Remembering Your First Guinea Pig

Status
Not open for further replies.
Sara412

Sara412

Teenage Guinea Pig
Joined
Mar 24, 2014
Messages
648
Reaction score
577
Points
550
Location
Albrighton West Mids
My first Gineapig was called Hettie (unsure if boy or girl)

I acquired her in 1972 (age 10) - School summer holidays - those were the days when classrooms had small animals in - and I volunteered to take Hettie home for the summer holidays 8 weeks

In that time she was spoilt rotten she was the first pet I had every had - and when the teacher's(Husband) came to pick her/him up I sobbed my heart out. 3/4 hour later there was a knock on the door and their stood my teacher who said her husband was so upset leaving me crying that they thought I should keep Hettie.

There was a lot of disgruntled kids at school, - but I was one happy girl.

Hettie lived for 6 years and died of old age. I wasn't Guinepig savvy in those days and she survived on grass carrots hay and cabbage, she also had 2 playmates (at separate times) and survived them both- but I was her main playmate she meant the world to me:luv: -
 
Lisa - my first guinea pig was from a pet shop and he was called Muppet. I didn't know much about piggies at that time so kept him on his own. He lived to be around 7 and was a very loud wheeker if I remember rightly.

Ali - my first guinea pig was a hamster called Sebby named after Sebastian Coe as he always used to run a mile in his wheel every night. He lived to the ripe old age of nearly 4.
 
thats so cute! my first GP are still here making noise behind me, colossus and nemesis, both from pets at home (i know) they are a dominant pair but i love them! My first ever proper pet however was Max my first syrian hamster in the late 90's. He was a white banded and golden brown hammy, he was my best friend and i had such a strong bond with him, he lived to about 3 years and i miss him every day, since him i have had soooooo many hamsters bought and adopted, in just the last 2 years I have started getting GP's and Mice (hopefully some rats next) and one day I want to have a mini home sanctuary for rodents.
 
I got my first piggy for Christmas when I was 5. I remember opening my Christmas presents and there was a box of hay in the corner. My folks told told me that it was for Santa's reindeer. There kept being a rustle in the box and I asked what it was. My folks kept saying that there was nothing there until eventually they pretended that they heard the noise as well and told me to have a look. And in the box was Fluffy! I loved Fluffy so much although I have to say that she was not looked after particularly well - not compared to how I look after my boys now. She did have a little friend called Brandysnap but she died at 6months old. Fluffy spent the next 5 years of her life on her own. I cant even tell you how guilty I feel about that now.

Anyway - back to xmas day. My Grandpa had made a fabulous hutch for her for my present. After present opening, we went to my grandparents for xmas dinner. Before we left we put the hutch on the breakfast room table, moved it right to the edge and moved to chairs away. We had a toy Yorkshire Terrier (Pudding) at the time and so made sure that she couldn't get on the table and even is she did that she could not get round to the front of the hutch. Anyway - we came back from my grandparents to find Fluffy in a nest of hay on the floor and Pudding locked in the hutch! To this day we have absolutely no idea what happened although we did count ourselves very lucky - can you imagine having to explain to a 5 year old that the dog just ate her Christmas present! Saying that - with subsequent piggies, Pudding used to follow them around licking them and grooming them because she seemed to think they were her babies!
 
I didn't have my first guinea pig until 2007. Her name was Connie and she came from a friend of my partners whose two kids didn't bother with her anymore so we adopted her.

Before Connie came to us, she did have a friend who had died leaving Connie by herself.

Connie was with me for two days before I went to pets at home and brought Eliza home.

Sadly Connie died 17 months later of chronic bladder problems
 
My first guinea pig is in my avatar, Amelia Jane. I got her and her twin who sadly passed last year. Amelia Jane is five and a half now and has lived with seven different friends. She has seen a lot of changes.
 
My first guinea pigs were a pair of abbysinian sows called Scamp and Patch, and they came from a pet shop when I was a child in the 80's. Strictly speaking, Patch was my brother's, but he didn't take a great deal of interest after a while. Scamp was the bold, feisty one, while Patch was much quieter and shyer.

They lived in a large hutch that my dad made, (moved into the shed or porch for the winter) and also spent quite a lot of time on the lawn in a run which was made of a round of chicken wire held down with metal pegs. On a couple of exciting (?) occasions, Scamp managed to tunnel underneath and make her bid for freedom - I remember when the first of these escapes took place, sobbing my heart out at having lost her, and my dear brother offering me his guinea pig instead! However, all was well, as my parents managed to manoevre her out from underneath the garden shed!

On another occasion, the family labrador jumped into their run, and my mum had to chase her out with a broom!

They lived to be a good age, at least 7, I think. I think it was Patch that went first, and I do feel rather sad now that we just let Scamp be on her own until she too passed away. They were sweet little things, and although they didn't enjoy the same level of care that my adult piggies have had, I think that they were well looked after by the standards of the time.
 
