Blog Archives
Saturday Stay Bowl Review
So you may or may not know but Buddy has a very naughty habit of tipping the food bowl over and throwing it all over the cage. Not only is this messy and means the cages needs cleaning out more reguarly but also, Basil doesn’t like eating food that has been on the floor so he has been going hungry.
I have searched and search for a solution and I have found it in the Stay Bowl! Initially it sounded like a bit of a gimmick. A bowl that is tip proof? Sure…
But for $9.95 (which roughly £6.80) where was the harm in giving it a try?
So it didn’t take too long and arrived with a lovely note.
The size was good. A lot of people tend to over feed their piggies but these bowls allow for good portion control. So I filled it up, put it in and kept my fingers crossed!
Buddy had a good go a trying to bite the edges and tip it over. At one point a worried Basil stepped on it to keep it in place!
But true to it’s promise the stay bowl, stayed upright!
So what are my thoughts?
Price: Great, pretty much the same price a good quality normal bowl
Appearance: The blue was great and matches their cage. It actually holds more than it looks and can contain the perfect portion size.
Thoughts: It actually works! It’s been four days since we started using the stay bowl and so far no spills or messes made!
Rating: 10 paws up out of 10!
Buddy disagrees and wants to give it a much lower rating…
I guess he’s going to have to find another naughty habit to wind us all up!
Have you got a product that you love that solved a problem for you? Any products you’d recommend for piggies?
Have a great Saturday
Hooman
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Pushy Piggy!
So yesterday the hooman asked you to take guesses at what I had been up to the previous evening that was so naughty. Plenty of you had brilliant ideas but no one guessed exactly the mischeif fun I had.
Now I don’t know about you but sometimes I like to pretend to be a hooman. So that night instead of cuddling in my usual spot on Mummy’s lap, I climbed off onto the sofa next to her. She said I was looking extra cute as I snuffled around the cushions. I lay down and stretched myself out to my full length as I’d seen the hooman do before when she wanted to claim a sofa as her own.
Then I realised I was at a slight height disadvantage! So I gently “encouraged” Mummy to get up.
“Now that’s not quite how it happened Basil-“
She was quite happy to move onto the floor and make way for me after a few gentle nudges…
“I think you’ll find I wasn’t that happy about-“
She got up and sat on the comfy floor. The other hoomans were quite accepting of my human dominance also.
“Well with you rumbling, biting my clothes and trying to dig your nose under me and flick up, I didn’t really have much choice! Plus you tried to nip anyone who wanted to sit down on the sofa near you, even though there was plenty of room!”
I don’t know what you are talking about hooman, I was furry comfortable!
Does anyone else like to pretend to be something else once in awhile? What are you up to today?
Happy Thursday!
Basil
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I Solemnly Swear I am Up To No Good
If you haven’t heard the quote at the title it’s from Harry Potter. If you haven’t heard of Harry Potter have you been living under a rock?! The quote is a phrase you have to say to get a magical map to show up and when you want it to vanish a change back into normal paper you say “Mischief Managed”
According to the hooman I have managed quite a lot of mischief lately. So today is Friday and I can tell you that this wheekend, I solemnly swear, I shall be up to no good!
What’s the naughtiest thing you have ever done or tried to do?
Basil
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Break The Boredom! Time For Toys!
Like any animal, whee guinea pigs can get bored. Some signs of boredom include, not running around as much, overeating, barbering (chewing the hair of ourselves or another guinea pig) and biting cage bars. These things can be annoying and upsetting to your hoomans
Our dear little Bingo was very badly behaved and like bar biting
There are things other than toys that can prevent boredom. The most important ones are:
– A fellow piggy as a furfriend. This is super important. Whee guinea pigs need companionship or whee can become very lonely.
– Hay, Hay, whee always love a bit of hay! Unlimited hay is not only needed for good health but also a great thing to play in
– Fresh fruits and vegetables. Try to change it up. You wouldn’t like eating the same thing efurryday and neither do whee.
– Regular floor time. Running in the garden in a run or inside the house in a piggy proof area gives us stimulation and keeps things interesting!
