a few days. We brought them in...they stunk. They are long haired...it was matted from the fecal and urine matter also cemented to the bottom of the cage. I bathed them, cleaned the cage, trimmed their "butt" hair, trimmed their nails and their teeth were over grown from not having any wood to chew. When I got all of this done, I called his teacher, at her house, and told her what atrocious condition these pigs were in. She said thank you for all that I did. Now, classroom pets that 7 year olds are supposed to take care of? PULEEZE!!!!!!! Kudos to you for cleaning them up and taking them in.

 

cage solutions

http://cavycages.com/

this site has great ideas of rrabbits and piggies!

i know all three piggies are very glad to have you in their life!

maybe the girl who just adopted a 2week old baby could take a baby...if you are on the same cont. I'm sure he/she needs a pal! piggies like pals and should keep two together if you aren't going to be their mate. If you tell your vet you rescued them he may reduce the cost to nuter the male and they can live out their life together. i would also worm them sounds like their living conditions were vial!

 

I dont c how anyone could do that it is so cruel :x

 

Stuff like that really sickens me. Like what retarded owner would do something like that! Plus, their parents couldn't make sure they were taking proper care of them? That is just dumb but at least you rescued them and are in good hands! Good job!