 Hey everyone welcome back to the tiny herd where we talk about everyday pet care for getting pigs rabbits and other small pets I had asked you guys over on my Instagram and here in the community tab on YouTube for your questions and Today I'm going to be going through and answering all the questions you guys sent me So thank you so much for sending so many. This is going to be a long video So let's go ahead and jump right into these questions today I did just want to show you the pets a little bit before we get started So you can see them there, but let's go ahead and get to answering some of these questions All right, so the first question is how long have you had guinea pigs? So I have had guinea pigs for the past six years recently, so I got the girls in July of almost six years ago, so they will be six years old in July I did also have guinea pigs when I was younger I had three guinea pigs when I was like in middle school and I think I had them for three or four years So I did have them when I was younger, but most recently I have had them for the past six years I started with two and now I am up to six Next question is do I have a favorite pig? So they're all gonna have to cover their ears since we're sitting in the pet room, but Personality-wise, no, I do not have a favorite pig, but I Absolutely love Texels ever since I found out what a Texel guinea pig was I wanted one so actual cuteness wise Johnny pig is my favorite I just absolutely love his little curly whiskers and he looks like he has a little smushed face just the way his fur is and I just love their curly fur so Personality-wise no overall. I do not have a favorite pig But I just really really love his pattern and his his coloring and his whiskers and his fur I just I really love the Texels. So what is my dream amount of piggies? Honestly, I would say where I'm at right now with personal guinea pigs is about my dream number. I don't know I Could maybe have another pair, but this is about my limit on what I have time to take care of I am actually going to be up to seven soon because we have a pig We are going to be trying with Georgie since he is alone. I do want to really find him a friend I really think he would benefit from a friend. So we will have seven hopefully soon But this really is my ideal number of guinea pigs. I love having them all and I think it's a Good number that I'm able to take care of with vet bills and all of that So I'd say where I'm at now is my dream number of piggies. Next question is how are you guys that cute? I don't know how they're that cute. They just are guinea pigs are the best Okay So the next two questions have to do with my plans for my animal rescue one day if you don't know what I'm planning on do with that just briefly my life goal is to Eventually open a rescue and sanctuary for guinea pigs rabbits all the small exotics So, you know small pets hamsters guinea pigs all of that So the first question is will you eventually have to move to have room for the animal sanctuary? Or do you plan to keep it small? My plan is to initially run it out of our house We have a fully finished basement and there is a really big room in our basement that we are Planning to redo and turn into kind of the place for all the animals So we can have a good number in there and we would just limit our intake to keep it small My ultimate dream is to buy some land and build a building that would be Set up to be a rescue. That would be my ultimate dream and I I Hope one day we can make it happen. If you guys are familiar with the pipsqueakery I have them on Instagram and basically what they're doing is what I would love to do I follow them all the time because I love to see what they're doing and learn from what their Experiences and what they're doing because that is really what I would love to do just in my area Okay, the next question is do you plan to sell rescued animals or just rescue and keep as pets? So I'm planning on when I start my rescue rescuing Militating and then adopting out to good homes But when I adopt out my plan is going to be to have them send me an application and photos And I will have to approve their setup and all of that So it's not going to be it's gonna be more in-depth than it even an animal shelter You do have to apply it an animal shelter But I want to see pictures and I want to make sure that they're going to a good home And ideally I would like to do a little mini like pet care class that they have to do before they can adopt So I am going to bring them in and send them out to new homes just because I don't it's not practical to Keep them all and I can definitely help and rescue way more if they're coming in and going out All right next question is do you plan on keeping animals for your lifetime and yes? I love animals. I always joke that I like animals way more than I like people I love guinea pigs and rabbits and and that kind of Animal care and we do have a dog, but I don't know that we will get another one So I I totally plan on having animals for the duration of my life Especially if we start our rescue next question is how big do you personally think guinea pig enclosure should be? So I will link down below to the chart for standard cage sizes for guinea pigs I think they need to have at least the minimum CNC CNC cage size even if it's not a CNC cage That's a good sizing to go off of so a 2 by 4 CNC cage is the minimum size for a pair of guinea pigs I think the bigger you can go the better I can see firsthand the difference between my girls started out in a 2 by 4 and they're currently in a 2 by 8 I think And they love it you can totally see a difference in their personality They will talk to each other a ton more. They'll bop around I they are so much happier the bigger cage you can give them So I definitely do not recommend pet store cages and I definitely recommend building your own or getting a CNC cage Ooh, I like this one describe each pet with one word So I'm gonna try to put up