Newbies

This stunning sheltie girl is 'Clover', from Clover Cavies. Yep - she is indeed THE Clover! lol. Clover Cavies have had to close their caviary, so we took on some of the girls. Clover is a Dark-Eyed White sheltie, and she's currently about 7weeks pregnant to Mason (black/gold sheltie).

And this little lady is 'Pria', formerly known as 'Abbie'. She was born here at the start of the year to Lavender Mist and Romeo. She ended up with some gorgeous long curls too. She is also pregnant, about 8-9 weeks to Zeus (also a bub from here, born to Liam x Ruby earlier this year). Both parents are texel x rex/texel, so the bubs will be a rex/texel mix too.

(Abbie as a newborn)

 And this is 'Darling', also from Clover Cavies. Darling is actually the daughter of Mason as well - granddaughter of our 'Crumble'. She has ended up with a peruvian coat thanks to her funky mum.

Darling arrived with her two 1-week old sheltie sons. Fathered by a lilac/white sheltie boy called 'Freddie'. Little Indio (the dark-eyed white) has already got a home lined up, but Ily is still available.

And Petal came back home too - she was one of our 'rescue' pigs picked up last year. 

And lastly, the gorgeous 'Angel' has come back home too. Angel is Millicent's full sister - and you can really see the resemblance in these photos. Angel has a bit more of a peruvian look, but both girls are just too special! Angel is on pregnancy watch, and might be carrying the babies of 'Inferno', the father of our Gizmo and Rocket.

LOL - it really is a small world when it comes to guinea pigs! 

Millicent's gorgeous babies

I checked on Milli this afternoon, not expecting to find anything as she'd been quite content all morning. But sitting snuggled up next to her were three huge, fluffy, perfectly clean and dry little bundles of cuteness! I have no idea when she had them exactly - it must have been quick and silent is all I can say! What I do know is that she and Malakai make incredible babies! (all of which have been claimed/put on hold).





The only boy, 'Whisper' weighed in at 95g. He is 95% lilac, with just a touch of cream on his back. He has the stunning thick, rosetted coat of his parents, but hopefully will get a little more lift than Malakai, and have the hair grow over his face instead of away from it (like Milli). At this stage he looks very very promising.




This is the first girl 'Winter' (ironically named, seeing as she was born in the middle of summer... :P), she weighed 105g and was the biggest of the litter. She is a gorgeous mix of white, cream and a patch of lilac by her eye. She too looks to have a very pretty mix of rosettes.




And this is 'Willow', weighing in at 90g. She is an unusual mix of ginger, white and a 'dark lilac'. Not sure what else to call this colour. It's not quite slate, it's not quite taupe, it's not the lilac I'm used to... it just seems darker! lol. (if you know what this colour is referred to in the cavy world I'd be very keen to hear from you).

She too looks to have a brilliant coat, which will look amazing with those contrasting colours cascading everywhere when she's grown up!

Milli's pregnancy

I am very happy to be able to confirm Miss Millicent as pregnant, due approx 15th Jan 2012. The father is Malakai - so if these babies are anything other than lilac fluff-balls I think I'll have to buy myself a hat so I can eat it! :P


I've also just listed Alba on the 'available' page. She's one of our non-breeder pet-girls, and only available for adoption as part of our decision a few months ago to try and keep some space for rescue/foster pigs as needed. She's such a gorgeous little lady, and will make an awesome pet for an awesome family. She'll be staying here until the right family comes along :)

Weigh in

[Bonnie and her BIG 2 week old baby girls!]

The weigh in for Saturday the 10th Dec 2011:


*** Liam's Love Shack ***
Liam is 950g (gain 25g) - 35wks (8m)
Crumble is 1085g (gain 5g) - 1yr
Elodie is 750g (gain 20g) - 19wks (4.5m)


