i’m sorry to tell everyone that gus has been put down, he had blood in his stools and was not getting much better at all. we rushed to the vets who told us due to improper breeding and his upbringing he most likely had internal problems and he was not going to get better and it was more humane to let him go and not continue his pain. i’m so heartbroken, frustrated and angry.

we got him from a breeder, i know that’s a mistake and i’m sorry, and we thought it was okay as she seemed knowledgeable and had many guinea pigs to grow up healthy. wrong. she fed him on goat feed, stacked in hutches and it was clear she didn’t do any genetic testing. i had a friend who asked where i got him from, i said her name “chrissy’s cavies” from cornwall. she lives near me and said she had the same breeder and her guinea pigs died early too, some of hers even foamed at the mouth and died suddenly and awfully. it’s clear that this breeder is awful, doesn’t care about the wellbeing and sells ill guinea pigs. it may be wrong of me to say her name, but people who may live near me need to be aware of this awful person. i don’t want anyone to ever go through that heartbreak like me and my friend has.

gus gus was the most friendliest, cutest, beautiful cuddly baby ever. we may have only had two weeks together, and i spent the last week with him fighting tooth and nail making myself insanely ill for this baby. but i loved him more than anything, i imagined a life with him and a life with him and patch together. he had the best smile, the cutest face and crown. and the most amazing guinea pig, didn’t deserve his awful start but I hope I gave him an amazing ending even though it was painful. he tried pellets, timothy hay. a lovely bed, critical care which he loved and lots of cuddles and yaps about the world.

that’s two boys in three weeks i’ve lost, i’m lost and heartbroken. i’m not one for confrontation ever but I have sent a huge message to the breeder and gave a one star rating. i feel so sick, my fibromyalgia is flaring up and my hs. i’m at the point where i’m mentally exhausted, now i need to take care of my guinea pig who has lost two of his brothers. he’s scared and alone, now im missing my sisters graduation tomorrow and doing 24/7 care until he gets a friend. not sure if i should do quarantine when i get a new baby, as im worried about patch with all this stress and loss.

and finally im sorry to you guys, i know lots of people liked seeing his posts and food ratings and im so sorry he didn’t make it. i tried everything, im sorry.

i love u gus gus, time to meet peanut and pumpkin. you’ll have to let them know you knew patch, as you’ve never met them before haha.

love , kisses and cuddles

- mummy lily

Some bonus pigtures too

Hello everyone

Remember these girls from my introduction post?

Please just watch you'll crack up hahaha.

Toffee is such an asshole sometimes, Sesame immediately looked at her mother to complain about her sister.

Diagnosis said: She's just chunky. The wheek was a regular wheek. I'm glad it was nothing, but damn it Timi, you need to stop stealing all your brothers food (She's still within a healthy weight range, even if barely, she was just considerably bigger than her brother, which was the cause for concern)

Tried somewhere new that was cheaper, it just seems so brown to other hays ive gotten in the past.

Second photo is the hay they had before ( before it ran out and i bought this one)

She is seperated from Gamora at dinner time

at least they’re sharing i suppose

This little freak (Freya) keeps eating the towel I have her on when she's on my bed. Concerning? Or is she just the destroyer of my towels now.

Second picture shows how she chooses the TOWEL over the bamboo

Hi everyone,

long time lurker and guinea pig lover but I don't think I've ever posted in this sub.

For context, our sweet boy Herbie (7M) got x-ray's done at the vet yesterday and they found a large bladder stone. The vet shared options around surgery, as well as "making him comfortable". She did not seem preferential to either option, but described the surgery as "routine". She also mentioned that fatalities often occur when rehabilitating from the surgery, and he is at risk due to his age.

The dehydration related to the stone was causing other issues (like dry and painful poops, and general discomfort for him). Fortunately, with some antibiotics, anti inflammatory, and encouraging water intake, his poops are almost back to normal! He seems happy enough, excited to eat, and is communicating with us. He is a bit more comfortable with us petting him (not sure if he knows we are here to help or if he feels too tired to stop us), but still has boundaries/limits with us.

His comfort is our #1 priority, AND we want to keep him around for as long as we can (within reason). He is our pride and joy and has been a part of so many pivotal moments in our lives. The surgery is reasonably priced and at least one of us will be home at all times to keep an eye on him in recovery. If we do decide on surgery, we want to get him in as soon as next week to minimize chances of blockage (even though the stone might be too big to get in there at all lol)

For folks who have been in a similar situation with a senior pig, what choice did you end up making? In hindsight, do you feel like it was the right choice for your pig?