a picture of each pet on the screen as I do this so Lily I would say is Tocative Callie is dramatic Bell is a brat in a good way Georgie is outgoing I would say Junebug is I need a word for like attention seeking I don't want to use outgoing again I'm gonna do attention seeking since that's hyphenated And then Johnny is timid Or Johnny I'm gonna say gentle Because he's he's timid but In a gentle way not in a scared way Yeah, so there's my words for each big Okay, next question is what is your favorite veggie to get for the pigs? What is their favorite veggie? So everyone's favorite veggie is definitely radicchio Except for the little babes I would say they like carrots But everybody loves radicchio and I'm not able to get it that often because our grocery here In town doesn't have it so I have to buy it in the town where I work So they all love that My favorite veggie to buy for them is probably radicchio just because they don't get it very much They all also really love tomatoes So I would say their favorite veggie is also tomatoes Next question is How do you pay for vet bills with all of your pets? This is a really good question So I have a savings account that is just for my pets So I put money into it every time they get paid so that when somebody needs to go to the vet I have it ready to go So that is really my biggest recommendation for paying for vet bills Is to plan ahead and have a vet fund You also can get pet insurance I don't know if it's cost effective I think it's through nationwide It was not cost effective for the number of animals that I have It was going to be way cheaper for me to just pay for it outright Pay for it out of pocket and just save up So I do have six guinea pigs, two rabbits, and we do have a dog And we have the three mice now So for all of them I generally keep about a thousand dollars set aside Because when one person has to go to the vet It ends up being something else happens as well So I like to keep as much as possible in there A thousand is usually good for the number of pets that I have And for how much vet services cost in my area Because it can depend on that as well So figure out what you're comfortable with based on the number of animals that you have And the prices in your area on what you should have set aside and saved for your pets The next question is Why are you the best YouTuber for me? I don't know, but I really appreciate that you guys leave such great comments And that you like my videos I love making these videos I love sharing my pets and my pet care So it means a lot to me that you guys really enjoy my videos So I don't have an answer for you, but thank you for being so nice Okay, next is How long did it take the guinea pig who took longest to bond with you? So this one's a little tricky to answer Because none of my guinea pigs will let me pet them That's just not how they are They are all tame, like they know I'm not going to hurt them They're not scared of me They'll take food from my hand So taming-wise, it's not like I can pet them in the cage Like you see with some people's guinea pigs That's just the personality of my pigs The one that took the longest is definitely Johnny Because he's still pretty timid He'll still run away if you come in the room And he suddenly sees you He's just a very timid natured pig I don't know their backstory, but they were babies when I got him So even from the beginning, him being young June, his sister that lives with him She's super tame, she has no issues She doesn't let you pet her, but she doesn't have problems being handled She likes to sit on your lap, she'll take food from you He's still very timid and it's very gentle when he takes snacks from you Sometimes he just doesn't want to take snacks from you So definitely Johnny, he's just a little timid gentleman Next question is, how does owning more pets than the average Joe Impact your day to day life in addition to working a normal job? So definitely time I love having pets That's really what I want to do with my free time I love taking care of them, I love having them So really it's taking the time out of my life to take care of them Having more animals than most people really just means I have to spend more time taking care of them than most people And like I mentioned before, setting aside money For their needs and paying for their monthly costs So really I would say that's the biggest thing, time and money To me I kind of look at it as some people want to have kids And some people like me have animals instead So I really just make sure to plan and divide my time Between what I have to do at work and what I have to do at home And what I need to do with the pets So really if you're trying to juggle all of those things You kind of just have to prioritize your time on what is most important And what needs to be done the soonest What advice would you give a new guinea pig owner that you wish you knew before? Definitely do your research Because I had guinea pigs when I was younger And I did a lot of research Because I had to convince my parents that I really wanted them But I didn't really have the internet back then I had books and none of the books that are out on guinea pigs are super great So I would say watching videos Learning as much as you can about guinea pig care Before you get the animal so that you can give them the best care from the beginning Also make sure you're giving them the correct diet That is a huge thing when it comes to making sure they're happy and healthy So make sure you have high quality hay, high quality pellets And giving them veggies that are healthy for them every day So that's my best advice is make sure before you bring your pet home That you do research and you know what they need Okay, next up is do you have a job if you do, does it involve animals? I do have a job, no it does not involve animals I am a CPA which is a certified public accountant So I work with money, numbers and on a computer all day It has nothing to