College student with 3 skinny pigs

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harrylizzle

New Born Pup
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Hi all, I'm gonna be using this today as a way or blogging the way I've been feeling recently towards the life of a mom of 3 skinnies. I got them during the summer when I was off of school so I was able to invest into them fully, being a new owner I never really knew what it took to handle 1 skinny let alone 3 skinnies. I had one for a while but realized I needed to get him a companion and ended up finding a pair that I couldn't resist leaving. As time has gone by, Ive learned soooo much about what it takes to have them and take care of them. Its been a stressful 3 weeks because one of them had to be put on AB for early symptoms of a URI and even since then there's been problem after problem. One day it was loss of appetite, no eating, having to syringe feed, getting diarrhea, giving probiotic, becoming constipated and its all really scared me. I cant say how many times I've cried thanking god I got my piggy through another day. I'm so incredibly in love with him Ive tried to make sure I do everything I can to make sure hes okay almost to a point of anxiety trying to make sure hes okay. anyways, today I noticed him itching a bunch and hes been alone all this time (mind you I just got the 2 other skinnies and have NOT yet introduced them to each other because I'm observing behaviors and health since I got them from a pet store) I put oil on his body and gave him a little cleaning thinking maybe I dried out his skinny so I added more coconut oil and he still seems to be itching a bit BUT his skin looks completely normal. (no redness, scratches, bites, nothing) so I'm kind of just trying not to stress yet about another thing. The POINT of my story here today is.... can anybody please give me advice, pointers, ideas, on how I can still be the best momma along with being focused on my studies. Ive gotten to the point of straight anxiousness and stress about him not being well that its possible I cant even think clearly at this point lol. Ive thought about possibly taking the new 2 pigs back and surrendering my pig but I'm just way too attached and I genuinely wanna give him the best life I could rather than leaving him somewhere and not know if hes okay or being taken care of well. thanks to anyone who reads through my entire rant.. LOL I'm sorry I promise I'm not crazy I just truly want to give them the best! (for anyone that will ask, I plan to introduce all 3 pigs within the next couple of weeks after Ive made sure the 2 new pigs are completely healthy to be around my pig.)
 
Hello and welcome. You sound like you want the best for your three boys. The first bit of advice I give is that you don’t introduce the pair to your singleton. Boars do best in pairs. It’s very hard to get the balance right in a trio. Unlike sows, they are either top pig or underpig. There’s no in between. This is even more difficult if they’re in their teens. Even a well bonded boar pair can be tested. So imagine three lots of hormone spikes. Your options are to find your singleton a friend to live with (preferably via rescue), have the pair live alongside your singleton or surrender him and keep the pair. If the singleton is under four months of age then companionship comes before the need to lessen the chances of illnesses. In which case you need to forego the quarantine and bring the pair to live next to him now. I would not try to bond all three at all.
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?

Second thing is that I notice you say pet shop. Did you double check the sex of the new pair you got? Unfortunately not all shops are clued up on sexing piggies. There have been many incidents of members being given a mixed pair and ending up with more piggies than expected. So on that note, I would recommend you double check the sex of the pair just to be sure.
Illustrated Sexing Guide

The last thing is that it’s not advised you home treat piggies. If there’s anything that comes up you need to get them seen by the vet. That way they can get a proper diagnosis and treatment. As an aside, guinea pigs don’t get constipated. If they aren’t pooing that means they’re not eating enough. Hay makes up the biggest part of their diet (80%) and eating less over an extended period can lead to smaller poops and weight loss. So I would say get your piggy seen by the vet rather than just applying coconut oil.

I would consider is whether you are able to cover vet fees. I say this because you’ve mentioned you’re a student. I don’t know what things are like finance-wise for a student. But I do know there’s no way I could have afforded to have them while at university. I know that in US the vet fees are even more expensive than here. Guinea pigs aren’t the cheap pets they’re made out to be. And I believe skinny pigs need that little bit more care due to the lack of floof. Did you start up a vet fund before you got them and are you still squirrelling money away each month?

