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Post by jolovespiggies on Jan 22, 2016 18:43:44 GMT
Thank you for sharing these gorgeous photos with us love, they are adorable.
Hugs Jo xx
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Post by Bean on Jan 27, 2016 10:29:42 GMT
Sweet pictures, although they have more of a look in their eye like they're looking for something than checking on him! I'm sure he appreciated the company regardless.
I find boys are generally quite an effective calming influence with multiple girls too, especially with younger girls who can get a bit giddy with their hormonal strumpiness! As you've found, it doesn't always work though.
I've just remembered I had a strange dream last night. Someone gave me a guinea pig they didn't want any more and I went to pick her up to check she was female as I'd been told. But not only did a willy pop out, but it was so long that it fell all the way down to the floor and didn't retract back in. I woke up before I solved the mystery of what to do. What's that about then?!
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Post by 3piggles on Jan 27, 2016 13:22:54 GMT
The dream is probably related to the ever present concern with someone, that they've missexed their pigs. The infamous oopsies! We had a member with a member name about her husband buying pigs who weren't the same sex. Wish I could remember the member name I think the girls were trying to figure out why he was in the cuddle cup and not out with them. I also think he smelled different, so the girls were trying to place that difference. He did enjoy the company, as he turned himself around to converse with the girls. When I took out the food bowl, Oodles got into the cuddle cup with him. Of course, I didn't have the camera ready because I was cleaning. It wasn't until the very end that they left him to sleep and stopped visiting him, though they did prowl around the outside of the cuddle cup, just didn't get in or really bother him. I think they knew he was dying, and once he was gone, they generally acknowledged it and went about their business, just in a very subdued manner. From happier times:
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Post by jolovespiggies on Jan 27, 2016 19:46:19 GMT
Ha ha Bean hun, I love it. I often dream about willies but not ones belonging to piggies LOL!! That is a gorgeous picture Piggles love, seeing them all snug in their cuddle-cups is worth its weight in gold.
Hugs JO xx
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Post by 3piggles on Feb 17, 2016 14:02:03 GMT
I thought it was time to change the title to reflect the current situation, not that Morty is in any way forgotten. The girls have moved on, rearranged their herd dynamic. The general dominance bullying Noodles used to do to Oodles has pretty much stopped. Oodles is definitely a more dominant pig than she was before, so much less squealing and cowering, and much more meeting in the middle and interacting. They discovered the world under the fleece pad, and absolutely love it. I've set up the fleece so they can get under it when they want, or be on top of it when they want. Our cage cleaning routine now includes them waiting under where the fleece goes, for me to put it over them. They run around under it while I try to tuck in the sides and put the houses back in. I now have to say "treat" to get them to come out from under the fleece, which is all part of the new routine. They will play as long as I let them before saying treat, then they come running out like children ready to open gifts under the tree I've also noticed how much more conversant they've become. Instead of Noodles issuing orders and Oodles protesting, they have conversations. I've found that's a sign of a healthy herd dynamic, when the herd members start to discuss things among them, and they each start displaying their strengths. I've found each herd member has a job, something they do better than the other do it. It may be wheeking for treats or leading a piggy train, flipping pigloos or bulldozing hay, but they each lead in some way. The jobs they do in the cage would somehow be useful in the wild, we just don't have a good understanding of wild guinea pig life, so we have trouble understanding how these are strengths. It seems that, the bigger the herd, the more different jobs they do, so I figure all of the jobs somehow help keep the herd safe in the wild. It's great to see them at the stage. Now that they know who they are, I can add to the herd, and they will integrate the newbie into the existing herd dynamic. I don't have any plans to do that, but I know the girls are ready.
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Post by jolovespiggies on Feb 17, 2016 20:52:07 GMT
That must be so fascinating to watch Piggles love, I have ever had a herd, just two piggies living together. That is probably what they do in the wild, in fact what we would have done and to some extent still do to this day.
Hugs JO xx
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Post by Bean on Feb 18, 2016 9:18:42 GMT
Glad the girls have a more equal relationship now - sounds like they're growing up! Dear Morty will certainly never be forgotten, and knowing how much the girls pepped him up in his final months must make them all the more special. I'll look forward to seeing how the herd evolves over time...
We nearly ended up with a new girl last week - perhaps lucky we didn't as I didn't get the chance to discuss it with fella first! Someone told me about the ad as the owner had apparently been hospitalised with a severe allergy to the guinea pig so was *desperately* seeking a new home for her (looking at the length of the pig's nails, I don't think she'd been a well loved pig before that - plus the woman was also selling a young dog). She was also clearly looking to profit from getting rid of the pig too. I said that we could offer her a lovely home, but that while I knew it was never good to give animals away via free ads, I didn't agree with animals being sold so would happily make a donation to a rescue for the same amount instead. She held out for getting the money from someone for herself. Very brave of her to wait, what with her having such a severe allergy.... Hope the home she found was a good one anyway, and hats off to rescues for listening to that kind of nonsense all the time and not losing patience with the world!
