Lily--the GP

[mishellyshel]

Here are pix of Lily, the Guinea Pig I am currently watching. Unfortunately it will only be temporary. My stepson's mom wants her back, even though she does not take very good care of here.
the first pic is when she first got here, the litter on the bottom is carefresh white.....it was caked with urine & feces. she had NO water or food for several days.
the next pic is of her in the cage i put her in because the little one she came in was SO, SO dirty. I am currently hunting craigslist to see if i can find her a bigger cage (i use mine for chin rescue)
the last pic is of her cute little face. she never had fresh veggies, so when i gave her some romaine & a couple pieces of carrott she nearly jumped for joy. and the the hay.......oh she loves the hay!

 

[InkedupTara]

Awe! Look at her sweet face!!!!!!!!

 

[addictedtochins]

She looks pretty good considering her bad care. I hope you can keep or re-home her. I think they can chew on the chinnies wood also. Oh and get a pink salt ring

 

[Laurie]

She is a sweet looking girlie! I hope things change and you can keep her Shel! We had Artie for a long time and he was a sweet cute little pig

 

[menagerie]

Poor Lily, she is a cutie.

She looks pretty good considering her bad care. I hope you can keep or re-home her. I think they can chew on the chinnies wood also. Oh and get a pink salt ring

Guinea pigs do not need salt rings, most animals don't. I don't care that they sell them at pet stores, they are crap for most of the animals that they are marketed towards.

 

[addictedtochins]

Ok, just wondering, what animals do need salt? Horses?

 

[mishellyshel]

i think she has good intentions & wants to learn how to take care of her.......but just like with her children i have to provide her with the tools! seriously.
i am going to hold on to her for the week and try & look for a new cage. gonna go buy her pine bedding & use the money i save for better food.
also, will give her some of my chins wood, although lily doesnt seem to like wood??
everything that was purchased for her was that super pet stuff, like the colored & shaped veggies and fruit and that pack of super pet kebab wood.
i did give her a 1/2 of a chewable vitamin C tab, but I am not sure if she ate it & i got some different veggies to try with her.
i am going to write out a care sheet and hopefully she will follow it. but i am also going to have her son (who is now living with us) beg her when he is with her for spring break, to let us keep Lily. I do want to try & bathe her cause she needs it, so i have to read up on that!

 

[eroomlorac]

I would offer to buy the guinea pig off her. He is absolutely adorable. I can't tell you how much I enjoy my guinea pigs and I enjoy their squeaking at me.

 

[tunes]

Ok, just wondering, what animals do need salt? Horses?

I don't offer the horses salt blocks, but I do throw mineral blocks in the pasture every now and again, mostly when it's a drought year and the grass isn't at it's best.

 

[CTChin]

She's adorable.
I would have a hard time giving her back. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that bedding needs to be changed when it becomes black.

 

[menagerie]

I do want to try & bathe her cause she needs it, so i have to read up on that!

Here's a video some of the Wee Companions guinea pig people put together to demonstrate bathing guinea pigs and another for nail trimming.

 

[tkc1038]

aww she looks so sweet, good luck with her she looks good and I am sure with a bath she will feel so much better . Once you hear the "weeeeek" for some attention it is hard to resist.
I just rescued a GP from a house that had him in a hampster cage, and fed him Rabbit food because it was "cheaper" from Walmart,no vegies and a hampster size water bottle, these little guys can adapt so well and I am sure Lily will benefit from the love you give her.
p.s I never use those salt wheels as long as they get a high quality food, good veggies. Vit C, hay, they dont need to have the salt.

 

[Sandi]

Aw Michelle, she is so cute! I'm glad that you have her at least temporarily. Maybe seeing her so much happier and clean, she'll try to keep her that way? Well, at least I'm hoping she will.

 

[lauralynne]

What a doll baby!

 

[mishellyshel]

hasn't worked with her children so i doubt it will with a pet! lol she hardly feeds her children, so to expect her to have fresh fruits & vegetables in the house is an unreasonable request. which i am trying to get her to stay here. but as usual she is jealous of me so out of spite she will probably subject the pet to her inadequate care.
ok off my soapbox on that issue...........

i can not believe the amount of hay guinea pigs eat!!! and how much they drink. oh and how much bigger their poop is!!
she is fun.....it is kinda fun to make her a salad every night. i try some new things in small quantities to find out what she likes & doesnt like.
here is a little picture i took of the "salad" i made her. its probably not enough but i wanted to start off small.

 

[Sandi]

here is a little picture i took of the "salad" i made her. its probably not enough but i wanted to start off small.

Yum! I want one!

 

[jrosler04]

I know this thread is over a week old, but wanted to comment. Guinea pigs reallly don't chew wood like chinchillas do. They prefer to chew on food! LOL

They should ALWAYS have pellets (plain with no seeds or junk in it) & hay available.
If she is over a year old, she should have timothy based pellets, and under a year old, alfalfa based.

As far as the veggies go, limit carrots. Would you like a link to a safe/unsafe guinea pig shopping list (for veggies etc?).

I am a moderator of a Well known guinea pig forum, have been a member there for about 7 or 8 years now. I also do guinea pig rescue. They were my first "rodent passion"!! I have 1 currently who I plan to show once he gets older!!

 

[mishellyshel]

thanks! i put a nice piece of apple wood in there in she didnt touch it! she does get
unlimited hay and pellets. as far as the carrots. she get 1/2 to 1 baby carrot a day, not the whole big carrot, plus a mix of other veggies & fruits & several big pieces of romaine.
the fruits may total a tablespoon or less, the other veggies total 1 - 2 tablespoons.

i took her out last night for the first time and she just stood there. she didnt know what to do. i felt so bad because she probably has never been out of her cage. i held her and pet her for over 10 minutes. if you have any tips to encourage her to play i would love to hear them! you can post here or pm me any information you can type!

and sure i would love a website. some of the ladies told me to check out guinealynx which i did to make sure i didnt give her any bad fruits & vege.

i would love to keep her, so maybe i will join a forum to get some tips. she does need her nails clipped & i am SO afraid i am going to make her bleed!

 

[jrosler04]

are her nails dark or light colored?? if they are light you can see the clips, but IF they are dark, a cool trick I learned is to have someone hold a flashlight under the nail & it helps to show the quick.

I am not a member of Guinealynx... I am on www.caviesgalore.com/forums There is a "guinea pig shopping list" there under cavy chat here is the direct link (but not sure if it will work w/o joining.)

http://www.caviesgalore.com/forums/announcement.php?f=1

CG is a family friendly site.. and we work hard to keep it that way.

 

[mishellyshel]

So......I got a text message from my step sons mom indicating that she wanted Lily back.
It wasnt until that moment that I realized how much I enjoy having her, so when tears came to my eyes, i knew I had to find a way to keep her.
after about 10 text messages asking her if she had enough money to buy the 13 dollars a bag food that she will only eat and the ridiculous amount of hay she eats & if she has money and time to buy and prepare vegetables, oh and told her that the one son she claims wants Lily back doesnt even pay attention to her but the son that lives with us and has Lily in his room talks to her every night and helps with her.........after ALL that, she said "you know what, just keep her"!
so Lily stays with us. yay. just wanted to share with fellow pet lovers who cant bear to see little ones live in squalor.