The last thing is that boars need a lot more space than sows. This is even more important when they’re in their teens. The minimum recommended cage for a pair is 150x60cm. We recommend 180x60cm (2x5 c&c). So for your pair you have to make sure they have that amount of space. Your singleton can then live in a 2x4 or 120x60cm next to them. Of course bigger is always better.
Cage Size Guide

Hopefully I have covered everything you were wondering about. I’ll tag @PigglePuggle who has a skinny pig. There are some others but their names escape me! Have a read of the guides in the link below as well. We’d love to see photos of your boys.
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/caring-for-skinny-guinea-pigs.38166/
New Owners' Most Helpful How-To Guides and Information
 
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Siikibam said:
Hello and welcome. You sound like you want the best for your three boys. The first bit of advice I give is that you don’t introduce the pair to your singleton. Boars do best in pairs. It’s very hard to get the balance right in a trio. Unlike sows, they are either top pig or underpig. There’s no in between. This is even more difficult if they’re in their teens. Even a well bonded boar pair can be tested. So imagine three lots of hormone spikes. Your options are to find your singleton a friend to live with (preferably via rescue), have the pair live alongside your singleton or surrender him and keep the pair.

Second thing is that I notice you say pet shop. Did you double check the sex of the new pair you got? Unfortunately not all shops are clued up on sexing piggies. There have been many incidents of members being given a mixed pair and ending up with more piggies than expected.
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Hello, yes Ive check both pigs and they have the skin hanging which indicates they have a peepee but now I'm wondering If I should even keep them because I only got them for my single pig. Hes been alone for a while and I notice him getting lonely I didnt think It would be bad trying to pin 3 :(. Now I'm not sure what to do
 
What do you mean a skin hanging? Do they all look the same? You need to (gently) check for a penis ridge above the slit, on the lower belly. And a fleshy seal just inside the slit. You can’t really just go off the ‘external’ look.

Regarding what to do, I’ve mentioned the options above. How deep your pocket is will determine what you can do going forward.
 
harrylizzle said:
Hello, yes Ive check both pigs and they have the skin hanging which indicates they have a peepee but now I'm wondering If I should even keep them because I only got them for my single pig. Hes been alone for a while and I notice him getting lonely I didnt think It would be bad trying to pin 3 :(. Now I'm not sure what to do
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Also, I have not taken him in and I have been working with him myself because He has been to the vet numerous times in the last 2 weeks and they and a rescue I go to both say hes looking great. He was on AB so he was checked before and after then checked by a rescue as a health check. He was constipated because I noticed him stop eating and pooping and I felt a bulge on his belly but after some excerisce he began pooping again and he was perfectly fine! so he definitely just needed some excessive. His constipation may have come from the rescue recommending oats after him being underweight from the AB he was on. Now hes perfectly fine eating, drinking, pooping, the only thing id that I noticed hes been itching (not frantically but here and there) but his skin looks perfectly normal. He did start eating new fresh hay and I know sometimes hay can contain bugs so I'm not sure if maybe It does but Hes had ivermectin.
 
Siikibam said:
What do you mean a skin hanging? Do they all look the same? You need to (gently) check for a penis ridge above the slit, on the lower belly. And a fleshy seal just inside the slit. You can’t really just go off the ‘external’ look.

Regarding what to do, I’ve mentioned the options above. How deep your pocket is will determine what you can do going forward.
Click to expand...
Money is not an issue I've been able to take care of him.
 
As I mentioned, they don’t get constipated. If they’re not pooping as much it’s because they’re not eating enough hay. Antibiotics can kill the appetite and good bacteria. So it’s often recommended to give a probiotic 1-2 hours before or after the antibiotic dose.

I’m afraid we can’t support home treatment here. If you feel he’s scratching more than normal then you should get him seen, whether he’s been a lot in the past few weeks or not.

Do you have a vet fund set up for them? If they fall ill, do you have enough in the tank to cover vet fees and meds? If so (and you can cover the cost for another), perhaps you’d consider getting your singleton a friend. Boar dating at a rescue would be the ideal way. If you got another from a pet shop then there needs to be a plan b in case they don’t get on.

