Saturday, April 30, 2011

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Kumquats?

Our humans were a little hesitant about feeding us kumquats because they could not find much information online about whether it's okay for guinea pigs to eat them, so they only gave us one. Honestly, that was one too many because this was a rather disappointing food. We give it 1.5/5 stars.

What's that? It smells interesting.
Buffy, do you actually like this stuff? Feel free to eat my half if you do.
Buffy doesn't want it. Clean this up, humans!
We thought we were going to like this stuff because we love other citrus fruit, but kumquats are just too strong-tasting for our liking. Better luck next time, humans!

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Review of ECO-Bedding for Guinea Pigs

A few days ago, the humans did something new and scary to our cage. First, they cleaned it, which is pretty scary by itself. Imagine if a giant reached in through your roof, pulled you and your roommate out, and then threw all your furniture out of your house into the front yard. That’s pretty much what it’s like for us to have our cage cleaned. Now, imagine if all of that happened, and then when you finally came back home, you found that your floor was completely different. That’s what happened to Lola and me! They replaced our Care Fresh with this stuff:

More comfortable, you say? We'll be the judge of that!

Looks pretty weird if you ask me.


What did you do to our home? This stuff looks weird, feels weird to walk on, and makes weird crinkly noises when we walk on it. Change is scary! WHEEK!


Hmm… I guess it’s easy to forget that you’re terrified when there’s yummy hay to eat.

We tried nibbling on this new stuff afterwards, which scared our humans a bit since they didn’t know if it was safe for us. (Not fun being scared, is it, humans?) We got bored of that pretty quickly, though. This stuff is not tasty at all.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Pears?

Today we tried a Bosc pear. Pears, like most fruit, have a lot of sugar, so we split half a pear between the two of us. Pears are yummy, but not as good as some other green vegetables, like cilantro or spinach. We give them 3/5 stars.
The delicious pear.
Lola runs out to try a bite. Buffy stays back cautiously. 
 Hmmm, Lola seems to like it!
 I'll eat what she didn't finish. Yum!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Cilantro?

We love cilantro! I think we'll give it 5 out of 5 stars. We smelled it and got excited as soon as our humans brought it close to our cage.

That smells delicious! Hurry up and bring it here!
Yum!
One of the great things about cilantro is that it's stringy. That keeps Lola busy eating while I'm trying to eat my share. I hate it when she steals food right out my mouth. So rude!

Well, that went quick!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Guinea Pig Names: A Guide To Naming Your Guinea Pig

Got a new guinea pig but have no idea what to name it? Buffy and I have come up with a list of ideas for how to name your guinea pig.

But first, here is how we got our names. I was named after the Kink's song, and Buffy was named because when she was a baby guinea pig, she looked exactly like a little miniature buffalo: hence, Buffy.

If your guinea pig is a girl, you can name her:
  • After a flower: Dandelion, Lily, Lavender, Periwinkle, Peppermint, Rose, Tulip, Violet, Jasmine, Daisy, Dahlia, Clover, Heather, Iris, Blossom, Satsuma 
  • After something sweet: Twinkie, Cinnamon, Gumdrop, Tapioca, Mochi, Lychee
  • After something from mythology: Pixie, Athena, Amalthea, Aurora, Elektra, Freyja, Persephone, Rapunzel 
  • From a famous woman's name: Marilyn, Ariel, Belle, Bella, Tinkerbell, Alice, Camilla, Paris

If your guinea pig is a boy, you can name him:
  • Shamrock, Marshmallow, Licorice, Snickers, Yoshi, Zeus, Neptune, Pluto, Pumbaa, Thunder, Rumbles, Thumper
If you get a pair of guinea pigs, you can pick two names that go together:
  • Mario and Luigi, Peanut Butter and Jelly, Mike and Ike, etc.
You can also add title to your new guinea pig's name: Lord Marshmallow, Prince Shamrock, Mr. Yoshi,  Lady Periwinkle, Miss Lily, Princess Ariel, Dr. Neptune, Captain Pumbaa  etc.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Can guinea pigs eat banana?

Today we will be reviewing banana. We guinea pigs can eat bananas but because bananas contain a high amount of sugar, they should only be fed to us in small amounts. A thin slice per pig is a good rule of thumb. Note that in the video below, we are shown eating half a banana, but our human took it away from us before we could finish it because of the sugar concern (not cool).

We really like bananas so we'll give it 4/5 stars. If we had it our way, we'd eat all the banana we could stomach, even if it gave us a stomach ache afterwards.

The human was only going to let us nibble on the banana, but I let her know who's boss.
Ahahaha! Ours now!

Friday, April 8, 2011

10 Things You Should Know Before Buying or Adopting a Guinea Pig

Hello humans. Buffy and I have put together a list of things to consider before making a decision to get a guinea pig. All to often, humans think, "I want a pet, but I don't want to commit to getting a dog or cat, since those require so much work and care. So instead, I'll just get a guinea pig." We have become known as so-called "pocket pets", which we think is totally divorced from the reality of what it means to own a guinea pig. So if you are on the fence over whether or not to get a guinea pig, consider the following:

1. We eat timothy hay. A LOT of timothy hay.
Every week, our human spend around $10 for a bag of Oxbow timothy hay. By the end of the week, it's all gone. Amazing, I know. How can such small animals eat so much food? The answer is that our digestive tracts pretty much have to be constantly moving, and we need an unlimited supply of hay throughout the day to meet this need. In addition, we need about a cup of fresh vegetables and a small handful of Oxbow pellets to supplement our hay addiction. This can add up. In contrast, a cat or dog eats much, much less and doesn't need to be fed as frequently as we do.

