Daisy's 2nd birthday - Time for a Guinea Pig Party!

What a transformation

Who'd have thought two years ago that my little wisp of fluff, Daisy Doo would turn into such a magnificent creature. 

When we first saw her, we had no idea quite how her crazy coat would grow, or what a wonderful peacekeeper she would grow up to be, we just knew we needed her to be part of our lives.

Daisy when she first arrived with us at 8 weeks old

She was so small she was dwarfed by even the tiniest of bowls

She clung to Molly Mumma, who was such a gentle spirit

You're a super-special girl Daisy Doo, and we love you bucketloads.

Come and join Daisy and the herd at Daisy's 2nd birthday party

Enjoy!

Love

Rebecca xx

Meet the Hamsters Part 2 - Taming a hamster

Taming a Syrian Hamster - my technique

Hi everyone!

Well this week's video is a leap of faith for me, trying to tame my new Syrian hamster Charlie - I haven't tried to hold a hamster since I was a teenager - the fear of pain is real 😅

Be prepared for super-cute footage of both Charlie, and Bertie my Winter White Russian Dwarf hamster 😊🐹🐹

Enjoy,
Love
Rebecca xx

Why Should Fireworks be Restricted?

SPOILER ALERT: Animals, Birds and Fireworks Don't Mix

I've just signed a petition on Change.org calling for a review of the current Fireworks Act 2003 and Firework Regulations 2004, to further restrict the use of fireworks to very specific dates, limit decibel levels, licencing of public displays etc. Here's a link to the petition if you would like to have a look at it and maybe add your name too.

Here's a look at the comment I left:

Most of my pets live inside so aren't troubled by fireworks, I also have chickens who are not bothered by them. But I really signed up because of the adverse impact on wildlife, the abuse of animals with fireworks, and the way it seems to have become appropriate to have fireworks at any outdoor 'celebration' throughout the year. This last one makes it impossible for pet owners and livestock holders to prepare their animals and birds for the Armageddon they are about to experience. If firework use was restricted to the two weekends and in between for Guy Fawkes Night celebrations, plus New Years Eve, at least people would know to be prepared. Also, noise travels - it's no good just letting your next door neighbour know that you are having fireworks, it affects a much much wider area than that, including surrounding wildlife and livestock.

Now lets talk about Fireworks and their effects a bit more:

My Guinea Pigs, who are kept inside, never react to fireworks, thunder or other loud noises from outside. Stompy the Tortoise is phased by nothing either.

The only ones I worry about are the chickens. The first year we had them I made sure they were shut away in their coop by dusk, and checked on them repeatedly during the evening, but they were always sound asleep on their perch...in fact I think I was disturbing them more than the fireworks were!

The following year I shut the coop up as soon as they went to bed, and checked on them after all the fireworks had finished (around 10pm), and they were suitably unruffled.

I am lucky though. I know many animals and birds are completely terrified by loud noises, and people have to deploy ways of helping their pet cope, some use distraction techniques like food and music/ radio, some use sedatives, and some relocate their animal altogether.

Disclaimer - I am not an animal expert, vet or animal professional. If you have a frightened animal or bird, seek professional advice now.

Things you can try for domesticated animals and birds:

• Familiar surroundings and routine - This can really help keep an outdoor animal feel secure, and do try sticking to your regular routine, ie if you normally leave your horse/donkey outside overnight, then it may find suddenly being in a stable more stressful, and it could begin to associate its stable with frightening experiences, which obviously would be bad. Keeping companions together can also be beneficial
• Distraction techniques - Guinea Pigs and Rabbits can easily be distracted by a big pile of hay or ReadiGrass, or maybe a puzzle toy.
• If your animal or bird is used to the noise of tv and radio, you can leave one in earshot as this will help disguise sudden bangs and pops.
• Check the environment - A startled animal can hurt itself and others badly, so make sure fences are secure, and that there are no hazards in the enclosure (indoors or out).
• Speak to your vet about appropriate use of sedatives and other calming options. But remember that these usually have to administered well before the event.
• Make sure you have insurance that covers you incase your animal escapes and causes damage to another person's property, injures another person's animal, or causes an accident etc etc.

If you are going to be having fireworks, please remember the impact you have on other people, pets, domesticated animals and birds and wildlife

Before lighting your bonfire, check it thoroughly for hedgehogs, frogs, toads, mice etc seeking somewhere warm for the night - you might give them more than they bargained for!

Fireworks can disrupt roosting birds, be aware of any Schedule 1 species that roost and nest in your area. They must not be disturbed!

Wild animals can be frightened by fireworks, making them suddenly run out into roads. Studies show that the numbers of road traffic/ wildlife related deaths increase significantly during November and December. Be extra vigilent when out driving near firework displays.

But - and here is why I really signed the petition:

Letting off fireworks is becoming more prevailant  all year round, making it impossible for owners, farmers and wildlife to take necessary precautions.

I'm not a killjoy, but I do feel that fireworks should be even more strongly regulated, and letting them off should be limited to certain dates and times, with fines being applied to people breaking these restrictions. Don't even get me started on the malicious misuse of fireworks!

I'd be interested to know what you think, so do leave me a comment.

Love

Rebecca

PS: Me? I stick to sparklers 😉

Halloween Fun with the Guinea Pigs and Pumpkins 2018

Happy Halloween everyone!

