>want a guinea pig
>their faces are too cute
>look at lifespan
>only 5 years
>literally tear up just thinking about it
apparently people buy a new one every 2-3 years, but I'm not sure if I can mentally handle "replacing" them.
Should I face my demons and buy one or should I not bother?
Wait till you see how long some inverts live
>t.mantis guy
;_;
>looks up a moronic rodent
>"durr it's only 5 years"
>doesn't know the smartest rodent only lives for 5 years
maybe a homosexual cat is more up your alley
I have multiple guinea pigs. The brown one on the picture was some kind of inbread and died when about 4.5 years old. She had all sorts of health problems and I took her to a vet pretty much every year. In the end, she developed cancer. Lymphoma, which as far as I know is not that painful of a death. I got her some expensive medication to make her remaining days as pleasant as possible but it was still heartbreaking seeing her being slower and slower each day. She wasn't acting differently, she was acting normaly, just more slowly.
She was the smartest guinea pig I had. All I had to do was to put my hands in her cage and she would climb on them like they were a fork lift and was fine with being picked up like that. She was also completely silent and didn't squeak at all. I still visit her grave every day.
The white one is still alive. She got new buddy and is doing fine. Never had any health problems and is now about 5 years old.
It's amazing how such a small, dumb animals can differ so much in personality. Some nip on my hands when I carry them, some don't. Some tug on my shirt when they are about to pee and some just piss all over me without warning.
I even have one pig who uses the food bowl as a toilet and refuses to shit anywhere else.
And one small tip. If the squeaks annoy you, give a piece of vegetable to your pigs every time you enter the room, depending on how often that is (small piece if it's very often). They will learn that they don't have to scream to get food and stay silent. Worked for all of my pigs.
>adopt orange guinea pig from shelter
>shelter staff told me he would only live to be 2.5-3 years because the owner bought him from Petsmart which has horrible inbreeding practices
>get him a brown friend from a rescue that was apparently privately inbred by an animal hoarder
>research how to care for them properly
>feel like a shitty owner because I would get lazy about cleaning their cage and have to buy cheap $4 kaytee slop now and then instead of oxbow food because I couldn't feed myself
>both are dead now, but lived to be 8.5 years old
What probably kept mine alive for so long was that I fed them a lot of fresh food daily and gave them the oxbow vitamin supplements. And also the fact that they had company. I didn't have any other pets and my roommates were quiet (no kids).
Don't assume they are low cost or low maintenance pets, though. Bedding itself costs a fortune, like $40 a week unless you potty train them (mine were too dumb). If you don't clean the cage at least once per week, you will not be excited how many pests their cage will attract. They aren't very affectionate and will resist you trying to pick them up for the first year or two that you own them. They bite sometimes and have their individual spots where they hate being touched.
I think they are worth it as pets, especially considering how every animal shelter is littered with them so they are always available to buy outside a commercial pet store. They were put in the shelter for a reason, though. People believed online clickbait articles talking about how "low maintenance" and "affordable" they are (kek) and saw the cute faces thinking they will be cuddly fluff balls, only to find they scream and try to run when picked upn and can't be held on someone's lap longer than 10 minutes without being pissed/shat on.
had a friend who kept guinea pigs and they were extremely annoying
they were neglected by him and his gf
they constantly smelled like shit and ammonia
anytime you would enter their area the SMELL would hit you immediately an absolutely tear jerking odor and that god forbidden squeaking at any disturbance
open the door?
>SQUEAK EKK EKK
move your chair?
>EKK EKK EKK
I think he finally surrendered them to a shelter but whenever people mention guinea pigs to me I get vietnam flashbacks don't let my tale stop you from getting some pigs though I'm sure with proper care they're not such a nuisance
Ugh, I hate having to live in a no pets allowed place, I want guinea pigs so much.
(OP) #
>want a guinea pig
Two piggers at least. They need a friend.
>their faces are too cute
Every part of them is too cute, just what they are.
>look at lifespan
Look at my five year old guineas. They’re kinda elderly but still very strong and active.
>only 5 years
At LEAST 5 years, they typically go to 8 or so. They live longer than many (very badly bread) large breed dogs, it’s a pretty decent lifespan.
>literally tear up just thinking about it
https://m.youtube.com/shorts/PzXtqP2sD-k
If people are buying new guineas every 2-3 years they or their breeders are doing something VERY wrong! Where did you get that figure, are you thinking of rats instead? Here’s some tips:
-More than one pig!
-Big homemade pen, at least 10 square feet, not tiny pet store cage. They don’t climb so it doesn’t need to be much.
-Drive out to the country and get horse hay by the bale, pet store hay is too expensive.
-Some combination of washable fleece and paper bedding
-Hay, pellets, and water all the time, fresh treat once a day. Fresh treat can be grazing on the lawn if practical, or even a big handful of tasty weeds from the ditch.
>They don’t climb so it doesn’t need to be much.
Not him, but how high are we talking?
In Germany they are called Meerschweinchen, sea piggies
Ginnie pigg
just start a farm and treat em well and eat em then you are the guinea pig
you care.. which makes you perfect for a piggy 🙂
do it!
calm down, they're just ugly moronic rodents
>guinea pigs
>not from guinea
>not pigs
What the frick were they thinking?
in Dutch they're called marmots, i like this name more
In France they're called cochons d'Inde, which means Indian pigs. Is this more accurate? I don't know
Make sure you don't keep their food in some multi-function place. My friend's pigger would WHEEK WHEEK WHEEK every time he opened his hallway wardrobe where he kept the food at the bottom next to his shoes.
what a homosexual
%3D%3D
Just do above and make a petting zoo.
WHEEK WHEEK WHEEK WHEEK WHEEK WHEEK WHEEK WHEEK WHEEK WHEEK WHEEK
just adopt, the petstore pigs get treated like shit and lots of these guys always get turned into shelters by normans after less than a year anyways. If you adopt a pair, you don't really have to feel bad about "replacing" them. they just need a home and I'm sure you can give them a longer and better life than they'd get otherwise.
picrel it is 2 of my piggers
your piggies are adorable anon.
>I'm sure you can give them a longer and better life than they'd get otherwise.
that puts things in better perspective. I want to spoil my pigs and give them the best life. thank you anon
thank you, the 2 in the picture are both dead now but I still have 3. I keep adopting more because it's good for them to have buddies, they're very social animals
check your local animal shelters and humane societies, don't mix males and females obviously. they are not the most intelligent creatures but they're always thankful to you in their own moron way for bringing them home.
t. shelter employee
God bless you anon.
Those who be good and kind to animals are literal angels walking the face of the earth.
I’m drinking one for all the Wauf sisters out there.
just smash with them with a sledgehammer, there, more room at the shelter
>they are not the most intelligent creatures but they're always thankful to you in their own moron way
what are some funny moron ways they have expressed it
rabbits are better anyway