Pumpkin Surprise

The girls got an extra special breakfast this morning - 'pumpkin surprise'! As you'll be able to see in the next few photos, it caused quite a stir! I think they had a lot of fun pulling out all the bits and climbing inside of it.






And this last photo was taken about 15mins after I put the pumpkin in the cage. The girls made quick work of all the 'surprise' bits. Pumpkin isn't a favourite vegetable, but I am curious to see how much is left tomorrow morning!



And on a bitter-sweet note - Beeno went home with her new family this evening. I hope that she will be a lot calmer in her new home where she will be the sole recipient of all the attention and cuddles, and won't have to share her space with any other pesky piggies. I still have that sad feeling you get when saying goodbye to an old friend though. She had been with us since she was just a baby and knew no other life. I wish you all the best Beeno, and if your new family are reading this let them know we'd LOVE to see pics of you in your new home, and hear how you're doing from time to time :)

Bad Beeno!

Beeno has been a naughty girl.

You wouldn't think it to look at her. She looks like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. But she's actually quite a mean little lady.



She's always had a bit of a nasty-streak. I had to separate her from the main girl group when she was only a few months old due to fighting (particularly with her sister Alba). I thought she and Sprout would pair up nicely. Then I found her fighting with Sprout. So back into the mansion she went. Things were ok for a while, but over the last few months I've been watching her slowly revert to her old anti-social ways. She just isn't cut out for living with other guinea pigs, male or female.


[Showing off Beeno's funky ridge-back effect. On top of the crazy ridge, she also has a huge crest, and the thickest, semi-long hair ever! She's an unusual lady...]

Guinea pigs are normally really social creatures, and prefer the company of their own species, but I actually think Beeno prefers humans. And dogs! (she's the only one who'll stand nose-to-nose with our beagle through the bars of the grass pen).

So, after careful consideration, and many weeks of deliberation - I've decided Beeno needs to find a new home where she won't be so constantly stressed out by having to live with other guinea pigs. Ideally, someone who has a bit of time to spend with her each day as well, as living without company can be a bit lonely (mind you, Beeno will probably be the most chilled out she's ever been!).

She is NOT good to use for breeding, firstly because she's right on the cusp of safe breeding age, and has not had a litter. Secondly because this angry temperament is best not passed on to the next generation!

So, if you're searching for a funky looking pet, with just a touch of attitude, and have the capacity to let her live in solitary comfort for the rest of her days - send me an email (eleb2000@hotmail.com).
*** She will be available from the weekend of the 21st October, when I will be 110% sure she is not pregnant! ***

Spoilt Piggies

I let the girls have some time in the puppy pen on Wednesday, thinking they would enjoy the super lush grass that's grown in since we had all the rain last week. After all, it doesn't get much yummier than fresh grass for a piggy.

There were many happy mutters and grunts for the first little while, but as the afternoon shadows got longer I noticed the girls were getting a bit homesick. They all lined up along the side of the pen closest to the mansion cage trying to chew their way through! They wanted to go back home!

I think it says a lot for the fact that they're pretty happy in the mansion. Which makes me pretty happy too.




(the cheeky white piggy in these photos is Beeno. She'd just had a bath and was looking particularly lovely! I just love Molly's little head popping out from underneath the Thomas the tank engine cubby house too. The piggies get more use out of it then my kids do!)

Growing Grass

I decided to try growing some grass for the pigs. Especially Sprout and Beeno who are in quarantine at the moment, each kicking a case of mites and ear fungus respectively. This is just a container lined with paper towel, sprinkled with grass seeds and dampened with water. Not so much that they'll go mouldy, but enough to get them to germinate.



I left them outside on the patio table for two weeks, watering them a little each day - and this is what the result was! Lush, tasty grass shoots.



Getting the grass out was super easy. I just lifted out the paper towel which was held together in one chunk by the grass roots, and placed it in the cage with the pigs.



As you can see, Beeno took an immediate interest! There's probably nothing yummier to a guinea pig than freshly sprouted grass!

Beenie and the ear fungus!

What a delightful title that one is!

I'm happy to report that Miss Beenie and her crusty ear are doing much better. After the ear didn't respond to the mite treatment last monday, I did a bit more research and decided that it looked most like a fungal infection. I had a bit of anti fungal cream left over in our medicine cabinet, and have been smearing her ear with it every day since wednesday. This is what it looks like now! AMAZING!



I should have taken a before photo. That would have been even better. If you can imagine that pink area covered in a white, dandruffy crust - then you'll understand how much healthier she's looking. It's funny though, because the infection and treatment seem to have taken the black pigment out of her ear skin.

You can kind of see her other ear in this shot. I wonder if it will go black again in time!?

Three new girls

The big cage was looking a little sparse with just Custard, Alice, Subi and Ginger running around in there, so we called some pet shops this morning to see if they had any girl piggies. Out of the half dozen or so we called, only one shop had any guinea pigs. The rest had waiting lists!

So we bundled up the kids and went for a drive. The pigs the pet store had were quite lovely. There were two tri-colour rex-looking ones in one cage that I would have snapped up in a second - but alas they were already sold. We decided on a stunning white Himalayan-looking girl with longer than average hair, and called her 'Alba'.



We also adopted her sister, another white Himalayan, this time with mostly straight fur but a massive big spike/rosette on one side of her body, giving her a kind of 'licked' appearance! We called her Beenie.



And then we had to decide between an incredibly unusual lilac/silver argente smooth coat, or a golden and white agouti smooth coat. I picked up the lilac one and was about to pop her in the box when I noticed her ear was really badly infested and crusted. On closer examination I could see the infection travelled right down into her ear canal. I deliberated with Mark and the pet shop assistant for a little while, but felt it wasn't fair to the other girls to introduce any form of illness if we could avoid it. I really hope that pet shop does the right thing by her and treats her ear. I've been thinking about her and feeling guilty all day. She really was a stunning girl...

But because we had to leave her behind, we decided to adopt the golden agouti girl in her place. We've called her Kobe. She is probably the most timid of all of our guinea pigs to date. She's going to need a lot of love and handling to bring her around.



We got home (popped the kids to bed for their nap) and re-checked the newly adopted girls. They got photos taken and nails trimmed, then they got to meet the existing ladies. There was a flurry of excitement, lots of bum-sniffing and a couple of nips from Subi (she's the boss, and she wants the newbies to know it!), but they're all snuggling together like long lost friends now. I feel so happy when I go and sit with them for a while.



It's even nicer when I get to do it on my own... We kept Chelsea outside of the cage for the introduction of the new girls so as to minimise stress. Here she is trying to climb the perimeter fence!