So after looking for some piggies to adopt, I came across an ad for Guinea pigs for $5, I called, and the woman told me she'd come down so that I could look at them-because she lives so far out in the middle of nowhere that I wouldn't be able to find her house....well 30 minutes later she shows up here, pops the trunk of her car-yeah I'm totally serious, the trunk-opens a box full of 9 piggies-6 live piggies, 3 dead. The dead ones appeared to be new borns, the live ones were two adults and four what appeared to be young ones, I asked her what she wanted for them "$5 for all of 'em" So I gave her $10-and was for a day and a half the proud owner of 6 guinea pigs-My friend Nicole took the females-who are all under weight-two of which are pregnant, and all are beaten up from the boys-and I have the boys-two of which are going to a new home at the end of the week, and I'm keeping one, he doesn't really seem to care for the younger boys-he nips at them- and just generally just bullys them-but any advice is greatly appreciated!!
For now I've got them living in a Large, Clear Plastic Tote, feed them a Spinach and Kale carrot apple salad 2x daily (since Saturday) grapes as treats, Timothy Hay, and GPig pellets. And they are eating like....well PIGS!

I call them Poppa (Black Ridgeback), Reese (chocolate and "peanut butter" smooth coat, and Psycho (because he's a black and caramel ridgeback and has crazy hair) I'll get pics up of them before the other two boys go to new homes!

Ok-here are some pics of the piggies, from my FLkr-if it doesn't work, please let me know!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/

He's most likely bullying them because they're in such a small space. Not your fault, understand! I wouldn't separate them without trying to build a bigger cage and seeing how they do. Guinea pigs are like rats -- you wouldn't keep a male alone without adding more space and resources first.

Also from their pictures they're all adolescent teenaged jerks and will probably spend a good portion of their time being twerps to each other.

Well thats... disturbing... Did you have to buy the dead ones too?!


Im so glad those poor babies have good homes now!

I paid for them all, and buried the dead babies. The poor little guys. Ok, more space, maybe a friend for the one I'm going to keep-should I get one thats younger? And one that's obviously male-no girls please!
The guy across the street says he'll help me build a cage out of Casey's old swimming pool-should that be OK for two boys?

Oh, but from what I can tell-the "original" parents are Poppa-and the Peanut butter color Momma-an two very close together litters, of Reese and one of the Black Ridgeback Girls, and Psycho and the smallest/thinnest of the girls. But I know Nicole is fattening them up as I type.

That should be fine, but the sides are usually too short to keep them in. Check out guineapigcages.com, they've got a lot of suggestions for homebuilding cages. I'd try to do at least 10 square feet for a pair of boars but -- again -- they're teenagers and they're going to be jerky to each other for a bit. No blood, no foul, leave 'em together.

They seem to be doing much better in the tote than my spare rat cage, guess it was a space issue! All they seem to do is eat...my whole day is feeding critters. Come down stairs, feed/water the cats, feed rats, feed mice, feed piggies, fill water bottles. Then when it gets dark I give the piggies some more salad, at around lunch time I fill their hay rack thing. Question-can they eat tomatoes?

Do they need chew sticks? Do they need mineral licks? I've read online that they both do and don't, so I'm confused.

They can eat tomatoes, although some may have irritation around their mouths due to the acid. I wouldn't feed them a ton.

They don't need chew sticks, they hay will take care of their teeth. (The molars are the real concern, and the chew sticks would only work their incisors anyway).

Mineral licks are useless and can be dangerous -- all the minerals often contribute to bladder stones in pigs.

Feed unlimited hay (I put in giant doublehandfulls every morning), pellets, and veggies, and you're good to go. They will always eat. Think of them like itty bitty horses -- they'll graze all day.

Oh wow...As Jess said-VERY DISTURBING. I am SOOO glad you took the poor things. Um, yeah, like JenniCat said, I'd build them a bigger cage-the website she gave you is awesome, really, and see if they get along better. I just got some piggers a few months ago after researching them for about a year. So I know quite a bit, but am in NO way an expert! Haha!! My two boys will spat, but nearly panic when they are seperated while we hold one!! It's so cute! Another REALLY good site to learn from is http://www.guinealynx.info/. There is a LOT of useful info on there that has helped me a ton!! About getting a friend for the one you keep--definitely get one!! One younger would be better as dominance establishment will be easier that way. But, as earlier stated, if you get them in a bigger cage, they may get along fine and you could just keep the males together, which would be the best option as they are already established. But, we all understand you're doing the very best you can with what you have!! You were kinda "rushed" into this under the circumstances!! I really believe you did the right thing though!!!

So, lots of luck to ya and bless you for being willing to take this on! I'm sure they love you for saving them!!!

Just looked at your pics!! They are so cute!! Mine are roughly 5-7 months old-hard to tell really when adopting, but going by online pics of other pigs and their weight, I'm guessing Squeakers to be 6.5mo and Phineas to be 5-5.5mo. They are obviously kept inside and are kinda jumpy about noises, but are just starting to get to where they'll come out and lift their head for me to scratch!! I've had them since mid-May.

Another good site for learning their different communication noises is http://www.jackiesguineapiggies.com/...pigsounds.html
That helped me a lot to learn what they were trying to tell me!! LOL

Thanks, that page is pretty awesome! I have learned already that they like to eat!! I've been giving them some salad in the morning and evening, and a bowl of pellets (to eat all day) and a HUGE handfull of hay-which they will graze on all day- they didn't seem at all jazzed about the tomato! But they do like grapes-they don't really seem to care about cucumbers either!

Thanks all!!!

My boys didn't really eat the tomatoes either, but I bought them some cherry tomatoes and cut them in quarters for them and after a few times of putting them in with some other veggies, they started eating them. Now they really enjoy them. Mine won't touch grapes, despite several attempts!! Silly boys!! Cucumbers were the same as tomatoes for mine--took a while. Mine's favorites are green leaf lettuce, baby carrots, and all colors of bell peppers!!

Have you tried parsley? Its a huge favorite of my pigs, and it has Vit C in it too!
Romaine lettuce, kale, mustard greens, carrots, parsley, strawberries, banana, and cilantro are all foods that my piggers like.