Beetlejuice

The kids and I made a trip to our local BIG shopping centre this morning. This also happens to the the place where one of the best pet stores for good quality guinea pigs is located. So we did our shopping, then decided to check out the pet store. Sure enough, there was one gorgeous little fuzz-ball boy.



After holding him for just a moment, I decided he needed to come home with us! He is so placid, and so calm and SO soft! And after giving him the once-over back at home, it looks like he's got about 10 rosettes hidden under all that fur!



He's definitely a longer-coated pig than the usual abyssinian, and they estimated his age at 6-8 weeks. My guess is probably 6 weeks, as he's not a big boy and only weighed 290g. I'm SO excited to see how this little guy develops. I love surprise finds like this! And I can only say good things about that pet shop. The pigs are always immaculate, and they ask all the right questions before they let you adopt them. I know pet shops often get a bad wrap, but these guys are the exception for sure!

(oh, and how much does he look like Ginger's baby girl 'Grace'!?)

Piggy Updates and weights

Here's this weeks weigh in, for Sunday the 4th September 2011:
(this week everyone (except the little babies) were treated with ivermectin as a preventative worming/lice method, especially with the weather warming up, and with the addition of newbies!)

*** Liam's Love Shack ***
Liam is 890g (gained 5g) - 22wks (5.5m)
Ruby is 985g (gained 70g) - 24wks (6m)


*** Sprout's Pad ***
Sprout is 765g (gained 25g) - 21wks (5m)
Kobe is 835g (gained 35g) - 27wks (6.5m)


*** Girl's Mansion ***
Alba is 835g (gained 30g) - 27wks (6.5m)
Alice is 965g (gained 100g) - 29wks (7m) (pregnant, due approx 1/10/11)
Beeno is 890g (gained 70g) - 27wks (6.5m)
Bonnie is 860g (gained 70g) - 14wks (3.5m)
Custard is 955g (gained 5g) - 4.5yrs
Galaxy is 1030g (gained 80g) - 35wks (8.5m) (pregnant, due approx 23/9/11)
Ginger is 935g (gained 10g) - 24wks (6m)
Sparrow is 905g (gained 45g) - 21wks (5m)
Subi is 1180g (gained 65g) - 2.5yrs
Yeti is 580g (gained 60g) - 14wks (3.5m)

Crumble is 880g (gained 30g) - 40wks (10m)(nursing)
Molly is 255g (gained 60g) - 3 weeks
Mason is 280g (gained 70g) - 3 weeks
Mika is 270g (gained 70g) - 3 weeks

Sheba is 790g (loss 30g) - 32wks (8m)(nursing)
Bear is 165g (gained 40g) - 1 week
Bodie is 155g (gained 55g) - 1 week
Ben is 145g (gained 35g) - 1 week

(and the newbies!)
Malakai is 310g (first weigh in here) - 5 weeks
Millicent is 270g (first weigh in) - 5 weeks
Eloide is 275g (first weigh in) - 5 weeks


Wow... weighing everyone is quite a job now! I love seeing how well they're all doing though. We've had some pretty big gains this week! Our current pregnant girls, Alice and Galaxy are doing really well and putting on a nice amount of weight. I have felt movement from Galaxy's tummy, but not Alice yet. There is no doubt in my mind that Alice is carrying bubs though. She most likely just has a little bit longer to go than Galaxy.





Sheba and her boys are doing really well. Sheba is the most relaxed little mummy I've had in a long time. Her little men are so gorgeous too!

Sheba and her boys meet the gang

Sheba finally delivered!

My 6month old woke me for a feed at about 5am this morning. I sat there half asleep while he fed just wanting to crawl back under the warm blankets, when I remembered about Sheba. The last time I'd checked her was 11:30pm. No babies then - but she was looking a little restless.

So once my little man was safely tucked back into his cot, I snuck in to check on Miss Sheba. And sure enough there was a cute little face snuggled in next to her.



I didn't want to wake the kids, so I tried to stifle my excitement while I checked Sheba was ok and lifted out the babies. Three BIG boys! My hubby came in while I was checking them over (he knew they must have been born when I hadn't come back to bed!). They were dry and so so clean, so must have been born in the early hours of this morning, Sunday the 28th August 2011. (It always astounds me how clean the mumma guinea pigs keep themselves and the bubs during birth.)