do with animals Which is kind of crazy when I think about it But that's what I do If you could change one thing about guinea pigs, what would it be? This is kind of a tricky one I would say I would wish that they were more easily litter trained If guinea pigs could be more easily litter trained I think that would make a huge difference in how adequate of care they get By the general owner, the average owner Because all of us here on YouTube that watch guinea pig videos Know, oh we're going to spot clean every day We're going to make sure their cage is clean, their fleece is clean But I think if it was more well known that they could be litter trained Because I'm not going to say guinea pigs can be litter trained They absolutely can Some guinea pigs are very smart, they could be litter box trained Just in my experience with my pigs it's not very easy Especially if you're not home during the day to kind of do that training with them They're definitely not as easy to litter box train as rabbits are So if they were easily litter box trained I think it would make a huge difference in them getting good care by the average owner Okay, what was your first pet? My first pet was definitely a goldfish We had a tank with a goldfish when I was really young So I mean, if you're considering my first pet that I got for myself as an adult It would be Bell and Cali, my two original female guinea pigs But my first pet of my life was a goldfish My first pet that I actively wanted and asked for was a hamster Which I got for my 8th birthday And who definitely didn't have a very good life Because he lived in a little critter trail And I didn't know anything about him because I was a kid So that's kind of a compound answer probably more than you wanted The second part to that question was do you plan on getting any more animals? The short answer for personal animals is no We are going to get Georgia a friend But other than that I'm not really planning on getting any more animals Other than maybe fish I'm getting kind of into fishkeeping But that is a little bit different than having guinea pigs or rabbits or anything like that It's more of water upkeep than direct animal upkeep It's just different to me and it's a lot easier for me with fish tanks Than adding on work guinea pigs So the short answer is no Just a friend for Georgie not planning on adding anything besides that In the future like I've mentioned rescue wise That's not necessarily pets But we will be getting more animals when we are able to start the rescue The next question The first part I already answered what's your ideal number of piggies The second part is what is your favorite guinea pig product that you own? That's a good question Favorite guinea pig product I'm going to answer that in two parts First I'm going to say my favorite guinea pig product that I talk about all the time That I buy which is more of a supply than a product is I absolutely love KMS Haloff's bluegrass hay Their hay is super high quality Everyone loves it Meaning all the pets love it And I've never had an issue with it So I highly recommend it They have Timothy Hay as well I'm just super allergic to it So my pets eat bluegrass But I highly recommend that I'll link it down below My favorite general guinea pig product that I own I would say is my fleece Which is that's a product We're going to count that as a product Fleece bedding is totally a game changer for me I don't want to be buying bedding constantly So making it myself and having it reusable And washable is awesome So I would say fleece definitely is my favorite guinea pig product Okay Alright the next question is again a two part question Thank you guys for giving me so many questions What is your favorite wild animal? I'm going to say giraffes I love giraffes I worked at a zoo for a little while And I absolutely loved walking through And getting to see the giraffes every day So favorite wild animal I'm going to say giraffes What is my favorite domesticated animal? Favorite domesticated animal I'm going to say bunnies Because I just Having the bunnies is so different They're so smart It's kind of like having cats that are not jerks That's what I tell people about having bunnies And then if they're like Oh I want to get a bunny Then I tell them how destructive bunnies are But oh look here comes a Mikey I really, you guys can't see him As I'm talking about bunnies Mikey just ran in He's down there I definitely would say rabbits Having them has been so different Than any other animal I've owned And they're so affectionate And so like outgoing And want to interact with humans And I just think it's really awesome So they're probably my favorite domesticated animal Okay I think I only have two questions left So how can I properly entertain And enrich my piglet's lives No videos seem to help much So I should do a video on this then But how to properly entertain And enrich your piggy's lives First I would say Make sure that they have a really good diet And I know that's not necessarily like Entertainment and enrichment But piggies love veggies So giving them veggies Is definitely, Mikey's going to shake my camera Michael Bun What are you doing? Please don't throw it like you did last time And I also can shrink Mikey So piggies love veggies So if you hide a treat in their cage That can definitely be a good way to enrich them Hiding treats Giving them things like You can stuff a toilet paper roll with hay And then they have to pull it all out Also making sure they have chew toys So my guinea pigs love love love willow So I'll get them willow toys And they love to chew those up And that's good for them as well to wear down their teeth Make sure they have plenty of hay Because they love to just eat hay And then also doing floor time Is a good way to give them enrichment Especially if they don't have a huge cage Giving them floor time Will let them smell new things Get out and explore a new area And kind of just stretch their legs in a new