Carmel and Coconut

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

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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.

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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.