Guinea Pig Monday: Échalotte

Guinea Pig Monday: Hay Day

Courgette enjoying her Coop Bio hay

Guinea Pig Monday: Family Portrait

It wasn't easy, but I finally got a pic of the three piggies posing together.

Courgette, Echalotte, Poivron

The girls were actually quite good about posing. The problem was little Poivron, who was convinced that there were treats hidden in the corner of the couch. Hence, while he was exploring, I got a cute pic of the girls.

I like Courgette's piggy smile in this pic :)

Guinea Pig Monday: Jappyland Thinning Comb

To maximise my piggies' comfort over the hot summer and to minimise shedding in general, I have been looking for a grooming tool to thin their fur.

My first find was the Furminator for small animals. It looked like just the right tool for the job and was noted highly on wanimo, an online petshop I frequent. However, I noticed that the positive comments were from rabbit owners. After some googling, I found a few comments from guinea pig owners saying that the product is not adapted to the thinner hairs of guinea pigs.

Next, I came across the Jappyland Thinning Comb with three comb sizes. The comments on the product were from dog and cat owners, so they didn't help me much. Upon close inspection of the photos of the combs, though, I found that the smallest one may work for guinea pigs. I placed an order and the comb arrived within days.

Echalotte, who has especially thick hair, was the first to try the comb.

As you can see from the photos, the thinning comb (smallest comb) removed some fur. She didn't seem bothered at all about the combing itself. I am happy with my purchase, but it will take a few more weeks to tell if the shedding has decreased.

Guinea Pig Monday: Postcard from Australia

Courgette is still not convinced about the likeness...
Click here for more Couala pictures.

Guinea Pig Monday: Floor-time

I love watching my guinea pigs during floor-time. They tend to be more shy out of the cage, but after a while, curiosity gets the better of them and they begin to amble about making little piggy noises. Here are some pics of my troop enjoying floor-time...

Courgette adores the extensible green tunnel in the last photo. I actually added it to my basket to make up the €29 needed for free shipping on wanimo, but it turned out to be a happy purchase. The tube stretches up to almost 1 metre and can be bent into various shapes. It's also easy to clean. The only inconvenience that I have found is that Courgette likes to nibble on it (well, she nibbles on everything), so I have to keep a close eye on her. All in all, it's a fun accessory for floor-time.

Guinea Pig Monday: Girlfriends

The girls are getting along very well these last few weeks...

Guinea Pig Monday: un bonbon sale par terre

I recently discovered un bonbon sale par terre, a French artist specialising in small animals, including guinea pigs. Agnès, who is behind un bonbon sale, has a unique drawing style and a great sense of humour. She also has an active facebook page that's fun to follow.

My favourite pieces are the cartoons, which I find accurate and hillarious. Here are three of my favourites:

Last week, I caved in and bought myself a "guinea pigs on board" car sticker:

The sticker arrived within days and I am very happy. I'll post a pic of my car window soon ;)

Guinea Pig Monday: "Grain de Vie" Mélange Nature

I got the piggies a new treat this weekend - a mix of dried leaves, flowers, and veggies especially for guinea pigs.

Here's the packet...

Curious Poivron wondering what's going on...

Stuffed in a toilet paper roll and ready to serve...

No surprise, Courgette is the first to test...

The ingredients are: blackcurrant leaves, coltsfoot, dandelion, sunflower petals, parsnip, apples, carrots, leeks,* chicory, rose petals, hibiscus.

All three piggies had some bites, but they didn't go crazy over it as I thought they would. After a few leaves, they left the roll and went to munch on some hay. Still, it seems like a good, natural snack for the piggies. None of those 'snack sticks' with honey, nuts, and other bad-for-guinea pig ingredients for my little ones. (It's incredible that they even fabricate that stuff!)

* I've always seen leeks in "do not feed" lists, so I've removed the ones that I've come across.

Guinea Pig Monday: photo update

Some recent pictures of the trio...

enjoying an afternoon snack

culprit Courgette fleeing the scene

Échalotte waking up from her siesta
(her foot infection is gone!:))

Guinea Pig Monday: The Couala

I have always thought that Courgette resembles a koala. It's the grey-brown and white colour, fluffy fur, inquisitive eyes, and something about the nose. Oh, and she spends her day eating and sleeping.