2. All that eating leads to a lot of waste.
Our cages need to be lined with a fresh layer of Carefresh or other paper-based bedding every week. A week's supply of Carefresh costs $20 per bag. You can use newspaper, but we don't like how the ink irritates our feet and it's more work on your part to have to clean it up. Using Carefresh is easy to clean and it takes our human only 5 minutes once a week to scoop it up into the trash with a dust pan. Count on spending $30 per week on hay and bedding alone.

3. We need a constant supply of fresh hay. If you fail to give us more hay when our food bowl goes empty, we will scream. Oh yes, we're good it.
Wheek wheek wheek wheek WHEEK WHEEK! Oh, you don't like that? Well, we don't like that we ran out of hay and you haven't refilled our bowl. No, we don't care that it's two in the morning and you're trying to sleep. Get out of bed and feed us or we'll make your life a living nightmare!

4. Adopt, don't buy us from a pet store
There are so many humans out there who didn't read this guide before getting a guinea pig and subsequently realized they bit off more than they could chew. Now we're the ones who suffer as we wait in an animal shelter for a kind human like yourself to adopt us. Adoption is the most ethical way to acquire a guinea pig. Or try Craigslist! There's a lot of guinea pigs available there, too.

5. We're not always cuddly.
Yes, we are always cute (even Skinny Pigs) but not all of us want to be held. The vast majority of us will run away if you approach us, and we may make angry sounds if you manage to capture us and force us to be pet. Buffy absolutely hates it. I'm more open to the idea, but even I get antsy after a few minutes.

6. We make good pets for older kids, but don't leave us in the care of anyone under eight years old.
The older humans are, the more likely to be responsible they are. Please supervise your children and teach them good habits when handling their pets.

7. We need to be in pairs.
Guinea pigs living in pairs lead happier lives. We like having a playmate and we are social animals by nature. In the wild, we live in herds. In captivity, we'd really like another guinea pig of the same sex to live with. (Learn how to tell our sex us here)

8. We need to be taken to the vet when we're sick, just like other pets.
What, are we not real living animals to you? I hate it when humans say they wouldn't consider taking a guinea pig to the vet if we get sick. We depend on you and you alone to give us the necessary medical attention if we get sick. I'd hate to be owned by a human who wouldn't take me to the vet if I got an infection. To think that some humans wouldn't spend a few dollars for some cheap antibiotics that would save my life if I needed them makes me so thankful that I have the owners I do. If you can't afford the vet, you can't afford the pet.

9. We don't get along with other animals, other than fellow guinea pigs.
Usually. Very rarely, we can be housed with a rabbit. Very rarely. So be sure you're okay with just having us in one cage if you decide to get us.

10. We live 5-8 years on average.
Hamsters, in contrast, live around 2-4 years. Are you ready to commit the next eight years of your life to us? Please be sure before adopting us.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Baby guinea pig photos: cute pics of baby guinea pigs

We're pretty adorable now, but can you believe that at one time we were even more adorable? It's true. Below are some pigtures from when we were just wee baby piggies:
One of the humans holding me
Look how small I am compared to Annie!
Buffy and me as guinea piglets
Buffy's first bath
Before Buffy's curls began to grow

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Can guinea pigs eat mangos?

Today we're reviewing Champagne Mango. Buffy said she only gives it 3 stars, but I would give it 5 stars. We'll split the difference and give it 4 stars. Wait, I'm the dominant pig, so my opinion counts for more; let's say 4.5 stars.

I want that!
As you can see, we were both excited to try it, but I was way more excited.


I eagerly dug in to my bowl of mango bits, while Buffy chose one bit and ate it off to the side.


Buffy eventually got bored and went to her pigloo without finishing her food, while I stuffed my face my champagne mango. Delicious!


Munch, munch--Back off! Mine!

After watching me chow down, Buffy came back out and decided she would give champagne mango a second chance. At this point, however, I decided the entire bowl was mine and didn't want to share.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Bad Humans!

Lola here. I would like to thank all the humans who checked out our blog recently, but I have a bone to pick with a couple of you. I'm looking at you, betenoire and Kayleigh, who told our humans that we don't necessarily need Vitamin C. Our humans didn't need to know that! We had a good thing going, and now the humans are thinking about cutting back just because we get enough fruits and vegetables.

Yum!

Please don't take away our Vitamin C!

I propose a compromise. On days where we get vitamin C rich fresh foods, we'll forgo our daily C. But on busy days where the humans don't give us enough C-rich foods, we get to have our delicious liquid vitamin C. Sound good? I know, I know, it's for our own good. But we will not stand for cutting vitamin C out of our lives completely. It's out favorite time of the day! Well, that, and floor time. But more on floor time later...