Bouncing Boars

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karalianne
Supporter in '12

Post   » Sun Mar 03, 2013 11:53 pm


The long-awaited update, especially for eschimpf! ;)

So a few weeks ago I got a bunch of new stuff from Canadian Comforts. I put the new Cavy Caves in when I cleaned cages last Friday (not the one we just had, the one before that) and I have pictures and stories! :)

First Story:

A few weeks ago when I was cleaning cages, I put Squeak into the extra store-bought cage and popped Bubble into a cardboard box (it's one that came from Montreal Critters with hay in it, nice and big). Both items in the living room, which is kind of next to the guinea pig room.

I went back to the guinea pig room and pulled out the soiled bedding, then came back into the living room to an empty box and a cat staring under the couch.

One of the flaps on the box (which was on the floor) had been folded down and Bubble had climbed up and out of the box. He was under the couch, exploring.

I managed to get him back safely and made sure the flaps were folded in so he couldn't get out again.

(Note: The cat leaves the pigs alone if they are penned and has yet to try to actually hurt them when they aren't, but if they aren't penned then I am right there the whole time. I never would have left the brothers alone in the living room if they weren't safely in a cage and a box!)

Photos of the Brothers:

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Bubble on the left. Somehow I managed to order dinosaurs for him and that's what his older stuff is, just a different pattern! (I am really proud of myself for that one.)

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It did take a while for them to warm up to the new Caves, but I promise Squeak and Bubble both wound up using them quite regularly!

Batman and Bandit:

I continue to put these two together when I'm cleaning cages. They continue to get along quite well, but they do a lot of rumbling and chasing, so they're rather exhausted when they get back to their cages.

Proof:

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Both of these boys LOVE their hay. Of course, the best place to eat your hay?

Bandit has the answer!

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Yes, he is under his hay rack. Little booger-head.

Story:

So I knew Batman was using his Cave because there was pee marks on it (light calcium deposits; I am so glad he's not actually peeing calcium anymore! The deposits were soooo thick for a while, but now they're more normal). Here's a picture of him on day one:

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As for Bandit, he's never had a bed. He's just had that green igloo since he came to my house. So this was really new for him. He was really confused about it at first, but once he figured it out?

I went to give him his multi-vitamin (the Oxbow Hay Tabs) one night, and he was in his Cave. I stuck the hay tab between the bars like I always do. Normally, he comes up and snatches it away and runs off to eat it, but this time?

He wouldn't move. He sat there in his Cave, stretching out his head toward the hay tab, but not moving his feet at all. "I really need that thing and it is sooo good, but I can't move!" Finally he got it, but he dropped it and it went under the edge of the Cave so he couldn't reach it. Again, he wouldn't move his feet and just reached his head around trying to find it. "I need it, but I can't move! Where'd it go?"

I took pity and opened the cage and picked it up and gave it to him. He immediately backed up.

Like I said, he's a booger-head.

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But a really cute one!

Health Update:

Weigh-in this week was fantastic! Everyone is up over 1300g finally, and Batman and Bubble are really close together in weight. Squeak is over 1400g, which is normal for him. And Bubble and Batman are both doing great in the calcium department. I've started collecting the hay dust from the bottoms of my bags, I thought I would try mixing it with baby food for hand-feeding calcium pigs, because I know that Critical Care has calcium in it. (I'm not going to keep it indefinitely, I figure I'll keep the stuff from a bag until I empty another bag and then I'll toss the old and keep the new until I empty another bag, just so there's always some on hand.)

I've also realized lately just how soft Batman's fur really is. When I brought him home in the summer of 2011, it was pretty stiff and very fuzzy, but it's become quite soft and silky. It's still fuzzy and still makes me itch on my neck after a snuggle, but I think it's a sign that he's getting proper care and nutrition finally. Even if he does wish he could have pellets. Speaking of which, one more photo that illustrates really clearly Batman's relationship with Squeak:

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Squeak likes to have his pellet bowl up on its side, the better to eat the pellets without having to work at all. I put it flat on the floor of the cage, he tips it up this way. Note that the corner he prefers his bowl is the one right next to Batman. Poor Batman spends a lot of time poking his nose through the grids, trying to get some of Squeak's pellets.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Mon Mar 04, 2013 9:51 am


They are looking so cute! I love the zonked out photos!

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eschimpf
SweetPea

Post   » Mon Mar 04, 2013 11:21 am


Squeak you booger, stop teasing poor batman!

Thank you for posting this! I've been waiting ;)

Smooches to Bandit and all the other boys.

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AldenM1
Supporter in '21

Post   » Mon Mar 04, 2013 8:21 pm


Well, I wouldn't want to come out of a cozy place like those caves, either!

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Nemo

Post   » Mon Mar 04, 2013 9:52 pm


I have a cuddle cup in the same pattern as Squeak's cave, it is very cute! I'm glad everyone is doing well.

