Piggies

[Riven]

I've been on here for a while and I haven't introduced my herd yet. Now it's been a bit of a rollercoaster so I do apologize.

Eileithyia-Eris and Jupiter
On November 1 2020, I adopted 2 Guinea pigs who I was told were both 9 week old males. They were were very skittish. After a while it became apparent that one was definitely not a boy and looked a tad round. I separated them and they lived side by side until just before Christmas the same year.

Here they are when they arrived (before the separation) (Jupiter on the left and Eileithyia-Eris on the right) :

And after 2 weeks post separation:
Jupiter


Eileithyia-Eris

By the end of November Eileithyia-Eris was 13-14 weeks old and looked like this...

Cages had been baby proofed as well as having a few large, comfy hides. I was very anxious at this point and spent a lot of time with her just in case anything happened. 1 in 5 births go wrong!

 

[Riven]

Dysnomia and Apollo
At 11:58pm on December 3rd and 12:02am December 4th, 2 huge babies were born. The largest of the two weighed 118g! Normally they're only 80g-90g. Here they are a few minutes after birth, mummy Eris had almost finished cleaning them up and was having a well deserved rest. How she managed to get them out I don't know.


I checked on them in the morning and they were all doing so well and managed to get a photo of Eris nursing.

Eris' instincts had really kicked in and doing everything she needed to do. I didn't need to do anything. I just weighed them all once a day for the next 3 weeks to ensure all was going as it should.

In just 2 days the babies where exploring the cage and sampling pellets, veggies and hay. They were also interacting with Jupiter through the bars, who was absolutely thrilled to see them. Often seen popcorning like a mad man when they came over.

At this point I was pretty sure we had 1 boy and 1 girl, which was the best combo for me. It would mean in time both Eris and Jupiter would have a cage mate. The male, with the black dot on his back, I named Apollo. His sister, I named Dysnomia. (I'll explain the names later on).

Little miss Dysnomia in the hay

and Apollo with his mum

Of course I can't miss out Jupiter as he posed so nicely...just excuse the poop...

 

[Riven]

The next week goes by really fast. Everyone is doing well and gaining weight. Mums milk is starting to dry up and this is one of the last nursing pictures I have:


The general rule for male piggies is they need to be separated from mum and any sisters by 3 weeks old or when they reach 250g, whichever comes first. By the second week, Apollo was fast approaching the 250g mark and Eris was due to come back into season. This was another stressful time for me as I wanted him to spend as much time as possible with mum to get the best start in life, but I didn't want any more babies.

This is the last photo I have of mum and babies together. Taken 21 December 2020. Tomorrow, is separation day.


He looked so small.

 

[Riven]

Apollo and Jupiter
I won't lie, that night I didn't sleep very well. While I didn't think Jupiter would intentionally hurt Apollo, I did worry that he may accidentally. At this point Jupiter (and Eris) were 4 months old and this is what is considered the teenage stage as there's lots of hormonal fluctuations.

I prepared a bonding pen on neutral ground which was just some bedding, a hay pile and a couple of water sources. Popped them both in there, and then it was just a waiting game. During this time I put the finishing touches on their permanent cage which could be divided into 2 cages if things didn't go well.

Apollo took to Jupiter right away. Jupiter did some rumbling and there was some circling and sniffing (minor dominance and getting to know you behaviour), but nothing to worry about. Apollo managed to jump on Jupiters back and took food straight out of his mouth. Here they are after around half an hour together:


Nothing else really happened. There was some more getting to know you behaviour but they seemed happy.




By mid afternoon I added a hide and they remained ok with the arrangement.


By tea time they had moved into their permanent cage.


(I did sort out all those loose threads. )

 

[Maz]

Looks big to me lol! Compared to a hamster ha ha.

Hope they are all doing fine in their pairs now.

 

[Riven]

Looks big to me lol! Compared to a hamster ha ha.

Hope they are all doing fine in their pairs now.

I have another 4 to introduce yet It's very weird holding a 25g robo and then picking up a 1320g pig. Yes they're doing well.

 

[Riven]

2021

Everyone continued to get on well and gain weight. There's nothing that actually happened, so enjoy the piggy photos.

 

[Riven]

Eileithyia-Eris and Dysnomia

 

[Riven]

Jupi and Po during free roam

 

[Riven]

At 3 months old, Po decided he didn't want to lay in soft fleece...a wooden bendy bridge is obviously more appropriate!


Jupiter decided to join him after a while

 

[Riven]

Can you ever own an animal and not have a mini photo shoot with them?

 

[Maz]

Ooh they look gorgeous - and pose well! Lovely crunchy looking lettuce there too!

 

[Maz]

Ooh they look gorgeous - and pose well! Lovely crunchy looking lettuce there too

 

[Riven]

In May it was warm enough to go out into the shed.


We had a minor heatwave and it was too hot for them outside so they came in for a few days


Eventually they were able to go back out. Managed to get photos of Eris, Apollo and Dysnomia (photos in that order).

 

[RainbowBrite]

You have such beautiful piggies. It is lovely to see them and hear their story. You coped really well with the pregnancy. I would have been in bits!

 

[Member ID2]

I was so engrossed in the story and photos that i forgot to press all the like and hearts buttons. The piggies are absolutely beautiful and look so happy. Imagine taking in a pair and ending up with a whole family.

Are you planning on getting the males neutered so the family can live together or does it not work that way?

 

[Zara]

So many fabulous photos, they are all beautiful and a massive well done with the new babies, it must be a nerve wracking time during birthing and the early stages. You have a wonderful Guinea Pig family

 

[Riven]

Basil and Cyril
Their mum was dumped and had 5 babies, 3 girls and 2 boys. The girls were quickly snapped up but the boys had little interest, so they came home with me on the 26 August 2021.


Basil

Cyril

They were about 9 weeks old when I got them. They settled quite well. Despite not having much handling, they quickly learned to enjoy lap time.

After about of month of being here they started to fight so they needed to be split up. They could still interact through the bars but couldn't get to each other.

Jupiter really liked the youngsters and really took a shine to Basil.




Can you spot Cyril?

 

[RainbowBrite]

Lol Cyrill in the hay bag!

 

[Riven]

It wasn't until now that I truly appreciated the bond Apollo and Jupiter have.