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Do
you have an interesting or funny story that you'd like to share?
Send
me an email,
with story and
story
title included and it may get posted!
My
Personal Experience
I have three guinea pigs. They are cute and lovable, but do require care.
I adopted Lucky, Cabbage, Brownie, Chocolate, and Snowflake through the
Montgomery County Humane Society (MCHS). If you want to adopt, it does
not cost any money, unless you adopt from foster care (which costs very
little money...something like $10). For more info on MCHS, call 301-279-1823
or
visit their website.
In 1997, I adopted my first guinea pig, Lucky. In 1999, after 2 wonderful
years with him, he died. Later, in 2000, I adopted Brownie and Cabbage,
female sisters. I had built a 3 ft x 7 ft pen for them to live in. They
loved it! Unfortunately, a few weeks later, Cabbage died of a cold. (Guinea
pigs are very susceptible to sickness. Make sure that you keep your
guinea pigs out of drafts!)
Then, in October, I adopted another female named Chocolate, to keep Brownie
company. At first, they did not get along well; Brownie defended her territory
in the cage and so I had to put a separator in the middle of the cage.
Then Brownie bit part of Chocolate's lip off...to hear the rest of this
story, take a look at "Chocolate Slips Under" on this page.
On July 9 of 2003, Chocolate died; her death believed to be from kidney
failure. So as a companion for Brownie (once again), I adopted Snowflake
from foster care. Snowflake is a healthy, energetic guinea pig today, and
is about 4 years old!
Unfortunately, Brownie died on April 8, 2004. I miss her greatly. She had
been with me for the longest time of any of my guinea pigs and probably
lived through some of the more rough spots.
My guinea pigs are great pets and it's true, there's never a dull moment
with them around! Whenever they hear the front door opening, or a plastic
bag being used, they start squeaking, thinking that I will give them some
grass or kale or some sort of treat! If you are thinking about getting
a pet for a child over 6 years old, I would recommend guinea pigs! You'll
be glad that you got one! I know I am!!!
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Lucky
and the Water Drain
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| One day, my guinea pig,
Lucky (1995-1999) were out in our front yard. Lucky was happily chewing
away at the grass in the yard. We gave him and all the rest of our guinea
pigs the nickname of "Lawn Mower" since they all ate so much grass! Lucky
was a very energetic guinea pig. He loved to hop around and exlore literally
everywhere! Well, we live in a a neighborhood where there are lots of wild
animals like deer, foxes, rabbits. And a rabbit just happened tp scamper
by us and sit casually down to eat some of the grass. It was a baby rabbit
and very cute at that, so I went over to it, leaving Lucky alone by himself.
As I walked over to the rabbit, as most rabbits do, it scampered away from
me. Then, remembering Lucky, I ran back to him, put him in a box, and carried
him with me back to where the rabbit was.Every once in a while, it would
stop to nibble a blade of grass and I would walk over to it to try and
pet it. But of course, it ran away once again! There are water drains underneath
the driveways in our neighborhood, which help water flow down hill, and
prevent it from making puddles in yards. Finally, the rabbit was tired
of me following it and ran into one of those water drains, but only near
the very end. I set Lucky down next to me, and this time, I squatted
next to the rabbit, stretched out my arm and carefully pet him on the head
and scratched it behind the ears. Then, satisfied, I stood up and the rabbit
left the water drain. Not realizing it, I had also scared Lucky to the
point where he climbed out of the box and scampered into the drain! The
drain, being only about 1.5 feet in height, would be impossible for me
to get into, so I got a broom to puch Lucky out with. That almost worked,
but as soon as he was at the end of the drain, he ran back in. So I tied
a carrot to the handle of the broom, hoping that he would follow it out
since it was a treat. But that didn't work either. I was close to crying
since he was my favorite little pet and ran inside to tell my mom what
had happened. I knew she would be mad, becuase we were going to a concert
that night, and would be late if we couldn't get Lucky out of the drain
in time! And she was mad, but upset, too! We tried as many things as we
could think of, but none worked. Finally, since I was a little kid at the
time, I crawled into the drain as far as I could, grabbed Lucky and pulled
him out. I was very releived, but very shaken up. I had come close to losing
a pet. And as it turned out, we were so late for the concert that we skipped
it completely! From then on, I always stayed with my guinea pigs when we
were outside to keep them from running away and getting into trouble. Please,
if you have a guinea pig and let it outside every once in a while, stay
with it and keep an eye on it. I don't want what happened to me to happen
to you!