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Post by 3piggles on Feb 18, 2016 13:39:01 GMT
I got so p'd off at people who claim allergies to guinea pigs. They're allergic to the hay, at best, as guinea pigs don't have the dander other animals have, which is what causes allergies to animals. She's out for money. I'll bet she has no allergies at all! Was she allergic to the young dog, too? There are some US rescue groups that respond to such ads and rescue the animals, get them up to snuff to be adopted, or keep them if they're unadoptable. Once she's free of these animals, she'll probably get more to get rid of for money Jo, a herd is as few as two animals. Herd/pack animals are very social animals, and will establish a herd/pack dynamic with as few as two animals. It always starts with the dominance-who's going to be the alpha. Once that's established, they can move on to who's going to play what role. The more members there are to a herd/pack, the more different roles there are to play. Each member plays to his/her strength, and it makes the herd/pack work smoothly. You'll see it with a group of guinea pigs, bunnies, dogs, cats and horses-our most commonly kept pets. Just as all baby animals play fight, play hunt, etc., what is often considered to be play, or just expressing personality, is really that animals way of keeping their skills honed. Oodles was always the pig to get up on top of the house. She sits up there and surveys the room, and talks. She's telling Noodles what she's seeing, as she's not talking loudly enough to be talking to me. When she wants me, she gets much louder. In the wild, she would be a lookout pig, watching for predators, but also possibly surveying for the best foraging, and passing that information back to her herd members. She's also very fast if she's scared, which a lookout pig would have to be. It takes a while for pigs to establish their place in the herd, not just in the hierarchy, but what jobs they'll do. If you can observe them long enough, you'll see them go through all the different phases. It's unfortunate when group members can't get along, but in the wild, that's probably how new herds are started. Members kicked out of one herd, gather other misfits into a new herd. I wish I could have gotten Momo a mate, but I just wasn't sure if she would accept a mate, and I didn't want to have to have a third condo in Pigloo City. It is nice to have them talking in ways I can point out to hubby, so he can hear it and understand it Oodles were chirping. She kept it up for quite a while. I muted the TV to make sure the sounds wasn't in the show. Then I went over to Pigloo City, which of course caused her to stop chirping. Noodles was in the hay eating and moving around, but Oodles was still, so I think it was Oodles.
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Post by bazookagoof on Feb 19, 2016 3:15:46 GMT
All this herd-talk makes me want to have about five or six of them, just to see what happens. Might be a fascinating study. Maybe some day down the road; I'd love to walk into a shelter and say "Gimme all you got, they need a good home!"
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Post by Bean on Feb 19, 2016 8:13:55 GMT
I love herd dynamics, they're so much fun to watch with all the different relationships. Was she allergic to the young dog, too? No mention of that, just a comment about him being overweight so him needing someone who would take him for walks. Obviously she hadn't managed it though.... It's depressing looking at those ads, just shows you how throwaway people think animals are. Cool that you got some chirping - it's been a while since I've heard it from my lot! They are generally very noisy though - I think Cadders has a secret microphone as his 'I'm expecting veg' wheeking is off the scale!
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Post by 3piggles on Feb 19, 2016 13:47:24 GMT
That wheeking is what hubby calls getting mugged, lol. Harlequin was my secret microphone pig. She could out wheek all the rest In the wild, I think they would be lookout pigs, just as prairie dogs colonies have lookouts. Their voices carry enough to alert everyone around them. They have no predators in domestic life, but they still do their alerting with gusto. Bazookagoof, I have always wanted to just go into the store or rescue and say I'll take them, lol. We've had and have some members with really large herds. I do think, though, that there is probably a maximum herd size, possibly depending on space, though I don't know what that is. One former member said she thought it was 8 pigs, but since then we've had members with as many as 15 in one, huge indoor cage, and one of our members currently has 9 in an outdoor run. Another former member takes in guinea pigs that are old and/or have medical problems that make them unadoptable. She has well over 15 pigs, but in multiple herds based on how well they get along. She's basically turned half of her living room into a piggy village with multiple neighborhoods. The other great thing about a good herd, one where the members get along, as that they help each other through physical problems. When my Molly starting losing her sight, not only did Morty become her guide pig, but Momma and Harlequin would talk to let her know where they were. They were quiet before that, and after that, but while she was with them and blind, they always said exactly where they were, and possibly what they were doing. A lone pig doesn't get the support of a herd, nor do they get to interact with their own kind, and really find themselves as pigs. Even just having one other pig, or keeping them where they can communicate with each other, is better than the lone pig with no contact with other pigs. I felt so badly have to put Momo in a cage on top of Morty and Mia's cage, but that was my only available space, and by then, Mia would go after her if she even came near Mia. I did try them side by side on the floor. Not good. Hubby talks about all the things he'd buy, if he won the lottery. I talk about the guinea pig resort I would create. Ooh, it would be fabulous!
