Help me answer these questions, if possible.

[WaffleBox]

I am thinking of getting 1 or maybe 2 GP at mid august, I'm an inexperience one in GP, only experienced in hamsters. So, I'm thinking of gathering infos about them before buying.

1. Can I know if it is alright if i buy it at an old 'unofficial' pet store? I was thinking about 1 at Yishun, Chong Pang, near the POSB bank.

2. Is the difference between GP similar to cats? Like 'local' breed is the most common and most cheap? (Since, I'm new to them, Expensive one is out for me)

3. In total, how many breeds are there for GP? (label the prices if possible :X)

4. Will the female GP come menses when they are older? If yes, do they clean it themselves? (Ok, I know, I'm stupid)

I think thats all for what I need to know for now, if i miss out any important infos before getting one, please leave a reply too. Thanks.

Oh! Can some GP owners post the pictures of both long fur and short fur if you have? I want to see the difference, thanks alot!

[keelaine]

Originally Posted by WaffleBox

I am thinking of getting 1 or maybe 2 GP at mid august, I'm an inexperience one in GP, only experienced in hamsters. So, I'm thinking of gathering infos about them before buying.

1. Can I know if it is alright if i buy it at an old 'unofficial' pet store? I was thinking about 1 at Yishun, Chong Pang, near the POSB bank.
It's ok. coz mine is also from chong pang and I know which shop you are talking about.. hehe.. my mom told me they have a nice grey colour one over there. However the piggies might have mites on them so do treat them when you got them coz mine has mines when I bought her.


2. Is the difference between GP similar to cats? Like 'local' breed is the most common and most cheap? (Since, I'm new to them, Expensive one is out for me)
I'll answer question 2 and 3 together. list of breeds are as follows, Crested, coronet, texel, puruvian,etc. go to this website and you can see all the breeds.. http://exoticpets.about.com/od/guine...eapigcoats.htm
Prices of the pigs varies due to the shops that are selling it and where are they from. The cheapest one that I know of is the shop at chong pang which sells pigs from $35 onwards to $50. Other price range is from 70 to the most expensive one that I saw $188. Short hair breeds are selling at cheaper prize and long hair ones tend to be more expensive. For a start I suggest that you get a short hair breed just as american and crested piggies coz long hair breed requires much more grooming than short hair breeds.(trimming of it's fur)

3. In total, how many breeds are there for GP? (label the prices if possible :X)

4. Will the female GP come menses when they are older? If yes, do they clean it themselves? (Ok, I know, I'm stupid)
lol not to worry about this, you won't see any blood. Mine is a female. Basically you can tell whether your piggy is in heat or not coz there won't be an noticeable change.

I think thats all for what I need to know for now, if i miss out any important infos before getting one, please leave a reply too. Thanks.

Oh! Can some GP owners post the pictures of both long fur and short fur if you have? I want to see the difference, thanks alot!

To see the pictures, look through the post. examples pictures from piggies outing. You see a few of the breeds like abyssinian, coronet,sheltie and etc.

[keelaine]

Oops sorry it's can't for the answer to your question 4.

[WaffleBox]

Originally Posted by keelaine

Oops sorry it's can't for the answer to your question 4.

Thanks alot! The place, you buy, which i intend to, only have long furs or short one? And yea, I intended to buy a short hair one. About mites, I guess I have to wait till i really bought it and see, haha! But how do I know if it has mites? It will keep scratching?

Oh man, I dont have any friends with experience in GP, else can accompany me buy, so I can get the right gender and a healthy one. How much did you buy yours?

[WaffleBox]

Originally Posted by keelaine

Oops sorry it's can't for the answer to your question 4.

Thanks alot, got a few more questions that I just think of ><

Their furs will continue to grow? For both long furs and short furs.

Can GP be toilet train-ed? I don't want them to be like hamsters, pee on their beddings everywhere , making the whole cage smelly. And my mum will nag at me...

Do you have a photo of your GP's cage? I wanted to know what should be inside a standard cage. Thanks a lot! Again. ><

[keelaine]

Originally Posted by WaffleBox

Thanks alot, got a few more questions that I just think of ><

Their furs will continue to grow? For both long furs and short furs.

Can GP be toilet train-ed? I don't want them to be like hamsters, pee on their beddings everywhere , making the whole cage smelly. And my mum will nag at me...

Do you have a photo of your GP's cage? I wanted to know what should be inside a standard cage. Thanks a lot! Again. ><

Hehe they only have short hairs there.. most of the time are crested, american or abyssinian (seldom) pigs. I bought mine at $30.. guess now the shop owner increase the price to $35. Mites are pretty easy to see on white and black fur. They look like little speck of dust on the fur but no matter how you remove them, they can't be remove. You will be able to see them moving as well. Mine pig was chocolate colour and it was really difficult to see the mites on her at first. But once you are experienced in that, you will have no problem. For short hair breeds once their fur reach a certain length they will stop growing. But for long hair breeds, the fur will continue to grow. It's just like our hair.

Pigs cannot be toilet trained. Some can be but it's not 100%. They will still pee and poo somewhere. I have a triangular pee tray in the cage and mine pee and poo there most of the time but sometimes she will still pee and poo outside of it. However pigs are not as smelly as hamsters. Mine don't have much smell coming out from it. Every alternate day or so, I uncover the beddings that are wet and dry them and also change the wet beddings on the pee tray.

Eh mine piggy cage a bit messy now coz it's time to clean her cage today. Basically in the cage, you will need a water bottle. There are a few times of water bottles. One is those you use a bendable wire to attached the bottle to the cage. Go to pet lovers shop or other pets shop you see other types of bottles that allows you to spin and lock the bottle to the cage. So it depends on which bottle you want. My advice is don't get a bottle that is too small. Coz pigs do drink quite a lot of water. A food bowl for the pellets. Get those normal porcelain food bowl for a start and when you pig reach adulthood, get those where you can screw it to the cage and is off the ground. This is because when pigs are old enough, they will topple the porcelain bowl and spill the pellets. Get a hay rack to put the hay. You can also get a pee tray and also a small house, like those wooden ones or those colourful plastic pieces where you can piece them together to form a house. Pigs feel safer when they have somewhere to hide when they are scare.

If you need other help feel free to ask more questions