*** Romeo's Roost ***
Romeo is 525g (gain 55g) - 10wks (2m)
Lavender Mist is 705g (gain 35g) - 17wks (4m)


*** Malakai's Quarters ***
Malakai is 800g (gain 70g) - 18wks (4m)
Molly is 665g (gain 50g) - 17wks (4m)


*** Violet's Arrangement ***
Violet is 720g (gained 55g) - 21wks (4.5m)
Pooh Bear is 1040g (same) - on loan


*** Girl's Mansion ***
Alba is 940g (loss 15g) - 41wks (9.5m)
Alice is 890g (loss 10g) - 44wks (10m)
Chloe is 470g (gain 20g) - 10wks (2m)
Custard is 925g (loss 70g) - 4.5yrs
Delilah is 790g (gained 35g) - approx 1yr
Galaxy is 995g (gain 15g)- 48wks (11m)
Ivy is 590g (gained 25g) - 11wks (2.5m)
Jasmine is 480g (gain 30g) - 12wks (2.5m)
Leilani is 1125g (gained 95g) - 25wks (5.5m) -(Pregnant, due approx 30/12/11)
Lotus is 575g (gained 40g) - 11wks (2.5m)
Millicent is 785g (gain 75g) - 19wks (4.5m)
Nixie is 305g (gained 70g) - 4wks (1m)
Peppa is 1180g (gained 65g) - 1yr -(Pregnant, due approx 6/1/12)
Phoebe is now 750g (gain 25g) - 34wks (8m)
Ruby is 1020g (same) - 38wks (8.5m)
Sparrow is 1005g (gain 25g) - 36wks (8m)
Subi is 1160g (loss 10g) - 2.5yrs
Tabitha is 345g (gain 30g) - 6wks (1.2m)
Tigerlily is 525g (gain 65g) - 10wks (2m)
Twizzle is 600g (gain 15g) - 11wks (2.5m)
Xeraphina is 480g (gain 35g) 9wks (2m)
Yeti is 870g (loss 20g) - 27wks (6m)
Zinnia is 560g (gain 5g) - 11wks (2.5m)


***New Mums***

Rafia is 580g (lost 215g giving birth) - 14wks (3m) - (nursing)
Juji is 120g (gain 10g) - 1wk
Jairo is 130g (gain 25g - 1wk

Ginger is 935g (gained 90g)- 38wks (9m) - (nursing)
Gypsy is 115g (gain 35g) - 1wk
Grace is 120g (gain 40g) - 1wk

Lulu is 600g (gain 25g) - 15wks (3.5m) - (nursing)
Anthea is 175g (gain 50g) - 2wks
Amity is 160g (gain 40g) - 2wks

Bonnie is 935g (lost 35g) - 28wks (6.5m) - (nursing)
Bella-Donna is 245g (gain 60g) - 2wks
Bethanie is 235g (gain 50g) - 2wks


Another good week. Nearly everyone gained - and most importantly the babies gained. This is Ginger and her girls at 1 week old. I rarely actually see Ginger feeding them herself (which might explain why she gained so much even as a nursing mum this week!?), but it looks like Gypsy and Grace are finding other nipples nonetheless!

No new pregnancy confirmations yet. Millicent has been with Malakai for about 7 weeks now, and there's just the hint of a belly swelling at the moment, so I thought I'd pop her back in the mansion cage as I know she prefers it there. She climbed straight up the ramp and took over the upstairs section. I should know in a fortnight or so if that swelling is baby-related or food-related!




Malakai has proven himself with Peppa's pregnancy confirmed last week, so at least I know he's figured out what to do with his little 'weapon'. Having the girls pregnant during summer is definitely not ideal though, but when there is only a limited window of opportunity for a female to have her first litter, and that's when it falls, you have to weigh the risks of too early/too late first pregnancy versus the season. I choose to provide extra comforts/additional TLC - ie. have them live inside in aircon/constant access to cool water/trimming any excess coat as I personally feel the risk of pregnancy too early/late is greater than the risk of the weather. (Please keep in mind that this is just MY opinion though, and there are many who would disagree and prefer to breed later in the animals life).


And just for good measure - I thought I'd add an updated pic of Elodie (Malakai's sister), now 4 months old. She's growing up so beautifully!

Weigh in

[Petal and Jonah went to their new home today!]

Here's this weeks weigh in, for Saturday the 15th Oct 2011:


*** Liam's Love Shack ***
Liam is 925g (loss 10g) - 27wks (6.5m)
Sparrow is 940g (gain 5g) - 27wks (6.5m)
Yeti is 750g (gained 20g) - 19wks (4.5m)


*** Sprout's Pad ***
Sprout is 890g (lost 20g) - 28wks (7m)
Subi is 1155g (gain 30g) - 2.5yrs


*** Malakai's Quarters ***
Malakai is 615g (gained 50g) - 11wks (2.5m)
Leilani is 815g (gained 35g) - 17wks (4m)
Peppa is 725g (lost 205g) - 1yr (I don't know what's going on here. Peppa's gains and losses over the last few weeks have had a range of over 200g... last week I thought the scales were off... but now I don't know what to think!? She is fine, happy, eating, playing, her teeth are clean, her eyes are bright... but my scales can't be consistently inaccurate for the one same piggy!? The plan is just to keep a closer eye on her).