Hey!! So without judgement please give me the best advice, i'm struggling, like bad right now, mentally.i have my 2 piggy boys and they are my absolute pride and joy, i really don't want to give them up or have to rehome them but my mental health is way worse then it has been before, i built my own cage for them, they are super healthy and chunky!! and their super cuddly and sweet but taking care of them has been eating away at me cause i feel like im not doing enough or at least as much as i used to, they get the stuff they need like food, water, pellets, and fresh cage along with cuddle time, but i feel like it's not enough anymore... I feel horrible saying this cause they're my babies but i just can't stomach the fact that im not doing enough, especially with my older piggy starting to decline a little in health due to his age, i want them to have the best life they could get but i feel like it's not with me anymore and i feel horrible saying that, my mom and sister guilt me into keeping them and my dad just doesn't understand since i only recently just moved in with him.
I really don't want to have to rehome bug i feel like it might be the best option but i honestly don't know what to do, im hoping that i can get through this mental bump but its been happening for a while now and the thought of rehoming them has been on my mind for a while now, im not doing it because i can't take care of them, im doing it because i genuinely don't feel like im enough for them anymore, and the guilt is so bad i almost cry everytime i hold them, they are my absolute everything but i honestly don't know if i can't care for them much longer with my health, i used to have a lot more help with them when i was living with my mom, and ive lived completely on my own with them before just me and them plus my other critters, its not about realizing its to difficult it's just the guilt that's getting to me, i feel like im not good enough for them as a pet parent which makes me feel even more guilty about my other guys.... like why can i take care of everyone else but not them? ik their a lot of care i did my research before even considering getting them, rehoming them is making me consider a lot of things including my other guys... im perfectly fine taking care of the rest of the critters but i feel like its not enough for my 2 piggies and im genuinely at a loss, any advice would be amazing, please nothing harsh im just not sure what to do

Because my husbands phone keeps tagging poor Bertie as a Newfoundland dog 🤣

Pearly girl is still very afraid of being touched and anything going over her head. So I’ve been doing things like this while giving her treats to help her realise that no one’s going to snatch her away and eat her! After a few sessions it seems to be working.
If you have any other tips for really shy scaredy pigs please let me know - I’ve never had so much trouble taming and bonding with a baby before!

Ive also been giving her treats for coming onto my hand or onto my lap. I’m spending lots of time sitting in the room reading, working or colouring, which has made her more confident to approach me and have a good sniff. I did try a few days of shutting the cage and picking her up multiple times but she started to get incredibly distressed by that so I’ve stopped that. I do have a playpen I could use but not sure if that would be as stressful for her, maybe even more so

The latest thing I’m trying is shutting the cage and she has to let me pick her up and put her down out of the cage to have her breakfast and dinner, which seems to be okay. She finds it stressful but has the major motivation of food to come back and try again

Not very sweet, but it's approaching frost tonight so I had to pick. My girls love their rind treat!

Hi all!

TL;DR: I have a senior boar who is blind and lives alone. I wonder if I could do more to occupy him. Anyone have suggestions for toys or enrichment activies?

Long version: Several years ago I adopted my guinea pigs: Hamlet, an adult boar, and Pascal, an 8-week-old male pup. They were happily cagemates until Hamlet unfortunately passed away about two years ago. Pascal is now an old man (8). A few years ago, he developed a progressive eye condition, and my vet believes that he is now blind.

While I love my little guys, I do not plan to continue keeping guinea pigs after Pascal dies. I spoke to my vet, and she felt that with Pascal's age and condition, a new companion might be more stressful than welcome. And while I gave Hamlet and Pascal daily floor time for their whole lives, Pascal stopped exploring during his floor time. He would find a hidey, drag it to the water bottle and hay pile, and camp out there until I put him back in the cage. I felt like his blindness was leading him to be stressed out during floor time, even though I would leave the layout basically the same every time. My vet agreed, and so Pascal stays in his cage except for when I do guinea pig laundry.

However...I'm worried that Pascal is bored, especially with him being solo. Has anybody else had blind piggies? What sort of enrichment did they go for? Besides his blindness, Pascal is still pretty healthy and will walk around the cage. He has stopped going up ramps, but that's the only mobility limitation I have noticed.

Things I have tried: His cage has several hideys that he alternates between. He used to love chewing toilet paper rolls, but now he has lost interest. I tried a big rolling hay ball, but he would not chase after it and gave up almost immediately.

From the vet perspective she is all healthy, so there are no medical issues.

It's probably just age related weight loss but since she is the oldest piggie I have ever had i might not be educated well enough about how to care for them.

Can those with experience give me any tips?

Is there a different type of pellets, treats for elderly?

Do I hand feed her in addition to shared meals?

Would a blend of oats through syringe made the weight go up?

before i start off i COMPLETELY understand that is their nature and what they do naturally for many different reasons. i dont have a problem with it whatsoever. however i live with my dad and he absolutely hates it and has given me an ultimatum that if they dont stop waking him up i have to get rid of them. that is the absolute last thing i want to do. they are my babies and are imbedded in my life. but unfortunately i really have no options. i dont have another place to live nor do i know anyone who would be willing to take care of them. so i’m just asking as a last try to see if there is any method or something adjacent that could potentially help reduce the noise. my dad is willing to work with me but he isnt willing to change any of his habits ex. closing his door, headphones etc. i tried white noise to drown it out which didnt work. i keep the door closed at night but it still wakes him up in the morning. but i am open to any and all options to try the best i can to make this work. thank you in advance!

I'll never get tired of those junkies T-rexing for a piece of apple. We've been dealing with several medical issues in a row, been seeing the vet almost every week. These moments make it worth it❤️

Picture 1-4. Sassy with double crests, ridge and swirls.
Picture 5. Sassy with her double crested son Tufs. Unfortunally I don’t have better pictures of him because he didn’t survive.
Picture 6. Sassys litter. The two to the right are Troll and Tufs with double crests.
Picture 7-8. Troll was rexed and had double crests and rosettes. Because both rexed coat and rosettes hide crests it isn’t very visible.
Picture 9. Länken with double crests, ridge and long coat.
Picture 10. Magica with double crests.
Picture 11. Trubbel with an over eye rosette.
Picture 12. Visst with an over eye rosette.
Picture 13. An abyssinian with nose rosettes. Not my picture.