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Post by bazookagoof on Feb 20, 2016 4:00:10 GMT
Bazookagoof, I have always wanted to just go into the store or rescue and say I'll take them, lol. We've had and have some members with really large herds. I do think, though, that there is probably a maximum herd size, possibly depending on space, though I don't know what that is. One former member said she thought it was 8 pigs, but since then we've had members with as many as 15 in one, huge indoor cage, and one of our members currently has 9 in an outdoor run. Another former member takes in guinea pigs that are old and/or have medical problems that make them unadoptable. She has well over 15 pigs, but in multiple herds based on how well they get along. She's basically turned half of her living room into a piggy village with multiple neighborhoods. Hubby talks about all the things he'd buy, if he won the lottery. I talk about the guinea pig resort I would create. Ooh, it would be fabulous! I would love to see a herd, the dynamic would be intriguing to see! I think I mentioned this somewhere else, but when I was at the shelter looking for a new pig, there was a cage of three females and the relationship between the three was a lot of fun- one sat atop her pigloo like a queen surveying her kingdom, while the second one ran in and out of the two pigloos in the cage, while the third one simply spun in circles like a guinea pig possessed! If I were without any guinea pigs, I would have taken the whole cage, except that some of them had been spoken for and I didn't want to mix females with Oscar. I think I would lean towards building something for more guinea pigs if I won the lottery, too. (But I don't play the lottery.)
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Post by 3piggles on Feb 20, 2016 15:52:24 GMT
We buy a ticket for Megabucks when the jackpot gets really high, otherwise we don't play, either. We stand as much chance of winning on the one ticket we buy in a lifetime, as we would if we played every game, so why not? I've watched guinea pigs long enough to know what I would want to provide them with as habitats, though I might have to move to the west coast to find the weather that would give them almost year round access to the outdoors. I've always known what I wanted to do for them indoors, and I've never had the space to do it. I would also finally have all the storage space I needed for all their stuff, and a way to not always have hay all over the floor, lol
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Post by jolovespiggies on Feb 20, 2016 21:05:01 GMT
Ha ha, wheeking is like getting mugged, that is so true Piggles love. It does sound like a threat sometimes LOL!! I too would love to see a herd of piggies together. I have had a lot of piggies in the past but they were always in twos, they never all met up.
Hugs JO xx
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Post by 3piggles on Mar 8, 2016 13:58:24 GMT
A week or so ago, I removed the fleece and the screen from the cage, and let the girls run around on the packed wood pellet granules. It was packed down very tightly. I also have the whole cage covered in hay except for the spot where the cardboard box house is. Each day I roll back the top layer of hay, sweep out the poos, loose hay and loose granules, put the existing hay back in the living area, and put fresh hay in the kitchen area. The girls love it. Not only is there edible hay in the whole cage, but they run to get into the hay that I'm rolling up, and stay with it, wheeking happily. They stay in the huge hay pile in the kitchen area while I sweep out the living space, then repeat the process when I roll the hay back into the living area. Once the cardboard box house goes back in the cage, and the fresh hay goes in the kitchen area, the girls are so busy running back and forth between the fresh hay and begging for treats in the cardboard box house, it's hilarious. I love watching happy animals being happy I'll post a picture of the granules in the cage, once I figure out how to load pictures from the phone. Not sure what I did with the instructions. I have a good two inches of granules in the cage, so I am slowly sweeping it out a thin layer at a time.
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Post by jolovespiggies on Mar 9, 2016 21:01:28 GMT
Oh bless them Piggles love, it sounds like a big game, They probably look forward to that each morning.
Hugs JO xx
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Post by Bean on Mar 10, 2016 9:44:01 GMT
Sounds fun to watch! I was chuckling yesterday about how, whenever I put any kind of tunnel in the cage, they always line up and run through it several times, looping back to go through again - even if I just lift a tube out for a few minutes and put it right back again! Simple pleasures!
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Post by 3piggles on Mar 11, 2016 13:31:32 GMT
Momo looking cute. She and Mia seemed to get along until it was just the two of them with Morty. Then they had a major falling out They were with him when he was caring for Molly, but once Molly died, they seemed to vie for his attention, and not be able to share. I've seen that, Bean, and I love how they line up to keep doing it That's why I like to change the cage around as often as possible, even if just for a few hours. They seem to take such delight in the simple fun things
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Post by jolovespiggies on Mar 11, 2016 19:56:06 GMT
I am so sorry to hear that Piggles love, why can't good things just stay the same? Thank you for sharing such an adorable photo.
Hugs JO xx
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Post by 3piggles on Mar 12, 2016 14:10:03 GMT
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