Can Guinea Pigs Eat Honeynut Squash?

Why, hello there, fine Cavy Savvy readers! The humans were out of town for a bit, which meant we were also on vacation at the vet for boarding. The accommodations are nice, and it puts our minds at ease (in light of Broccoli's recent medical issues) to know that we have great veterinarians watching over us. Unfortunately, no one bothered to share the WiFi password with us there, so we weren't able to post anything.

We're back now! And, we have a new squash to review for you: Butternut Squash!

$1.50... Is that a lot of that money stuff or not? I don't know, but I think you should buy it!

If your human isn't already visiting their local farmer's market, you should encourage them to do so. They're a great source of new fruits and veggies to try!

So what is a Honeynut Squash anyway? We looked it up, and it turns out that Honeynut Squash is a variety of Butternut Squash that is crossed with buttercup squash. It turns out that a plant breeder at Cornell University created this new variety, which "fits in the palm of your hand and has about ten times the sweetness and squash flavor of the workaday butternut."

As with regular butternut squash, we can eat this 2-4 times per week, and shouldn't be fed the stalk, seeds or stem. Since this variety is bred to be sweeter than regular butternut squash, you should probably feed it to us less often (say, 2 times per week).

I'm willing to share, but please stay on your side of the plate, Broccoli!

Hey! This is clearly not respecting the boundaries I established! Food in my mouth is clearly not on your side of the plate!

After an initial feeding frenzy, Broccoli got bored for a bit and wandered off. But then he came back when he saw he was running out of time to eat more squash.

Walking onto the plate isn't very respectful of boundaries, either! You're really not good at following instructions. Please work on that!

I found Honeynut Squash to be a delightfully sweet variety of squash. Broccoli was a bit all over the map, however. First he wanted to eat it out of my mouth, then he was bored, and then he tries to take over the plate by sitting on it! I think our opinion of honeynut squash averages out to 4/5 stars!

Update on Broccoli, the Guinea Pig with the Eye Problem

Hi readers, I've got some good news to share: the vet called about Broccoli's surgery, which was scheduled to take place earlier this week. Apparently all of the positive thoughts that readers like you sent his way really helped, because the vet called off the surgery. Broccoli is doing so much better than expected that she thinks it may be possible to treat him with medication for a bit and see how he does on that alone.

Now, he may still need surgery in the future, but for now he is doing well, is eating on his own, and can be weened off of the Critical Care so long as his weight continues to be up. He's a brave one that Broccoli!

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Atlas Carrots?

The humans have decided to try something called "Blue Apron" recently. In exchange for some of that money stuff they care so much about, a box shows up once a week with ingredients and recipes. While we can't eat a lot of this human food, this has been good news for us because it has meant that some new fruits and veggies have shown up at our door.

When we heard that a new type of carrot had arrived in the Blue Apron box, we had to wheek loudly until the humans agreed to let us review it. The carrot is called an Atlas Carrot, and it is no ordinary carrot. Here's how the Territorial Seed Company describes these things: "An out-of-this-world planet or Parisian Market-type carrot, Atlas has a delightful globe shape with a sweet flavor and dainty crunch." That's right, a round carrot! Can you believe it?

That's a carrot? Not an orange pepper?

Like all carrots, we can eat atlas carrots almost daily, but no more than the equivalent of 1 baby carrot at a time. We recommend having your humans cut your carrots into thin slices. That way, it will seem like you've got more to eat!

Broccoli, smell that for me. Are you sure it's carrot?

He seems sure, but let me give it a quick sniff to be sure.

Yes, that's definitely carrot! Yum!

Atlas carrots taste like regular carrots, but have a fun shape. We give atlas carrots 5/5 stars!

Guinea Pig has Puffy Eye

Hello there, fine readers. It's Lola (2) here, and I wanted to give you all some news on Broccoli's health. Unfortunately, he has been feeling sick lately, so the humans took him to the vet a few days ago. His weight was down, which is a strong indicator that something is amiss. The humans noticed that the tooth he broke off a few weeks ago hadn't been regrowing as it should, and figured this all probably had something to do with tooth pain.

