Dave, our foster guinea pig from Dakin Humane, stayed with us for barely three
days. I was so disappointed to see him go. He had
just started to settle in on Thursday night. I discovered he
loved to be scritched (and he had lovely, touchable soft fur). He
actually came up the the side of the cage simply for love and affection.
When I gave Dakin Humane an update on Jitterbug's eating habits (not eating hay nor drinking water), they suggested trying Timothy hay and a bowl of water instead of a water bottle. The water bowl didn't seem to make any difference, but he did seem to like Timothy hay. Unfortunately I am allergic to Timothy hay... so I needed to return Jitterbug. I felt bad I couldn't do more for him; it was a bit of a relief to see him go. I can't win them all.
As it happens, Dakin Humane had other available guinea pigs - out with one and in with another. Say hello to Dave.
Dave may have similar coloring and bed-head like Jitterbug, but he is clearly a different pig. Dave is loaf. I just want to squeeze him! He's a laid back mature dude, with fat mutton chop cheeks and lovely soft fur.
We picked up a solo guinea pig from Dakin Humane to foster last week. Say hello to Jitterbug. He's a beautiful Abyssinian with serious bed-head and dark ruby eyes. He came in with a bunch of piggies from another shelter, and then got beat up by his cage mate (and got his butt shaved to check for wounds - he looks a little lopsided). They were separated. I wanted both of them - but did not have the bandwidth to try introductions and tackling two cages if they couldn't get along.
<sigh>
At least they lasted a whole week longer than the last pair we hosted.
Celery Salt and Peppercorn were really starting to settle in. Peppercorn would popcorn in the morning when swept out the cage. She'd do zoomies in the evening when we covered the cage. She'd wheek like crazy when I pulled out the hay box. I've never seen a piggy who liked hay more than veggies. Peppercorn would nibble on the lettuce, carrots and cucumber but her true love was hay.
Am I a bad daughter? I had my mother come to me on Mother's Day.
But it gave us the opportunity to walk the loop around my neighborhood.
When we got near Duck World we had the flock of chickens, ducks and geese
flock to us like we were handing out treats. There were several goslings
and ducklings that came to check us out. The two chickens with the crazy
hairdos greeted us as well. They are a goofy bunch!
I did fix her sewing machine while she was here... so I can't be all that bad.
Oh boy! Or I should say oh girls! Say hello to our new Dakin fosters Peppercorn and Celery Salt. They are adorable and so young. Celery Salt (the one with the black patch) looks a little like Moses with a wisp of long curls behind her ears and a bit of a tail (you can see it on the bottom photo). Other than that. Peppercorn is a short hair through and through.
Both are amazing soft. I just want to squeeze them! But there's not enough to squeeze. Neither one has any heft an adult guinea pig would have. They weigh in at just over a pound each. I'm sure they'll double that weight by the time they're full grown based on the way they look, the size of their paws and the flyweight feel the have when I pick them up.
They were extremely shy and hid for most of their first day here. What curiosity they had was overwhelmed by the uncertainty of a new place. Regardless, there was mad popcorning last night when I covered the cage. I figure by the end of today they will start inquiring for food - which will graduate to full out demands by the end of the week.
Celery Salt and Peppercorn burble like crazy when held. I'll have to try to catch it on video. I hope these two will stay with us for more than the last pair! We'll see...
We had been requested to foster them because they started fighting due to the stress of being in the shelter. When we brought them home they continued to spat. However, every single day they calmed down a bit more and they'd curl up next to each other to nap. Clearly they liked each other. Within a few days Moses stopped ninja-jumping. Brownie stopped chattering his teeth so loudly and even let himself be picked up.
Progress!
Meet Moses and Brownie.
They're certainly cute. However... the reason I was asked to take them was that shelter life was stressing them out. Moses and Brownie were chasing and spatting. We had a calm ride home and the two boys settled right in, explored the cage, then took a nap.
That was the quiet before the storm.