In this week's YouTube video I had some spooktacular fun with the Guinea Pigs, did a spot of pumpkin carving and get very messy indeed.
I hope you enjoy watching this hauntingly good video as much as we enjoyed making it 😉😼😆

Love
Rebecca xx

Stompy the Greek Spur-Thigh Tortoise

My new pet - a baby Tortoise!

In my last blog post I mentioned some very strange plants that I'm trying to cultivate. The reason for these oddities is this little chap...

Stompy the Tortoise

Or chap-ess...it's hard to tell at this age!

We've named him/her Stompy (for now at least), and for ease I'll refer to this creature in the masculine from now on (otherwise I'll drive myself bonkers!). To be honest, I wanted to call him Om after the Great God Om (Holy Horns) from Terry Pratchett's book "Small Gods", but I think that got vetoed 😢

Stompy's Particulars:

• Stompy hatched in September 2017
• He weighs 63 grams (I haven't measured him yet - but his plastron is roughly 6.5cm long)

Stompy is very dinky - and I have small hands!

• He is a Testudo graeca graeca or Greek Spur-Thigh Tortoise (not to be confused with the African Spurred Tortoise Centrochelys sulcata, which grows enormous)

• He was bred by a work colleague, who has owned the adults Tilly and Trevor for years and years. Tilly had laid eggs before 2017 but they were never fertile. Then in August 5 babies hatched from a clutch of 6 eggs, then Stompy and one other hatched in September from two more eggs laid a little later.

• Stompy could live to be 100 years old, with the right care - I unfortunately will be long gone by then!

 Tortoise Habitat

There are approaching 300 species of tortoise and turtle in the world, 5 of them are known as Mediterranean, and they have all evolved to deal with slightly different environments.

The Greek Spur-Thigh Tortoise needs temperatures of around 20-35 degrees Centigrade during the day, the upper end being the all important basking temperature. UVA and UVB light sources are necessary for correct growth and metabolism, and a humidity level of around 40-50% is ideal.

While Stompy is so small, it's not safe for him to be left out in the garden to roam free, getting all his nutrients etc from nature, so we have to try to replicate his natural environment indoors.

The easiest and safest way to do this is by constructing or buying a Tortoise Table. Do not try to house your tortoise in a Vivarium, Terrarium or anything that the tortoise can see through. The first two are impossible to control environmentally, the latter will cause your tortoise to fret about the boundary line, constantly trying to get to what's beyond it.

Stompy's Tortoise Table

Research is King

I've spent months researching what Stompy will need to live a long healthy life, and while that doesn't make me an expert, it does mean I understand that Tortoise care is complicated and you can't take shortcuts. 

Initial cost is a big factor to bear in mind:

And then there's the cost of the tortoise itself. 

Expect to pay around £150 - £250 for a captive bred Tortoise with it's certificates. 

Admittedly once the initial set up is done, there will be less ongoing cost, but UVB bulbs need replacing every 6-9 month, substrate can be spot cleaned daily but needs totally replacing periodically, Vet bills must always be taken into account, and finding a good reptile/exotics Vet is harder than you might think, so do your homework, you need everything set up, tested and the basking temperature settled BEFORE you bring your tortoise home.

Stompy in his mini garden

Feeding

There are commercial tortoise diets on the market, but by growing the right plants, it is entirely feasible (and healthier) to never need to feed pre-prepared food to your tortoise. I have a several safe houseplants in the table; a Prayer Plant, a Boston Fern and a Spider Plant. I've also planted up six half sized seed trays with plants from my garden like violet, London Pride, hardy geranium, Couch Grass and plantain, plus I've sown seeds of cat grass, dandelion, harebell, zinnia, pansy, marigold and hollyhock, all of which are safe to feed. 

It's important to know that what you are feeding is safe for your tortoise to eat, that it hasn't been sprayed with pesticides, fed with chemical fertilizers. treated with slug pellets or been used as a bathroom for visiting dogs and cats.

You can download edible plant lists from The Tortoise Table, plus they have a really fantastic App that you can take with you on your mobile phone. 

I can't tell you how helpful The Tortoise Trust and The Tortoise Table websites are. There's a lot of conflicting advice out there, but if you start with these two sites you won't go far wrong.

So, please join me in welcoming Stompy to our family, we're captivated by him.

Love

Rebecca xx

NB All prices quoted correct as of April 2018.

I'm Growing Some Really Weird Plants!

Forget Carnivorous Plants, these are even weirder!

This week I've made a YouTube video all about some very odd plants I'm trying to cultivate. Don't be worried, they're just more likely to be the sort of thing a gardener would be pulling up, not planting in the garden...come and see what on earth I'm talking about...

Enjoy!
Rebecca xx

Please remember to 👍share and subscribe to me on YouTube, and to get notifications every time I upload videos, press the little 🔔 button too 😍

Meet the Hamsters - it's cleaning out day

This week's YouTube video is live, and although I know you've already met my hamsters in this blog, here's a little video of them, taken while I was cleaning them out :)

Prepare for epic cuteness overload!

Love
Rebecca xx

Sad News about Molly & Gastrointestinal Stasis

It's with deep sadness that I announce the passing away of my beautiful Molly.

Molly Mumma

Molly had been poorly for a couple of weeks, and though she fought bravely, and we did everything within our power to pull her through, ultimately we had to make the difficult decision to have her put to sleep.

To make something positive out of this sad time, I wanted to share what happened.

