Post by Pepper on May 24, 2016 7:31:41 GMT
Hello - I am a new member to the forum, but I am pigless (lol). I had guinea pigs as a child (even raised a litter), but as it turned out, my mother became allergic to my piggies, resulting in severe asthma attacks, and I had to rehome them. Even doing my laundry made her ill. 
Now that I am elderly (58) -- ha ha -- I still miss my piggies and long to have them again. My mother is still alive and well at 84, but she doesn't spend as much time at my home that I think it would be a problem; if I get pigs again, I have a spare bedroom I would keep them in, both to give my mother some space when she visits, and to protect the pigs from my cats.
I have some planning to do in the area of caging because of the cats; of course, we would plan to keep the door closed, but mistakes happen -- so I want to find a cage that is "cat proof".
I also have a "past" that includes showing Holland Lop (dwarf) rabbits and Border Terrier dogs; I no longer have the rabbits, but still have several dogs that we love dearly. One is still active in showing in Obedience and is also a certified Therapy Dog. I hurt my back in a fall doing Agility with another dog (twisted vertibrae) and can no longer do a lot of things that require me to be on my feet for long periods of time, but I miss showing "something"... so I am questioning in my mind if I can handle showing/breeding cavies. Certainly not on the scale that I did rabbits, but it is something I am considering -- do I want to try this as a hobby or just take on two pets? And which variety will suit me?
So I joined the forum to learn, re-learn, and find out if there are any breeders near me. Sounds as if this is mainly a UK group --- but I am quite accustomed to UK people because of my dogs --- they originated in the "border" between Scotland and England, a more common breed there than here, and I even imported a dog from a UK breeder.
On a personal note, I have been married for 35 years (my hubby just retired; he is 11 yrs. my senior), have 3 step kids, a daughter (30) a son (25), and two grandchildren --- who are perfect, of course: a girl (9) and a boy (6). We also have a large vegetable garden that I'm sure any piggies would enjoy what we raise.
Now that I am elderly (58) -- ha ha -- I still miss my piggies and long to have them again. My mother is still alive and well at 84, but she doesn't spend as much time at my home that I think it would be a problem; if I get pigs again, I have a spare bedroom I would keep them in, both to give my mother some space when she visits, and to protect the pigs from my cats.
I have some planning to do in the area of caging because of the cats; of course, we would plan to keep the door closed, but mistakes happen -- so I want to find a cage that is "cat proof".
I also have a "past" that includes showing Holland Lop (dwarf) rabbits and Border Terrier dogs; I no longer have the rabbits, but still have several dogs that we love dearly. One is still active in showing in Obedience and is also a certified Therapy Dog. I hurt my back in a fall doing Agility with another dog (twisted vertibrae) and can no longer do a lot of things that require me to be on my feet for long periods of time, but I miss showing "something"... so I am questioning in my mind if I can handle showing/breeding cavies. Certainly not on the scale that I did rabbits, but it is something I am considering -- do I want to try this as a hobby or just take on two pets? And which variety will suit me?
So I joined the forum to learn, re-learn, and find out if there are any breeders near me. Sounds as if this is mainly a UK group --- but I am quite accustomed to UK people because of my dogs --- they originated in the "border" between Scotland and England, a more common breed there than here, and I even imported a dog from a UK breeder.
On a personal note, I have been married for 35 years (my hubby just retired; he is 11 yrs. my senior), have 3 step kids, a daughter (30) a son (25), and two grandchildren --- who are perfect, of course: a girl (9) and a boy (6). We also have a large vegetable garden that I'm sure any piggies would enjoy what we raise.
