We now have five pigs (guinea pigs). Oreo and Smores were Caedmon's first two. I got them free on Craigslist. The plan was to eventually breed one of them so Caedmon could see a pregnancy and birth, and of course, see the cute babies!
We have good friends who got one heck of a handsome boar named Rusty (another great craigslist deal!). The plan was to breed and share the babies.
Thankfully, as I was doing the research, I learned something important. Females cannot breed if after 7-10 months. If they don't have a litter by then, their pelvic muscles fuse together resulting in death or the need for a c-section. Yeah, well, um...not gonna take a guinea pig in for a c-section!
So, we did get a newer baby and named her Nutmeg. Mommy got to name her since she used her own work money to buy her. She is our sweetest piggie, an absolute little angel.
Well, I needed another cage because Smores and Oreo did not like her. They tortured her and chased her around biting her in the butt. It was awful. We tried to integrate them but nothing ever worked. There was no way I was going to let her have a littler in there with them.
I tried to talk Caed into letting the first two go, but he was attached and I understood.
So I started to look for a cheap cage. We use C&C cages that I build myself but I wanted something more basic for her.
Backing up for a min, let me just say that we originally wanted to get him a male guinea pig. However, guinea pigs get depressed on their own and getting two males that you just pick up anywhere is not a good idea. They have to be use to each other from birth and one has to accept that the other is the alpha male. It's a tricky thing to pull off and just trying it out is not a good idea.
So, I was surprised when we were looking for a cage to see a cage and food and accessories that came with boars who got along. So, we took them in.
Yes, we have a guinea pig nation and the cage is huge now with baby nutmeg on top, on her own until she will one day have her babies in with her. The boys were all ready two years old so we are not sure how long they will even live. They are all fun however and make perfect pets for the kids.
So today we cleaned out the cages. My only issue has been bedding cost. I'm trying out something new. We live close to a market that puts out a ton of cardboard. I'm lining the cage with that and making a litter box as well. It's an experiment. We use to do the fleece thing but it was a lot of work to wash it all.
Enjoy the video...it cuts off because I ran out of memory.
The C&C cage I built. Girls on the left, boys on the right. Nutmeg is on top of them in a traditional pet store cage. It will be plenty big enough for her and her babies and then she get's the penthouse the girls have and they move into the little bungalow. Yes, those are rainbow Christmas lights and they light up at night so caed can watch them from his loft as he falls asleep.
Oreo...the noisy girl, in her pigaloo.
Smores looking clean and oh, so FLUFFY!
The boys were asleep, all cozied up...I was so mean to bug them. Ash and Teddy.
This was before I bugged them. Ash is asleep. They never fully close their eyes.
The little angel Nutmeg. She is so sweet and looks like a cute little squirrel.
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