I let the girls have some time in the lawn cage yesterday. I'm letting the run around their mansion regrow a bit. (It is amazing how quickly 9 hungry guinea pigs can get through such a large patch of grass!).
The lawn cage was a little squishy though, and combined with my toddler Chelsea hanging around and making unpleasant high-pitched noises, the girls were a little antsy!
I also have an update on Sprout and his bad hair. After checking them last night, it looks like the treatment last week hasn't made much of a difference after all. (I actually found two big scabby spots on his rump). Amazingly Liam is still fine. But I don't know how long for... More revolution treatments today! :P
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
Monday weigh in
This is today's run down, with the weigh gained since last week in (brackets):
Sprout is 240g (gained 50g) - 4wks
Sparrow is 235g (gained 25g) - 4wks
Liam is 300g (gained 50g) - 5wks
Ruby is 375g (gained 35g) - 7wks
Ginger is 390g (gained 35g) - 7wks
Kobe is 405g (gained 25g) - 10wks
Alice is 400g (gained 25g) - 12wks
Beeno is 400g (lost 10g) - 10wks
Alba is 445g (gained 30g) - 10wks
Custard is 865g (lost 45g) - 4yrs
and Subi is 1070g (lost 35g) - 1-2yrs
Total piggy weight 5.125 kg! (total gained 205g!!)
Our porkers for the week are Sprout and Liam! Obviously things have been pretty good out in the bachelor pad this week! And it looks like Sprout is feeling a lot better after his mite treatment on Wednesday too!
I am a little concerned at the weight loss from Beeno, Custard and Subi though. Especially Custard. She's a lot older than everyone else and can't afford to loose any weight. The fact that Subi was less too though makes me think that maybe it was just a time-of-day thing. Last week I weighed them at the end of a day of gorging on veg! Today it was just before lunch time.
Beeno is young though, and should be growing steadily each week. I did notice that her ear is a bit crusty, and am wondering if she has a fungal infection. I'm going to pick up some anti fungal cream tomorrow, and see if that helps things.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Lunkarya Guinea Pigs
Have you ever heard of a Lunkarya Guinea Pig before? No? Neither had I until this weekend.
I was strolling down the archives of the internet a few nights ago when I stumbled across this incredible looking creature.
This is a Lunkarya Guinea Pig. They are a really new variety, developed in Europe around 1986, so not available here in Australia. They are kind of like Peruvian's with rough hair, from what I can gather. The babies are born looking a lot like texels/alpacas, but end up growing long, ringlet fur that sticks up in all directions due to the roughness of the fur. The rougher the better in this breed apparently!
I'd love to get one!!! This website has been fantastic for information about these guys, and heaps of photos too.
I was strolling down the archives of the internet a few nights ago when I stumbled across this incredible looking creature.
This is a Lunkarya Guinea Pig. They are a really new variety, developed in Europe around 1986, so not available here in Australia. They are kind of like Peruvian's with rough hair, from what I can gather. The babies are born looking a lot like texels/alpacas, but end up growing long, ringlet fur that sticks up in all directions due to the roughness of the fur. The rougher the better in this breed apparently!
I'd love to get one!!! This website has been fantastic for information about these guys, and heaps of photos too.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Sprout's bad hair
Poor little Sprout...
I think he might have mites. I did notice a tiny patch of missing hair above his eye when I purchased him two weeks ago, but didn't think too much of it, especially as the hair grew back within days.
But the evidence is unmistakable now. This is his coat the day after he came to live with us:
This is his coat now:
He's a raggy looking little critter now! And the surprising this is that Liam, who shares a cage with him, is perfect! Beautiful, thick, wavy coat. I think it says a lot about the quality of the start to life Liam had versus Sprout. Sprout was sold WAY too early, so missed out on the immunity boost he would have gotten from suckling. It also explains why he didn't gain as much weight as his sister Sparrow in the last weigh in. (she's fine by the way, which is a little odd!).
