Orson!

Mork calling Orson!  Mork calling Orson!

Before Christmas we got another guinea pig who we named Orson.  He doesn't live with the others thatI have written about but he needs serious taming so he fits the blog.

Orson came from Cardiff Market.  I went there looking for willow toys for my lot.  They demolish them in no time and i think they will help with grinding down their teeth so I buy them frequently.

Anyway the man that ran the stall knew nothing of willow toys.  Instead he had lotsw of caged birds and a few kittens.  he also had a cage with about 5 or 6 baby guineas in there.  They all looked pretty happy, they had a limited amount of hay and some were popcorning.  Next to that cage he had a cage with 2 rabbits in it and lo and behold a white guinea pig.  Blue(ish) eyes looking very very unhappy.  He had no place to hide, no hay, a bowl with nothing in and no water bottle that I saw.  I say he looked unhappy but he really did, I have never seen such an unhappy looking animal.  Whilst we looked in the cage one of the rabbits jumped on the guinea and attacked it.  The guinea started teeth chattering and backed into a corner but there was nowhere for it to hide.  My husband looked at me and said something along the lines of "we cant leave him".

I tried to leave him.  I had 9 guineas already and no desire for another.  Anyway I went and asked the owner of the stall / shop why  he was in with rabbits.  He said that this was a boy and the babies in the one cage were girls.  I asked him to put the boy in a cage aloe - he said he didn't have one.  I pointed out that the guinea was being attacked, he said the guinea was the bully - the small guinea against 2 big rabbits.  I uhmmed and ahhhed and then finally said how much for the guinea and he said that he would let him go cheaper as he was 3 months and hadn't been taken.  So we took him.


He put him in a regular box and poked holes in it with a pen!  I brought him home and made him a space in the C&C next to the 6 girls.


He's wild, very wild.  He had a ripped ear (well still ripped) and was impossible to catch and then he would bite!


I have had him for a month and half and he no longer bites.  His ear is broken but not scabby and he is still hard to catch but not impossible.  He sits nice on your lap and will eat on you too if you wait a while.  Today he had his first grass.


I had him neutered almost 2 weeks ago and in another 3 weeks he will go in with the girls.  In the meantime it's regular handling, lots of good food and love.


He's already decided he only likes Burgess guinea pig nuggets and will only eat Oxbow hay!  Fussy fussy man!!

Mork lives with the girls!

Well after nearly 6 weeks of living alone - 4 weeksafter his op Mork joined Bessie and Gypsy in the cage.  It's been wonderful.

They lived side by side with a divider and to introduce them I used a run, put lots of hideys with 2 exits and lots of food.  i don't think i could have asked for a better introduction.  It was absolutely nothing like when Gypsy met the other girls.  That was scary - this was easy.

They have been together almost 2 weeks now and it's great.  Mork popcorns all over, they are happy to share their space.  I couldn't be more pleased.

This weekend they get a hay loft upstairs and all food stuffs will move.  I can't wait!  It just means downstairs has even more room (although they have a 150cm x 75cm cage already).  Photos will be posted once it's all decked out ready for Christmas!!

Relations

Well they have been living side by side for 2 and a bit weeks and it's all very friendly.  Bessie and Gypsy seem to really love Mork and I can't wait to put them together.  Just over 2 weeks now and they can all be friends.

Not much else to report.  I have put a cosy bed I made in the cage - it's not very good looks wise but they take it in turns to sprawl out on it.  They don't run off much when were in the kitchen any more (not like Mork - he does) and they are happy happy happy.

Gypsy popcorned so much the other night I couldn't believe it.  She seems quite old but she was certainly acting like a baby guinea she was popcorning so much and so high!!

 

Morks operation

Well Mork had his operation (castration) on Tuesday.  Today is Saturday.  And it's been very emotional - although everything went well.  I have found it quite hard to manage the conflicting emotions.  It's a good thing in terms of his life from now on.  He lived on his own for over 3 months in a pet shop, someone bought him after three months and brought him back to the shop after a few days.  He really needed an owner and to have company so this op means he can live with the two rescue girls.  Also by adding to their small herd the numbers go up and everyone gets more relaxed.  So that's the positive side of it.  The negatives are that it's an operation, he's a rodent having a general and very recently on the forum where I post there have been a few posts and debates about surgery gone wrong and guineas not making it.  Scary stuff.

So he had the operation on Tuesday and Tuesday evening he was absolutely normal.  Bessie and Gypsy still spend all their time by the divider being close to him.  He was still doing his sexy dance for them hee hee and in the evening he ate up his veggies like normal.


