Nothing like Hershey and Fudge to brighten up a day

Coconut has his 'boys' with him...and he is (now) happy (again).  HERSHEY, COCONUT, and FUDGE

Guinea Pig Depression - no more

Coconut is a mellow guy. Sorta slow. Wobbly. Big. And low-key. But, after we took him out of the cage so Camel could have the pups, he was alone for about a week. And during that week, the poor little guy became so "depressed."

Initially, he would come out of his house on a regular basis and squeak/whistle at us. Protesting his new living accommodations. Protesting being all alone. He was interested in the kids...happy to get out of the cage like never before. And after human interaction, he seem okay...for a day...

THEN, after a few days, he stopped coming out of the house. The little food dish was barely touched. The water didn't need to be changed everyday. And he stopped whistling.

Poor guy.

***

So it was chocolate to our hearts when, after the male pups were confirmed male and placed in his cage...he danced around. He purred, and he walked in circles around the pups. He sniffed, and chased, and seemed to actually kick up his heels.

Then he started eating again...and the water began getting low.

And he was happy!


INTRODUCING:  Hershey and Fudge - perfect remedy for a 'depressed' spirit.  

Two boys and a girl.

So, we had a vet home health visit thanks to our friend (Dr. Altom) and determined the gender of our piggies. There are two boys and one girl.

This is a FEMALE. Y shape, no 'penis'. No 'doughnut'




This is a MALE. With a penis at 12 o'clock, and a round doughnut surrounding the whole thing







Pup 1 is a BOY
Big trucks and everything 'boy.'





Pup 2 is a BOY
Pup 2 on Night Fury Toothless





Pup 3 is a GIRL
Pup 3 is the Princess




And this is Papa Coconut. Confirmation received that HE indeed has testicles, although he is too 'chubby' for his 'foreskin' to be retracted enough to actually reveal his penis - even for the veterinarian.

But there's the doughnut and the penis is felt inside of all that foreskin (which may be why the pet store folks got all mixed up).

The Three Little Piggies

Just as suspected...she was pregnant!!

"Was" being the operative word.

Welcome to the world little Piggies!!













Pup 1






Pup 2



Pup 3

Isn't it amazing how BIG they are. Those 3 Piggies look like collectively they occupy more space than their mother after a large meal. Fully developed, walking, eating "adult" food....

....much different from the Kits.

Fun facts:
Guinea pig's process of giving birth is called farrowing.
Boar: Male
Sow: Female
Pup: Baby
A guinea pig pack is called: Group

Carmel and Coconut

"I think Carmel (the guinea pig) is pregnant" was the text message.

***



For Christmas, we got Ian 2 guinea pigs. See, we only wanted one...but every source tells us "you have to get a least a pair, they're social animals and will get depressed if alone."

Ian holds Coconut on Christmas morning

We don't want to cause guinea pig depression...so we got two. Because it was so close to Christmas (and coordinating giving the gift of live animals is never easy) we had to get the GPs from two different locations. So they were different ages. And even though we checked their genitalia, because they were so different in every other obvious way (size, color, hair "style", temperament) we assumed the breeders knew what they were talking about...and allowed the GPs to live in their Town-home together.

Sure. It was a bit suspicious when we saw Coconut (the big one) mount Carmel (the small one)...but in all of my internet "research" I learned that the mounting is an exhibition of 'dominance' not necessarily sexual. And it's not terribly unusual, as 2 GP are 'getting to know each other' that one mounts the other...even if they're both the same gender.

***

Then yesterday, we noticed that Camel's "growing" wasn't just "bigger" but rather significantly *wider*. See, at first we attributed her 'rapid growth' to just being young...and with our excellent care and nurturing, she was thriving so well...and growing so quickly, that were were indeed doing good work.

But then...her girth is just ridiculous. And although we're still not *sure* she's preggers...I mean, come on!

So we decided to sell Cola, Flour, and Cinnamon (!!) to (another) feed store. Made a bit of money...and promptly purchased a few new supplies for the guinea pigs (because now we had to separate the two before she gives birth).


According to my reliable internet research, we should expect that she has 1-4 (probably 2) babies, and the stress of Papa around may cause pre-mature labor, or still-birth.


Now we have Coffee, Popcorn, Pepper, and the two GPs.


Next rabbit we'll get will (likely) be a Flemish Giant so our little guy can start participating in animal shows thru 4-H.