The vet told them that there's something wrong with his eye, but they're not sure exactly what yet.
They had him sedated and x-rayed, and the good news is it isn't related to his bones, but they are concerned that there may be an abscess or tumor in the area behind his eye.

They are giving him pain medicine this week, and supplementing his feeding with Critical Care to get his weight back up. He's going in for surgery next week. They are hopeful that they can clear the abscess, but there are a couple of concerns. First is that he's an older pig and surgery is always risky.
The second concern is that when they go in, it could turn out to be a tumor and not an abscess, which would be very bad because it's harder to treat. Also, they are hoping it does not come to this, but if the damage is to his eye, he may have to have it removed! Poor Broccoli! However, they think it probably won't come to that. (Still, feel free to send positive thoughts in his direction!)

Broccoli is getting plenty of rest before his surgery next week.

There is a chance he can fully recover from this. We will know more after the surgery, but we are very hopeful. And he's hanging in there and is very good about taking his medicine. In the meantime, I'm doing my best to be a good cage mate to him as he builds up his strength. Stay brave, lion-pig!

Announcing the Winner of Our 2016 Halloween Giveaway

We used a random number generator to choose the winner of our 2016 Halloween giveaway, and the winner is ...

RANDI COOK!

Congratulations, Randi! You just won a guinea pig mask from Archie McPhee! Please send us an email in the next 30 days with your mailing address to cavysavvyaguineapigblog@gmail.com and we will mail you your prize.

Thanks to everyone who entered! If you didn't win this time, just remember that there's always next time.

Cavy Savvy 2016 Halloween Giveaway!

Regular readers probably saw our recent post on the Pokemon costumes from Cuddly Cavy Creations. We looked amazing, but did not enjoy getting them on. We figure that turnabout is fair play, so it's about time that we get humans to wear costumes of our choosing!

And we have just the costume in mind. This is a guinea pig mask from Archie McPhee :

Put it on, human! You'd look much better as a guinea pig!

We were thinking we'd just put this on the humans for cute pictures and post it, but then we had a better idea: make it a Halloween giveaway! We haven't done a giveaway in some time, so I think we're overdue.

Here are the giveaway rules:

• You must be a resident of the continental United States.
• You have to be a follower of this blog. To follow us, just click the "join this site" button on the right.
• To enter, leave a comment on this blog post expressing your interest in participating in the contest.
• All entries must be received by October 15th, 2016 at 12:00 pm (US Eastern time) to be eligible.
• One winner will be chosen at random from all eligible entries and announced on this blog on October 15th sometime after the giveaway closes.
• The winner will be instructed to email us to provide us with a mailing address to send the prize to. Winners must provide us with a mailing address within 30 days to receive their prize. (We'd recommend replying ASAP to get it in time for Halloween.)

Good luck!

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Sweet Dumpling Squash?

The first official day of fall just happened earlier this week. We like the fall for a few reasons. First, the temperature drops closer to the ideal range for guinea pigs (at least in our area it does--can't speak for all the readers out there who might leave in really hot or cold places). And second, it means that the humans tend to find new squash for us to try, which we tend to like. And, right on cue, the humans brought home a new one!

The humans saw this at the farmer's market and thought of us. We got them trained well!  

As it turns, out, Dumpling Squash is also known as Sweet Dumpling Squash, and it's supposed to have "sweet, tender orange flesh." Well then, what are you waiting for, humans? Cut it open and let us try it!

Hurry up! Clean out the gunky stuff!

We can have winter squash like Sweet Dumpling Squash 2-4 times per week. As with other squash, just feed us the flesh--no seeds, stringy parts, skin, or stems.

Broccoli, I sure hope you wouldn't mind staying on your side. I believe that's a perfectly fair way to share the squash.

Hey! You're now on both sides! That wasn't our agreement!

The squash was delightful, even if Broccoli's manners were not quite at that level. We give Sweet Dumpling Squash 5/5 stars!