Fostering Mark

Our foster guinea pig, Mark, is still hanging out with us.  He's become very familiar with our routine - when I get up in the morning, when we go to the kitchen.  His most interesting time to wheek at us is just as a show that we're watching has ended.  I'm not sure if it's the end credits, or the sounds of the TV or how we move, but he'll start wheeking for treats before we even get up from the couch!

However, his longish stay with us landed him as our subject for the annual holiday photo shoot.

Ramp Revision

When we moved, I couldn't run the guinea pig ramp the same way I had in Rehoboth.  It would have terminated in the corner under the cage.  I did a quick fix to have it start at the same point in the cage, but the ramp stuck straight out into the living room.  I kept tripping over the end of the ramp and Mabel didn't like it (too exposed and too wobbly).

Lose Some, Win Some

I walked into the kitchen to find this grape tomato in the middle of the floor.  Which was odd, because when I had last seen this tomato, it was with Mabel under the stool at the bottom of their ramp.  She'd even managed to bite into it.  Grape tomatoes are tricky:  tough skins to bite into and they have a tendency to roll away.  Usually once a guinea pig pierces the skin, they can conquer the rest of it.

Evidently, not Mabel.

I've seen guinea pigs roll stubborn tomatoes into corners, hold it down with a paw to keep it from rolling long enough to bite into it.  One of my pigs knew to bite straight down into it.  Mabel does not have any of those talents.

I saw this and wondered - did it just keep getting away from her?  She's not afraid of the wood floor but I can't imagine her following it that far.  Far more amusing that she attempted to take a second bite and shot it across the floor and she had no idea where it went.  Mabel fail.

Cilantro Tug-of-War

Mabel came down down the ramp to mooch at me on Saturday afternoon.  I rummage through the fridge for some cilantro.  I made her come out on the floor for it, but didn't let go.  A tug-of-war ensued.  Mabel fled before we could grab the camera.

Later, both Wedgwood and Mabel came down.  I bet Wedg smelled cilantro on Mabel's breath.  One does not let another guinea pig eat all the good stuff alone!  This time we grabbed cilantro and the camera at the same time.

Wedg and Mabel are so entertaining.  And persistent!  Even on that slippery wood floor. 

I Like Thursday: Buried

I had been hoping that 2019 would calm down a bit from the end of the year stress.  Not really.  We've added some new fun features!  But I have carved a little bit of time to share the good things I have experienced (even if it's a bit later than usual).

Work has been brutal, being asked to work weekends and evenings and it needs. to. stop.  However, the coworkers I deal with day-in and day-out are the best.  One guy I jokingly call my work-husband - we've been working together since '91.  He keeps me sane on the worst of days.  The rest of the team - I strive to do my best for them because they help me out whenever I need it, too.  I hope we all catch a break soon (we deserve it).

We spent a chunk of the weekend at the hospital.  Everyone is fine (and I certainly like that).  I also liked the staff we dealt with: doctors, nurses, orderlies.  They all treated us with professionalism and kindness.  It made a stressful and unexpected experience a lot more pleasant.  

Now for some fun stuff!  Don't you love finding unexpected treasure?  This week it was in the form of Christmas cookies.  I had been positive I had polished them off.  But  behold!  One last box of the good stuff.  Yum!

Dinner Out

When Wedgwood was on a hay/pellet/water diet prior to her surgery, Mabel ate breakfast lettuce on the floor.  Now that Wedgwood is eating veggies again, they have breakfast together on the floor (although Mabel gets a few minute head start while Wedgie gets medicated).  It's a fun way to start the day, with Mabel creeping towards the fridge hoping she'll receive lettuce faster.  Occasionally breakfast ends with a lap around the living room. 

Dinner is still served in the cage... except last Tuesday night.  I failed to specify where the greens should be delivered, so they were placed onto the floor.  There was much wheeking and confusion.  I decided it was fast to put two guinea pigs on the floor rather than pick up the multiple pieces of lettuce.

Out Cold

I walked by the cage on Friday afternoon and found Mabel and Wedgwood out cold.  Just look at those sacked out pigs.

Wanderings

I've written before how exhausting cage cleaning day can be.  It's really strenuous work since Mabel has been here.  First you need to explore as much of the floor as you possibly can, including the nooks and crannies that Mama yells at you for getting into.  Then, if you run out of places to go, you start chewing the grids to get up the ramp.  Mabel learned quickly from Wedgwood how to do this and has become the worst offender.  Bang!  Bang!  I had to put put a brick next to the grids to keep them in place because Mabel is so strong and persistent.

This video is a little long, but you can see how they travel all over the place.  I love Wedgwood's bouncy trot. 

