Can Guinea Pigs Eat Sugar Snap Peas?

You know the old saying: There's no accounting for taste. Today's review of sugar snap peas proves it. Buffy thought these things weren't bad, but I didn't care for them at all. Sugar snap peas can be fed to us 2-4 times per week, 1-2 pods per piggy (but just because they can doesn't mean they should).

Aren't these things called "sugar" snap peas? Why aren't they sweet-tasting like raspberries then?

I dropped mine because I didn't care for the taste of these peas, but Buffy was munching away at hers. I figured she must have somehow tricked me into eating a bad one while she was eating one of the good ones. I wasn't about to let that slide! So I took her pea pod and gave it a try.

I didn't like Buffy's pea pod, either. Could I have something else, human?

Buffy liked these things a lot more than I did, but even she got bored of them after eating about two-thirds of a pod. We give sugar snap peas 2/5 stars.

Product Review: FM Brown's Herbs n' Hay Edible Tunnel

As we recently mentioned, we came in second place in the PetSmart costume contest, and got a free $5 product as our prize. We decided to go with this Herbs n' Hay Edible Tunnel:

"A great place to sleep," you say? We're more of the pigloo type of piggies.

What's in here?

Lola, you can't drag that thing back into your pigloo! It won't fit!

We've had a tunnel in the past that was a different brand, and this tunnel is pretty much the same to us. It's fun to chew on and fun to walk through, but we've never slept it in or used it to "just get away from it all." Despite this, it's still spices up our cage, and I'm sure it's going to last us a long time. 4.5/5 stars!

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Oranges?

We've reviewed a lot of foods since we started this blog back in March, yet there are still some basic fruits that have fallen through the cracks. Can you believe we've reviewed kumquats, but missed oranges up until now? Oranges can be fed to us only 1-2 times per week due to high sugar content. We can also eat the peels, which we can have 2-4 times per week.

Oranges are sweet, juicy and delicious. We give them 5 out 5 stars. (The peels aren't nearly as good as the flesh, and only get 2.5/5 stars.)

I approve!

PetSmart Costume Contest

After our most recent post, I'm sure you can't wait to see our costumes. We won't keep you in suspense any longer:

Here's Lola in her dinosaur costume.

And here I am in my ladybug costume.

It was a little scary to have the humans put the costumes on us because we didn't know why they were strapping things around our legs and bellies. The humans thought it would be a good idea for us to participate in the PetSmart Howl-O-Ween contest, despite how we're still recovering from being blessed. The outside world is terrifying! I know there's some good stuff out there, but you need to give us enough recovery time. I think three months minimum between adventures would be good. We went in our carriers and new costumes to PetSmart, and pulled our costumes off during the car ride. The humans then had to put them on us again! It was quite a day. Our costume competition was more of those hairy beasts we saw during the blessing:

The humans did a bad job with this picture. It doesn't show how stiff the competition really was. There were dogs wearing prisoner outfits and all kinds of other crazy stuff.

The competition was judged by who got the most applause for their costume. We came in second place, and got a free toy (which we plan to review soon). So I guess we should thank the humans for dragging us to thing after all.

Thanks, humans!

Now never, ever do that again!

Our Halloween Costumes Have Arrived

Hi humans! You bipeds aren't the only ones who like to celebrate Halloween. We guinea pigs enjoy Halloween just as much as you do, and we're glad that there are some humans out there who recognize this fact.

One such human is the owner of Cuddly Cavies Creations, a site where you can buy guinea pig Halloween costumes! Check out the page to see some of the most adorable guinea pig outfits and costumes you have ever laid eyes on.

This year, Buffy is going as a ladybug, since she is pretty and shy, and I, Lola, will be ferocious green dinosaur, since I'm the dominate pig. Check out this blog on Halloween to see us outfitted and rumble-strutting our stuff.

Also, keep checking our blog because we have not one, but TWO upcoming contests where you can win a free gift for you and your guinea pig! That's right! The prizes for both contests were generously donated by the owner of Cuddly Cavies Creations. To qualify, just become a follower of our blog and you're eligible to win.

