Cavy question!! (about gender + health)

blackrose · 01-28-2007, 07:48 PM

Ok, I own a female (I think) Cavy named Lucy. She was a rescued piggy....saved from being dumped in a woods and living in an uper tiny cage that was only cleaned every two weeks, eating cat food, and barely able to get to her water. Her is a pic of her shortly after we got her:

(She is now off of the Cedar bedding and we were the ones who got her the house and the Piggy food. That is the peice of junk cage came in.)

Anyways, I have some questions (and each of the questions have mini questions in them).

I've had Lucy for about a year or so, but I don't know how old she is. When we got her she was an adult, but I don't know how old. Her owners didn't know how old she was either, as they got her from someone else. Is there anyway to tell a Cavy's age?

She is also EXTREAMLY fat. I don't know what I did wrong, but she has gained a BUNCH of weight. When she sits and is hunched up in a "ball", she is around six inches wide. Her diet is a pellet diet with vitamen C added to it (around 1/4 a cup a day), a large handful of Timothy Hay, and some various veggies, probably only 1/4 a cup a day. Yet she is still fat! I don't understand.

Anyway to slim her down?

I've read that Cavies do better in pairs. If I were to get another one, I want to make sure it is of the opposite sex and that they'd get along. So how can you tell a female adult Cavie from a male? Do the male's testicles drop, or not? That would be the easiest way to tell, because she doesn't have testicles. lol
She has been a single Cavy for her whole life...would getting another one upset her or do they take to other Cavvies naturally? What would be the best way to introduce two Cavies? Right now she is in a cage that is....4'x2', I think. Is this big enough for two Cavies?

Sorry for all of the questions!

Dogged · 01-29-2007, 02:18 AM

If you look in this forum under "Kassie the guinea Pig, what would you do", my post in there will give you all your answers. That food is not good, you don't want all those colored bits, it should just be a high quaility pelleted food. They should also have unlimited grass hay at all times, not alfalfa if an adult (occaisionally is ok) and it is normal for some piggies to be fat, It's just how they are.

Please check out that other thread, it has lots of good info and sites that can answer all your questions.

blackrose · 01-29-2007, 04:05 PM

Ok, thanks. I'm not feeding her the food in the pics, I've switched to an all pellet diet. I think it is Forti-Diet, vitemen C fortified or something like that. She doesn't have the alfalfa hay, but Timothy hay which I was told was the best for them? She has it all of the time, which is around a large handful in the evening. It lasts until the next night.

marley334 · 01-29-2007, 08:56 PM

Guinea pigs LOVE being in pairs. When we got Kassie, she lives with her brother and a friend. Now she's alone and I'm thinking of getting another one as well. Your cavy looks so CUTE!!!

I'd get a little low on the veggies. Kassie got "big" at one point, so we gave her a little less fresh foods. Now she's a little better. If there's any problems PM me! Good luck!

emma

peace36 · 02-08-2007, 08:29 PM

I just love guinea pigs. I have 2 females and 1 neutered male. They all live together is a plastic round kiddie pool. The just love it. They run circles around and round when they think we are not looking. If they see us they stop and start weeking for treats.

I think you should definatley get another female. If she is over a year old and she gets pregnant she could die giving birth. Their pelvic bones fuse together after a certain age if they have not had babies.

I read that they are bored and sad if they live alone.

You can get a ton of info on my favorite Guinea site/forum called Cavies Galore.

Meghan&Pedro · 02-08-2007, 11:46 PM

http://www.cavyspirit.com/sexing.htm
Here's a great page with lots of great pictures (showing you that even pigs come in all shapes and sizes of genitals! not all males are as obvious as others!)

I would be feeding her a grass hay, not the timothy or alfalfa, as she doesn't need that much protein in her hay.

Most guinea pig pellets are timothy based - and that's what gives them the high protein that they need - they don't need double the protein.

In regards to getting the opposite sex - if your piggy is a female than you should get her another female to play with. Two girls with almost always get along.

If you get her a boy you will have to neuter the male. And there is no real reason to put a male guinea pig through a neuter (you run the risk of losing a small animal every time you put them under an anesthetic), and you cannot spay a female guinea pig - it's too risky. I don't know any vets that will spay a female. And there's no reason to spay or neuter your pigs - as unlike bunnies they don't need it to 'calm down' or stop spraying - piggies are really easy going, and aren't aggressive or prone to urine marking when left in tact.

I have also kept groups of adult males together with no problems - but with males there is never any guarantee that they will get along - sometimes the adult male just flat out refuses to accept the new boy.

The best way to keep two males together is by getting the second male in between three and four weeks (when he is just entering sexual maturity, but hasn't been a 'real boy' for too long) and introducing them slowly in neutral territory (floor time) over a couple of days. When you want to put them in the same cage together (when floor time is going well) then you clean out the cage and put the younger pig in second. Taking out any houses that the smaller pig could get cornered in.

Most piggy meetings SOUND a lot worse then they really are. There will be a lot of purring and wiggling, Mounting, squealing etc - as long as you don't see teeth coming out then you're fine.

You will also want to make sure that your cage is large enough for two guinea pigs. My four girls live in a cage that is 4' X 8'. When I had just the two, they lived in a 3 1/2 ' X 4' cage.

www.cavycages.com is a great site to look at - it gives lots of information. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me!

blackrose · 02-09-2007, 04:24 PM

Thanks! Lucy is most likely a girl, as her belly looks like this:

(That is from the cavyspirit website, not her actually belly.)
My cage is around six square feet or so...I think it is around 2'x4'. I don't have room for a bigger cage. lol

Thanks for the tip with the hay. What is grass hay? Is it called, "Grass Hay" or is their a wide variety? Wow, that question sounds stupid. lol Anywho, I g2g now because I have to leave for a basketball game! TTFN.