A Valentine's Day Present

Well, two, actually. Winnie had her pups!

They are such wee little things, and already curious about everything.

Both are fine as far as I can tell, as is mama. I'll try to get some better pictures when I move everyone to clean the cage later today.

Pup-date: The Extended Version

So, to give a little more info. When Dr. Lewer walked into the exam room, the first thing he said was, "Apparently, I need an anatomy lesson." I assured him that I did not think he had mis-sexed Morgause. Winnie was too far along for that. Nevertheless, he reexamined Morgause then had three other vets check, too! He said she was either a very undeveloped male, or definitely female. In any case, he X-rayed Winnie to see if he could tell how far along she was. Ossification begins at about 50 days, so if the pups showed up on X-ray, she is at least seven weeks along. Obviously from my last post, they did. And her pelvis is spread so she could have them at any time. It's cool to feel and see them move. Dr. Lewer said to bring the pups in and he would find homes for them.

On a non-pregnancy note, Morgause climbed into the Cuddle Cup all on her own two days in a row when it was time to go back to the cage. I had not expected that at all! I thought it was a fluke the first time. It took a little coaxing the second time, but not much.

I had an early eye appointment this morning, so Morgause and I had some cuddle time.

Actually, I'm just trying to butter her up to clip he nails soon :)

Pup-date

I promised an update yesterday and forgot. Here it is: Two. 7-8 weeks. And I'll just leave this right here.

Padding, Play, and...Pups?!?

I received my second set of felt flipper covers/liners and put them in place today. Obviously, I am sticking to a secondary color scheme.

It was much easier to get the cage cleaned and turned around with a second set.

When I got the existing cage, I also got two felt strip balls for the girls to play with (you can see one in the picture above). One is in the cage and one is in the playpen. They get moved around, but I'd never seen either of the girls actually playing with one...until the other day. I had them in the pen, and I happened to glance over just in time to see Winnie rolling one around with her nose! She stopped as soon as I tried to take a picture, of course.

You can see Morgause being chill, and Winnie glaring at me for interrupting. You may notice something else about Winnie in that picture. Here, let me show you a couple more...

Looking a bit round, isn't she? Yes, dear friends, I am 99% sure those are puppy pouches. I'm taking her to see Dr. Lewer tomorrow for "confirmation," although I don't think it's necessary at this point. I'm still certain that Morgause is female. If I'm right, Winnie is about six weeks along, which means she was pregnant when I got her. If it turns out she is, the Humane Society will be getting a piece of my mind...and some guinea pig pups if I can't find anyone to adopt them. I'll update tomorrow after the vet visit.

Not Much to Update

There hasn't been much new going on. The girls are getting more relaxed around me, although they still scamper about when I need to pick them up. The neighbor girl is going to watch them (and the fish) while I'm in Peru this summer. I'm trying to figure out what to pay her. I think $10/day M-S and $20 on Sunday since the cage needs to be cleaned once a week. In preparation, I've ordered another set of Fleece Flippers so the cage cleaning will go a little faster. The bedding will still have to be washed, but the girls can go back in the cage immediately after it is cleaned rather than waiting for the bedding to get washed. I'll need to get a another fleece throw for the playpen as well.

Morgause is still the cuddler and Winnie the explorer. I was glad I had her in the Cuddle Cup last night. She was squirming so much I almost dropped her! I was considering ordering some more parts to the playpen to make it bigger, but they really don't do much running around in it so I think I'll wait to see what happens.

As I said, nothing very exciting happening in the piggie world, but here's a pick of salad time for your pleasure.

Finished Cage and a Surprise!

The cage is finally complete, storage bins and all.

They seem to be happy with it, and so am I so far. I'm still assessing the wood pellets in the kitchen area. I'll need to give it a few days to a week to know for sure.

Today in the mail (well, today is when I checked the mail), the girls got a surprise welcome card from the vet. They seemed to be happy about it.

We are still working on not being so skittish around me. They seem to be much less so when I feed them in the morning (go figure). Oh, speaking of, note the white crock with the salad in it. I found it cheap at Petco. Ceramic and heavy enough that they can't tip it over.

Piggy Checkup

I took the girls to the vet yesterday morning, just for a checkup and to confirm that they are indeed girls (they are). Dr. Lewer said they are the healthiest piggies he's ever seen! He couldn't even give me any advice on husbandry other than to keep doing what I'm doing. He did show me how to trim their nails. Both of them behaved very well, although Winnie would not let the vet tech look at her teeth. The office called this morning to let me know there are no internal parasites, so they are 100% healthy!

The Cuddle-E-Cups arrived the other day. They make it so much easier to carry the girls from the cage to the playpen. I thinks it's less stressful for them as well.

The Felt Flippers came in yesterday. I got them all washed and prepped last night, but I probably won't have a chance to install them until Saturday.

I guess I should link to where I've been getting everything. The cage and most of the paraphernalia came from Guinea Pig Cages and Guinea Pig Market. The Cuddle-E-Cups came from Doctors Foster and Smith.

The Felt Flippers are the last thing I have ordered. I do need to stop by Petco to get more bedding (for the kitchen area) and a salad crock, assuming they have something heavy enough. I'll post pics of the completed cage after I get the Felt Flippers in. Ciao for now!