[Gpdd] MISC: The boys are friends but not cage mates!

[Janna Willard]

Hi everyone, it's been a while but things have been pretty calm lately.

Batman's foot healed up perfectly, there isn't even a scar. Of course, he
has a permanent tear in his right ear, but that doesn't slow him down at
all since it's his ear! :)

The brothers are doing well also, they are a pair of very BIG boys.

I tried them all together again a few weeks ago and was appalled when,
after 36 hours in the 3x5 grid cage, I WATCHED Batman try to bite Squeak in
the head (he climbed up and bit at squeak - good thing Peruvians have so
much hair) and then immediately pick a fight with Bubble! I got them to
stop and picked up Batman and gave him a strong talking-to. He just chewed
whatever was still in his mouth and looked at me innocently with those big
black eyes of his.

I was smart when I separated them before and the divider was just tied up
to the roof with Velcro ties, so I was able to let that down quickly and I
used Velcro ties to connect it to the sides so nobody could get through.
Batman's been in the 2x3 ever since, and the brothers share the 3x3. I
often find them sleeping next to the divider grids.

Shortly after that, I had minor surgery and was largely out of commission
for a couple of weeks. My husband valiantly tried to feed the boys, but of
course they didn't get the same variety of veggies as I'd been feeding
them. I managed to clean their cage (not change out the fleece, but sweep
up all the mess) a few days post-surgery and paid for it with a couple of
days of complete bed-rest. At least they had a clean cage!

I was able to keep things swept up every few days after that until I was
physically able to actually change out the fleece. It took me an hour
because I had to rest after every single step.

The boys hung out in their floor time pen in the kitchen while I did that,
and Bubble mostly stared longingly toward the room that their cage is in.
When I was done, I let him out first to see what he would do. He made a
beeline straight for the cage! A couple of days later, I had him out for a
hair cut and a snuggle, and he got really antsy after a bit. Finally I let
him down on the floor, and he went around the study until he found the door
into the kitchen. He then went straight to the cage and pancaked in front
of it!

It gets better, though.

Yesterday was cage-cleaning day, and I put the boys in their pen. Cleaning
the cage took me an hour yet again, but this time it was because I had to
chase down escaped guinea pigs (and make my migraine-y husband tea)!

I was working on the fleece and heard piggy nails on the linoleum. Turned
around, and Bubble wasn't in the pen anymore! He'd found where the grids
met and gotten them apart, and he was coming to go home! Unfortunately, the
cage wasn't ready for occupants just yet. I popped him back into the pen
and closed things up, then grabbed the camera to film what he would do next.

I was rewarded with proof that Bubble is the smartest guinea pig I have
ever met! You can see it for yourself on YouTube:
http://youtu.be/7wMPK_GEjAI

I then sealed things up with the caps that come with the grids. Of course,
Bubble also found the spot where one of the zip ties had come off. All
three of them got out that time. I used a cap for that, too.

Pigtures from yesterday's floor time can be found starting here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/karalianne/7069140661/ Just follow along
through the set (Guinea Pigs)! There are also a bunch of newer photos that
I haven't posted about here, so feel free to peruse the entire set! :)

The boys have been updating their blog regularly.
http://hoskinpigs.wordpress.com

Also, they seem to be fairly healthy weights. Batman is about 1275g (and
about 17 months old). Bubble mostly wavers between 1380g and 1400g, while
Squeak is mostly around 1450g; the brothers are about 21 months old. I've
checked to see if I could feel their ribs and spines (as per Guinea Lynx,
if you can't the pig is overweight). I am considering cutting back on the
brothers' pellets, as I can feel their ribs but their spines are less
pronounced. Batman, on the other hand, is perfect.

I measured Batman today for his cowl - I am going to make him a bat cape
and hood. This is for exactly ONE photo session, and then it will be
retired. I am going to bring a printed photo of him with me to the Calgary
Comic Expo at the end of the month to hopefully give to Adam West. :)
Batman's cape will be 10" long and grow to 10" wide at the bottom. His neck
is 8" around, but of course I won't make the cape itself go all the way.
I'm still deciding if it will have a Velcro join or a snap. From his neck
to the tip of his nose is 4", so that is the size of the cowl. I'm going to
attach the cowl to the cape for ease of dressing. Like I said, this will be
worn once and then I'll probably put it on one of my stuffed toy guinea
pigs. :)

Bubble remains very sensitive about being touched. The vet suggested trying
him on Metacam once a day for four or five days to see if that corrects it
(he twitches when you touch him, especially around his hind quarters), but
I don't want to do that. So I am going to look for where I can get
Ivermectin here in Saskatoon (I am wondering if Peavey Mart might carry it
as they have a lot of horse stuff there) and do a course for all three boys
(since if one has them they all might, and teddies are prone to skin
problems).

The other thing I'm going to do is order some Gorgeous Guineas products -
I'm thinking a melt and the shampoo for long-haired pigs. Then I can keep
the brothers' hair in pristine condition and keep Batman's skin
moisturized. Of course, I won't bathe them often, but I have noticed that
the brothers have dandruff, so hopefully the special shampoo will fix that
for them if I use it once in a while. I know how important good hair care
is - my own hair is long enough to sit on!

I hope everyone enjoys the pigtures!

-Janna, Batman, Bubble, Squeak, Roy the cat, and Juniper the husband

"Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be
normal." Albert Camus
"I want to remake the world; anything less is not worth the trouble." Karen
Cushman