Friday 29th December 2017

We had all seven piggies out together for floor time. Mr PB wanted to FINALLY connect all the hutches up together, allowing them to access all the floors. It was a big job and would take 2 days. At the end of Friday we decided the piggies were safe to leave out in their floortime run overnight.

Saturday 30th December 2017

Everything went well, until during the afternoon we noticed Molly had tucked herself away in a quiet corner of the run. She wasn't coming out for water, or to eat from the bowls as she had been that morning. We tried putting ReadiGrass and hay right next to her, and she was eating small amounts. If you held a bottle for her she would drink from it, but she didn't want to move.

We noticed a very soft poop where she'd been sitting, but not as many poops as I would expect her to do, considering how long she'd been sat there for. Worrying that Molly was going into Gastrointestinal Stasis, we decided to start syringe feeding her.

Molly looks unimpressed by her syringe feeding

Syringe Feeding a Guinea Pig - Method

We always keep small (1ml) syringes in our pet first aid box, but didn't have any Oxbow Critical Care, so instead we soaked Burgess Excel Tasty Nuggets  in plain water, ground them to a watery paste with a spoon, and sucked the mixture up into the syringe.
Hold your guinea pig's head in one hand, insert the tip of the syringe into the guinea pig's mouth, immediately behind the incisor teeth. Slowly squeeze the plunger of the syringe to dispense a small amount of the feed into the guinea pigs mouth.
Allow the guinea pig to chew, then repeat the process. If you try to feed too fast, you can make your guinea pig choke.

We aimed to feed Molly 2ml every 15/20 minutes. That doesn't sound much, but it is.

When we weren't actively feeding her, we kept Molly on her own in a big box with a towel, some hay, and placed a warm hotwater bottle underneath the box. GI Stasis is very painful - imagine when you have an upset stomach, so the warmth is soothing, but your guinea pig should not come into direct contact with the hotwater bottle, and shouldn't be allowed to get overheated.

We were also massaging Molly's abdomen constantly. Later in the evening she began passing tiny round poops, and then later as more fluids entered her system, the small poops started joining together into long clumps. Molly would also strain her tummy while we massaged her, it was clearly painful, but an important step to kick start her system again.

We constantly cleaned poops away from her bottom, and changed her bedding every couple of hours.

It's not a pleasant operation, your guinea pig is unlikely to think you are helping them, but you MUST be persistent.

Sunday 31st December

Despite our best efforts, and working in shifts all through the night, Molly was looking weak. We continued through the day, trying to tempt Molly with little bits of romaine lettuce, celery and carrot but she wasn't interested.

She'd lost 80g in just two days, so we had a frank discussion about how long it was right for us to continue. Molly is an elderly guinea pig - we don't know exactly how old, as she is adopted. Maybe she had just decided that this was her time? But her eyes were still bright and shiny, so together we agreed to keep trying through another night.

Monday 1st January
Molly looked a little brighter, and she actually began eating hay

Friday 19th January
We'd used our last Critical Care yesterday night, but more was due tomorrow. Molly suddenly looked weak again, and her weight had dropped another 60g. We fed her with mashed nuggets again, but she seemed to be straining, and her poops were getting smaller and rounder again.
We booked her an urgent appointment at the vets.

So What is Gastrointestinal Stasis (aka GI Stasis)?

Guinea Pigs have a very delicate digestive system, they are herbivores, but as one brand of pet food terms them, 'Fibrevores' may be more accurate. For good digestion and uptake of nutrients, they need to constantly eat long-staple fibre (ie long strands of hay). This fibre plus water feeds microorganisms in digestive system. The microorganisms then produce a type of volatile fatty acid. The fatty acid is what gives a guinea pig its appetite, and keeps its digestive system functioning properly. Any little blip in this delicately balanced system, in which the function of one part relies so heavily on another, and you would start to see symptoms of GI Stasis very very quickly. GI Stasis can lead to death in a matter of days. Early diagnosis and treatment are vital.

Symptoms of GI Stasis

The first thing you might notice is your guinea pig being quiet and not interacting with its cage mates or you.

You may notice it isn't drinking or eating as much as normal.

You may notice that your guinea pig isn't eating its caecal (pron: see kal) stools (the special softer poops that a guinea pig MUST eat to be healthy.

You may notice that your guinea pig is tired, eyes are dull, coat is puffed up.

You may notice that your guinea pig is passing very small, hard, or very soft poops, or worse still; isn't passing poop at all,

Any or all of these symptoms need investigating urgently. They could means any number of things are wrong with your guinea pig. If you are at all uncertain, then make an emergency appointment with your vet!

Molly's Final Trip to the Vet

Alex the vet listened to everything that had been going on, whilst checking Molly all over.
Eventually, he looked up and said "I can feel a mass in the left side of her abdomen".

This was a total bombshell.

To me it felt about 2.5cm long x 1cm, approximately torpedo shaped, hard and immobile.

Alex believed that this mass was probably the underlying cause of Molly's GI Stasis. He talked about the possibility of treating Molly with steroids to reduce the lump, but we knew it wouldn't be a cure, and besides, Alex's veterinary medicine handbook didn't give a steroid dosage for guinea pigs, so there was a strong risk of not giving enough, or giving too much.

Mr PB appeared to want to try, but I looked in Molly's eyes and said "I think it's time to let her go".
We shared a final cuddle with our gorgeous girl, and she snuggled in as close as she could.
Then Alex took her away to administer her injection.