My first Guinea pig was gooky. Supposed to be goofy but little sister couldn't say it.Adhsmed to day he lived with a rabbit till the rabbit started bullying him then on his own. Mum believed you couldn't introduce boys to other boys. Unfortunately the wire mesh was to wide and something got at him through the bars. was not cleaned out enough either. Carry a lot of guilt about him but parents never really taught responsibility to pets.Mine are now ruined in huge c&c cages in my spare room
 
I bought my first Guinea pigs Ludwig and Gilbert from Jollyes in 2010, the exact date is the day I joined this site.

Ludwig was my special little guy, my 'stalker', my shadow, my other half of my soul. We were extremely close and he would always wander off but as soon as I called his name he'd rush over to me and just sit with me. I loved him a lot. He was utterly addicted to pellets, so much so that when I had to ban them from pellets because of Gilbert's weak tummy and eating pellets resulted in bleeding Ludwig broke out of the cage, ran to the pellet bag and sat eating them then exploring the room. The door was open so he could have walked into the hallway but he knew not to leave the room without mummy there and didn't. He was such an explorer and utterly adored me, following me around the room even when in his cage. I adored him.

Gilbert was the one who had nonstop health problems, bad breeding I imagine and struggled with cystitis but never let it get to him. He fought for 4 years with it and even lived longer than Ludwig despite his constant health problems. He cost me a damn lot of money, in the thousands I am sure but every single penny was worth it. I'd pay more just to have him back now along with Ludwig. Gilbert had the most beautiful ruby red eyes and he was so skittish when I first got him but with a year of hard work, he became my tamest piggie who would let you do anything with him. He never put up a fuss.

I miss them both dearly.

I also had a prier guinea pig before these two but he was my brothers. He was called Itchy and he was a red eyed Himalayan guinea pig with a long skirt. He was house trained and lived in the house wandering around. He knew not to chew wires and would wheek at our feet if he wanted something. He'd hop into his box for food or to poop or pee. He was the reason I bought Gilbert who came with Ludwig. So thank you to Itchy, I got to know my lovely two boys.
 
Another oldie here, 1987 and I was 6 after looking after my infant school guinea pigs in the holidays my parents allowed me to get Whisky and Ginger when my mums friend guinea pig had a litter. They were both pure ginger with red eyes. We had many guinea pigs until I was about 14, when the last ones passed away. I still have my 1981 copy of the RSCPA book. I know it's out dated but that a few other books from my childhood I can't part with.
 
My first guinea pigs are behind me just now! Some great stories in this thread :)
 
I had my first guinea pig Lussi when I was 9. Oh how I miss her!
I didn't know much about guinea pigs back then, so I only had one which she didn't seem to have any complaints about. I remember her playing around with both my dog and my cat on the floor, running laps around the table. She would talk ALL day long :) My mom would call me after school, and all you could hear when I picked up the phone was Lussi chirping in the background.
She loved to pee on my math books and would always follow you around in the room and scream really loud whenever you touched a plastic bag. She loved food too much.Never had any piggie like her.

One day we had a terrible accident at home. She fell off my 10ft bed straight to the floor and landed on her back. After that she would drag her backlegs after her and couldn't walk properly at all. We figured her back was either broken or terribly damaged, and you could tell she was in a lot of pain. I was crying so bad and I remember my mom calling a friend of hers who's supposedly a ''healer.'' Guess what? That little furball WALKED after she had stroked her a few times! And she lived for 8 years! :)
 
I got my first piggy when I was about 11/12 in the early nineties, he was a satin and his name was Charlie and as he was by himself we got another a Himalayan I called Smudge. They didn't get on as back then I didn't know what I know now but they got me hooked and owned them ever since. I'm now 33 and under their little paws :)
 
Jack and Zack, I was about 10.
They were both completely black and the only difference between them was that Jack was slightly bigger and had rounder eyes. They were both brothers and were rescues.
Jack lived for about 2 years (He ended up having a lump, got it removed, passed away 6 months later) Zack lived for about 3 and passed away for the exact same thing.
Such lovely boys:hug:
 
chesney was my first piggy (pig in my avatar) - i adopted him in march 2009 from BARC. i couldn't have asked for a more amazing special piggy. i adored him so much. he passed away in feb 2013 aged six. i miss him so so much. :( but i feel so lucky to have been his mummy. :luv:
 
My first Piggie was called Winnie. I'd mentioned that I wanted one and I came home from school one day and my dad told me to look in the hutch...I opened it up and beside my rabbit was a beautiful guinea pig! Yes I know, with a rabbit, but back then people didn't really know not to keep them together, and anyway they got on fine :)
Winnie became unwell and went to the vets for an operation on an abdominal mass...she never came home. She was opened up but it was attached to some vital organs. I picked her up with my mum and cried my eyes out in reception :(
Thats where my love of piggies started!
 
