The Boys

Blurry close ups of the boys during grass eating time. Oreo and mello.











We had quite the adventure on Easter weekend trying to adopt the two guinea pigs. When we first got to the shelter, Oreo and Caramel were there but they had a note on their cage saying they were being held for someone else. They were the only guinea pigs at the shelter that were ready for adoption so we petted the bunnies for a while and prepared to go away disappointed. The shelter staff said they would call the person who was supposed to adopt the pigs and call us back on our cell phone.

We went out to lunch in Santa Barbara and were getting ready to go home when we got a call on the cell phone - the pigs were ours!! We went over and picked them up in the cat carrier. We then took them home and started to work finishing their cage. Mitch had already been working on constructing the cage for several hours the day before. It took another four hours or so to complete the eleven square foot pig palace.

The boys seem quite happy in their new home. The girls are really into them and ask about "the boys" a lot. We take them out for floor time every night during bath and the girls feed them carrots and greens from the bath tub. We also take them out to a small enclosure in the yard to eat grass for an hour or so every day on the weekends.

They are a lot of work because they poop like crazy!! I spot clean the cage every day and fully change the bedding every three days. They are definitely more work than the fish. I think they are good pets for the girls to learn how to be gentle and respectful of animals and they do make lots of cute noises. I wouldn't say that they like petting yet and mostly tolerate being held because we are feeding them good things like carrots and apples. They do sit still in the girls laps and have only nipped Lucy once when her finger got in the way of a carrot. I still have hopes that they will come to like petting over time. Maybe we can even teach them a few tricks. Well maybe not, they are guinea pigs after all.