We will be having Molly cremated, and keeping her ashes, like Pudding, there was something very special about her. In the 2 years and 2 months she was with us she touched our hearts very deeply.

I just hope she knew how much we love her, and that we gave her a happy retirement from her life as a breeding sow.

Sleep tight my Molly Mumma xx You are loved xx

Introducing My Family Part 8 - Maisie and Cherry

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

Molly Mumma's 2nd Gotcha Day

What's a Gotcha Day?

A Gotcha Day is the day an adopted creature comes into your life. You may not know the day they were born, but you can celebrate the day that their life and yours changed forever.

Molly is the second guinea pig to be adopted by us, and she is a very special girl indeed. Her full story can be read here, but on this her second Gotcha Day I made her the star of her very own YouTube video

Come along and see my beautiful, sweet girl having cuddles (and lettuce) with me.

Happy Gotcha Day Mumma!

Love PB xx

The Big Launch Day

The Pumpkin Becki Youtube Channel is live!!

I've been plotting (no pun intended) to start my own Youtube channel for a long time now, researching other channels, planning what content I could make, seeing if I was brave enough to be on camera.

I filmed a few chunks of practice footage over a weekend, one where I was ripping out and redoing a plant border for a time lapse video, and an intro to my channel, where I was utterly upstaged by the gorgeous Molly.

I've honed my technique and my editing skills, and uploaded 2 videos for you already!!
A quick intro...

And my first Fairy Garden!

Future videos will include how-tos, tours of my garden, projects I'm working on, adventures with the guinea pigs, hamsters and chickens and so much more.

The Youtube channel is intended to be a partner to my blog here, it won't take over from it, just like my Facebook, Twitter and Instagram feeds haven't. It's seriously hard work, but I'm enjoying myself, and that's the important bit :)

Be sure to stop on by, watch my videos, rate and comment on them, and don't forget to subscribe as well ;)

Love

Rebecca xx

Hetty Wainthrop - Rest in Peace

The Rainbow Bridge is calling you

Hetty Boom Boom RIP

Poor Hetty Wainthrop, our Lavender Splash Orpington hen has been very poorly.

She's always been the first to succumb to lice, red mite etc, I think it's because she is the bottom of the pecking order.

Add to that the fact that the breeder was trying to develop a new Orpington x Frizzle (which are not attractive BTW), and new colourways, I believe Hetty's genetics suffered as a result. Signs of this included some twisty twiddly feathers on her neck - a hint of the Frizzle genes, and her toes were twisted, meaning that we had to clip her claws regularly to keep them comfortable for her, as she couldn't wear them down naturally.

Last summer she was a big buxom beauty, inquisitive, happy, talkative.

Hetty last summer

This summer she was a shadow of her former self. She lost a lot of weight, hasn't passed a normal poop for a couple of months, had no energy and eventually was unable to stand up, let alone move around on her own.

She was eating and drinking (if you sat her right in front of her bowls), and everything was passing out of her crop into her digestive system, but after that, something was going wrong. Our vet Alex suspected Sour Crop (but admitted that didn't really fit her symptoms very well), or that her digestive tract had become damaged somehow, meaning she was unable to absorb anything from her food.

The first signs that something was seriously wrong came when we returned from holiday. It had been very hot and sticky, and she looked pale and tired. I looked for, and found, a big 'bloom' of red mite in the coop, so we emptied everything scrubbed it, cleaned it and doused it and the flock with Nettex Total Red Mite Powder.

Felicity and Jane looked fine, so we hoped that Hetty had just been the worst affected, and that with treatment she would recover. But she didn't. She got more tired, less enthusiastic about coming out of the run for a scatter feed of mealworms, and very unbalanced. She started using her wing to stop herself toppling sideways, and if you stroked her back she fell over instantly.

Treatments we tried:

NB: We did not use all of these simultaneously, they were administered carefully over Hetty's last two months with us, and according to the manufacturers' instructions. They were given alongside a well balanced layers pellet by Smallholders Range, dried mealworms, mixed corn and Hentastic Foraging Feast.

Ivermectin Spot-on Drops
Flubenvet Poultry Wormer
Farm and Yard Remedies Wormwood
Beryl's Friendly bacteria
Chicken Lickin Poultry Drink Concentrate
Verm-X Poultry Zest
Global Herbs Loose Dropping Formula

Plus we bought The Chicken Vet Poop Sample Kit, and sent a sample off to them. It was tested for a range of worms and coccidia infection. All the tests were negative - possibly because the other treatments had killed off whatever was there, or it wasn't a parasitic problem or infection at all.

When she reached the point where she couldn't stand or move around, Mr PB finally agreed with me that it was time to take her to Alex the vet one last time. Alex agreed to put her to sleep yesterday evening, and let us stay with her until she passed away. She has been cremated.

We believe we did everything possible to save Hetty, except catch her symptoms sooner.

