RIP Dante

Dante appeared to be doing fantastically. He spent some time with my hubby and I last night and was running all over us, and so enthusiastic and just 'well' looking.

Then I found him this morning. He had passed away sometime overnight.

I don't really understand what went wrong. I have spoken to other breeders about babies that fail to thrive, and 99% of them don't survive longer than a few days/weeks.

My theory is that there was some kind of congenital issue with one of Dante's organs - maybe heart, maybe digestive system, could have been a combo even? And that despite our best efforts, his organs failed him quite suddenly, and he passed away.

I've had to break the news to his prospective new family, and that now leaves Dash as the sole survivor of that little family. But Dash is really doing very well. He is fat, and strong and not taking any supplemental feedings from me at all anymore. I think he is perfect.

I took a little video of Dante's enthusiasm at meal time on monday night, and only got around to looking at it yesterday. Here is the link if you feel up to it. It's a bit dark, and a bit blurry - but the best I got.

A video of Liam

I took this little video of Liam with my 2yr old last month. Liam was having a bit of a sulky day and didn't want to eat the parsley Chelsea kept picking for him - despite her best efforts!

It does show how chilled out he is though. He's sitting only metres away from a cage full of females, has a small child poking parsley in his face, has me inspecting his coat and a dog running around in the background! And despite all this can still enjoy a good chin rub!

Birth Videos

This is a video of Ruby delivering Rollo. At about 1:25 she contracts and delivers one of the placentas from the other boys, then at about 2:50 she contracts again to deliver a second placenta. Then at 3:30 you can just see Rollo emerge - and then Ruby blocks the rest of the view with her big bottom! :P (you can hear Rollo's first little gasp for air at 3:42).



And this video is just Ruby cleaning Rollo up, after I'd put down the camera to make sure his airway was clear.

*** Just as a word of warning - it is a birth video, and is a bit messy! You might want to take that into consideration if you're showing your kids, or eating lunch! ***

Weekly weigh in - now with 19 guinea pigs!

This is just a little video I took of Crumble's babies following her around in the 'birthing cage' (which is actually our bath tub!) yesterday morning before they upgraded to the mansion. I just love how wobbly and fast the babies walk. It's like they have to sprint to keep up with mum!

Here's this weeks weight in, for Sunday the 14th August 2011:

Sprout is 610g (lost 5g) - 18wks
Sparrow is 800g (gained 15g) - 18wks
Liam is 825g (gained 50g) - 19wks
Ruby is 865g (lost 15g) - 21wks
Ginger is 855g (gained 20g) - 21wks
Kobe is 775g (same) - 24wks
Alice is 800g (gained 15g) - 26wks
Beeno is 815g (gained 10g) - 24wks
Alba is 735g (lost 30g) - 24wks
Custard is 945g (same) - 4.5yrs
Subi is 1.085kg (gained 10g) - 2.5yrs
Bonnie is 720g (gained 25g) - 11wks
Galaxy is 840g (lost 5g) - 33wks
Sheba is 955g (gained 65g) - 29wks (pregnant)
Crumble was 1250g (gained 75g), then gave birth, now 940g (lost 310g) - 37wks
Yeti is 410g (lost 15g) - 11wks

Molly born at 105g
Mason born at 105g
Mika born at 85g (total of 295g of baby!)

Total weight for all 19 guinea pigs is 13.335kg - gain of 200g over the week.

Not the best week with weight gain this week... quite a few pigs have dropped slightly or stayed the same. This does tend to happen though I've noticed. If one has a bad week, its likely that they all will. I wonder if something scared them, or they don't like the vegy selection as much or something... who knows! No worrying drops though, so we'll just see how this next week pans out.

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!

A little video of the girls at breakfast time

a new Video

Just a quick video I took during the week of the girls checking out the cuddle sack for the first time. I love how curious guinea pigs can be. They get very nosy when something new is placed in their space!

Breakfast time!

My girls coming down the rather high ramp in their cage to have some breakfast. They'd only be in the cage for just over a week when I took this, and already they've figured out how to get up and down with ease. They even take themselves upstairs at night without us having to chase them up there. Guinea pigs really are a lot smarter than people give them credit for. Show them a routine for a few days and they quickly pick it up!