I had been tossing the idea of getting a 4th guinea pig for awhile, and that idea was entertained further when I came across a Phoenix craigslist ad from a breeder nearby who had some guinea pigs for sale. I inquired about them via text, but at that time she only had boys left and I wanted a girl (I won't be breeding guinea pigs, never not ever). She mentioned that she planned on having another litter ready around Christmas time, so I told her to keep me updated. Well early November I got a text from her letting me know that she had 4 baby girl piggies needing a good home, and that I could come pick one out. So I caved to my desire for just one more piggy and went to her home (about 15 minutes from our house) to pick out a tiny, noisy, Abyssinian baby girl guinea pig. I didn't bring her home that day because she was still too young and needed to be with her mommy. I was actually sent pictures of the available piggies, and I saw hers and wanted her. Luckily, she was still available when I got there! There was another nice little girl piggy that I was considering, but she had red eyes, and I'm just not a fan of red eyed-pig; they kinda freak me out. I had to wait another week for my chosen guinea pig to be ready to be picked up (they need to stay with their moms for 3 weeks). I could hardly wait that whole week, I was so excited!
Minnie's picture that her breeder sent me
Minnie (circled) with her mommy and her brothers and sisters
The week passed quickly enough-as they always seem to do-and the time had come to pick up my piggy! I paid $30 for her, which is cheaper than the pet stores. I brought a box and she squealed all the way home, I felt bad for her since she was used to being with her family and not alone in a scary box with scary sounds, but she was soon to meet her new family, aka herd! This new meeting of guinea pigs is called a "bonding". It usually goes very smoothly with females. And since Minnie was a baby, it went quite since she's automatically placed at the bottom of the "totem pole" for being a baby (a baby wouldn't dare fight any other big pig for dominance). I put her in our bathroom, and then brought in the rest of the herd so that they could meet in a neutral area (i.e., not their cage). I hid in the bathtub because I really wanted to watch! The other pigs accepted her right away, although they did seem to chase her around the cage for the first week or so.
Her full name is Cinna-Minnie-Guinea. It took a few days to name her. We just call her Minnie though. She is so sweet and so happy! I've noticed a big difference in buying a guinea pig from a breeder vs a pet shop. I suppose it helps to have 3 older, seasoned guinea pigs to help her not be so scared. She was happy and content and not nearly as skittish as the first two we got. The first two just huddled and shivered with fear inside their huts for the first month we had them. Minnie was out popcorning and jumping off the huts the first week we had her, and she didn't seemed to mind went I came around. She's even better now (two months later). Also, I don't need to worry about ringworm, I never want to go through that again! Minnie has quite a strong personality, similar Skittles. She doesn't seem to mind too much being touched, although she's super wiggly when we hold her. And I might have mentioned that she is noisy! Definitely our noisiest, and I love it! I'm wondering if she'll challenge Skittles one day for the piggy throne. As of now, she has moved up the piggy totem pole, now Fluffers is at the bottom (Fluffers may be a mildly retarded piggy, I'm starting to believe). We love this little piggy and I'm glad I got her. She has doubled her weight since we got her and continues to grow. Minnie has fulfilled any and all desires I have for acquiring a new guinea pig. As it is, I'm barely keeping up with cleaning up the mass amounts of turds they pop out every minute or so. So....definitely no more guinea pigs for us! In fact, I was offered a cute, sweet, and FREE guinea pig the other day and I had to turn her down.
Piggy meet n greet
My selfie with my new girl!
Enjoying time with her new family
Lap time. She is so noisy!
She was so tiny! She's grown so much since then
Fun pictures with the guinea pigs and how the new little one fits in with the bigger ones!
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