Hetty Wainthrop xx

Sleep tight Hetty Hetty Boom Boom, we love you xx

Super Cute Animal Pictures

No this isn't "Clickbait", this genuinely is photos of my super cute animals...and hens :)

Today I'm posting the sorts of photos I share daily on Instagram (@pumpkinbecki). They don't necessarily fit my blog posts, so you wouldn't normally see them here, but I wanted to share them with you anyway

...Ooh and don't forget to follow me on my other platforms, direct links are on the "Contact Me and Social Media Platforms" page :)
Love
PB xx

Cute pictures of some of my pets

Sad Days are Part of Life - Amended

I try not to write sad posts

There has been a lot of press recently about 'lifestyle' Youtubers and Instagrammers working themselves into the ground night and day, taking hundreds of photos of one set up to capture the perfect 'candid' shot, so they always look amazing, have perfect product placement, perfect lighting etc etc - all at the expense of actually enjoying the experience they are photographing. They are creating the illusion that only good things happen, their photos turn out Instagram-perfect first time and life is #nofilter

It's not the reality, and certainly not the reality of life with pets.

Mmmmm Pistachio and Chocolate gelato!

We'd been away on a fabulous holiday to Italy, having not been abroad for 17 years we wanted to make the most of it. We ate gelato in Venice, saw wild gentians growing 2950ft up a mountain, looked at Juliet's balcony in Verona, all the time knowing that our pets, plants and home were in the safe hands of our lovely pet sitter.

Other than Daisy poking herself in the eye half an hour before we left the house (eye drops administered and additional notes quickly scribbled on the pet sitters 'to do' list), our pet sitter had a fairly straightforward 10 days. We got regular updates and photos of everyone looking happy, and I think the pet sitter enjoyed herself too.

We had a quiet couple of days at home, playing with the piggies, hamsters and chickens, and mass-murdering a 'bloom' of Red Mite that had taken over the chicken coop, unpacking and catching up on holiday washing. Then
I went back to my day job while Mr PB took and extra day off at home.

At about 4pm my desk phone rang. It was Mr PB.
"Something's wrong with Rosie! I heard a rumpus and found her stretched out on her back with her legs in the air! I managed to get her right way up, she's breathing, but not really moving..."
I was stunned, she'd been absolutely fine, apparently even wheeking for veggies at lunchtime, coming to the front of the cage for a tickle...what was going on?

Initial thoughts were that she'd had a stroke, I got Mr PB to make her comfortable, give her some cucumber to she could keep her fluids up and make sure she was positioned near the fan - it was a rather hot day. I rang the vet, explained what was happening and made an appointment that evening. The receptionist was fantastic, and said if Rosie seemed to be deteriorating I didn't need to wait, I could take her straight in.

Guinea Pigs can survive strokes and make good recoveries, but it needs some extra care. I used Peter Gurney's 'Guinea Pig Health Guide' website  to help Mr PB over the phone until I could get there.

I drove home as quickly as possible, expecting Rosie to be in a pet carrier, ready for the 5 minute journey to the vets.

When I walked through the door, Mr PB looked glum, "I don't think she's okay, she was fitting and now she's very still"

I spoke to her softly, looking for signs of breathing. I couldn't be sure, so opened the cage and stroked her head. Her eye seemed to respond to movement but her ears felt cold. I picked her up carefully, and her little body was completely stiff - she had passed away.

I was devastated, we had rehomed her just six months ago, to give her piggie companionship. We were told she was two, so that made her two and a half. That's so young for a guinea pig. I felt I had failed her and her previous owner, who had put her into our care.

**Edit**
I've just looked back at Rosie's Gothcha post, and realised she was four when we got her, so four and a half when she passed away. That feels a little better, though I wish she had been with us longer, we miss you Rosie Po xx

Rosie loves Tilly

We don't know why this happened. I don't believe there was anything we could have done, her weight was steady, she was eating and drinking normally, and she had settled beautifully into life in a trio.

We desperately miss this little girl, who spent such a short time with us. With joy comes heartbreak, with life comes death, it's just the way the universe works.

Sleep tight Rosie, we love you very much xx

Sleep tight Rosie xx

Pet Owners Have to Take the Bad with the Good

Always be Vigilant with your Pets Health

When you've got 13 pets in your life, there are bound to be health issues cropping up from time to time. For ages there'll be nothing, then suddenly everyone needs extra attention.

As we go into the month of May, here are some of the things going on chez Pumpkin Becki.

Chickens

Felicity has been dreadfully broody, so she hasn't been taking care of herself with regular dust baths, eating, drinking, having grit, so it's been up to us to make sure she's getting out of the coop to eat drink and poop, inspecting her (and the others) for lice, treating with a spot-on type ivermectin (prescribed by our vets) if necessary, plus dusting her manually with diatomaceous earth. This is good, because you pick up each bird and can also get a sense of it's weight and overall condition. It's also important to thoroughly clean the coop with a red mite treatment, as warmer weather and hot. broody hens can cause a population explosion before you know it!

Hetty is such a sweet girl

Hetty is a natural midwife, when someone goes inside the coop to lay, she sits with them until they're done. With Felicity broody, Hetty has also not been looking after herself, but we thought she was midwifing and hadn't realised how bad she was until she began holding her tail was down.

Picking her up you could feel she was lighter than before, she had a few lice too but not in significant numbers. she got a spot-on treatment and a dusting. Then she pooped...well it was more of a squirt than a poop! Bright green bits in a watery white splat. This was NOT NORMAL! The ivermectin should clear up external and internal parasites including most worms, but not all. We'd been dosing the layers pellets with Flubenvet, but with Felicity and Hetty not eating properly, they probably weren't getting their proper dosage. Felicity has now come out of her broody phase and is back to her old fabulous self, but Hetty is suffering. We are now hand feeding her a mixture of growers and layers pellets, plus Verm-X Poultry Zest, softened in apple cider vinegar and water, with a sprinkling of corn for added appeal. The cider vinegar is said to be beneficial to poultry, reducing bacterial infection, and acting as a wormer and digestion aid by reducing the pH level in the chicken's digestive system.

