Skinny Pigs!!

Meet Oreo and Caramel. These handsome boys are two rescue guinea pigs looking for a good home at the Santa Barbara animal shelter. If they are still there this Friday, we are hoping to take them home with us. I started thinking about adopting a rabbit. I've always wanted a rabbit and I would like to get a furry family pet. I researched rabbits but ultimately decided (after talking to the rabbit rescue folks) that rabbits are too skittish and fragile for toddler living. There are a lot of very handsome rabbits out there in the rescue world though.

Anyway after getting really frustrated and feeling like there are NO pets that it is o.k. to have with toddlers, I decided to try to research what pets are good to have around little people. And one of the recommendations I found was for guinea pigs. I have always loved guinea pigs with their funny hair-dos and all of the wonderful sounds they make. I did a bunch of reading on-line about guinea pigs and their needs and talked to Mitch about getting a pair of rescue guinea pigs.

While they will be family pets, they will primarily be my responsibility. We've cleared out room in the girls room and are building a 10.5 square foot cage (the recommended size for two guinea pigs). I took the girls to the pet store and let them hold a couple of guinea pigs to try out the idea. They were really into it, did great with the pigs, and the pigs were very calm and seemed to enjoy the petting.

I am really looking forward to having some furry little people around. I'm sure the cats will be interested but we will keep them spatially separated and we are building a cat-proof cage with a lid.

More on the guinea pig (or as Lucy calls them "skinny pig") adventure after we actually have some pigs.