place And it also will kind of hone their instincts A little bit Because usually when you put them in a new place They have to kind of feel it out And see what they think So that can be kind of something That gets them interested in their surroundings And gets them out of the normal routine Of just being in their cage all the time So I think those are probably my top tips on enrichment I'll put that on my list to do a video as well And then this question kind of goes along with that one How often should you do floor time with piggies If you have a really large CNC cage What's a good setup for floor time For the best enrichment So that is a really good question I'm going to tell you about how I used to do floor time When I lived in my apartment Because it was really great We had a sliding screen door And we would set up the guinea pig enclosure So that it was against the screen door And we just would use grids to set it up And put the grids along the screen So that they could get to smell the outdoors Without being outdoors Because in my apartment it wasn't safe for them to be outdoors But when we were sitting there watching them With the screen door open It was much safer and it was much better So they got to smell the outdoors Walk around, get some fresh air Get some sunshine So if you have the ability to do that That's really great Setting up floor time for enrichment I would just say try to make it Really different from their cage So try using different hideys Or use household things to make hideys Make places for them to hide That are safe of course Try to just make it very different From their cage environment And give them as many things to explore as possible If you hide treats And that sort of thing during floor time as well That can help them associate floor time With it being a fun thing And like a positive experience Because some getting pigs can be really timid When you first put them out So making it like a nice relaxing exploration time That gets them out of their cage And lets them stretch their legs even more Is really my best recommendation Make it very different from their cage And give them things to sniff and look at And check out As for the best amount of floor time For if you have really large cage Honestly You probably don't need to do floor time very much If you have a very large cage Floor time A lot of times is recommended If guinea pigs live in bare minimum size So like Georgie lives in a 2x4 by himself When I add a friend to him We are gonna up his cage size But it's still going to be It'll be a little bit above the minimum But it'll be pretty close to the minimum So when I have guinea pigs in minimum cage sizes I tend to do floor time more often Than the girls that are 3 pigs in a 2x8 But that being said Floor time is great for enrichment So if you want to give your pigs things to do Keep them interested And keep them you know Just happy and healthy I think giving them regular floor time Outside their cage Is just a nice fun thing to do with them Not necessarily because they absolutely need Exercise or anything like that So that's kind of a judgment call Of how much time you have to do floor time And what kind of space you have I will say when I had the girls originally In their smaller plexiglass part of their cage I used to block off the pet room floor I can't do this now because I have the bunnies But I used to block off the pet room floor And just let them roam Which was a lot of fun So there's a lot of ways that you can give them Some time to explore without having to Have an elaborate setup It's really just about letting them into A new space and getting them out of their cage Alright and we're going to end on The last question Your thoughts on Petco and PetSmart I could have I'm going to do a whole video on this Because I have a lot of thoughts But to say it short and sweet I do not shop at PetSmart or Petco And I really don't shop at Chewy Because they are owned by PetSmart I will occasionally shop at Chewy Because it's just the most convenient place To get some things that we need But overall I do not shop at either of those I will buy fish supplies at Petco Because they have the best, the better In my area our Petco Has significantly better pet care than PetSmart Our Petco honestly has pretty decent care They don't have wire wheels for their hamsters They have the flying saucer ones They make sure Guinea pigs have hay So I know that it can be location specific Since they're owned by different people When it comes to Petco and PetSmart But in general I don't shop there Because I don't approve of their animal care I don't really like that they sell animals And my personal choice is to not give them my business Since I disagree with their animal care Also PetSmart and Petco both sell a ton of things That are not safe or healthy for the animals that they sell They sell dog food that's not safe for dogs So I don't really get that I know it's a business but you're a pet store So why don't you sell healthy things But that's just my short and sweet overview I am planning to do a video on this in the future And go more into depth on why But that's just my personal choice to not shop there I know a lot of people don't have the option That's the only place they can shop And I'm not saying that you shouldn't shop there That's just my personal choice that I don't agree with their care So I choose not to spend my money there If I can help it So there's a lot of great online stores Where you can find things So that is the last question guys Thank you so much for giving me all those questions I hope that helped you learn a little bit more about us And get to know the channel Thank you guys again so much for 1000 subscribers I'm glad we got to do this video For you guys right after So that you can get to know me And with all the new subscribers You guys can just learn more about me And I hope you stick around So thank you guys so much And I will see you guys in the next video Bye