Hetty being handfed a tempting, mushy mixture

On day one Hetty was silent and disinterested, she had to be encouraged to keep lifting her head up as we carefully syringe fed her. When we put her back on the ground she was very unbalanced and though she now had fluids and food in her we were desperately concerned.

On day two she allowed us to syringe feed her a little, but as I re-mixed the mashy concoction, she started pecking it off the spoon! She took little but often and we were really pleased with how much she managed to consume. We fed her three times over the day and she began standing up for longer and making her sweet little cooing sound again.

On day three she seemed a little brighter still, she had three feeds of her special concoction again, was more active in the run, pecking for her evening corn with the others, but being very submissive to them, and her droppings were definite squirts still.

Day four (today), she only ate a little of her mush this morning, but was keen to drink when she was put back in the run, and she put up a bit more of a struggle to be caught - always a good sign. By lunchtime she was coming out of the run on her own to peck for some scratch treats and beginning to stand up for herself again. Hopefully we've turned the corner, but we still need her poops to improve.

Action Shot: Omm nom nom nom

Hamsters

Fingers crossed, all is quiet on the hamster front.

Pip the Roborovski Hamster has awesome whiskers

Guinea Pigs

Rosie developed a bald patch on her rump last week. I suspect it's lice related, as she is quite reluctant to be touched near it. Alternatively she may be suffering from barbering at the hands (or teeth) of Phoebe or Tilly.

Rosie's bald patch

Barbering is where a guinea pig's hair is pulled out/ chewed off by itself or a cage mate. It shouldn't be treated lightly, and you must establish whether the hair loss is self inflicted or not. If self inflicted it could be the sign of a skin infection or infestation, and that must be dealt with. As with the chickens, it's the right time of year for a population explosion of creepy crawlies, so you must be vigilant for signs such as excessive hair loss, clumps of hair falling out with skin attached, scurf and bald patches. You may even see the lice wiggling around near the skin. they look like tiny fawn-brown...insects (sorry, I gave up trying to find a better description!).

If Phoebe or Tilly are barbering Rosie, it may be because she has long hair that looks a little hay-like (sorry Rosie, I'm not suggesting your hair looks like straw, honest!). If that's the case I may have to cut it shorter, but the patch is very localised, my instinct says it's lice.

I'm treating Rosie in several ways; she, Tilly and Phoebe have all had a spot-on treatment of ivermectin, then about five days later Rosie had a Gorgeous Guineas CocoNeem Melt treatment and a lather, rinse, repeat in Gorgeous Guineas Lice 'n' Easy shampoo. She is due for a follow-up bath one week later.

Rosie also has ongoing earwax issues. I've never known anything like it! Cotton wool buds don't really remove it, it needs emulsifying with something first and then wiping off. The internet suggests a mineral oil, but I also emailed Chrissie at Gorgeous Guineas to see if she has anything in her range to suggest. She doesn't have anything specific, but recommended an off the shelf product Otodex drops, or repeat applications of her CocoNeem Melt over three days.

Rosie is bright in every other respect, eating and drinking well, so if I don't see any improvement, including hair regrowth after all that, she will be going to the vets.

The Moral of this story is:

Always be vigilant with your pets, their health and well-being is your responsibility and yours alone. Changes happen quickly, particularly with 'prey' animals, who tend to hide their symptoms until the very end. Quick action on your part can reduce the chances of long term problems or fatality.

If you've experienced any of this issues too, do let me know in the comments.
Love
Pumpkin Becki xx

Introducing my Family - part 6 - Daisy

Daisy

Friday 31st March 2017 was a particularly bad one at work. We needed to pick up our mood, and some more hamster and guinea pig food, so dropped in to Pets at Home on the way back from work.

We started our visit with a look at the baby boy guinea pigs, so many colours, so many hairstyles, so much cute! Then we moved round, past the bunnies to the baby girl guinea pigs, they were really outgoing! There were around 8-10 girls in the pen, definitely at least three different age groups, and probably from more litters than that, as they were all so different.

One of the larger girls looked very like Molly, Rex coated, but in white and lemon - very cute! then suddenly another tiny baby appeared from under a hidey! She was tri-colour, with long wavy hair...Oh My Goodness!

Daisy
Photo by Pumpkin Becki

MrPB spotted her first, and instantly fell for her. He started talking about where we could house her, who she might bond with!! I agreed she was lovely, but we already have five piggies, could we really have two trios? A quad and a pair? One big herd?

I suggested we go and look in the adoption area, just to give us both a minute to think. We looked at the beautiful Lion Head rabbit, multiple hamsters and a trio of HUGE adult female guinea pigs who obviously needed to be rehomed together. Definitely no space for any of them!

We went back over to the the babies and looked at the tiny little girl again - she really was beautiful! MrPB gave me final say, but I knew she was coming home with us, and I reasoned that as we don't know how old Molly is, it might be wise to bond Emmeline with a younger piggie now. We know Emmeline isn't the most sociable creature in the world, but maybe she would accept a baby better than an adult. With the baby being so small, Emmeline shouldn't feel threatened by her.

