Fur-babies VIII

[draggonlaady]

Once upon a time, there was a woman in Idaho who bred all manner of little beasties to sell the babies to pet stores. Last summer, through a combination of divorce and health reasons, she became unable to care for said beasties. Rabbit Rescue stepped in, and took out a plethora of guinea pigs, hamsters, degus, sugar gliders, and mice. They split these up between several foster homes, but kresentia ended up with something like 30 guinea pigs for a bit. Many of them went over to the coast, but one particularly scraggly looking sow and her piglet moved in with me.
The sow (now dubbed Dara-I've been told it means 'compassion' in Hebrew) was 3/4 bald, and a rack of bones. Brought along an apparently healthy female baby of hers to keep her company. Guessing the baby was about 3-4 weeks old at the time.
Good food and lack of competition for it seems to've been about all Dara needed, as she is now fat, sassy, fully-furred, and spayed.
The baby I dubbed Loquacious, because she would NOT stop talking. I swear her vocal cords are connected to her left front leg--she used to stand in the corner, shuffling her leg back and forth and squealing.

Both pigs have learned that plastic sacks from the fridge often have goodies, and whistle and chase me when I'm carrying shopping bags now. Dara is totally fearless about the cats, and will actually chase them around if they get in her territory (usually this is Pandora, as she sneaks into the cage to steal hay-she's an odd one, that kitten). Loqui still thinks discretion is the better part of valor, and stays in the hidey-den when in doubt.

Comments

[cheshirecatco.livejournal.com]

In case you haven't been answered: 2 is definitely wisest. Guinea pigs are social critters and are much happier with friends. Boys get along as well as girls, although not *all* pigs will get along. (But in my experience, most will.)

[dindrane.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! Is 3 better than 2 then? I don't want too many either, in case personalities don't mesh or I can't keep up with the maintenance.

Also, great Destiny icon.

[draggonlaady.livejournal.com]

The more pigs you get, the more space they need. And they may compete for food, so make sure everybody gets some.

[cheshirecatco.livejournal.com]

They say that 3 is better than 2, although I can't say as I've noticed much difference. They're a herd animal, if that helps any. (Do note that you can only have one boar in with girls, though. A single-sex herd of either sex is OK, though.) They'll eat proportionately more food and require more space, but it's not linear with the number of guinea pigs. (ie, doubling the number does not necessarily require twice the space.)