– Cuddles with hoomans and interaction. Whee often squeak to our hoomans and have long conversations. Hoomans aren’t great at listening and don’t always seem to understand but with practice they improve!
Now onto the fun part! The toys! Firstly, the very best toy whee can suggest is a hidey place. Some hoomans say that you shouldn’t give us a hidey because whee will just hide and never get used to you but our Mummy found that letting us hide and slowly gaining our trust was a far better option and now if whee really don’t want cuddles or to talk to anyone whee can hide. In the wild whee are prey animals so whee run and hide when whee are afraid or want to be alone. Mummy says they make us feel more secure and that is true. Good hideys include:
– Cardboard boxes, a favourite of ours. Shoe boxes are best!
– Shop bought ‘igloos’ fondly known as pigloos in the cavy world!
– Wooden huts, also available from pet shops
– Fabric pet shelters such as tents or other animal beds
This leads us neatly into snuggle toys such as:
– Flat cushions, these can be bought or hand made quite easily. The one Buddy models below was a first attempt by our hooman. She just used a fleece blanket and some pet safe wadding bought from an arts and crafts shop.
– Blankets, most fabrics are ok but fleece is best
– Dog, cat or rabbit cosies and beds (or the little hoomans build a bear dog bed toy for their teddy!)
– Cuddlecups which are essentially fleece snuggle pouches. You can make your own or buy them using online guides
(Even our Mummy has made them so it can’t be too hard!)
A baby Buddy enjoys cosy testing!
– Fleece tunnels, also can be made or bought using online guides (relatively advanced though so not for your average can only just sew in a straight line hooman, like our hooman!)
Finally toys to chomp and chew and play with!
– Brown paper bags. Primark in the UK do some good one’s for this. Stuff them with hay and treats for good fun.
– Screwed up balls of newspaper (sometimes hiding treats in there is fun as it makes us forage like whee would in the wild)
– Kitchen and toilet roll tubes. Stuff them with hay and treats and you have hours of fun.
– Tennis balls or other sports balls so long as they’re a good size and fun to push around.
– Plastic tunnels you can buy in most pet shops.
– Wooden garland gnawing toys, available in most pet shops. If you have bar biting piggies hanging these across the affected areas can help deal with this by giving us something else to chew on.
– Willow twig balls and twigs to play with. Mummy uses the twigs to kebab veggies on for us as something fun to do sometimes. In hot weather, high water content veggies on a kebab are a fun way to keep cool.
– Slightly messier but still good fun, a plant pot or container, stuffed with shredded newspaper, hay, bedding and strip of fleece and fabrics. This works with most animals as a good toy, just adjust the size of your container to match your pet!
– Maze of books and boxes. Our little hoomans love designing mazes for us to play in. They have a toy piggies which is the same weight as us and life size so they can be sure it is a safe. They hide treats and whee have great fun tracking them down!
– A wash cloth cut into strips (not completely, leave a 2cm gap uncut at one end) and hung across the cage can be fun to run under and play in.
– Mirrors. Whee are slightly obsessed with our reflections so bird toy mirrors are really good fun.
There are plenty of fun things you can make or do for your piggies. Imagination is key! Mummy just spent fifteen minutes playing with Basil and a square of tissue he liked chasing and shredding. Whee don’t need you to spend money to have fun!
An old pigture of Nutty who also love the tissue game!
Do you have any boredom busting tip? What are your favourite toys?
Happy Saturday
Nutty, Nacho, Buddy & Basil
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Pigs Is Pigs?
Whee only just found this but it gave us a good giggle! Walt Disney – Pigs Is Pigs
How whee came to be know as “pigs” is a mystery that only our dear ancestors will ever know the answer to. One idea is that some of our squeaks reminded hoomans of a pig squeal. Whee are shaped quite like pigs too. Whee have a large head compared to our bodies, a short neck, and a rounded rump (yes ’rounded’ Mummy, not fat as you like to say) Also, like pigs, whee do spend most of our of time eating.
