Chloe

Chloe has been to the vet as she's been looking very thin (although still weighing over 1kg). She will need an operation to have a cyst removed. So please keep your paws and fingers crossed for her next Thursday.

There will be loads of cuddles and treats for this special girl who has stollen my heart like no other guinea girl!!!

Guinea Pig Paradise

I've been busy redecorating the girl's "cage" and it looks absolutely fantastic now. I think they really like it:

Keleigh

Keleigh was exhaused after a long day of being spoilt.

Perfect shot, hubby!

Guinea Pig Cusine

Just thought I would share this picture with you:

Amy

Amy has come a long way since we got her from Helen's back in November. She really enjoys living with the rest of the gang and is one of the bravest piggies I have: she's now amongst the first to come to the kitchen when I prepare their dinner. And on top of that she is a fantastic cuddler!

The Fall of the Guinea Wall and World War III

It's now been two weeks since I removed the partition between the two sections of the cage to integrate Amy and Fiona with the rest of the guinea girls. While there were plenty of fights at first, I am really pleased with how things are just now and have to admit that they settled down a lot faster than I expected.

Intorducing them gently to each other unfortunately didn't get us anywhere... maybe because of the sheer number of little personalities. So two weeks ago I decided to take the partition away and let them fight it out. Amy wasn't a problem at all. She got chased about a  bit and didn't look too happy for a couple of days but on the 3rd day she was popcorning around the cage. 

Fiona was a different matter. Since she lived on her own for many months before we got her she didn't know how to deal with other piggies. It soon became evident that she wasn't a aggresive by nature, but that she got freightened easily when another piggy came up to her with the result that she would jump forwards to protect herself. However every day we could see her improve and backing away rather then starting a fight. 

There were no more big fights after 3-4 days. However by then Chloe had decided that she really disliked Fiona (who gave Chloe such a huge fright one day that she ran across the length of the cage and was crying in a corner - poor old Chloe). All this week Chloe has been chasing Fiona whenever she got to near, but Fiona didn't really seem to care. And I think Chloe has now established her dominance as I've caught her walk passed Fiona wihtout batting an eye lid a few times now.

What really surprised me is how easy going Betty was over the last few weeks. She can be quite agressive but was actually really laid back this time. Zoe only attacked Fiona once, and looked really feral. Cassandra on the other hand hasstled Fiona for a good few days. I didn't expect that at all. Innocent little Cassy... Twinkle, Keleigh and Diane weren't too bad. Molly can be an agressive wee thing which is completely add odds with her pathetic looks. Bonny had a few nasty moments, which surprised me as she is one of the most laid back piggies ever. Jenny is quite strong minded and can't be bothered with anybody that gets in her way and makes sure they know if they get in her way. 

While some fights looked really vicious, no blood was drawn and no one got hurt. They just needed to establish a new ranking and now that has been done everything is calm again. the first few days were really hard as I don't like to see my girls upset. But the rewards have been immense. They now share an absolutely massive cage and they are all happy. Amy even came to the kitchen last night for some spinach. There were 9 girls in the kitchen last night and only 3 remained in the dining room. I'm sure that Fiona will soon come to the kitchen too. Twinkle will never come through - she's too proud to beg for food. And Molly will come through on one of her rare non-lazy days.

Cage or paradise?

The girls' cage has been rearranged again. The cage has been expanded and now is 3m50 long and 1m10 wide. However the girls had to slightly downgrade: their section of the cage has been shortened by a few centimeters so that the foster girls can have one end of it (3x2 cubes), and the Guinea Girls have the remaining 71/2 by 3 girds.

The foster girls have been renamed to Fiona and Amy and have really made themselves at home: I hope they will one day get on with the rest so that they can all share one huge cage and be one happy guinea girl family!

On a different note, 6 out of the 12 had their bath last weekend. First time Diane and Zoe had a bath. Zoe was surprisingly calm in the water but she just wouldn't sit still when I was drying her. Diane on  the other hand was very well behaved, but I've never seen a more miserable piggy in my life!!! She's such a beautiful piggy now...

Spring is approaching

I think the girls can smell spring in the air. It's still a bit early in the year, but it's slowly getting warmer and the sun shines a lot more often into the piggie room. They all seem a lot more active, which in Molly's case is due to dieting no doubt. I noticed that especially the rexes are getting cheekier by the day. They started roaming the house again and destroy whatever they find in their path. Zoe is desparate to make herself a wee hidey hole between their cage and the foster girls' cage and she is biting the plastic like her life depends on it!

I just can't wait until it's warm enough for them to go outside. It will be the first time the baby rexes get to graze on real live grass! I'll make sure the camcorder is fully charged!

At long last an update

The girls are well. Zoe's two baby girls are no longer babies but proper young ladies. And Charlie is well and truly settled in his new home (see below for a picture of Charlie and Raoul).

The quiet life has finally returned to the guinea girls' world and they enjoy their life of luxury.

The two foster girls Fifi and Fluffy are doing fine too. Fifi unfortunately doesn't get on with any of my girls which means that Fluffy is rejected too. They are however bonded to each other and every week you can see how they come out of their shell and get bolder. They now scream for food like the rest and whenever I clean them out they popcorn around the cage.

Hungry Piggies Anticipating Their Breakfast

Guinea Pig Presents

Cassandra was sulking for days: the guinea girl's present wasn't delivered on time.

But today it finally arrived: 45 brown paper bags. And the girls are over the moon now!

Also they got a new bed from Ikea, have a look at the video:

Charlie's Great Adventure

We said goodbye to Charlie today, however I made sure that we took a video of his mad whisker-chin rubbing fetish before letting him go...

So, he now has a new home and finally a little pal to keep him company...this is Raoul...

...and they both seem to be getting on well...

Best of luck Charlie! x

Happy Birthday Baby Pigs

The babies are 4 weeks old today. They're getting big, while Zoe is back to her usual petite shape. Every so often I look at Zoe to then realise that I'm actually starring at Cassandra. Yes, that's right, we have named the babies now: Cassandra, Diane and Charlie. Wee fluffy Charlie has been living on his own now for a week and a half; he was way too interested in the ladies. He settled in quite fast and it went a lot smoother than expected. He's a wee screamer when you pick him up, but we have discovered he comes with an off switch: ruffle his whisker and he goes all quiet and content. Cassandra likes that too (although not as much as wee Charlie), but Diane hates it. Diane has a very strong, loud and independent personality. While Cassandra is a lot calmer and a good cuddler. Both girls love running around the dining room and it won't be long until they explore the rest of the house.

Cassandra:

Diane:

Charlie:

Mini pig video

More mini pig pictures