I tried to go back to sleep, but just lay awake thinking of names for them. When it got light enough I got a better chance to check them over and get some photos (see posts below). We've called them 'Bear', 'Ben' and 'Bodie'. These are just their name's while they stay here with us though, and their new families are totally welcome to change them!

First impressions suggest that these guys will be more Sheltie-like than anything, no curls unfortunately. I shouldn't really be surprised though as the curly gene in guinea pigs is recessive, so unless Sheba had texel/alpaca in her genetic history the bubs were never going to have curls. They will carry the curly gene though, which means that if they were mated to another curly carrier, or a curly pig, the resulting babies would be a mix of smooth and curly (and/or maybe even tufted like the peruvian!).

(The happy parents are shown below, Sheba is the peruvian and Liam the texel.)

Sheba's Baby Boy - Bodie

This little bundle of gorgeousness is Bodie, the runt of Sheba and Liam's three new baby boys. Bodie weighed in at a very healthy 100g though, so when you consider that that an average newborn guinea pig weight is about 85g, we probably can't really call him a runt!



Bodie is predominantly white, with cream and cream agouti eye patches, then cream and cream agouti rump patches as well. Really pretty colour combination.



He will most likely end up looking like a Sheltie when he's older (long straight hair that grows to the ground (very much like Crumble), but genetically he has the peruvian and the texel background. Makes for an interesting mix!

Sheba's Baby Boy - Bear

This is Bear, he's the biggest of the three babies weighing in at 125g. He has a big cream face like his daddy, white and cream patches down one side and cream agouti patches down the other side.



Bear's fur is extra thick. And just that little bit longer than you'd expect on a newborn. I don't know if this is because he's bigger/fatter than his brothers, or if he'll end up with a thicker coat as an adult.



Bear will most likely end up looking a lot like a Sheltie, but is genetically a cross between a Peruvian and a Texel. (genetics are weird!). With his slightly longer/thicker/fluffier fur though, he may end up with a little more unusual coat than a regular Sheltie would have.



If I'm allowed to choose a favourite baby it would be Bear. He's so quiet, calm and chunky. Just my kind of pig. That could all change in a few weeks though as the babies come out of their shell a bit more!

Sheba's Baby Boy - Ben

This is Sheba and Liam's third little man - Ben. He weighed in at a very healthy 110g and is the wriggler of the three!



He is predominantly cream agouti with his big white nose stripe and a patch of white and cream on his side/rump. He too will most likely end up looking like a Sheltie, but will have the genetic background of the Peruvian and the Texel.

Sheba's count down

I weighed Sheba again today. Just for interests sake.

She's gained 60g in the last 48hrs and is now a whopping 1.165kg (most of the other girls are sitting at about 800g for comparison).

I ended up giving her a towel (actually a coloured cloth nappy!) to sit on, because she's decided it's too much effort to move before urinating, and ended up with a rather soggy belly. We've already soaked through the first towel too! I totally sympathise with her though - the last few days of a pregnancy are the worst! Hopefully those bubs will make an appearance tonight!

Babies weigh in at 1week old

Here's this weeks weight in, for Sunday the 21st August 2011 (yep, we're a little late this week... those adorable bubs have been stealing all my time away!):

Sprout is 705g (gained 95g) - 19wks
Sparrow is 820g (gained 20g) - 19wks
Liam is 865g (gained 40g) - 20wks
Ruby is 900g (gained 35g) - 22wks
Ginger is 850g (lost 5g) - 22wks
Kobe is 775g (same) - 25wks
Alice is 820g (gained 20g) - 27wks
Beeno is 820g (gained 5g) - 25wks
Alba is 740g (gained 5g) - 25wks
Custard is 945g (same) - 4.5yrs
Subi is 1.060kg (lost 15g) - 2.5yrs
Bonnie is 740g (gained 20g) - 12wks
Galaxy is 925g (gained 85g) - 34wks
Sheba is 1105g (gained 150g) - 30wks (pregnant)
Crumble is 850g (lost 90g) - 38wks (nursing)
Yeti is 485g (gained 75g) - 12wks


Molly is 135g (gained 30g) - 1 week
Mason is 145g (gained 40g) - 1 week
Mika is 135g (gained 50g) - 1 week




The babies are obviously feeding well! Little porkers! And Galaxy and Sprout have done exceptionally well this week too. But the award for the biggest piggy goes to (the heavily preg) Sheba! 150g in one week is a pretty good effort!

