Pledge a Pound

What's your favourite thing about piggies?

In our house it's piggerling, the term we use for piggies being piggies and trotting around having a natter to themselves and being happy.

love the term piggerling
sue

The noise they make when they are getting fed, Ginger gets very animated and vocal when he hears me approaching the shed The bunnies then start running around because they can hear Ginger and realise food must be on it's way I guess he's their early warning system

I love fridge alerts. My elderly boy has been touching his new piggy bro how to carry this out.

Piggerling love it

I love piggies used to have 4 at one stage but don't have any now I love the way they squeak for thier dinner too I really miss their wheaks

I've never had piggies but I see them at Alice's rescue when I go there and they seem cute little things. I was put off having guinea pigs as I had heard they needed both indoor (in cold weather)and outdoor accommodation and with a family member affected by animal fur I thought rabbits would be better, as they could live outside.
sue

Sorry only just be able to reply as my ipad wouldn't let me finish writing my forum post.

Guinea pigs are very sensitive to cold, damp and heat, as guinea pigs don't have the underfur that other animals like rabbits, cats and dogs do; plus they also have a low centre of gravity so their tummy's are close to the ground (and hence the cold/damp area). For this reason guinea pigs shouldn't be in temperatures below 10 degrees. Therefore there are 3 accommodation options: this poster (http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/ ... 0ffefa.jpg) has a good summary of them.

For allergies to guinea pigs the allergy is usually related to a protein they produce in their saliva and urine rather than the fur itself - though obviously the fur can be a transmitter. The worst breed of guinea pig for this is the Rex (and anything derived from a rex like skinny pigs). It is possible for someone with an allergy to live with guinea pigs as you can change your care routine to help - my partner has a medium level asthmatic allergic reaction to guinea pigs (as we discovered after we adopted our trio, and then had a severe reaction when housing some overnight piggy bank piggies with skin infections). This is a good article to read on managing with guinea pig allergies: http://www.cavyspirit.com/allergies.htm. The main thing I found was moving from hay bedding to vet bed bedding (and then having a pile of hay for the piggies to munch of course) - this reduced the amount of protein being in the air. We also bath our guinea pigs (using gorgeous guinea pig shampoo) every 4-6 months to reduce the build up of protein on their fur - this has made a big difference and our piggies and him now all happily hang out together in the lounge without any reaction.

That's really interesting- thank you.
Now that my huband has retired we won't be taking on any pets, (besides -we do mind my daughter bunlover's 4 bunnies quite a lot of the time and Coco is half mine). But interesting advice for anyone considering guinea pigs as pets. Thankyou.
sue