Guinea Pig Monday: medical check

The piggies went for their medical check this afternoon.

I am happy to have found a a small animal specialist (very rare around here) who is very competent. Overall, all three piggies are in good health, with especially nice teeth.

However, the vet did find a fungal infection on little Echalotte's foot. He advised me to treat it with betadine because the iodine works well against fungus. Apparently it's caused by stress such as from moving to a new environment, which Echalotte has been doing quite a lot recently. He specifically recommended that I use gauze instead of cotton to dab the spot, as cotton tends to cling. It's this attention to detail that I particularly appreciate.

Here's a pic of that little foot...

Here's to hoping it'll go away without any trouble!

(He carefully checked Echalotte's nose and found nothing wrong, so that's one less thing to worry about.)

Guinea Pig Monday: Gardening

(I know it's Tuesday, but I didn't want to skip two Guinea Pig Mondays in a row...)

I took advantage of our first summery weekend to do some (indoor) gardening for the piggies. Over the coming weeks, they will be treated to home-grown grass, mint, coriander, parsley, and celery leaves.

I am particularly excited about the celery, which I am regrowing from store-bought celery. I found the method on Pinterest. Three days on, it's looking good so far.

Guinea Pig Monday: Gorgeous Guineas

Last week, I discovered that little Échalotte had some dried gunk on one side of her nose. At first, I thought it looked crusty and got worried reading up on Upper Respiratory Infections (URI).

However, upon closer inspection, I saw that it was more of a skin issue and headed over to Gorgeous Guineas, "home to the world's first and only range of Aromatherapy skincare products designed especially for guinea pigs". After reading up on the different lotions, gels, creams, and ointments available, I settled on a trial-size pot of FM Ointment. The ointment should be arriving this week.

Échalotte herself doesn't seem too bothered about her nose. She's more annoyed by my (very gentle and good-intentioned) prodding. Fingers crossed that it will go away soon.

Guinea Pig Monday: Introducing Échalotte

The big news of the week is the arrival of Échalotte. Little Échalotte is Poivron's sister and was also adopted from CRACI. She is very sweet and has integrated into my little troop without any problems.

With guinea pigs named Tomate (r.i.p.), Aubergine (r.i.p.), Courgette, Poivron, and Échalotte (much cuter than oignon), I can proudly say that my little ratatouille is complete ♥

The trio at dinner: Poivron, Courgette, Échalotte

Guinea Pig Monday: Sunday Siesta

Courgette enjoying an afternoon nap...

The cute tent and mat are from Cobb Cabin Crafts.

I also have some exciting news! Bella, Poivron's sister, may be joining my little troop. She is coming for an interview on Wednesday. Me, I'm convinced, but we'll see what Courgette has to say about her...

Guinea Pig Monday: New Cage Set-Up

A couple of weeks ago, we had a little accident where the water bottle fell and water got under the linoleum mat. The floorboards did not take this well. To prevent another such incident and to gain storage space for all the piggy things, we decided to put the cage and run up on a table. Not finding any satisfactory options in the stores, my beau built this table for them...

There are a few bits that need tweaking, but the piggies seem to have happily adjusted to their new perspective. In fact, I remember reading that it's good to place the cage off the ground, so that humans don't appear as physically intimidating. Let's hope this will help little Poivron settle in even better.

Speaking of Poivron, he has calmed down quite a bit. He mumbles to himself a lot and has even started wheeking, albeit softly, at feeding time. New pics soon :)

Guinea Pig Monday: Cobb Cabin Crafts

Courgette and Poivron received more goodies from Cobb Cabin Crafts over the weekend.

I love the soft materials, fun prints, and durability of the items from Cobb Cabin Crafts. My piggies have tested and approved all of the items from this store. My favourite items are the tidy mats, which are small mats made with two outer layers of fleece, with a layer of polyester batting and an absorbant microfiber layer sandwiched inside. I place them under the hideouts to keep the area dry. Plus, the piggies love sleeping on them.

Here's Courgette snoozing on a tidy mat.

And here she is again, appropriating a cuddle cup.