Pregnant Pigs, Crazy Curls and a Super Sprout

The weigh in for Sunday 7th August 2011:


Sprout is 615g (gained 105g) - 17wks
Sparrow is 785g (gained 25g) - 17wks
Liam is 775g (lost 5g) - 18wks
Ruby is 880g (gained 50g) - 20wks
Ginger is 835g (gained 10g) - 20wks
Kobe is 775g (gained 65g) - 23wks
Alice is 785g (gained 20g) - 25wks
Beeno is 805g (gained 25g) - 23wks
Alba is 765g (gained 35g) - 23wks
Custard is 945g (lost 5g) - 4.5yrs
Subi is 1.075kg (same) - 2.5yrs
Bonnie is 695g (gained 40g) - 10wks
Galaxy is 845g (gained 15g) - 32wks
Sheba is 955g (gained 80g) - 28wks (pregnant)
Crumble is 1175g (gained 55g) - 36wks (pregnant)
Yeti is 425g (gained 25g) - 10wks

Total weight for all 16 guinea pigs is 13.135kg - gain of 530g (exactly the same as last week).



Here's a random fact for you, my guinea pigs almost weigh the same as my 2 year old! :P





Liam's curls are so beautiful now! The top layer of his fur is a little frizzy, but if you lift that up you find perfectly formed soft ringlets. How beautiful is that!


Crumble and Sheba are getting fatter and fatter. Crumble has a very full belly, with at least three distinct little bubs bumping around in there. While Sheba is a little more compact, and I'd guess that she maybe only has 1 or 2. Or isn't quite as far along as Crumble. I worked out this evening that I've had the two girls in my possession for 57days. According to google the average guinea pig gestation can be anywhere from 59-73 days. So it is going to be very hard to tell if these bubs are Liam's or not! Crumble's pelvic bone is just starting to open, which should mean that she delivers within the next 7 days. Which will also put her due date right in the middle of the gestational estimation!

At this stage all I can do is take a guess at the paternity once the bubs are born. If they look like Liam then chances are they're his. But genetics can be tricky, and they may not look anything like him, but still be his. It's not the end of the world if I don't know for sure, it's more about my wanting to know if he is actually able to produce babies! Alice and Alba lived with him for about a month and there's no sign of wiggly bellies on them! :P A little frustrating as I know I only have a small window of opportunity to get the younger girls pregnant before their pelvis tightens and older pregnancy becomes a death sentence. I know many people have strong opinions about guinea pig breeding, which I acknowledge and understand. But the plan for my girls is simply to have one litter each to reduce the pelvic bone fusing later in adulthood. With subsequent pregnancies a very minor possibility for the following year, and depending heavily on how the individual pigs handle pregnancy/delivery/suckling. Some mum's thrive, some don't. Very much like humans I suppose!



Talking about thriving, Sprout is doing incredibly well at the moment! He gained the most out of ALL of the pigs this week. Even beating the pregnant girls! He even had a little go at making the horny noise to Kobe while I was taking their photo this afternoon. I figure that's a fairly good indication of his well being! Even Kobe seemed happier though, and she's put on a bit of weight too. I am still amazed by Sprout's recovery. I've never had a guinea pig look that sick and then get better again in all of my years of owning them. This little man is a fighter! (in the best possible way!)

Cutest weigh in yet!

The weigh in for Monday 2nd August 2011:


Sprout is 510g (gained 60g) - 16wks
Sparrow is 760g (gained 30g) - 16wks
Liam is 780g (gained 50g) - 17wks
Ruby is 830g (gained 60g) - 19wks
Ginger is 825g (lost 10g) - 19wks
Kobe is 710g (gained 20g) - 22wks
Alice is 765g (gained 30g) - 24wks
Beeno is 780g (gained 5g) - 22wks
Alba is 730g (lost 10g) - 22wks
Custard is 950g (lost 15g) - 4.5yrs
Subi is 1.075kg (gained 20g) - 2yrs
Bonnie is 665g (gained 45g) - 9wks
Galaxy is 830g (gained 40g) - 31wks
Sheba is 875g (gained 85g) - 27wks
Crumble is 1120g (gained 65g) - 35wks
Yeti is 400g (gained 60g) - 9wks

Total piggy weight 12.605kg(total weekly gain of 530g across 16 guinea pigs, which is slightly more than last weeks gain at approx 33g per pig)




I also got some gorgeous photos of my two year old Chelsea cuddling Sheba.