Guinea
Pigs: All About Them
|
|
Chocolate
Slips Under
|
I adopted two sisters from Montgomery County Humane Society. Thier names
were Brownie and Cabbage. I was very happy with them until about two weeks
later when Cabbage died. The vet said that she had died of a cold, probabaly
becuase of a draft in my room where I kept them. Leaving Brownie without
a playmate would have been mean, since guinea pigs are social animals,
so I decided to adopt yet another guinea pig. Her name was Chocolate and
she was six months old. When I took her home, she was so small that she
could fit in the palm of my hand and I carried her in a Pepsi box. I placed
her in my 7' x 3' cage and Browne came waddling up to her. Chocolate sniffed
noses with her, and then dashed around the cage a few times, getting to
know her new, larger home. She smelled everything and Brownie followed
her. Then Brownie circled Chocolate a couple of times while making a rattling
sound in her throat. Apparently, she was establishing dominance and rank.
When Chocolate didn't move, Brownie went around to the front of her and
sniffed noses with her once again. Then, as Chocolate lifted her head to
get away from Brownie's searching nose, Brownie nipped Chocolate's lip,
splitting it. Luckily, I was watching them get to know each other, and
immediately picked Chocolate up. Her lip was bleeding badly, so I took
some tissues and wiped the blood away. Then, to get rid of any germs in
the cut, I poured some peroxide onto some tissue and dabbed it onto her
lip. That would help for the time being, but we also called the vet. A
couple of days later, we took her in and had the vet examine her. He prescribed
some antibiotics, which I had to feed her through a syringe into her mouth,
which wasn't going to be fun for either of us! After the antibiotics, we
fed her plain cultured yogurt to nurse her intestines back to health after
the antibiotics killed all of the germs and bad bacteria.
Since Brownie and Chocolate did not get along, I attatched a piece of chicken
wire to the middle of the cage and fastened it with construction twist-tyes.
They spent a lot of their time next to the wire, sniffing at each other
and making ratling noises as they paced back and forth along it. Chocolate
would always bite the chicken wire as if she wanted to get through, but
she couldn't .......or so I thought............
About a month later, my family and I took a trip to visit our grandparents
who lived in Virginia. Since they lived so far away, we stayed there for
three days. The time went by way too quickly, and soon we had to go back
home. And what a surprise there was waiting for me! I lugged my bags into
my room and was about to greet the guinea pigs when I noticed that the
chicken wire seperator was bent at the bottom and that Chocolate was in
the shelter, snuggled up with Brownie! Chocolate had pulled the chicken
wire with her teeth and she had SLIPPED UNDER!!! From then on, the two
guinea pigs were friends....and they lived happily ever after!
***The same type of
thing happened when I adopted Snowflake****
Guinea
Pigs: All About Them
|
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The
Obstacle Course
|
I like to have fun with my guinea pigs and do some creative things. When
I had Lucky, I would tow him around in a large toy dumptruck with a towel
in it. He used to put his nose in the air and sniff around to smell all
the different scents as we went from room to room. Then, when I got Snowflake,
that got me to thinking....since she had the same personality as Lucky,
I guessed that she, too, would like riding around in her own personal truck
with me as the chauffeur.
So I folded a blue and white checkered towel in the back of the dumptruck.
I picked her up and set her down in the back. Then, I tied a string from
the cab of the truck to my hand and pulled her around. Just as I had assumed,
she very much enjoyed her bout. I had her out for about fifteen minutes
and as soon as I pulled her into my room, she jumped out and scampered
away. I had to chase her and put her back in the cage.
Later, I was talking about Snowflake's ride with my brother and he
came up with a very good idea. He had the thought to put up objects around
the house, in the living room, kitchen, and computer area. He had some
army men stuff lying around, and so we set up corners and obstacles in
the living room with those. Then, using a kitchen chair, we put it between
the living room and computer area. Snowflake would have to go under the
chair without hitting it. We used the computer chair and my dad's shoes
in the computer area. She would have to miss the shoes and make a 360°
turn around the chair, then go into the kitchen. There, we would have cans
and the trash basket for her to go around. One thing left....get Snowflake
and try the course out!
She was eager to come out again. My brother decided to make this a "driving
test for Snowflake to earn her liscence" kind of thing. To pass, she (rather
I would have to tow her) around the obstacles without hitting anything.
So we started. Miss the shoes, around the chair. Left around the cup, right,
then left around the trash basket. Out of the kitche, under the kitchen
chair. Then into the living room, over the plastic drive-through, to the
right to avoid a barricade. Then a sharp turn to the left. Over a speed
bump (made of a ruler) and around a corner, narrowly missing the couch.
Then she hit a pedestrian (plastic army man) and failed the test! We tried
it four more times and she finally passed. Now she has a gp liscense, although
she still drives recklessly!
Guinea
Pigs: All About Them
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Potty Trained?
|
My guinea pigs are always out and on my lap whenever we watch movies or
long tv shows. They are good pets to hold and pat while sitting for awhile.
My dad calls them "warm fuzzies" since they sit on your lap like a big
fluffball with a face. Their body temperature is warmer than the average
humans' body temperature, so when you hold them, you can always feel the
warmth of them.
