Guinea pig stories

[Scooby Ruby and Garnet]

Hi guys! I have always been interested in other peoples Guinea pig stories. Like how you got your Guinea pigs. I assume most of of pigs are rescues or second hand pigs. I hope this chat was an ok place to put this conversation. I’ll start:
RUBY: Ruby was adopted at a local animal shelter. Before hand she lived at a local college. They said she was not used to be tested on thank God. Other than that her history is very unknown.
GARNET: same story as Ruby, since they were adopted together.
SCOOBY: scooby’s early life is unknown. She was brought to the local animal shelter where she was adopted to a family with young children . We pet sit for this family and Scooby ( and her former buddy Shaggy who has now passed ) came to stay with us. The family decided that they were too busy for the pigs and hand them to us. Thankfully we were able to take care of them just fine and Shaggy lived the rest of her life much happier than before. Once she passed, we didn’t want scooby to live alone, so we adopted Ruby and Garnet
Thanks for reading

 

[Bill & Ted]

I have four piggies in two pairs

Posh and Ginger, sows where adopted from Maria’s animal shelter in February 2020 after Bill died suddenly who was Ted’s brother, so we got Ted neutered and bonded him with the girls. Ted loved having two ladies to live with and they adored him, he was such a gentleman. Posh and Ginger were two of around 60 piggies rescued from a hoarding situation, the lady had bad mental health problems
Our other couple is Hector and Kiki, boar/sow pair. We got Hector from Maria’s too in January 2021 when Ted died and left Posh and Ginger. Hector was only about 6/7 months old when he was rescued with 5 other boars after being dumped in a hedge near Exeter. The girls did not take to him as they had with old boy Ted, Hector was young and no gentleman! So then we had to find a little friend for him. Hector was bonded with Kiki by Debbie at The Excellent Adventure Sanctuary (TEAS) who had rescued a number of piggies who were being bred for live snake food. Kiki’s mum gave birth to Kiki and her siblings at the sanctuary. Kiki was only 5 weeks old when she was bonded with Hector, it was live at first sight

 

[Merab]

Priscilla came from a home along with Phoebe, where they were in a small pet shop cage, fed muesli and minimal hay. There was also a screaming toddler.
Owner did love them but didn’t know how to look after piggies. She had to rehome them as the new landlord didn’t allow pets.

Micah was rescued from PAH where he was labelled as having to live alone because he couldn’t get on with other piggies.
He came home with me, was neutered and joined the 3 sows I had. He’s now a very happy hunk.

Naomi and Ruth are mother and daughter only just adopted from Merrypigs rescue. They are settling in well.

 

[Scooby Ruby and Garnet]

Love the heart warming stories! Thanks guys! Micah’s story just proves that there’s a pig for every pig no matter how difficult they can be.

 

[Pohtaytur]

I got my pigs during the summer last year. I'd been wanting to get a pet cat, but my mom didn't want to, and then I looked into Guinea pigs. Honestly, it was kind of an impulsive adoption in that it was only a few days from decision to action, but I did everything I could to learn how to care for them. Harold and Henrietta(Henry) were already paired Guinea pigs when we saw them and I knew that I wanted to take care of them the moment I saw the two.

Harold was rescued first, and they initially paired him with another boar until they had a fight and Harold got injured. He then got neutered during his hospital visit.

Henry came from another shelter that was over capacity. They weren't sure as to what her history was, but she was very skittish and very scared of people. They had to work with her until she could at least handle being fed by people. She doesn't always run away to hide when someone comes, and she's even willing to boop my finger with her nose whenever I call for her now. She's even licked me twice!

I'm pretty convinced that they're from the same litter since they originally came from the same shelter, they're the same age around and they have very similar fur patterns.

 

[Betsy]

A adopted Lexi and Thea from somebody locally who put an appeal on this Forum. I was tagged in to the thread. The original owner said that he wanted someone on the Forum to have them as he knew they would be well looked after. The reason he was giving them up was because the Estate Agent said yes to Guinea Pigs, but at the first inspection, the Landlord said a very firm no. I went to see them and I knew I had to have them. There was no hay in the large C&C Cage just a small bag hung up at the end with minimal hay in it, 2 plastic hideys, a toy doughnut and a couple of small teddy bears and that was it. He loved them and it broke his heart to give them up but he knew they were going to a good home so that made it a bit better for him. His wife and toddler were upstairs as his wife was very upset that Lexi and Thea were being taken away. They have settled in nicely after a year and Lexi no longer bolts from anything she doesn't understand. She was the fastest piggy I have ever seen. I still can't pick them up so I've trained them to go in the Snuggle Sack express when I need to transfer them from the run to the hutch and the hutch to the run.

 

[Zanzan]

Beatrice and Pepper came from a lady who loved them dearly but had underestimated the amount of time she would need to dedicate to them. They have always been happy, secure and confident and I'm sure this is down to the care and attention she gave them when they were tiny babies. They are five and getting into old lady territory now but I still look at them and thank that lady for making the decision that brought them to me.

 

[Dwarfpotato]

Jyn and Tico: I adopted them from the RSPCA in March 2021. They were 12-18 months old. I don't know much about their history but apparently they were rescued in January, fostered, adopted, returned to the RSPCA and fostered again before I finally adopted them. No wonder the poor things were so nervous! Sadly Jyn died very suddenly just three months later. I started my hunt to find a new friend for Tico. Enter...

Esme and Ogg: two girls at Hazelcroft rescue. Tico went to stay there for a week but the bonding was a bit uncertain. The owner of the rescue was going on holiday so I offered to foster them, continue the bonding and adopt them if it worked. Sadly Tico decided to get in a rolling furball fight with Esme, so I just looked after them for a month until the rescue could take them back. It was gutting returning them but I just don't have space for two cages. Ogg was one of the most beautiful pigs I've ever seen and I wish I knew where she was now. Sadly it turns out Tico is rather fear aggressive and another attempt at bonding with a different pair at the rescue also failed. People advised me to look for a boar instead perhaps. I contacted another rescue and was offered:

Cookie: poor boy kept getting bullied by other boars. And other sows, once he'd been neutered. After 6 weeks living side by side with Tico (she started the relationship by baring her teeth at him, then running to hide in a box!), they decided to be friends at last. Cookie is not especially dominant but is very confident in himself, so when Tico gets wound up he just rumbles off and finds a different house. They're my perfectly matched yin and yang pigs! Cookie gives Tico so much confidence. She talks when she wanders around now, when she used to be very quiet (unless there was an apple nearby). And now, after nearly two years, she's finally started letting me stroke her!