Naughty little Guinea Girls

What a mess they made of their cage overnight. Carrot pieces everywhere. I blame Molly. She spits out the outer bits of the carrots and only eats the sweet inner core.

I gave them a good clean this morning and they were very bored while waiting to get back into their cage. Maya made a whole into the bag containing their pellets and someone vandalised the kitchen roll which I left on the floor.

They calmed down a bit after I gave them some grass.... and then I washed Keleigh.

Just now the Guinea Girls are eating their second breakfast; their usual vegetables. I so enjoy hearing them munch... it's really relaxing!

Cranky Guinea Girls

Every time I open the kitchen door the Guinea Girls scream murder. Give us grass! Wheep! Give us grass now! Wheep! Hurray up! Wheep! So demanding. They have no idea how freezing it is out there and I am sick of cutting grass in the rain. The neighbours most think that I am wheeping mad!

Sheepy Pigs

So last night I replaced their vet bed by fleece. We've found some nice black fleece which forms the top layer. Beneath that is a layer of fluffy white fleece with a rigid underside and finally a layer of newspaper. So far I quite like the fleece. I've brushed it this morning but tonight I thought it might be quicker to just take it out of the cage and give it a good shake in the garden. Maybe I incorporate that in my daily routine. The white fluffy fleece is just gorgeous. I've got quite a bit spare, maybe I'll make them some cup beds. I would like them to sleep on the white fleece, but we all know that it wouldn't remain white for long.

I just hope the Guinea Girls enjoy their new cage as much as I do! :)

Easter Weekend

It's been a very exciting weekend for the Guinea Girls. They've had a visited from the "Extreme Makeover: Guinea Pig Home Edition"-team and are now the proud owners of a 2.14 square meters cage.

We've been meaning to build such a cage for a long time but couldn't find the mesh cube needed to build the frame. Instead of using correx for the base, which is the more traditional way of building this type of cage, we've used linoleum, which seems to be great so far.

The cage turned out brilliantly and I think it's much better for the Guinea Girls. It's less sheltered so will take some getting used to for some of them. Keleigh and Chloe have certainly settled in brilliantly. Maya is still a bit unsure and most of the time she's been sleeping on top of the hay in the food section of the cage. Twinkle (who had her bath today) and Molly seem to be doing just ok. It'll be interesting to see how this cage will change their behaviour...

Big thanks to my husband who's done a brilliant job building this Guinea Girl Paradise!

More grass, please!

I have been cutting fresh grass for the girls whenever the weather is permitting it. Of course the last two days the weather hasn't been great so they haven't received any. But every time I open the back door, they are hopeful that I will cut them some and urge me on with their desperate wheeps! Hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow!

Finally an update

The Guinea Girls are doing great. It's been a few hectic weeks but now all is back to the good old routine.

While we humans have been away, the girls were well cared for and have been utterly spoiled. They managed to put weight on making any post-Christmas diet redundant.

The visitors from the continent have been and gone: they left behind some lovely painted walls. The guinea pigs certainly miss the snacks given to them by the busy workers throughout the day.

The girls had to downsize a bit: their hut was disgusting and had to be binned so one of the trays has been replaced by a smaller one and a new plastic house was installed - Maya certainly seems to enjoy this one.

And that is all from the guinea pig front for today. Updates will hopefully be a bit more frequent from now on.

Lucky pigs

The house has been freezing all night. There's a burst pipe in the village, so no water, hence no heating. Lucky guinea girls have their own halogen heater and have been warm, cosy and happy.

At least Chloe brighten up our evening by chirping, which she hasn't done in a long, long while. It's just the cutest thing. I wish I knew why she does it. New this time was that Keleigh walked right up to her and started stamping her back feet every so often. Front seats at the world famous guinea pig concert! What a treat!

Satisfied Pigs

I switched the halogen heater on for the guinea girls tonight. They are at the moment sitting in their food tray filling their bellies while staring with dreamy expressions into the glow of the heater. I just cannot believe how much they enjoy it.

While the guinea girls are satisfied and lazy, we humans are trying to decide whether to extend their little herd or not...

Beauty Pig

By popular demand, here's a picture of Twinkle showing off in her hat! Isn't she just pretty?

Depressed Guinea Girls

The guinea girls are all depressed today! They are sad because we are back at work tomorrow and they will miss us. They really enjoyed us being around all day, coming in for a wee chat and picking them up at any time!

Yeah right! Keep dreaming. They will probably be glad to get the house for themselves and will enjoy regular feeding times once again!

Grumpy Pigs!

The guinea girls are still on their diet and it shows. They don't look any fitter but they are really grumpy. There's a lot more arguing going on. Molly and Twinkle had a proper fight yesterday: the first one I've ever seen! Also a lot of shouts coming from the Keleigh - Chloe corner this morning. Chloe can be a right bully at times.

They are still getting a lot of food: two different kinds of pellets, ready grass and fresh veggies. I have limited the amount of veg to 5 lettuce leaves, a few spinach leaves (yes spinach is back), a couple of carrots, a bit of celery and some kale. So they shouldn't really complain that much, should they?

Diet time - Oh no!

Oh yes - it's diet time again and they don't love it at all... but I won't cave in this time. They're eating all their veggies now and rummaging around the house for some extra food!

Happy New Year!

The guinea girls are wishing everybody a Happy New Year 2008 and may the grass be green and plentiful so that wee tummies are always full!

Beauty Pig

The guinea girls were really cute tonight; all running about and wheeping! They are quite brave these days, running around the whole room even venturing a foot or four into the kitchen.

Cuddle time with Maya was the best: isn't she gorgeous?!?