*** Girl's Mansion ***
Alba is 850g (loss 5g) - 33wks (8m)
Beeno is 950g (gained 10g) - 33wks (8m)
Bonnie is 1000g (gained 50g) - 20wks (5m)
Crumble is 1040g (gained 15g) - 46wks (11m)
Custard is 990g (gained 15g) - 4.5yrs
Elodie is 565g (gained 45g) - 11wks (2.5m)
Ginger is 1040g (gain 35g) - 30wks (7m)
Jasmine is 230g (first weigh in) - 4wks (1m)
Lavender Mist is 505g (gained 60g) - 9wks (2m)
Millicent is 560g (gained 45g) - 11wks (2.5m)
Molly is 520g (gained 60g) - 9wks (2m)
Phoebe is 885g (gained 30g) - 26wks (6m)
Sheba is 895g (gain 40g) - 38wks (9m)
Violet is 545g (gained 20g) - 13wks (3m)


***Re-homing Pigs***
Petal is 565g (gained 55g) - 17wks (4m)
Rafia is 430g (gained 55g) - 6 wks (1m)
Ripley is 665g (gained 55g) - 17wks (4m) - (possibly pregnant)


***New Mumma's***

Kobe is 780g (same) - 33wks (8m) (nursing)
Otis is 105g (gain 30g) - 1wk
Onyx is 100g (gain 15g) - 1wk
Olivia is 95g (gain 20g) - 1wk
Oscar is 100g (gain 25g) - 1wk

Ruby is 910g (gain 15g) - 30wks (7m) - (nursing)
Rollo is 155g (gain 30g) - 2 wks
Rudy is 150g (gain 35g) - 2 wks
Romeo is 175g (gain 40g) - 2 wks
Ryder is 165g (gain 40g) - 2 wks

Alice is 700g (loss 10g) - 35wks (8m) - (nursing)
Cricket is 130g (gain 20g) - 2 wks
Chloe is 115g (gain 25g) - 2 wks
Cleo is 145g (gain 30g) - 2 wks

Galaxy was 850g (loss 20g)- 41wks (10m) - (nursing)
Jethro is 225g (gained 40g) - 3wks
Jonah is 150g (same) - 3wks
Jax is 230g (gained 40g) - 3wks
Jarvis is 215g (gained 45g) - 3wks

Another pretty good week for everyone. Jonah was my only concern, staying the same weight this week. He is probably the most relaxed out of his litter though, and I was wondering if maybe he was getting held back from the best food by all the other more boisterous babies. He left for his special new home today though, so will get lots of food all to himself!


I thought I'd take some progress shots of my sheba-look-alike girls too, before their hair looks any worse! This is Milli at 11 weeks old. She has a crazy, full fluffy coat a fortnight ago... then Ripley and Rafia moved in and the hair-chewing started!


Elodie (also 11 weeks) has probably been chewed on the most - and so looks the most ratty at the moment! You can just make out the occasional extra long strand of hair - that's how long it ALL was... before the wanna-be-hairdressers got to it any ways! :P

It's hard to say why some piggies chew hair, and other's don't. Some will constantly chew their own coat, while some just constantly chew the coats of those around them. It can be from boredom and/or stress, but I think in this case, for Rafia and Ripley anyways, it's more a case of curiosity. They were living with only other short haired piggies before, so to find themselves in a cage full of these crazy fluffy creatures is quite overwhelming. I suppose they've got no other way of exploring what all that hair is, other than to chew it! Thankfully they don't self-chew though. Short-hair piggies are usually pretty good like that.


And lastly, this is an update of Lavender Mist (9 weeks). Her hair hasn't gotten much more length, so I believe this is similar to what she'll look like as an adult. It's very much like a short haired texel: soft, cotton-wool-like curls. Rather than the more wire-like rex breed (he head is a little more rexish though).

Millicent

I am so naughty! I adopted another little sweet fluff-ball baby yesterday. This little lady is called Millicent, and she is a lilac Sheba Mini Yak. Or at least, should look very much like one when she's grown up.

Her daddy is a stunning lilac Sheba - full, thick crazy coat! And her mummy is a lilac, white and gold Sheltie. So she should have nice long hair - what it ends up growing like will be a bit of a mystery though! But I'm looking forward to being able to watch her grow and develop into a lovely little lady!

I thought I'd get a photo of the three fluffy girls together too. We have Millicent on the left (5 weeks old), Elodie in the middle (I finally named her!), also 5 weeks old, and Molly on the end (3 weeks old today).