If you had two pairs, you could then stack the cages or have one on the floor and one on the table.
 
I can only agree with the advice Siikibam has given you.

Please do not put the three of them together - its a recipe for disaster. Three boys together find is so very hard to form hierarchy and the usual outcome is fights, injuries, bullying and separated piggies. Plus the space requirements to even attempt a boar trio are enormous, well beyond normal cage size calculations, and even with the minimum of three square metres (minimum of 36 square feet) cage required it still wont work. All it would mean is that they would have space to avoid each other, which isnt really a harmonious relationship anyway.

Please also dont home treat - if he is itching excessively, then he needs to see a vet and have a proper diagnosis. You should not put anything on him yourself as you can cover the scene, make diagnosis harder but also run the risk of causing more problems as you dont know whether what you are putting on him is actually going to make things worse. As I understand it, skinny pigs generally do not need a whole lot done to their skin - putting oils on it may not be the best thing. I dont have experience of skinnies either but in addition to the member Siikibam has tagged @YvonneBlue

As Siikibam has said they do not get constipated. If a piggy isnt pooping properly its because they haven't been eating enough hay or getting enough syringe feed. Are you weighing them all weekly? If not, please do so, its the only way to know they are getting enough hay. When poorly such as when your piggy was on antibiotics which can affect the appetite, you then switch to weighing daily so you can adjust the amount of syringe feeding according to ensure no weight is lost
 
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There’s so much good advice given advice. All I can say is a boar trio is a recipe for disaster and heartache so please don’t try it.
As for skin condition I don’t keep skinnies but @Flutterby does, as does @YvonneBlue and @PigglePuggle.
And as said above Guinea pigs don’t get constipated. If he stops pooping then it’s an emergency because he’s either bloated it he has stopped eating or both.
 
Hello and welcome to the forum. I’m sorry you are finding things difficult at the moment. Great advice given above. All I will add is that piggies are not as easy to look after as people are led to believe. I only have two as I definitely haven’t got the time, space or money to have more. You need to think really hard what would be best for them. Sometimes the best thing to do is the hardest. I’d maybe surrender the pair and get a buddy for the lone piggy. Hopefully his health will start to improve now. Take care. ❤️
 
Hi and welcome! You've had some excellent advice above regarding housing, what works regarding companionship, and vet care.
A couple of skinny-pig specific points I would add are...
Firstly, the skin- should not need oiling or cleaning, and is supposed to hang in folds- skinny pigs do seem to groom and itch a fair bit just because they dont have protective fur, my skinny girl Tallulah thinks hay is very tickly and often jumps in and out nibbling herself where it has touched her back- if the skin is not red, sore broken or looking irritated that may just be a skinny pig thing.
Secondly, sexing- skinny pig genitals look, to my eye anyway, just plain weird with no furry pants covering the surrounding skin! We were very skeptical about Tallulah being a girl because her lady bits are very... prominent, stick out and look to hang down a bit more like a boy. But 2 vets confirm she is a girl, also her neutered husboar is very sure he married a beautiful lady. So do ask an experienced piggy vet to check sexes- without furry pants skinny pigs do look quite odd down there!
Best of luck, if you have 3 boys best not to attempt the trio, but I would double triple check these really are all boys before deciding what to do next!
 
As PigglePuggle said above, skinnies shouldn’t really need anything used on their skin. Most conditions and climates will not dry them out excessively, and if they are, it’s a sign something else is wrong.
 
i have two female skinny pigs,though fairly new to skinny pigs ive learned and read alot.Samantha a 9 month old female skinny pig,was scratching much more than normal,i noticed broken skin.i visited my vet whom decided its best give injections of ivermectin.all 3 piggies were treated and no more itching,after 3 rounds of treatment 7 days apart.my vet did gave me permission to use e45 lotion on samantha after treatment due to her having excessive dry skin.only for two weeks,now she is back to normal.you have had some very sound advise from above.welcome to the forum.
 
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