Sheba is the best pig for toddler cuddles. She just relaxes when held - as you can see by her cute little foot licking!

More pregnancies

The weigh in for Monday 25th July 2011:


Sprout is 455g (gained 55g) - 15wks
Sparrow is 730g (gained 35g) - 15wks
Liam is 730g (gained 60g) - 16wks
Ruby is 770g (lost 40g) - 18wks
Ginger is 835g (gained 35g) - 18wks
Kobe is 690g (gained 5g) - 21wks
Alice is 735g (gained 10g) - 23wks
Beeno is 775g (gained 50g) - 21wks
Alba is 740g (gained 5g) - 21wks
Custard is 965g (stayed same) - 4.5yrs
Subi is 1.055kg (lost 10g) - 2yrs
Bonnie is 620g (gained 45g) - 8wks
Galaxy is 790g (gained 35g) - 30wks
Sheba is 790g (gained 20g) - 26wks
Crumble is 1055g (gained 30g) - 34wks
Yeti is 340g (gained 20g) - 8wks

Total piggy weight 12.075kg (total weekly gain of 360g across 16 guinea pigs, which is just over half of last weeks gain or approx 22g per pig)


Everyone did pretty well this week. I am so relieved to watch Sprout slowly put some weight on. It seems crazy to me that he and his sister Sparrow can be so far apart in size, yet both had the exact same start in life. There was a second curly haired bub in the litter adopted by someone else. I wonder if that pig has had similar health issues, if it was linked to the curly gene, or if Sprout was just the runt?

Sheba was feeling particularly pudgy today too. I'm 90% sure she's got some bubs in there too. She's not as fat as Crumble, but definitely more fat than just blubber. So looks like she may have been knocked up before she came to live with us too! It will be nice for the mum's to have their litters together, and good for the babies to have other's to run and popcorn with. I'm very excited.

And the picture for this weeks weigh in is Ginger modelling the cozy house I bought for the pigs from the Cavy Cottage. It comes with a cushion insert, but I ended up taking it out and cutting out the bottom off after some destructive pigs decided to try nibbling the lining! It now lives in Sprout and Kobe's cage, helping to keep them extra warm at night.

And some more new additions!

Oh My Goodness - do I have some news to fill you all in on!!!



We adopted two more lovelies today! Meet Sheba (the Peruvian)


and Crumble (the Sheltie).

Sheba is just gorgeous, with a really spunky personality.





Crumble's personality is just like the Sheltie 'Flower Power Rouge' I had a few years back - gentle and sweet. When I put Crumble in the mansion, and the first thing she did was walk up the ramp and curl herself up in a cuddle sack!








I decided to try hanging the cuddle sacks so that the openings stayed open (idea courtesy of The Cavy Cottage where we adopted the funky black and white pig yesterday). You can see how much better this works for the girls too. Not all of them like the cuddle sacks, so we have 5 in there, so those who do can curl up in one, and those who don't can burrow under the hay or sleep in the igloos.



Oh, and after a combined effort by my hubby and my step-mum, the new black and white pig (see the last post) is now known as 'Lamington Galaxy'! A crazy name for a crazy pig! And goodness me does that girl have a fun personality. She is by far the most friendly of all the girls - actually seeking me out while I was sitting in the cage taking photos of them all so she could nibble my toes! The other's much rather keep their distance.




Here you can see Galaxy meeting all the ladies. She caused such a fuss! The noise from all the grunting and squeeking and wining was incredible. But it only lasted a few minutes, then they all lay down for a nap in the straw warmed by the winter sun. It was so nice in there I think I could probably have gone for a nap too!




I managed to capture a really sweet moment between Subi and her bub Bonnie as well. After all the excitement of meeting the new-comers, they lay down in the hay and Bonnie had a little feed. Subi is just the best mum. Some guinea pigs seem to get really stressed by pregnancy/birth and nursing (totally understandably!), but Subi has just taken it in her stride. Bonnie has packed on yet more weight too, nearly doubling her birth weight in 12 days!

More on the weight in the next post though :)





And I'll finish this massive post with a sweet photo I captured of Bonnie munching on some grain. I am constantly blown away by how independent guinea pig babies are... none more so than this little lady.