We've had a chinchilla thread so what about a guinea pig one? Is there anyone else out there who loves 'em? I've got 7! Unfortunately they dont go down well with my dobermann (well they would go down VERY well actually, thats the problem!!) LOL!! They all have their own little personalities and altho I kept rabbits for years, I'm definitely hooked on my piggies!

Hi milomum
We had a guinea pig when we were kids.He was adorable.We had a rabbit,dog and cat at the same time and (surprisingly)they all got on really well.It was really sweet watching them together.They were like a little family.We sometimes thought that they were the same animal.I love them.We haven't got one now cos we live in a flat but maybe when we get a house i might get my wish!
julie :-)

I forgot to mention, two of my guineas are home-grown. We bought a sow last christmas unaware she was 'with pig'.... She had two gorgeous little males and as you probably know, when they are born they are just like little minatures and are up and running in hours.... so sweet. The boys are grown up now but so friendly. They will both happily lie on their backs in your hand (Cute or what!)

We got ours from my uncle.He had a male and female and they had babies so we had one of them.I got to name him(i called him tiny because he was!).He fit in the palm of my hand and he made me feel big(i was only 7 at the time)but i loved him.They are so cute.I don't know what max(our lab) would think though if we got one.He would probably think its a toy!!
julie :-)

i don't have guinea pigs now, but i used to have them. The last one was a rescue, kept indoors and had run of the house by day. Neither the cats nor dogs were bothered. He used to answer to his ingenious name, "piggy", too. You could call him from a different room, and he'd come find you. Awwww.. He died of kidney failure shortly after i left home (he stayed with my mum because i went into rented, and she was besotted with him).

nicola

Its probably daft but I never buy any sort of squeaky toy for my dog incase he confuses it with the squeak of my gps - He has a very high prey drive so better to be safe than sorry!

aww, puinea gigs are so cute. i have two called Lena and April, they have very sophisticated names for theyre personalities; they re both a bit dopey. Are all guinea pigs like that? April just follows Lena around when i let them out and they eat soo much so theyre a bit chubby but in a cute way. my dog used to be friends with them, but now she trys to chase them. she always trys to pinch lettuce when i feed them then she runs off with it and eats it, i doubt she even likes it though.

I have 2 here, male & a female (well they are my daughters really but i spend more time with them than she does.....lol) They recently had 2 babies & i had to take them to the Pet store on Friday, it's so weird without them....:) Love their personalities, the male makes funny squeaking noises when he hears the hutch door being opened.   

Hi Skyota,
its a pity you couldnt have kept the babies and maybe re-housed them after they had finished feeding from mum. My home grown boys are the friendliest little guys ever. One ended up long haired (must have been from his dad who we never knew) and he is the image of Dougal off The Magic Roundabout - His name is Twinkle though (blame my daughter for that.LOL) His brothers called Fudge!

I started the guinea pig thread but we also have five guineas. three long haired and two short. they are called shadow, swizzle, casper, fraggle and gizmo. the yreally belong to the kids but we all love them they are so cute.

I had them as a teenager :)

I started with one really lovely one, very bright and quick at working things out, then my bro had to have one, then mine was found to be 'in pig' so he had to take his to the boar :rolleyes:  we kept the babies too :D and had a wonderful piggy family, in time buying more and breeding we ended up with about 15 of them :D :D  Two of the boars were inseperable ;) the silver agouti liked females and his male friend, but the abysinnian agouti only liked his male 'friend' - they'd lie together purring and make such a fuss if they were seperated :-o  They were my education about alternative lifestyles and kick started my interest in genetics and inheritance ;) ;)  We used to make assault courses for them and rearrange their pens to keep life interesting for them :)  FAR  more interesting than mere rabbits ;) :)

The babies were 6 weeks old & fully weaned when i took them to the pet store on Friday, sorry for the confusion.......LOL The male baby was starting to have the odd scuffle with his dad, so it was time for them to be separated.   

I got my first one 1st of August 1975 and have not been without them a single day since. :) Alongside many other species, I used to show and breed them (although hamsters always came first for me). I only have two at  the moment. A rex, and a smoothcoat that was born with no eyes.

We have 5 guinea pigs - 4 in the shed and one indoor piggy that didn't get on with the other male I put him with so I decided to bring him inside in an indoor cage.  We also have a Netherland dwarf rabbit too.

My guinea pig, Aries, died this morning :-( 

She was old so I suppose it was expected. Still sad though.  She was really my sons but ended up with me looking after her and her sister, Tiffa, who died a while ago.  We've had other gps in the past (those really were mine :-) ) and rabbits too.  I love guineas best though, you can't beat that cheerful greeting the give you. :-)

So sorry to hear you lost your piggie. I am dreading anything happening to mine, especially Sugar who lives on her own - she doesnt get on with other guinea pigs but adores humans! I think she reckons she is one! She would make an ideal 'indoor' pet but unfortunatley has to make do with being housed in the shed with the others. I also have Silky(who had the two babies) and Jasmine (a cute tri-colour), Spice (agouti) and Pepper who is the most unsociable of them. Still cute tho - oh, and the two boys who I've mentioned, Twinkle and Fudge! We bred them when I was little and had about 30 at one point!

