I have a new roommate! Name suggestions are welcome. :)

[nicodimus22]

I decided recently that it has been too long since I had something warm and fuzzy in my life. I've had rats, gerbils, and a bunny in the past. This time I opted for a guinea pig!



Still working on the name. Any ideas are welcome at this point.

[BG]

Fluffy!

I decided recently that it has been too long since I had something warm and fuzzy in my life. I've had rats, gerbils, and a bunny in the past. This time I opted for a guinea pig!



Still working on the name. Any ideas are welcome at this point.

[crazkt]

Boy: Homer- dunno why...
Girl: Suzette (again, dunno why)

[Striped marsh]

he/she looks great dont ask me why but for a name wallace

[nicodimus22]

After considering some suggestions from many different people, I am going with Butterscotch. It just fits too well with his markings to not use it!

[Jimbok3]

I love guinea pigs! she is a cute one, she looks around 4-5 months old

[nicodimus22]

As far as I know, he is about 3-4 months old.

[Jimbok3]

Since she is 3-4 months old, you should feed her alfalfa until she is 6 months old. after six months need to be switch to timothy hay, and timothy hay pellets (none of the foods that have added 'food items' in it, she can have them ocasionally), as long as she is fed timothy hay/hay pellets she will live a long healthy life. I have had 7+ years experience, you should take her to the vet a 6 months for her first check up.
Have fun with your new fluffy buddy!

[nicodimus22]

Huh. I will have to look into the alfalfa thing. I've been feeding him timothy hay and pelleted food, as well as a bit of fresh kale, red pepper, and carrot for vitamin C. I found a local, well-reviewed vet this afternoon that I am going to take him to in a couple of months for a general check-up.

[Jimbok3]

the alfalfa feeding depends on what your exotic vet goes with, usually it should be fed to young and pregnant GPs. You definitely seem to have it down! when you go to your vet you can ask about a vitamin c supplement (Guinea pigs will do anything for it, I've trained my older one trick for it... though sometimes she grabs the little syringe, the ones for oral meds, and suck out the stuff.) Squeeeeeeeeek!

[nicodimus22]

After 3 days, I decided to get Butterscotch a friend. Social animals are much happier living in pairs, and care-wise there isn't that much difference between having one guinea pig and having two. Gizmo is more white with some different shades of brown here and there.

[nicodimus22]

^ Butterscotch is a runner. Most of the pictures I take of him come out just like this. Perhaps I should have named him Blur.

[flybyferns]

Pete,
They are adorable! Is the tri colored one a female?

They remind me of Princess Tiana and Price Naveen from -- Disney' s " The Princess and the Frog ".
So sweet !

Congrats- enjoy them

Lynn

[nicodimus22]

Pete,
They are adorable! Is the tri colored one a female?

Both are males. I didn't want to have to worry about babies.

[Crystal6]

Wow your guinea pig is a runner? Congrats! Most the guinea pigs I know are sitters. O_O

Tip: Don't go near guinea pigs if you are sick. They can catch your illnesses and their immune systems aren't always as tough as ours. (I lost my guinea pig that way and it would be a shame if you did too. ): Also sorry if you already know this...)

Anyways. Congrats and have fun!

[nicodimus22]

A few new pics from this afternoon:

[Purrdoc]

Congrats on your new babies! I agree with the above threads, but I will say the more hay in their diet, the better. Guinea pigs have a lot of dental problems that are often controlled with hay diets. Of course, they need vitamin C, so supplementing as was mentioned above, or feeding a small portion of guinea pig pelleted diet will work. They are also prone to obesity, again, hay will help with this.

Crystal- not sure who told you they get our illnesses. There really are not too many zoonotic diseases that affect guinea pigs, especially that would kill them. Believe me, with the number of children that own guinea pigs that are constantly sniffling, snorting, coughing, sneezing, and hacking, if this was truly a problem, they would not be such great pets for kids. They do have problems with pneumonia and it can be a somewhat of an acute onset, but it is not related to a human illness. They should be kept away from rabbits because of Pasteurella, which they are more sensitive to.