rome_italy
Adult Guinea Pig
Hi everyone!
some of you already know the big news but now I want to share the story with all the forum (at least the members interested in reading my CRAZY adventure!
).
(Long story, sorry...)
I want to introduce you my new piggie Osvaldo!
(these are the pics I have seen of him the first time)
I was thinking of a possible third cavy, but I wanted to wait for the right one thinking twice (and even more) about my family life with three pets (into a flat)... something considered totally mad here also from the vets...
It happened that I had a look at the web page of a rescue association; not the one in Bologna where I adopted my two sows Calipso and Calliope, but another one which has no headquarters and is run by a group of volunteers who live in different italian cities and simply offer a room of their home to these abandoned piggies (and rabbits).
In a first time I was interested in certain newborn piggies, but then I read the advert of Osvaldo, a neutered boar, 2 years old (almost impossible to find a new family for a piggie like him here, people prefer very young pets).
What sounded interesting was the fact that Osvaldo needed a strict diet, because a bit oversize. The association itself, and its very good exotic vets, suggest a pellets-free diet to all their piggies, but Osvaldo had the necessity of a strict diet with no pellets, no fruit, no treats as his weight of 1200g (last October) was considered really too heavy for a tiny piggie as he is.
His prescribed diet was just the one I normally follow with my sows, hence I started thinking about his adoption and I contacted the volunteers, reassuring them about the diet he would follow here with me.
So, long story short, after some difficulty because Osvaldo was in Turin, really too far from Rome, we were able to arrange his transfer from Turin to Milan (offered by the volunteer) and then I went to Milan by a very fast train to fetch him.
I was asked to pay for his neutering procedure performed by the vet in Turin and once at home I had to wait for another safety week (6 weeks from the op) before planning the official meeting with the sows.
They delivered Osvaldo to me at the railway station, wrapped into a fleece blanket (it was really cold that day), with his "health booklet" , the notes and recommendations of the vet... there was written in block capitals "OVERSIZE! he needs to lose 200g!" (his previous owner used to feed him with alfa-alfa pellets and a lot of treats, sultanas, fruit and seeds! Osvaldo when rescued last October was lazy and unwilling of moving around the room).
Once at home I opened the pet-carrier, unwrapped the fleece and... surprise! we all started having serious doubts about who he was!!
he did NOT look like the same piggie of the pictures above! The Osvaldo in Rome was NOT obese and was on the contrary VERY SLIM! and extremely active! I should say hyperactive, too!
a totally mad piggie, funny, a real clown!he started walking, chatting, squeaking, exploring, running, jumping, popcorning, climbing!
I went to my pc checking the pictures! I could not understand and his weight on my scales was 960g!
Well, the weeks in Milan with the volunteer who strictly followed the diet made a great difference: he has now the shape which is obviously the right one for him, who is actually a very tiny piggie...
I know many of you will not agree, but I am writing this only for sharing a different way of breeding a pet; I believe that a fat human and a fat pet can live a very long life, but living slim always means living a better and more active life and Osvaldo is the proof.
Once at home I started feeding him with huge amount of fresh grass (another thing I don't believe: that natural grass needs a well trained gut...). Osvaldo suffered for some bloating after the rescue in Turin, but I don't see any bloat now; his gut which used to produce weird sounds, now has no sounds at all with half bag of fresh grass a day... He eats like a real pig! and of course poo everywhere... he is not a clean piggie, unfortunately... poo and wee everywhere, especially where he sleeps...
Then the real adventure started...
I had serious troubles in bonding him with the sows
. He had never seen a piggie in two years life (he used to live alone) and started acting like a Boss, or the most stupid latin lover, with both sows, mounting them, spraying his smell everywhere (I had to open the windows!
and call the volunteer for advice!) and acting not "politely"; Calliope decided to live in peace, but Calipso was another story!
.... Calipso started fighting him! she was VERY aggressive towards him, he also did not want to cave in with a female... at the end they started biting into a tunnel and Calipso ended up with a wound twice! after two bad attempts and failures with some blood I had to put a barrier. But it did not work at all!
Calipso seemed to want to kill him... and started to nibble the fence for reaching his enemie! I put a double fence, one in inox. It did not work at all, too. TOGETHER the piggies decided to destroy the fences! and they were always able to pass through or jump over it and go on with their personal war!
At the end I had another idea: I removed both barriers and all the tunnels, sit there in the middle of the room with some towels in hand and waited
: as soon as they started biting I threw the towel against them. After 4-5 throws and some bad screams from me, they have learnt the lesson.
Now they can stay together (not in the night, not yet!); still many rumbles, but Osvaldo is learning the rules and he is now scared of Calipso. They can live near the whole afternoon... he stopped acting like the Boss and she stopped acting like a lesbian feminist! Calliope, too, sometimes still screams, but... both sows are learning to live with this (unwanted and not required) husboar...
The sows would prefer to send him back by train to the northern region again, for sure...
But Osvaldo is so sweet!
he falls asleep in our arms with closed eyes (and in the sleep he starts dreaming of fighting Calipso... he starts rumblestrutting while sleeping!
), he is not scared of humans and looks so funny!
He will live here for ever! The sows must accept this point!
Now, wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas, I add some Pigmas pictures I have taken some days ago
(Calipso the combatist Lesbian Feminist on the left; Calliope Peace&Love on the right)
The Proud and Heroic Man:
sorry for the extreme lenght of this post!
some of you already know the big news but now I want to share the story with all the forum (at least the members interested in reading my CRAZY adventure!
