Three boars, one cage.

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starfishsaving

Post   » Sun Aug 23, 2009 11:41 am


No more!? But... but... :D

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CavyCastle
Supporter in '10

Post   » Sun Aug 23, 2009 10:04 pm


Maybe we have to wait until Wednesday. Boo....

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NoCableisSafe

Post   » Thu Aug 27, 2009 11:32 am


Koda and Cashew bonded and became inseparable. Even Cashew began to realise that human's weren't huge birds of prey but instead were just gigantic portable food dispensers that would sometimes drop veggies into the cage.

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Koda decided that the dropping of veggies was related to how loud he wheeked at all passing humans. It sometimes worked so it was obviously worth trying... at all times in the morning...

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And the two began to - slowly - get to grips with the joys of living room floortime when they were given free range of a large laminate area. Which, as Koda didn't hesitate to let me know was cold, cold cold!

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And as I got over my scaredy-cat phobia of clipping my boys nails...
[removed - no video available - Lynx]
and began to network with other UK piggie slaves I came across an... opportunity of sorts. An opportunity which went surprisingly although there was always the chance that I could have shot myself in the foot.

In reflection, I did shoot myself in the foot a little bit. Such is the addictive, adorable nature of these little tail-less rodents.

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CavyCastle
Supporter in '10

Post   » Thu Aug 27, 2009 12:26 pm


"Agh, you're killin' me smalls!" You leave cliff-hangers like momo!

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu Aug 27, 2009 12:49 pm


Heh, heh, my daughter used to do that too.

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CavyCastle
Supporter in '10

Post   » Thu Aug 27, 2009 4:54 pm


I really shouldn't complain. When reading a story to my students, I always found the most horrible cliff-hanging moments to close the book and smiling say, "well, we'll just have to wait until tomorrow to find out kids." I came very close, many times, to being lynched. :)

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NoCableisSafe

Post   » Fri Aug 28, 2009 9:18 am


Like I said, I came into contact with a forum of UK guinea pig owners. Through a spiral of correspondance which began with me stating in an off-handish manner that I had room for one extra pig, I ended up finding out about a lone male who was 2 years old and in need of a home.

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I began to find more information about the little guy and the date of the adoption was set. Looking back, the entire adoption process was vague and rocky - probably because the rescue representative hadn't ever met the pig in question and was passing on information in her own words from the adopter.

He was 2 years old and had problems with his back. When I asked for more information about his back the back problems began to sound more like something common in guinea pigs: the dislike of having their butt's scratched. I was confused - if it was normal why was it mentioned at all? Boyfriend thought at this point that I should pull out of the adoption, but I felt sealed into the deal - it was probably just a case of Chinese Whispers, right?

And so I began to prepare for the new boy who was up for rehoming because he had been alone since he was 6 months old and had an epic battle with his cage companion. His companion had been rehomed earlier and now it was Mimic's turn since the owner found herself with less and less time to care for him.

So Mimic (renamed from Cuddles) came to live with me with a written letter from his previous owners and a warning that he is a wire eater. After his quarantine period I introduced him to both Koda and Cashew on the bathroom floor - and it was surprisingly uneventful. Mimic seemed to have absolutely no manners and would try to steal food from everyone's mouths, but apart from that there was no rumbling, chattering or ... anything...

[removed - no video available - Lynx]

As Mimic began to settle into life living with pigs, I noticed that he often spent a lot of time lying or sitting on his own while Koda and Cashew would snuggle together. It also worried me that Mimic hadn't connected my "food whistle" with having to come to the front of the cage for veggie time. I was afraid that he was the "third pig wheel" of the cage but held back on taking action... he was, after all, the newbie to a cage where a bonded pair resided and was still learning how to be a good boy to avoid Koda's bratty nips of "DON'T DO THAT!"

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I mentioned above that before I adopted Mimic it had been mentioned that he had back problems which were suggested to be nothing serious... as his stay grew longer I began to notice things, first of all that whenever his back was stroked he would sometimes go into a biting fit. In a fit of panic I treated everyone for mites and when the behaviour persisted and was accompanied by a decline in his weight I turned to both Thistle Cavies, GL and my vet for help.

At the vet it was noticed that Mimic very much had a problem with his back - a very visible problem which I had assumed was a trick of the eye caused by him being a ridgeback. He has a notable dip in his spine which Koda (my control pig) did not have.

I immediately spoke to the rescue who I'd gotten Mimic through. They told me that Mimic had been to the vet previously, but said that nothing had been found to be a problem then offered no further support besides a bag of critical care.

I was annoyed. The more I watched Mimic go wild over his metacam-laced critical care the more angry I got - especially when another rescue e-mailed me to offer to take Mimic and his problems on. Mimic's problem had the potential to soar cost-wise and at a time in my life when I was beginning to dip into the piggie fund for my own basics, this wasn't what I needed to hear.

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NoCableisSafe

Post   » Mon Aug 31, 2009 3:26 pm


After a few weeks of anti-inflamatories, Mimic seemed to become less frisky when his back was touched.

[removed - no video available - Lynx]

A trip to the vet confirmed this as the vet went from gentle to ... not-gentle with his back and the amount of pressure she put on it. We reduced his pain killer dose and he hasn't relapsed to this date.

As well as Mimic revealing abnormalities in his spine - which is positive in the sense that I'm now aware that he may have a problem in the future - this month was also great for the trio.

Koda finally permitted Mimic to snuggle beside him without nipping at his face first!

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They even began to work together...
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Mimic had been fully accepted into the group and took his place as the saxy legged boar, room mate to the fiery Koda and scaredy-peeg Cashew.
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The spotlight soon descended on Koda when Thistle Cavies asked for a photographic submission of His Highness for the 2010 calendar... it turned into a group event (with my foot to stop Koda from aiming his jump toward the cage... there was a drop between them, damnit!)

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CavyCastle
Supporter in '10

Post   » Mon Aug 31, 2009 8:03 pm


Hello your majesty!

Mimic is a very unusual yet interesting name. Any story behind why your chose it?

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Mon Aug 31, 2009 9:15 pm


Awfully cute guinea pigs, NoCableisSafe!

cutemomomi
Obey My Authority

Post   » Mon Aug 31, 2009 11:21 pm


Love how Mimic works that saxxy foot!

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NoCableisSafe

Post   » Tue Sep 01, 2009 10:07 am


Mimic got his name because he always, always, always seems to copy exactly whatever Koda does or Cashew. If they're doing something he'll want to or push to do it. He's lived alone for a while so I think he's trying to learn from them.

He was originally going to be called "Tea" and I use to always just refer to him as "newPig" or "newbie" but Mimic seemed to fit him better.

He does work the saxxy foot! Rumour is that he has his eyes on Mitzy, Momo :D

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