I never know where they'll show up.  To top it off, Mabel is completely unafraid of a human towering over her.  I have to be careful to look where I step, or I could easily trip over her.

They're entertaining to watch as they tool around.  I need to allow extra time as I get distracted by them (and occasionally pull them out of trouble) while cleaning the cage.  I enjoy the diversion and we all get a clean, dry cage at the end of it.  Win-win. 

Sneaking Snacks on the Side

Wedgwood continues on a hay/pellet/water only diet.  I think I hate it worse than she does.  Wedgwood knows the routine and still whines for treats at all the usual times.  It's difficult to ignore.  But she eventually gets bored and moves on.  Mabel has been lucky enough to get goodies on the side.

So far Mabel doesn't beg, doesn't come to the second level for pepper, but she's not stupid.  After a few times of being placed on the kitchen floor with a piece of lettuce, she figured out that's the place to be.  I was puzzled when she chewed the gate several mornings in a row.  She'd been taste-testing several things she shouldn't lately.  But this appeared to be on purpose and always soon after I medicated Wedgwood.  I'd open gate and she'd be on the floor soon after, nose poking about.  Aha!  She's looking for a handout.
 

Who Knew?

Who knew that getting the cage cleaned was such exhausting work?

Mabel and Wedgwood spent the entire time wandering around the living room, exploring every nook and cranny.  Mabel discovered my desk (ooh, paper to nibble) and behind the pig table (maybe there's a stray pellet or two?).  Wedgwood followed her everywhere - loops around the couches, exploring around the edge of the living room.  They ranged far and wide.  Wedgie never went that far on her own.  In fact, she was so distracted she barely noticed the grids blocking the ramp to the cage (which she usually impatiently rattles to return home).

They were fun to watch.  Mabel was so outgoing.  Obviously she's feeling better - the two of them were on the move non-stop for a half hour.

Cardboard Barriers

I've gotten such a kick watching and hearing Wedgwood run full tilt under the couch.  However, Mabel and Wedgwood were spending too much time under there during floor time.  As I was thinking about how best to solve this, I saw these wonderful long boxes at the library.  Ooh - they looked perfect for what I wanted.  The librarians were curious why I wanted their discarded cardboard.  Guinea pig barriers!  I was pleased the long box just fit into the car, from dashboard all the way to the hatchback.

Are You Ready to Rumble?

I cleaned the guinea pig cage on Thursday.  Based on the floor show, one of the sows was in heat.  Highly entertaining.  They chased each other back and forth as Wedgwood whined the whole time.  Then Mabel would suddenly turn and either bite or hump Wedgwood.  There may have been a pang of guilt as I cheered:  Go Mabel!  You can do it!  Bite Wedgwood!  Bite her!

Am I a bad mama?

I didn't catch the best of it (because of the laughing and cheering), but here's a little of what was going on:

Introduction Update - Two Weeks Later

Introductions with Wedgwood and Mabel has gone really well.  No whirling balls of fur, a minimum of screaming and chasing.  Mabel is the most laid-back newbie I've adopted since Boadicea.  She doesn't constantly run and hide, she's not tense.  She's made herself at home. 

That nose was way over the edge - she's so curious about everything.

It took Mabel a full three days to attempt leaping to the second level (most other pigs tried it out within minutes).  Now that she has, I see her upstairs and downstairs all the time.  Her favorite places to hang out are in the bottom corner on the first level and in the tunnel on the second level.  Wedgwood no longer guards Mabel constantly, although Wedgie doesn't like Mabel sleeping in her favorite corner.  I often find Wedgwood sleeping near Mabel on the first floor.

More Sprints

Years and years (and years) ago, I had a guinea pig named Teddi that loved to sprint across the floor.  I have not had a guinea pig (or the right floors) do that since.  Until now.  In the last few weeks Wedgie has taken to spending more time on the floor.  Nearly any day I open the gate on the cage, she'll come down to explore; occasionally making burbling traveling noises like Cannoli used to.

Then zoom!  She hits into turbo.

Telltale Signs

There are a variety of telltale signs when a guinea pig is in residence.  Granted, there's no hiding a cage or the loud wheeking.  But so many things you don't ever think about shout:  Guinea pigs live here!




Hay.  It's everywhere.  On the floor.  In every. single. room of the house.  On my clothes.  I've even found it in my suitcase once.  How did it get there?!?

Not So Bright

Wedgwood enjoys a little floor time. However, she gets rather adamant about returning to the cage.  On cage-cleaning day, she often finds the way blocked and this is fully unacceptable.  She's been getting more insistent and persistent on this point.  Thursday night was no exception:  she chewed on the bars and rattled the grids.  I don't mind the racket she creates - I just don't want her to break her teeth.