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Breadfan4

Post   » Mon Mar 04, 2013 10:37 pm


They are all cute....but Bandit has that special something.

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karalianne
Supporter in '12

Post   » Mon Mar 04, 2013 11:34 pm


Bandit is a sweetheart. He's second-heaviest but the smallest (however that works). He's also the youngest, at just over one year old. We rescued him and he's supposed to be a foster until we find him a new home, but I'll have had him for a year in May so I'm beginning to think I really should just put him and Batman together and call him adopted. :P

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Bytxlaura
Remembering Nemo

Post   » Tue Mar 05, 2013 12:30 am


That is an amazing idea, Kara!

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Breadfan4

Post   » Tue Mar 05, 2013 11:29 am


He's too cute not to keep! (I know, I could say that about all of them, but still....)

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karalianne
Supporter in '12

Post   » Sat Mar 09, 2013 12:52 am


Not tons to share today.

I cleaned cages and decided to mix things up a bit (also to see if the pairs who eat the same diet would get along), so I did Bandit and Squeak's cages first and put them in the pen in the living room.

No fighting! They did a lot of chasing, but it was "I want to mount you!" chasing (even between the two), not "Get away from me!" chasing. They were both exhausted by the time I came to put them in their clean cages. Near the end, Bandit was hard-pressed to decide if he wanted to sleep (as close to Squeak as he could get, I kid you not) or chase Squeak.

Batman and Bubble I was wary of, but figured it wouldn't hurt anything to try at least. So I put them in the pen (which is currently only a 2x3 C&C size) and watched them carefully for a bit.

Again, no fighting! They didn't chase each other anywhere near as much as the other two. Batman did some butt-checking (where he swings his butt at the other guinea pig as he walks by, specifically in order to whack the guinea pig with it) and there were a few mounting attempts, but mostly they left each other alone and did their own thing.

This makes me wonder if perhaps the problem before was that it was a trio. It's possible that Batman has no idea how to relate to/interact with more than one guinea pig at a time, which caused all the fighting before. But I think if I'm going to try him living with Bubble, I'm going to have a huge space for them to live and do a really long introduction in a really big space before putting them both directly into the shared cage.

When I put Batman back in his cage (last), he started chirping. Then he acted really spooked. And then he chirped more.

I managed to get some video of the event:

He slept in his litter pan for at least four hours after that.

And about an hour after the events in the video, Bandit smacked his food bowls together (they're ceramic, so they bing) and started wheeking like he's been hurt, so I rushed in and he was fine, standing next to the bowls and looking at me, oinking (he seriously oinks like a proper pig) and asking me why I was so concerned. BOOGER-HEAD, I TELL YOU!

Here, have some photos:

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Roy was sunning herself nearby. She's more interested in the brothers than the other two, probably because they're the same colour as she is.

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Bandit wore Squeak out!

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He was totally flaked out at this point, about half an hour after I took the video.

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karalianne
Supporter in '12

Post   » Thu Mar 21, 2013 1:10 am


Last week, I was in the kitchen doing something and heard lots of scurrying sounds and ringing bells from the guinea pig room. (They have bird toys hanging from their cages, to play with. They don't do much with them, but sometimes I hear the bells going.)

I poked my head in, and this is what I saw:

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Bandit was doing zoomies in his cage. Bubble and Squeak were frozen in place. Batman was apparently trying to find out what the heck was going on up there!

After all that running, Bandit was so tired, he couldn't even get into his cave!

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How are the boys, you ask?

"Just fine, thanks!" says Bubble.

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"Hm? What's that? I'm kinda busy here." says Squeak.

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"Can't stay still, must eat ALL THE HAY!" says Batman.

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"Do you have any noms?" asks Bandit.

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They're all portly and healthy, as usual.

I had them out in pairs for floor time today.

Did Bandit and Squeak together - they really get along quite well, I don't know if it's Bandit's personality or what. I gave them each a baby carrot as a snack, and they started eating them. Then Bandit decided he should check out Squeak's carrot and he started eating that one instead. so they were both eating the same carrot for a while... until Bandit picked up the carrot and THREW IT ACROSS THE PEN! I had to retrieve it for them because neither pig could figure out what had happened!

So then I did Batman and Bubble together, and I think that's a pair that won't work out well long-term due to Batman's desire to be Top Pig and Bubble's desire to be Left Alone Already. But I gave each of them a carrot, and they both headed for the same corner of the pen, and it was hilarious because Bubble turned around with his carrot in his mouth and ran smack dab into Batman! Batman backed up and Bubble got the actual corner in the end.

Those are the piggy stories for today. I may have more next week! :D

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GP_mum
Supporter in '13

Post   » Thu Mar 21, 2013 5:08 am


Life in the piggy pairing world is always exciting. The boys are looking really well. Had to laugh at the carrot flinging incident and can imagine the confusion going on with Batman and Bubble trying to get into the same corner.

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