).(Long story, sorry...)
I want to introduce you my new piggie Osvaldo!
(these are the pics I have seen of him the first time)
I was thinking of a possible third cavy, but I wanted to wait for the right one thinking twice (and even more) about my family life with three pets (into a flat)... something considered totally mad here also from the vets...
It happened that I had a look at the web page of a rescue association; not the one in Bologna where I adopted my two sows Calipso and Calliope, but another one which has no headquarters and is run by a group of volunteers who live in different italian cities and simply offer a room of their home to these abandoned piggies (and rabbits).
In a first time I was interested in certain newborn piggies, but then I read the advert of Osvaldo, a neutered boar, 2 years old (almost impossible to find a new family for a piggie like him here, people prefer very young pets).
What sounded interesting was the fact that Osvaldo needed a strict diet, because a bit oversize. The association itself, and its very good exotic vets, suggest a pellets-free diet to all their piggies, but Osvaldo had the necessity of a strict diet with no pellets, no fruit, no treats as his weight of 1200g (last October) was considered really too heavy for a tiny piggie as he is.
His prescribed diet was just the one I normally follow with my sows, hence I started thinking about his adoption and I contacted the volunteers, reassuring them about the diet he would follow here with me.
So, long story short, after some difficulty because Osvaldo was in Turin, really too far from Rome, we were able to arrange his transfer from Turin to Milan (offered by the volunteer) and then I went to Milan by a very fast train to fetch him.
I was asked to pay for his neutering procedure performed by the vet in Turin and once at home I had to wait for another safety week (6 weeks from the op) before planning the official meeting with the sows.
They delivered Osvaldo to me at the railway station, wrapped into a fleece blanket (it was really cold that day), with his "health booklet" , the notes and recommendations of the vet... there was written in block capitals "OVERSIZE! he needs to lose 200g!" (his previous owner used to feed him with alfa-alfa pellets and a lot of treats, sultanas, fruit and seeds! Osvaldo when rescued last October was lazy and unwilling of moving around the room).
Once at home I opened the pet-carrier, unwrapped the fleece and... surprise! we all started having serious doubts about who he was!!
he did NOT look like the same piggie of the pictures above! The Osvaldo in Rome was NOT obese and was on the contrary VERY SLIM! and extremely active! I should say hyperactive, too!a totally mad piggie, funny, a real clown!
he started walking, chatting, squeaking, exploring, running, jumping, popcorning, climbing!I went to my pc checking the pictures! I could not understand and his weight on my scales was 960g!
Well, the weeks in Milan with the volunteer who strictly followed the diet made a great difference: he has now the shape which is obviously the right one for him, who is actually a very tiny piggie...
I know many of you will not agree, but I am writing this only for sharing a different way of breeding a pet; I believe that a fat human and a fat pet can live a very long life, but living slim always means living a better and more active life and Osvaldo is the proof.
Once at home I started feeding him with huge amount of fresh grass (another thing I don't believe: that natural grass needs a well trained gut...). Osvaldo suffered for some bloating after the rescue in Turin, but I don't see any bloat now; his gut which used to produce weird sounds, now has no sounds at all with half bag of fresh grass a day... He eats like a real pig! and of course poo everywhere... he is not a clean piggie, unfortunately... poo and wee everywhere, especially where he sleeps...
Then the real adventure started...
I had serious troubles in bonding him with the sows
. He had never seen a piggie in two years life (he used to live alone) and started acting like a Boss, or the most stupid latin lover, with both sows, mounting them, spraying his smell everywhere (I had to open the windows! and call the volunteer for advice!) and acting not "politely"; Calliope decided to live in peace, but Calipso was another story!.... Calipso started fighting him! she was VERY aggressive towards him, he also did not want to cave in with a female... at the end they started biting into a tunnel and Calipso ended up with a wound twice! after two bad attempts and failures with some blood I had to put a barrier. But it did not work at all! Calipso seemed to want to kill him... and started to nibble the fence for reaching his enemie! I put a double fence, one in inox. It did not work at all, too. TOGETHER the piggies decided to destroy the fences! and they were always able to pass through or jump over it and go on with their personal war!At the end I had another idea: I removed both barriers and all the tunnels, sit there in the middle of the room with some towels in hand and waited
: as soon as they started biting I threw the towel against them. After 4-5 throws and some bad screams from me, they have learnt the lesson.Now they can stay together (not in the night, not yet!); still many rumbles, but Osvaldo is learning the rules and he is now scared of Calipso. They can live near the whole afternoon... he stopped acting like the Boss and she stopped acting like a lesbian feminist! Calliope, too, sometimes still screams, but... both sows are learning to live with this (unwanted and not required) husboar...
The sows would prefer to send him back by train to the northern region again, for sure...
But Osvaldo is so sweet!
he falls asleep in our arms with closed eyes (and in the sleep he starts dreaming of fighting Calipso... he starts rumblestrutting while sleeping!), he is not scared of humans and looks so funny!He will live here for ever! The sows must accept this point!
Now, wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas, I add some Pigmas pictures I have taken some days ago
(Calipso the combatist Lesbian Feminist on the left; Calliope Peace&Love on the right)
The Proud and Heroic Man:
sorry for the extreme lenght of this post!
Last edited:
)
Just today we realised the windows are not filled properly... (we are like children, we want the little surprise chocolate every day!)