The in-your-face chattering and ninja leap attacks started after dinner. My first impression is that Moses is getting a little too full of himself. He was right in Brownie's face. Brownie doesn't look eager to engage, but is not backing down to this pipsqueak punk.
The shelter may have triggered the stress fighting, but these two are acting like teenagers. Ugh. Teenage boys - I think that's worse.
Winter finally arrived in force in January between the snow and the cold. I'm happy to see the snow (but I'm also happy to see a little daylight at 5pm). I've gotten out a few times for local skiing and snowshoeing. It's been lovely. I don't like dismal grey winters.
This year the snowblower (and Rob) has gotten a workout. Check out that plume!
Single older male, seeking long term relationship. I love cuddles in front of the TV and gourmet dining (strictly vegan). I'm low maintenance, enjoying the basics in life, like hay, pellets, and a brown paper lunch bag. I'm a sucker for veggies of all kinds, except for cilantro. In return for affection (and treats) I will be steadfastly loyal and will occasionally sing you the song of my people (at full volume).
Doesn't Orion look cute all bundled up for winter? Dakin Humane was looking for photos of our foster guinea pig, so we pulled together a quick photo shoot on the one day all week that had sunshine.
I swear he's smiling in that photo.
Another year of blogging my adventures. Fifteen!?!
It was a quiet year - I had one big quilting project, not a lot of foster guinea pigs and some of health issues. All those things slowed down my writing topics.
Regardless... I managed to have plenty of good times with family and friends (I love you all), got out dancing (whee!), snorgled a few piggies (when can I foster baby piggies again?), and finished Winter Stars (huzzah!). I even worked on the Drapes of Doom! I am so lucky to get to do the things I do.
Thanks for reading (I'm always surprised when someone comes up to me and says "I saw that on your blog"). I appreciate the comments! I look forward to another year of sharing stories.
It's apple season - time to make crisps and pies! That leaves a lot of apple peelings, which means Echo (our guinea pig foster from Dakin Humane) gets what I call "apple streamers." I hook pieces of peelings around the cage, then Echo has to find them.
Not too many - I don't want to give her a tummy ache from eating too much apple. I tuck a few around the top edges of the cage. I've done this enough times that she runs right to the usual places I hide them. Occasionally she needs to follow her nose to locate them. This last time was tricky - I put one in the corner where it usually goes and hooked another from a binder clip nearby. Echo quickly found the one in the corner and could still smell the second apple peel. She kept looking in the corner... but it wasn't there!
Echo endured a photo shoot. We needed some glam-shots for her adoption page at Dakin Humane.
She was a little unsure of her surroundings. A little red pepper was enough to keep her facing the camera rather than hiding behind the pumpkin.
How has your summer been going? Mine has been too hot. The grass in my yard is burnt, the squash flowered but no fruit and somebody's been eating my zinnias. Delays on my black-and-white quilt means it won't be done in time to submit to local fairs. Bummer.
But this is a post of likes - and there's been all sorts of good things this summer.
We were out grocery shopping on Saturday morning when I got the text: our foster guinea pig Madea had a potential adopter. Could we come by that afternoon to drop her off? Just like that, Madea is gone.
She really settled in over the last couple of weeks. I hid carrot pieces around the cage that she she spent time finding. She loved the cozy I put on the third level and would often spend entire afternoons chilling in the bag. Turned out she enjoyed being cuddled, so I tried to include some lap-time in the evening. But I could tell she was bored. A companion should really help with that.
When I set up the cage for new foster piggy from the shelter I usually include
lots of hiding spots. I'll add extra fleece draped over sections of the
second and third levels of the cage (called fleece forests). I sometimes
add extra cozies to hide in. As the fosters settle in I'll remove the
extra hiding spots so we can interact more. Madea boldly tried out the
new exposed spots like a champ!
Say hi to our latest guinea pig foster from Dakin Humane:
Madea.
We've had her for about a week. Madea loves the cage - she checked it all out in the first day. She's great at doing laps in the evening so enthusiastically that the cage shakes. She's a cutie!