My first pig... His name was Max. He was a beautiful long haired boar
Black, white and ginger.... He was such a pleasure to handle! Always squealed when he heard the fridge open. I wish I had the chance to spend more time with him. My dad was in the army and got relocated between Germany and England... At the time we lived in Germany. He was a birthday present. I probably had him for maybe a year and a half before we had to move again. He had to be left at a Sanctuary and I'm sure he would have been snapped up immediately and spent his life in a loving home. I remember leaving him in the this lovely light room and he wasn't even scared. I said goodbye and walked away. Really hard to do when you're only young.... :bye:
 
It started with Scamp; a bright-eyed blob of lustrous black fur. I was seven, and had blundered into my Nan's lounge following an afternoon of mucking about with my cousins in the long-jump pit of a nearby school, and the last thing I expected was my Mum's announcement that she'd got me a pet. 'You'd better look after him,' she warned.

I blinked. 'Who?'

She gestured at her lap, and it took me a moment to spot the month-old guinea pig against her black cord trousers. 'Him.'

At last, an animal of my very own! I named him "Scamp", and a whole new world opened up. I read everything about guinea pigs I could get my hands on, and soon became obsessed. I was an introverted child, with my nose in a book most of the time. I seldom spoke or made eye contact with anybody, especially teachers. Scamp brought me out of my shell, by giving me a small being to care about and talk to. I even made a replica of him from that same pair of cord trousers my Mum had worn. Black was stuffed with old tights, had buttons for eyes and soon became my favourite toy, carried everywhere. I still have him; he sits on my bookshelf.

My Dad regarded Scamp in disgust as "a gloried rat" though it wasn't long before he developed his own cutesy guinea-piggy-voice when he thought nobody was listening. He'd set Scamp's hutch at the bottom of the garden every morning, prop the door open, then leg-it to the back door, with the guinea pig in hot pursuit. I can't recall who won these races most often, as they were pretty evenly matched. I do recall leaning out of the back door, cheering Scamp on.

Scamp taught me that guinea pigs have a sense of humour. He'd have the run of the garden all day and I'd put him back in his hutch each evening. On long summer days, he wasn't always ready to be cooped up, so he'd hide under bushes and watch me move around the garden, rustling foliage and pleading. While my attention was elsewhere, he'd dart out from his hiding place and stand just behind me, waiting for me to turn and spot him with an indignant shout. Then he'd be off, looping around me to hide under a different bush. Some evenings, he'd creep from bush to bush, concealing himself under ones I'd already checked. I'd imagine him chuckling to himself.

My sister and I were given sunflower seeds by our school with an instruction to see who could grow the tallest, so we tended our two flowers daily, securing them to stakes and fertilizing them with guinea pig droppings. Once they reached six feet and the massive heads bloomed, we posed beside them for photos, convinced we'd scoop the prize. During the next few days the flowers withered and we were baffled until we spotted that both stalks had been gnawed through a few inches from the ground, with only the stakes keeping them upright.
 
Obviously, I now know better than to have a lone guinea pig, from a pet shop, etc. etc...
 
He was a cheeky , alright. When he got to about five, he lost the hair on his belly (but nowhere else) and his black blotchy skin looked like a black pudding!
 
Our first piggy was Stanley, we got him in 2003. We bought him from a local petshop (didn't know about rescues at the time - all my subsequent piggies have been rescues) There were 6 or 7 baby boys in a cage. I whistled at them and Stanley was the only one that came up to the bars and whistled back, that was it, we were smitten, we bought him on the spot. He lived until the ripe old age of 7 when he died in his sleep. I know it's wrong now, he lived all his life with a daft doe rabbit called Rusty. They were inseparable, when Stanley died, Rusty pined away and died a few months later as she no longer had her hutch mate.

025.jpg
 
Gertie, we adopted her a few years ago from Pets at Home and our piggy story went on from there, a few months later Johnny joined her, then Millie and Jessica and slowly the others all arrived.



 
My first piggy came to me when my sister couldn't look after him any more.
He was bought from a rabbit and guinea pig show back in 2001 when he was far too young to be away from his mummy. He was a gorgeous little rex and was called Spike due to his spikey hair. My dad worked miracles on him and got him eating when he'd been too scared to do so. We housed him with a rabbit, luckily I know a lot better now. But they were a very sweet pair and luckily no harm came to him from living with her. He once escaped into the embankment behind our house, I spent hours digging through nettles looking for him. But amazingly he knew where home was and came back to us.
He'd never squeak for food, the only times he made a noise was if he was left on his own, which happened a lot once his friend got sick. :( He was such a lovely little pig and left us too soon, on his fourth birthday.
After having a pig like Spike of course I couldn't help but fall in love with them. I have only had girl piggies since Spike, but I would love to get another sweet natured boy like him. My girls are so noisey and bossy in comparison.

This is him with his bunny friend, Misty.


He'd always follow her around.
 
My first guinea pig was bought for me when I was very wee. It was the early nineties and my pure black guinea pig was called Blackie. Imaginative I know but I was pre-school. He lived outside all year and died at a grand old age of about 7. I'd gone to let him out one morning as is always did but he didn't come running. I picked him up but he didn't look well. I took him inside to where mum was but he just have up. I'm glad he wasn't alone at the very end and he was healthy all his life. After that my brothers got a bunny each and so it was only a couple of months ago I got the terrible twosome. The bf isn't overly keen but he's rather amused by their distinct personalities.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top