I rushed to get the cage fleeced so she could return.  As soon as I was done, I folded back one of the grids blocking the ramp.  Wedgie had thoroughly checked all the grids for a way in earlier.  She then ignored all the grids except for the one directly at the bottom of the ramp.  So she spent several minutes working hard at moving that grid, oblivious to the opening 6" to her right.  Typical guinea pig.  I tried to shoo her around the corner, but she thought I was trying to stop the chewing, and would duck, running the other direction.

I finally swung out that grid, too, until she realized the ramp was open.  Zoom!  up she went.  What took you so long, Mama?

Sprints

Wedgwood has been doing well.  We have good days where she's happy to interact with me and other days when she seems a little lost.  I'm looking for an older sow for company, but haven't had any luck locating a good match.  I will tell you one thing - two guinea pigs are far more entertaining than one.  Wedgwood may be warming up to me more, but I miss watching and listening to guinea pigs interacting with each other. 

The one fun thing that Wedgwood has developed since being solo is floor-time sprints.  She doesn't do them often and never for long.  I'm thrilled when I can catch her going full-tilt across the floor.  Thumpa thumpa.

It's been difficult to capture her antics.  I swear she knows when I'm filming, because she does her best stuff when the camera is not at hand. 

Wedgwood has an uncanny ability to orient herself soon after she hits the floor, traverses hardwood as fearlessly as carpet and is happy to explore any nook and cranny.  I regularly pick her up and carry her into another room.  If I put her on the floor, she explores locally for a brief time, then gets her bearings and takes off for home.  If I haven't already opened the gate, I need to rush over to the cage to let her in before she arrives.  I've left the gate open all day sometimes, but she very rarely ventures out on her own.  She does her most exploring on cage-cleaning day, when I've blocked access back up the ramp.  It's too bad - I'd love for her to do more exploring on her own. 

Making Rounds

Boadicea continues not to feel well.  Her attitude remains fairly bright, but her weight is low.

Sometimes I put Boadi on the floor after giving her the morning medication.  Usually she heads straight home.  Lately she spends several minutes checking out the nooks and crannies of the living room, ranging far wider than usual.  This last time she spent several minutes checking out the door to the deck.  She's also been attracted to my desk.  I have to shoo her away from all the wiring in the area.  Too much temptation for her!

She also follows me around the room.  It's pretty charming.  This day I had to herd her back to the ramp - I needed to get back to work.

Boadicea was rechecked at the vet last week.  There was more sludge, which made everyone unhappy.  Wedgwood was inspected by the vet, too.  The silly pig took a flying leap off the couch; we suspected she landed badly.  Wedge had been randomly crying and I wanted to make sure we weren't overlooking something serious.  The vet determined Wedg's right shoulder was sore and was told no more high jumps for her.

No Man's Land

When I clean the guinea pig cage I need to block off the ramp so Boadicea and Wedgwood won't try to get in before it's done.  This frustrates them, because they know where the ramp is and where it should go and they can't understand why they're not allowed to go up.  Any other time they're on the floor they have access.  Besides, a clean cage is so fun to check out.  Aren't you done yet?!?

This cage cleaning I happened to have set the grids up with a triangle dead zone.  I had thought the hay rack would distract Boadi and Wedg from trying to get to the ramp.  Nope.  They wanted to be as close as possible and managed to squeeze themselves between a gap in the grids, and then get stuck in this little triangle of space.

They were very determined.  They'd stuff themselves into the small area then try to move the grids or chew them.  Too bad for them, they got nowhere until the cage was all clean and set up.  Silly pigs.

Why Would You Do That?

A few days ago I wrote about Boadicea and Wedgwood enjoying a pile of freshly dried corn husks on the floor.

What I didn't share was the badness that occurred soon after.

Both guinea pigs decided that it was the perfect day to do some exploring on the floor upon eating their fill.  There was a pig train through the living room, to my desk, then back to the couch.  At this point Wedgwood returned to their cage.  I made the foolish mistake of walking into the next room to talk to Rob.  I returned to the living room just in time to see a spark of light.  Right next to that spark was my computer power cable and a naughty Boadicea rodent.

Just look what she did!  There are four nicks in the jacket before the big chomp that clipped through several of the wires.  I hope that pig got a bit of a jolt for her trouble.  She high-tailed it back to the cage as I came running into the room.

Why, why! does she always go for the power cables?  Why not something a little less expensive, like the electric cord for the lamp?  It had been years since she's taste tested a power cord, and I had become less vigilant.  I spent the next several minutes checking every power cord and cable in the living room (there's a lot of them and some are really long).  Thankfully this was the only one she decided to taste test.