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

Boy or Girl?

I looks like we have one baby boy and two baby girls!

The grey/white/blond/brown baby is definitively a boy! And the chocolate one and the grey one appear to be girls. Not an ideal situation as I will have to separate the wee boar next week until he's old enough for a new home... 

More baby pictures

Mummy and babies are fine. Other girlies are getting used to having babies about.

Here some more pictures:

Three beautiful babies

Zoe had her babies yesterday evening just after 5pm. We were sitting next to the cage and were lucky enough to see the whole thing. Everything went very smoothly and was over within 15 mins. There was enough time between each baby to give them a good groom. The little grey one was first, followed by the big chocolate colour one and finally the white one came along. The whole family is healthy and the babies are very active.

Zoe is a very protective mother. She's claimed the corner where she's given birth for her and the babies and won't tolerate anybody in it. She loves her babies to bits!

We took the following pictures this morning:

Poor Zoe

The babies are still giving poor Zoe a proper kicking: very big and stong kicks. I think there might only be 2 babies and not 3 as I previously did. I hope she'll have them soon as she looks so uncomfortable. Hopefully this week.

Introducing Zoe - Part 2

Zoe's babies have been very active today: you can now see them kick and not just feel them. She is really big now and so so hungry all the time.

Introducing Zoe - Part 1