Our 2 guinea pigs both died 2 weeks ago within hours of each other. Polly and Poppy belonged to my daughter but I looked after them more once we got our dog Alfie. We have had guineas for 12 years altogether and it seems strange not to be going out to feed them every day. We will not be getting any more now as it is difficult with the dog forever wanting to chase them if they are out in their run! They are lovely animals and would recommend them as a pet to anyone.

This thread is perfect i currently have a dog and 2 hamsters but ive been contemplating getting either a gpig or a rabbit - I had a rabbit years ago but i dont remember much about it, and my uncle used to breed gpigs and i used to bring them in the house and sit with them on my lap stroking them but he never played with them or anything he just bred them so i have a couple of questions for people who have had both

1. whats the life expectancy of a gpig? i know they can get lots of illnesses
2. which are the more friendly rabbits or gpigs
3. which are the more interesting? will gpigs play with toys?

I've had rabbits and guinea pigs and would say guineas are more docile and friendly than rabbits, some of whom can be a little on the vicious side! You can expect a guinea pig to live for 4 to 6 years, but they are less hardy than rabbits and need more shelter than rabbits in winter. Guinea pigs don't really play with toys but my kids used to build assault courses with tunnels and bridges made from cardboard boxes and the pigs loved them!

Most of my guinea pigs have stayed reasonably healthy - the only problem I had with a couple of them was mites which I think came via the hay I used (so use only good stuff) If it gets really bad they will scratch themselves to bits and can actually have fits. One of mine (Spice) needed antibiotics but recovered very well. There are lots of guinea pig websites that will help you with any problems. Peter Gurney seems to be the expert so get one of his books!I would also say to go for a short haired variety if you are new to them and dont want to be bathing and grooming all the time!Hope this helps:)

I have one Guinea Pig at the moment, and although he's a lovely little thing, I've decided dogs are the only pets for me :D so no more piggies.
He's a black and white rex (love the fuzzy hair, but it's awful for getting bedding stuck in it!)

I have currently got 7 of them or my son has and he totally adores them.  He did breed them once but we kept all the babies and the other one we lost in childbirth so we havent gone down that road since.

We have Ratty, 18 month old brown female. We did have four but one by one they died over the years. Ratty was bought as a companion for our last remaining piggie who unfortunately died a couple of months ago aged 7 yrs, leaving Ratty on her own now. She seems ok but I do worry that she is lonely. It was silly to get a youngster when Squeak was 6 yr old but she really didn't do very well on her own when her last friend died & I thought she was going to starve herself to death. I don't really want to get any more now so unfortunately Ratty will have to make do with human & dog company. I have to be careful with her as our 6 month pup likes her a bit too much!

isnt that egg card advert with the guinea pigs a bit scary! they are cute though

I had guinea-pigs as a child, and my son had them, and now my grandson has two. I love them, they have such wonderful little characters.  When I just had one dog she would play with them, sit with them and even wash them, the same with two dogs, they did not really bother them, and could all go in the garden together with no harm done, but when my dogs became a little pack of  3, 4, 5 ,6  dogs the guinea-pigs turned from lovable friends into hunting fodder and one of my dogs was great at ripping the wire from their cage. So for my little friends safety I re-homed them at my local school.

I do miss that wonderful little squeeeeeeeek whenever I opened the fridge though. :-)

"I do miss that wonderful little squeeeeeeeek whenever I opened the fridge though."   LOL, re-read that again as it sounded like you kept the GP's in the fridge ! :D

I had one GP when I was a wee girl, she lived with 33 rabbits and was totally adored by all of them and by me - a right little character who kept even my New Zealand white boy in his place :)

Yes I have 26 guinea pigs, I breed and show them. I am a very small breeder but I know people
who own 50 and 75 pigs as we call them. I have a lot of old ones (ex breeders) at present some of my oldest ones are 7 years old and still thriving.

My breeds are Dalmations and Abyssians.

My daughter had two gps but they died last spring.They were called Jasmin and Wendy.Thought about getting more but then i think i will wait for a while till christmas is well over and done with.You never know,i will more than likely get more in the rescue i have at that time of the year.It all started when i had a friend that gave me her rabbit as she could no longer care for him,then her friend had a problem rehoming her rabbit so my name was mentioned and i had that one aswell.And so the expantion began.More and more turned up and more and more cages bought and built.We have any animal from Gps,rabbits,chinchillas,hamsters,rats,mice,degus,terantulas,snakes,and even a 6ft long iguana.I love all Gods creatures.he he he