The Day 5 Guinea Pigs became 7
I feel like I should be at some sort of meeting, or intervention. "Hi I'm Pumpkin Becki and I have a problem..."
I'm not an animal hoarder by any stretch of the imagination, I do know when the cut off point is. If I'm on my own in that "certain" pet shop, I'll go and look at the baby Guinea Pigs and hamsters, coo over them for a few minutes, check the adoption section to see who's there...and then walk away. Often I'll get home and tell MrPB all about the new friends I made, but I won't actually buy or adopt anyone.
Now if MrPB comes with me, that's a whole lot more dangerous!
I'd told MrPB about a big male Guinea Pig called Bruce that I had seen. Knowing he was a boar made it even easier to walk away, he would have to be neutered and quarantined before he could go anywhere near the girls.
Monday 13th November 2017
We popped in to the pet store a couple of weeks later, and as expected, Bruce had gone to a new home - Yay! We stopped and looked at the baby girls, they had lots of young Guinea Pigs in, which always worries me before Christmas. We watched two little girls, a long haired Abyssinian and a smooth short coated tri-colour being nice to each other, sitting together, grooming each other and following each other round the enclosure.
We walked away.
We came back
We asked each other some important questions; which one would we have (I said we'd have to have both as they were so nice together) where we would put them, what would we need etc etc. and after answering all the staff member's questions, these little girls became ours.
The Journey Home
Oddly, the staff member put each guinea pig into it's own travel box. Admittedly the boxes were quite small, I've taken double-boxed hamsters home in one that size before, but that still seemed a really odd thing to do. If guinea pigs are bonded to any degree then it makes sense to keep them together during a stressful event like moving to a new home, taking them to the vets, and so on. I humoured the store until we were safely shut in our car, then I opened the boxes and popped them both in together. They settled quickly, and we drove home.
Quarrantine
We set up the floor-time pen with food water and hay as soon as we got home, put the travel box in (carefully placing it on it's side to create a hidey), and left them to come out in their own time. Later on we put some Romaine lettuce in the run, plus a handful of ReadiGrass. The babies didn't brave the big wide world until night time, MrPB went downstairs to get a drink, and heard them scamper back into the box, and saw the lettuce and ReadiGrass had gone.
So lets meet them...
Maisie
Miss Maisie is a very fluffy Abyssinian Guinea Pig. Her coat pattern is described as broken, but it's hard to describe her colour accurately, she has white and lemon patches, but her main colour is somewhere between slate and chocolate. It depends which photographic resources you look at online, and which screen you view them on. grrrr!
She is very sweet natured, shy and wary, always in the background, but she will take food from your hand and enjoys laptime, she has also quickly has formed friendships with Phoebe, Daisy, Tilly, Molly and Emmeline. I think it's because she is so subservient, she is no threat to the others or their pecking order,
 |
| Maisie |
Cherry
Cherry by contrast is a little pickle, one moment she's sitting quietly...
 |
| Cherry |
The next she wants to know what's going on over there...
 |
| Cherrybomb |
And over there!
 |
| You're my Ch Ch Ch Cherrybomb |
She is a tri-colour, with chocolate Agouti on her rump, plus red and white. She is very very vocal, shouting louder than everyone else put together at teatime. She's confident, popcorns constantly, takes food from the others, grooms them, rumble-struts at them (which is hilarious! this little mouse of a guinea pig telling off Phoebe or Daisy who are three times her size - she's got pluck!)
What's the Plan?
We've already managed to integrate the babies in with Phoebe, Tilly and Daisy. We've also had all seven out for floor-time, which has worked really well. Maybe, just maybe we can connect all the hutches together and have a herd...I say that every time don't I! :D
 |
| The Magnificent Seven - Clockwise from top left: Maisie, Tilly, Emmeline, Daisy, Phoebe, Molly and Cherry |