We urge you to check out Cuddly Cavies Creations, because you will find some really cool guinea pig outfits and costumes, and at very reasonable prices. When we received our costumes, we were blown away by the quality of the materials and attention to detail. We can't say enough about them, and we will be wheeking incessantly until the humans order more cute outfits for us!

Interacting with the Humans: A How To Guide for Guinea Pigs

Buffy and I decided to do a post on our relationship with our non-furry friends, the humans. Although much of this blog is dedicated to guinea pig toys and foods, we can't ignore the fact that sometimes the humans are more than just food providers. Here are our thoughts on human-guinea pig interactions:

Lola:

While I hate being picked up, I usually don't mind if the humans reach into the cage to pet my head. Sometimes, they'll want to pick me up and hold me in their lap for a while and pet me. I don't mind it when they do this, because I can just flatten out in total relaxation and go to sleep. I mean, I don't have to worry about predators if I'm in the hands of a fearsome giant, right?

I also sometimes get needy for human attention. It's so boring being stuck in the cage with Buffy; whenever I try to play with her or initiate a game of tag, she hops on top of a pigloo and glares down at me. But the humans are always up for fun. Sometimes I'll create games to play with the humans. I know they hate it when I touch their shoelaces, so I'll try to sneak up on them and see how long it takes them to shoo me away.

Another game I enjoy is "Capture the Receipt". The humans keep a plastic container of important receipts on the floor. Sometimes, during floor time, I'll jump into the container and fish out a receipt. If they catch me doing it, then I'll run away with the receipt in my mouth until they manage to stop me and retrieve the receipt. What fun!

Buffy:

I just want to be left alone bu humans and guinea pigs alike. I hate it when anyone bothers me. I hate it when Lola kicks me out of my pigloo, I hate it when a human hand approaches the cage, and I especially hate being held. Being held feels like being captured to me. I burr and I burr to let the humans know I hate it, but sometimes they don't care and will insist on petting me. I'm not a cat, humans! Just because I sound like I'm purring doesn't mean I'm happy.

Well, there you have it. How much a guinea pig enjoys interacting with their humans varies from pig to pig.

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Pumpkin?

Sometimes, we like to get into the holiday spirit. We know it's not quite Halloween yet, but we've got something else in mind for Halloween. So maybe we'll call this a pre-Halloween post. Or, maybe a fall-themed post.

Today, we're reviewing pumpkin. Pumpkins can be fed to us only 1-2 times per week. Do not feed us the seeds. You can feed us the stringy parts if you want, but it's probably easier to just throw them out.

The humans cut up the pumpkin into cubes for us.

Hey Lola, I think these pumpkin chunks came from a Jack o' lantern.  That means that ghosts will get you if they see you eating this!

It worked! She's hiding in her pigloo, and I can eat in peace.

Pumpkin was really good, but it's not quite as good as some other foods we've tried. We'll give it 4/5 stars.

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Cranberries?

Today, we're going to review cranberries. I know cranberries are Thanksgiving food, so maybe this post is a little early. From our perspective, though, it's never too early to try a new food! Or too late, for that matter. When we saw these little round red things, we were expecting something nice and sweet; everyone knows our theory about red foods. But instead of something sweet, we tasted an explosion of intense flavor when we bit into these things!

Red food! Me first!

Whoah! That's intense! It's almost too intense... but not quite.

Lola just ate some cranberries, and now she's using hay as a palate cleanser.

Typically, when we get a food we like, we just eat it continuously until it's gone. It's very rare for us to stop for a hay break in the middle of trying a new food, but most foods aren't as intense as cranberries are.

Cranberries can be fed to us 2-4 times per week. Just like with humans, they can also help with urinary tract infections. They can also make your little piggy mouth feel like it's gone to some bittersweet dimension. They make you want to scream, yet you're still having fun; it's probably similar to what you humans feel when you ride roller coasters. We'll give cranberries 4/5 stars.

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Chard?