Our name sounds much like whee are pigs in many languages. The German word for example is Meerschweinchen, literally “little sea pigs” (sailing ships stopping to get provisions for the New World would pick up groups of guinea pigs, which provided an easily transportable source of fresh meat. Whee are not to happy about that!). The Welsh term is mochyn cwta (‘little pig’), the French Cochon d’Inde (Indian pig), the Dutch used to call us guinees biggetje (Guinean piglet). In Italian the term is either Porcellino d’India (Little Indian Pig) or Cavia Peruviana (Peruvian Cavy). This is not universal but yes, hoomans do think of us as pigs. Not an insult really. Whee know many pigs who are very nice but whee are not pigs!
The scientific name of our species is Cavia porcellus, with porcellus being Latin for “little pig”. Cavia is derived from Portuguese çavia from the Tupi word sawiya, meaning rat!
The origin of “guinea” in “guinea pig” is even harder to explain, and like the pig part, unknown officially! Whee will leave that for another day. For now, here is a diagram which essentially explains us!
(source: Guinea Pig Zone – click on the pigture to see their page)
Nutty, Nacho, Buddy & Basil
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Wordless Wednesday – Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting!
Or well . . . maybe not quite, but whee had an intense game of Orthello to decide who got the last carrot!
Nutty & Nacho
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ps. Kung Fu Guinea Pig anyone?
Treat Tragedy Tuesday
It’s a tragedy . . . officially. Mummy has run out of my most favourite dried herb treats in the whole wide world. She got the packet like she usually does, and tipped it over my treat bowl saying I should “enjoy the crumbs left” Crumbs?! It was practically nothing! And I checked . . . see:
I gave her the hard stare and she is under strict orders to fetch me more tomorrow. For now, she is letting me sniff the empty bag, like a kitty with a small taster of catnip.
Burgess Excel Country Garden Herbs – Empty bag, empty life
Comfort me furfriends, I don’t think I can wait! What are your favourite treats?
Buddy
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Smile It’s Saturday
Have a great Saturday efurryone!
Nacho
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ps. An old video with our favourite song ever! I’m not in it but our bootiful Nibbles (RIP) is. Enjoy the smiles
Confessions of Cavy Criminals!
Today whee have been naughtier than usual. So whee are in the ‘dog-house’ as it were. Currently watching the hoomans fussing and cuddling Nutty and Nacho and feeling a tiny bit jealous.
Whee feel that whee must confess our naughtiness to get the hoomans to forgive us so here goes.
Bad Boy Basil
My naughtiness was from early this morning when whee were allowed out in the garden, before it got to hot outside. Mummy was keeping a careful eye on us as it was already quite hot. But obviously not careful enough because one minute I was sitting there in my tent looking angelically up at her and the next time she looked I was the wrong side of the run nomming on a particularly tasty patch of grass!
She made a high pitched very piggy like squeak which I managed to translate into “OMG!” and dropped to her knees and crawled commando style towards me cooing and reaching slowly.
Completely cool with this development I let her grab me where she cuddled me close muttering what a bad boy I was. It took her less than a minute to find the small gap I had dug out and squeezed under the run. Considering how chubby I am getting she was impressed I had managed to fit.
She borrowed a plank of wood to block up the gap and checked carefully for anymore before flopping onto the garden bench with a huff. She is not as impressed by my Houdini antics in the garden as she was inside when I broke out of my cage! Sorry Mummy!
Bit Bratty Buddy
My naughtiness tracks back to yesterday but Mummy only admitted it to her Dad (who is even less impressed than her!) today. The hoomans have been enjoying the sunny weather and discussing where they would go on holiday this year. I do not like the hoomans going away. Even though I get the bestest love and care from our holiday hoomans I miss my Mummy a lot.
So you see my crime has the best of motivations!
They had maps and brochures everywhere so when I had my floor time I crept up to one and within seconds I managed to tear off most of the South Coast! Try going on holiday now hoomans! I mean, I am very sorry Mummy.
Whee know Mummy will forgive us but whee can’t help being a little naughty sometimes!
Yours, the currently in disgrace
Buddy & Basil
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Wordless Wednesday – What’s That?!
What is this pepper you speak of? I do not trust it!
I am suspicious of new food! Are you?
Nacho
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Hutch A Good Life 