An assistant got her out and let us have a cuddle with her. I checked her over, made sure she was definitely a girl, checked her bottom was clean, eyes bright and nose clear. We explained our intention of bonding her with our existing pigs to the assistant, hence why we weren't looking at more than one baby. He asked us lots of questions about our set up, feeding regime, our experience of bonding piggies, and quickly he recognised that we knew what we were doing.

By this time MrPB had already named her, she was to be Daisy.

Please Note:

I do not advocate impulse buying pets. Remember that I am an adult with my own home and a good job to cover any unforseen expenses (ie. vet bills). I have kept guinea pigs and hamsters since I was very small, I have five guinea pigs already so I know what I am doing by taking on another one. I would prefer to adopt if possible, but sometimes a little face just steals your heart.

...Back to Daisy

I believe she is (at least partly) a Lunkarya. She has the curly sideburns and two rump rossettes that differentiate the Lunkarya from the Texel. This means her coat is going to get very crazy as she grows up. At the moment the fall is quite short and tidy, but we'll keep it trimmed so that it doesn't get tangled or matted.

When we got her home at about 3pm, we separated off one level of cage, cleaned it thoroughly, put in fresh newspaper, hay and Burgess Excel nuggets, and put a fresh water bottle on the bars of the cage. We also made Daisy a little hidey area, and then put her in the cage. We also gave Molly and Emmeline a dose of Ivermectin 'Spot On' treatment to be sure they wouldn't pass any parasites on to Daisy.

We left Daisy quietly until 10am the following day. She had been silent, very nervous and desperate to hide in the cage, so we decided to try bonding her with Molly straight away. She was so relieved to see another piggie that she dashed over to Molly, squeaking excitedly. Molly gave Daisy a little reprimand to calm her down, chuttered her teeth and had to keep defending her food. Daisy was trying to eat anything Molly ate...as it disappeared into poor Molly's mouth!

Daisy was very keen to interact with Molly
Photo by Pumpkin Becki

...very keen
Photo by Pumpkin Becki

Initially we thought we would bond Daisy with Molly, then put them back in their own cages overnight, and start again in the morning, but Daisy was so desperate to be with others that we decided she would hate to be on her own again. So later that day, once we were happy with Molly and Daisy being together, we put Emmeline in too.

The dynamic of the three together was fascinating. Daisy rushed over to Emmeline to say hi, Emmeline ticked her off soundly, displaying all sorts of dominance behaviour, Then Molly faced-off to Emmeline to quieten her down. So Molly wasn't exactly defending Daisy, just asking Emmeline to respect her dominance. Daisy obviously felt much safer with Molly, but was still excited to be with everyone, popcorning, zooming and squeaking all round the pen!

Emmeline joined in the bonding session
Photo by Pumpkin Becki

Eventually all the excitement was too much for them, and they all flomped out for a nap, Molly first, then Daisy, then Emmeline.

Exhausted, they all flomped out for a nap
Photo by Pumpkin Becki

When we were satisfied that the bulk of the dominance behaviour was over and they were being calmer, We cleaned out Molly and Emmeline's cage really thoroughly and put them all in together.

With lots of levels in the cage, everyone found their spot, Emmeline tried to keep Molly to herself by blocking her into a corner, while Daisy set up camp in the hayloft. We monitored them closely, as dominance behaviours can start up all over again when the environment changes. When we were happy with them, MrPB and I went into the next room to watch some tv.

About an hour later, there was some alarmed wheeking, which became a whimper. I rushed into the kitchen to find Emmeline now in the hayloft and Daisy down on the next level looking terrified. I scooped up Daisy and gave her to MrPB to hold while I went and got Molly and some lettuce. We all sat together for a few minutes, then slowly moved Molly over to be with Daisy. Daisy was so relieved she tried to burrow under Molly as if she was going to nurse from her. Molly was not interested in that (it's been a long time since she had babies of her own!), so with the help of the lettuce we persuaded Daisy just to sit next to Molly.

The following day we bought Daisy a toy giraffe (one suitable for a new born human baby, so no plastic eyes or loose bits). We made sure the giraffe smelt of us and we put it up in the hayloft with Daisy. She loves it! When we get her out for a cuddle, Giraffe comes too, and Daisy tries to burrow underneath. Giraffe even came out to play on the grass with everyone yesterday!

When I posted on Instagram that this was the fastest bonding session ever, I might have been a bit over-optimistic, but they are doing very well. Good job girls!

Six guinea pigs and a giraffe enjoying the grass and sunshine
Photo by Pumpkin Becki

Introducing my family - part 5 - Princess (now Rosie)

Meet Princess Rosie

Princess when she arrived

Princess is a female Peruvian guinea pig. Being Peruvian, she has long hair which falls over her face and rump (as opposed to the Sheltie, whose hair all flows backwards. This is her on the day we brought her home.

Princess

A work colleague had asked me if we would be able to re-home Princess, who is 4 years old and had been left on her own after her mother Elsa had died. There was another guinea pig and some rabbits kept in the same area of the garden, but Princess hadn't been herself since Elsa's passing.

We did some soul searching, as we already have 11 pets, but eventually decided that we would offer Princess a home.