We're honestly a little confused as to what type of chard we tried. The label on the chard itself said "green chard," but the receipt from the grocery store said "Swiss chard." Wikipedia has an entry for Chard, which says that "Swiss chard" is another common name for it. However, they also have a picture of "red chard," which has red stalks. The kind we ate has green stalks, and the entry has no mention of "green chard." We're confused piggies when it comes to chard classification, but we know what we like!

What type of chard is this?

It's yummy chard!

Yum! On a side note, look at my pretty manicure from SEAVS. 

Swiss chard can be fed to us almost daily; if we ate "green chard" and it's a separate type of chard, we can probably eat that almost daily, too. It's probably a good idea to cut up the stalks into small pieces to prevent choking, just like our humans did.

We ate this stuff up really quickly and looked up at the humans with pleading eyes for more. Chard gets 5/5 stars!

Buffy and Lola Get Blessed

We were really hoping to make it to the Metropolitan Guinea Pig Rescue's Pigstravaganza this last weekend and meet other guinea pigs. Unfortunately, it turned out to be really cold and rainy that day, and as we mentioned before, it is important that your guinea pig does not get too hot or too cold. The humans were able to find an alternative event, for us, however: the Blessing of the Animals at St. George's Church.

As it turned out, the event attracted mostly dogs and a few cats, so we brought some much-needed diversity to the proceedings.

What are those big hairy things? They're scary! Good thing we can stay hidden in our new carriers!

Here I am getting blessed! Does this mean I'll have divine protection from Lola being a bully?

Afterwards, we each got a medal of Saint Francis of Assisi. There was a buffet with human food and dog food, but no guinea pig food. Come on, humans! Next year, just put some hay and carrots on the table and make us feel included. Overall, it was a nice experience, despite the scary dogs and lack of good food. We might just get blessed again next year.

Review of All Living Things Small Animal Carrier, Large

We went to SEAVS, our favorite vet in the world, the other day. The humans have been transporting us in a small aquarium, which kind of works when they're transporting us one at a time, but was rather miserable when they tried to take both of us together. Only one pigloo would fit inside the aquarium, and we'd both fight over it, until the human who wasn't playing with the big wheel took it away from us.

Nowhere to run! Nowhere to hide! This is terrifying!

Since the humans were planning on taking us to the pignic, which is a long drive, we needed something better to transport us. (On a side note, we didn't go to the pignic after all. More on that in another post.) The humans got us this to replace the aquarium:

Hey, that's not a guinea pig on the package!

We were a little worried because the package showed a ferret on it, and we've noticed that when guinea pigs aren't specifically mentioned on a product, it's not a good sign. However, this time was an exception to the rule.

This isn't so bad.

Here's what we liked better about this: First, the stripes on the side were really stylish. Second, we could look out of the screen while still being protected by an opaque ceiling. It felt safer, kind of like a pigloo. Third, it cost a lot less than the other guinea pig-sized pet carriers available at our local pet stores. We also liked how the humans put an old towel down underneath us; it was very comfortable. I only wish there was a convenient way to include food and water in the carriers for us. Still, this was a much better way to travel. 4/5 stars!

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Eggplant?

Good news, guinea pigs and humans who have the good sense to love guinea pigs! While our main camera is still broken, the humans managed to find one of their old cameras stashed away in storage. The old camera isn't quite as good, but it should be good enough to show us trying delicious (and not-so-delicious) foods again. For our first food review in a long time, we're trying eggplant.

Some websites list eggplant as a "question food" for guinea pigs because they don't know enough to say whether it's safe for us to eat or not. However, the folks at guineapigcages.com said it's okay in moderation (1-2 times per week), so we figured we'd give it a try. And were we glad that we did!

I thought that was apple at first, but it's not. What is this? I like it!

Humans, thanks for cutting it up so Lola can't steal it all!

No more eggplant? Oh no! Humans, could we please have some more?

Eggplants don't really have a lot of the nutrition that guinea pigs need like Vitamin C, so from a nutritional standpoint, you probably shouldn't feed it to us. However, it's pretty darn tasty! We classify eggplant as piggy junk food: delicious, but best fed in moderation. 4/5 stars!