Then Wednesday morning he was also normal.  But by lunchtime that all changed.  I am guessing any pain relief they gave him wore off as he started staying in his house and refused to come out, he stopped eating everything.  I have been bedding him on vet bed or fleece and he didn't poop from when I cleaned him out at 2pm until 10.30pm which really freaked me out.  Same thing happened on Thursday.  He had a vets appointment for 4pm on Thursday and on the way in the carrier he ate some basil.  Slim pickings for a guinea!  I had been syringe feeding him critical care as I didn't want his digestive system to suffer.



Vet seemed surprised he wasn't eating as normal and said to keep an eye on him.  If he wasn't eating on his own by Friday night to bring him back Saturday (today).  I started giving him a drop of metacam and yesterday lunchtime he ate a HUGE bunch of basil and I syringed him loads.  Got up this morning and there is alot of poop and he's eaten nearly all his fresh food and some hay.  I am guessing he's feeling a bit better.  Going to monitor him today and give him another small drop of metacam but hold off syringing unless he's not eating.


On the plus side he's healing up great and popcorned last night as well as doing his sexy dance again hee hee (I love watching the sexy dance as do the girls!)


Bessie and Gypsy are so taken with him and I can't wait to have them live together as a trio.  It's going to really complete the two rescue girls and make everyone feel much better about life.


On the plus side hey are virtually normal - well they ARE normal.  Gypsy doesn't even hide when I'm putting food in she just starts to eat while it's on it's way in and she doesn't even run off when I want to  pick her up.  It's absolutely amazing and I am over the moon at how much quality of happy life they have now.  Just goes to show they can have a brilliant life with a bit of patience and perseverence.  But I still maintain the living in side is what brought about the biggest change. 

Getting on very well

Well the new cage is here.  Here's a photo

It's divided with Bessie and Gypsy having 2 thirds and Mork having 1 third.  They are all getting on well and having a good time getting to know each other next to the partition.

 

MORK!

Okay there hasn't been too much to report last few weeks.  Everything is fine still. Bessie STILL gets really scared being picked up but is okay once on your lap and will eat.  Even if a cat is about so that's fine.

Gypsy is laid back now and is easy to get.  In fact she doesn't even run away when I put veggies in now.  In fact she starts to eat before the bowl has touched the floor!

I have decided though that they need a friend.  I wasn't going to get one but this poor little chap caught my eye.  He's been in a cage in a pet shop for aaaaaages.  Months.  A black and white abyssinian with ruby eyes.  Everytime I have gone in there he's been hiding but I have caught glimpses of him.

I emailed the shop and tried to get them to give him free to a good loving hom or put him up for adoption rather than the £18 they wanted forhim but they absolutely refused.  I was told her would go home to live with a staff member very soon if he didn't sell.

Went in again a week later and he was gone.  I was so pleased for him, he had a home!

Went back 2 weeks later and he's there again.  I was gutted.  Turns out someone took him home one week to house with a rabbit (!!!) but then decided for no particular reason they didn't want him after all and brought him back the following Monday.

Well I could take it no more and decided to take him and get him neutered and then put him in with my 6 girls.  Then I changed my mind then I changed it again then I changed it again and so on for days.  Finally I thought HMM what about Bessie and Gypsy.  They are a really small herd and it's a very natural thing putting a boy in.  It may help them come out of their shells even more.  They don't spend as much time going about the cage foraging as they others, could he help them?  Once I decided he was to be friends with Bessie and Gypsy I went and took him home.

He's currently housed alone and due for the snip next week.  I put his cage next to Bessie and Gypsy in the run and they are all excited.  The girls run up to him and he to the girls.  I am very hopeful it will work out.

Here he is.  Isn't he cute?
I think his future is bright now with the girls and theirs is getting better too.
I have ordered a supersize cage that will be here tomorrow and I am going to section it off for the time they can't be together and will of course remove that once he's unable to impregnant them.

happy days!

Better and better....

Well I am chuffed!  Beyond chuffed.  They are getting so so tame now.

Bessie is still less tame than Gypsy but she's still pretty tame and WILL eat on laps now.  You have to leave it out for her and she eats after sitting still a few minutes but she will eat which is fab news.

Gypsy is very relaxed now.  Here is an example of how relaxed she was on my lap the other night.  She laid herself down and relaxed beautifully on my lap bless her!

I was over the moon at how chilled out she was.

I have also bought a snuggle sac thing for when they are in the run.  I thought it would benefit Bessie most as she likes to burrow under the fleece and vet bed all the time.  She absolutely loves it in the run but not so much in the cage.  I only managed to photograph Gypsy using it though as Bessie snuggled herself all the way to the back of it.

They both adore this and they also love the indoor run still.  They come to life so much in there.

Hope to get some more photos of Bessie very soon.