We set up our spare hutch on the opposite side of the kitchen to Phoebe, Tilly, Molly and Emmeline, and after work on a Friday afternoon we went to visit Princess. She was a little timid, and skittish at being picked up from her hutch, but after a few minutes of being held she relaxed a little. We discussed her care and feeding regime with her owner, popped her into a travel box and drove her home.

I could feel some very small mats forming in the back of her coat (the sweep), and the individual hairs felt quite dry. All I did on that first afternoon was to carefully groom Princess with a wide toothed pet comb, and cut out the mats as I came across them.

I gave Princess a little hair cut to remove some small mats from her back end

It is always advised to cut mats out rather than trying to detangle them, even when very small, as they pull on the hair and skin and can be very painful. It's also important to note that mats can form very quickly, and round the tiniest bit of hay, so unless you are grooming daily then they are inevitable and must be dealt with as soon as you spot them. Don't wait for them to get bigger.

Now, it's quite difficult when you go and look at someone's pet with a mind to giving it a new home. You want to inspect the animal, to check for lumps, bumps, weight, discharges, mites and lice, but you are under the microscope as well. How are you handling the owners pet? Do you really know what you're talking about? Are you finding fault with the way they kept their pet? All I can say is, do check these things, but do it surreptitiously, under the guise of petting the animal. If you are really unhappy or suspect they are ill then walk away...or if you're me, take the animal home and get it to the vets as soon as possible for an examination.

NEVER put a new animal straight in with, or near your existing pets. They must have a good couple of weeks in quarantine to be sure they have no illnesses or pests that could be passed to your pets. That doesn't mean treating them any differently, give them somewhere quiet, warm and comfortable to live. Washable toys and hidies rather than soft/fleecy ones. Just don't bring them into close contact with your pets, and always wash your hands and forearms, and change your clothes before you go from handling your new animal to your existing ones and vice versa.

Another minefield is money...

When I have adopted animals from Pets at Home, you don't pay, but make a donation to the animal rescue charity. The amount you donate is up to you, but the store is not getting the money, it is going towards helping other animals. If you find you can no longer care for the animal then you have to return it to Pets at Home. you cannot sell or re-home it yourself. It's part of a signed agreement. If you adopt from a rescue centre, the rules are much the same.

When Emmeline came to us (under very similar circumstances to Princess), she came with a cage, bowls, feed, bedding, bottles, toys, hidies - it was like Christmas! The family are able to visit Emmeline whenever they want, and have offered to help us with any vet bills incurred by her. This is so kind, and highly unusual. Emmeline was very well socialised, in beautiful condition and settled in really quickly. No money changed hands for her.

Princess' owner asked us for an amount of money (I will not say how much), to include a hutch and run. Now, firstly, we didn't need another hutch and run, secondly we didn't really need another piggie, and we had understood it that they were keen to re-home her to someone they trusted, not recoup some of their losses (that's a bit harsh, and is not exactly the case, but...). So MrPB and I explained the arrangement we have with Emmeline's owners, that we were happy to help them by taking Princess, but had no intention of 'buying' her.

Thankfully this was all agreed before we arrived at the house. It would have been very awkward to get there thinking everyone understood the terms of the arrangement, only for them to change once the piggie was packed into the travel box.

After a couple of days to settle in, Princess was given a spa day, starting with another hair trim, a 20 minute conditioning treatment with Gorgeous Guineas 'Aloe Melt', and a lather, rinse, repeat bath in Gorgeous Guineas 'Lice and Easy'.

Rosie had a Gorgeous Guineas bath

And an ear cleaning

She got daily groomings to help us bond with her, and keep her coat knot-free, then a week later had a second 'Lice and Easy' bath. Her coat looked and felt more hydrated and less fly-away than when she arrived. We also cleaned her ears (externally only, not inside the ear canal) with olive oil over the course of a couple of days, as she had quite a thick, dark brown waxy build up on them. Massaging the ears with olive oil emulsifies the wax and it can be wiped away with clean, damp cotton wool pads, and is much gentler and more effective than trying to rub or scrape it off.

After the second bath Rosie's coat looked less flyaway and dry

Once the bathing and quarantine period was over, we let the newly renamed Rosie have a playdate with Molly, just like we did with Emmeline. Molly is such a gentle soul, and she imposes her dominance by being calm and assertive, not grumpy. She allows the newcomer to sniff her bottom, she teeth chatters, but that's normal and understandable, and once the newcomer has allowed Molly to wash her ear, the pecking order is sorted, Molly is the Momma.

Rosie ran to Molly straight away, and then panicked a bit that Molly was not who she thought she was. Molly remained her calm self, Rosie grumbled, teeth chattered, mounted Molly repeatedly...Molly just walked away. They ate side by side - food is an excellent distraction during bonding sessions, and I like adding small amounts of new foods to the pen during the session so there is always something interesting to investigate.

Rosie and Molly had a playdate

Which went quite well

We kept a close watch on them the whole time, and had a towel on standby to throw over them

NEVER try to break up a fight with your bare hands! You WILL get bitten!

Once Molly had washed Rosie's ear and the mood was calm, we removed Rosie from the pen.
She shouted and shouted and shouted! Whether she didn't want to be separated from Molly, or she felt she should have been left in the pen (which would be a dominant/territorial thing) it's hard to say. If we can give them even more room to bond, there is a chance we can eventually have Rosie living permanently with Molly and Emmeline.

Wouldn't that be wonderful!

I think Rosie looks quite happy to have joined our family