So all of the pigs got dosed up with the appropriate amounts of revolution for kittens/puppies medication. Guinea Lynx has an awesome website with information on the treatment of mites in guinea pigs. I was able to use their calculations to get my drug doses right. Technically Sprout and Sparrow are a little too small to be dosed, but it needs to be done before the poor little guy gets any worse!
So fingers crossed he'll be feeling a lot better soon.
I think he might have mites. I did notice a tiny patch of missing hair above his eye when I purchased him two weeks ago, but didn't think too much of it, especially as the hair grew back within days.
But the evidence is unmistakable now. This is his coat the day after he came to live with us:
This is his coat now:
He's a raggy looking little critter now! And the surprising this is that Liam, who shares a cage with him, is perfect! Beautiful, thick, wavy coat. I think it says a lot about the quality of the start to life Liam had versus Sprout. Sprout was sold WAY too early, so missed out on the immunity boost he would have gotten from suckling. It also explains why he didn't gain as much weight as his sister Sparrow in the last weigh in. (she's fine by the way, which is a little odd!).
So all of the pigs got dosed up with the appropriate amounts of revolution for kittens/puppies medication. Guinea Lynx has an awesome website with information on the treatment of mites in guinea pigs. I was able to use their calculations to get my drug doses right. Technically Sprout and Sparrow are a little too small to be dosed, but it needs to be done before the poor little guy gets any worse!
So fingers crossed he'll be feeling a lot better soon.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Adventures outside the cage!
I thought I'd see if the girls wanted to venture outside of their cage yesterday morning. The grass between the cage and the perimeter fence is getting a little long. The thinking when we set up the cage was to let them eat it down when it got too long, cause getting a mower in there would be rather tricky!
However they weren't interested at all when I first opened the door!
After a while Custard led the way and half of them followed her.
They all went back inside and snuggled in the straw during snooze-time (middle of the day), so I shut the door again. (How cute does Ginger look in her little nest!)
Once the afternoon shadows had spread over the backyard, the girls were active again. This time ALL of them came out within minutes. It's almost like the ones that went out that morning had been bragging about how yummy the grass was!!:P
And yet again, it only took one day for them to cotton on to this new routine. Now all I have to do is open the door and stand back, and they all come running!
However they weren't interested at all when I first opened the door!
After a while Custard led the way and half of them followed her.
They all went back inside and snuggled in the straw during snooze-time (middle of the day), so I shut the door again. (How cute does Ginger look in her little nest!)
Once the afternoon shadows had spread over the backyard, the girls were active again. This time ALL of them came out within minutes. It's almost like the ones that went out that morning had been bragging about how yummy the grass was!!:P
And yet again, it only took one day for them to cotton on to this new routine. Now all I have to do is open the door and stand back, and they all come running!
Monday, May 2, 2011
Monday weigh in
Today is monday, and in our house that means... 'weigh in day!'. So all the piggies get bundled up and brought inside to see how much they've gained over the last week of gorging themselves on hay, pellets and endless supplies of veggies!
This is today's run down, with the weigh gained since last week in (brackets):
Sprout is 170g (gained 35g) - 3wks
Sparrow is 210g (gained 65g) - 3wks
Liam is 250g (gained 35g) - 4wks
Ruby is 340g (gained 45g) - 6wks
Ginger is 355g (gained 40g) - 6wks
Kobe is 380g (gained 55g) - 9wks
Alice is 375g (gained 35g) - 11wks
Beeno is 410g (gained 60g) - 9wks
Alba is 415g (gained 30g) - 9wks
Custard is 910g (gained 10g) - 4yrs
and Subi is 1105g (gained 35g) - 1-2yrs
Total piggy weight 4.920 kg! (total gained 445g!!)
Our porkers for the week are Sparrow and Beeno! And a special mention needs to go out to Subi, who really doesn't need to get any bigger... but did! :P
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!
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