Well, I used to take out Brownie and Chocolate and hold them. Chocolate
always seemed to enjoy herself, although Brownie, on the other hand, vibrated/shivered
which to me, is a sign of being frightened. So I only took out Brownie
occasionally. Well, one night I took Chocolate out becuase we were going
to be watching a movie. I had out a towel and set her down on it. After
fifteen to twenty minutes into the movie, she started to get restless and
began to squeak. She was the only guinea pig who could find her way back
to the cage, so I set her down on the floor and she scampered down the
hall towards my room. I followed her.
When I got to my room, I found Chocolate nawing at the chicken wire to
get back into the cage. I quicky put her in the cage. As soon as she was
in, she went halfway into her box and peed. Then, this happened a couple
more times while watching things: the squeaking and restlessness, the trip
to my room, nawing, and the peeing. A thought occured to me. Maybe she
really was potty trained! Wow, a potty trained guinea pig? That was something.
From then on, I didn't worry about Chocolate using the bathroom on me while
I had her out. She would always give me a signal to let me know, right?
Wrong.......I had her out one time. She was patiently sitting on my lap,
warming me up like any other time. Happily chomping on a carrot, she finished
it up and lay down. Then, suddenly, she sat up, backed up with her
behind sticking out, and the towel, as well as my shirt, became wet. So
much for being potty trained!
Guinea
Pigs: All About Them
|
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Ginger
Finds a Home
|
It was the middle of January,
we had just begun to "house hunt" Our realtor took us to a 1970 model home
in Rosemount. During our inspection of the basement, we noticed an empty
metal cage sitting in the corner by the water softener. Closer inspection
revealed that the cage wasn't empty. Sitting alone in the cage, without
bedding, food or water was a scared and neglected little guinea pig. I
was very upset that anyone would treat an animal this way.
Shortly after our initial
walk-thru with our realtor, we decided to buy the home.
Weeks went by, papers
were signed - on May 26th the house would be ours.
The day before closing,
we went back to the house for our final walk-through - Our last inspection
of the property to ensure the last occupants were moved out and had left
everything in proper order.
During this walk-through,
we noticed the guinea pig's cage was sitting outside on the deck. This
time, it really was empty.
The next day, we were
very busy moving in our belongings. I noticed that the empty cage had been
left behind our shed - along with a lot of various odds and ends. Hurray,
I thought sarcastically. More trash for me to clean up.
Shortly after that, one
of our new neighbors stopped by to welcome us. She asked "Did you lose
your guinea pig?" Of course we said no - as we didn't have a guinea
pig. I did mention that the people before us had a guinea pig, but it must
have died because they left the empty cage.
She then told us that
the neighbors kitty corner from us were busily chasing a guinea pig that
had gotten into their backyard!
I went over to try and
help. By the time I arrived, the piggy had been captured. I went back home
and pulled the empty cage out from behind the shed.
We speculate that when
the previous owners were preparing to move, one of them had the "grand
idea" that a guinea pig would do just fine on his own. Thus, they dumped
him out in the yard.
I am surprised that the
poor thing lasted overnight! Late March isn't exactly warm in Minnesota.-
Not to mention the predators.
This piggy was neglected
for so long that I'm not sure he will ever get over his timidness or fear
of new things. - But at least he has a real family now.
One who will care for
him and love him.
Story
Submitted By: Miss Megan Kisner
|
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Stuffed
Animals - 25 Cents
|
I always loved my guinea
pig! I loved doing everything with her and showing everyone her.
One day, my mom decided to have a garage sale, so I told her I would help
out. Of course, I brought my guinea pig, Cheyenne, out of her cage
to show everybody! They all thought that she was very cute.
I decided to make my own stand in the garage, and I had Barbies, jewelry,
notebooks, and a big box of stuffed animals. Later on, I got bored,
so I left Cheyenne with my mom while she wrapped up the garage sale.
She first put Cheyenne on the table, but since she was being a nuisance,
she put Chey in the stuffed animal bin. She looked cute cuddled up
against the big red bear, who was the same color as her, and I told my
mom to watch her and I went inside.
Around
three hours later, I went into my room to take out Cheyenne again.
He cage door was open, and I always keep it closed, so I thought that one
of my brothers must be holding her. She wasn't in her igloo, so I
asked my brother if he was holding her. He gasped, and I started
to get upset. I asked my mom, and she gasped too, and I started to
cry. We all ran outside into the garage to find Cheyenne. We
looked everywhere, and then came to the stuffed animal box. I was
sobbing at this point. We looked and all we saw was the big red bear,
no guinea pig. Then we lifted up the red bear, and there was Cheyenne,
safe and sound, without a dropping insight! Well, we know one of
the "stuffed animals" wasn't stuffed after all!
Story
Submitted By: Kelly Flaherty
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-Guinea
Pigs: All About Them-