Mr. Bubbles and Scruffy

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Fri Aug 23, 2019 7:28 am


That photo of him is so cute. It looks like the caption should be, "You want me to do what?"

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Renonvsparky

Post   » Sun Aug 25, 2019 8:35 pm


Image

I just love getting my chin rubbed! The other two below me don't and will bite if the human tries it. Mr Bubbles likes it too, but not as much as me. It's a great day today. I got chin rubs, getting ready to go out and eat my fill of the long grass this evening when it cools down outside and I'm getting fresh fleece to pee and poop all over. The other guinea pigs can come too, I guess.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sun Aug 25, 2019 8:43 pm


What a sweet little guinea pig! I think it's wonderful you take them outside for a bit. Provides a more stimulating life and in my opinion, the great outdoors (unless freezing, cooking, or raining) is the best! People who spend time outdoors in natural settings are happier. I imagine it is the same for guinea pigs (though I never thought of it that way before - and some pet owners aren't able to do so).

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Renonvsparky

Post   » Sun Aug 25, 2019 10:33 pm


You wouldn't even know by looking at him that he was very sick and near death just 6-7 months ago. He is the epitome of resilience. I have trouble getting him to eat his lettuce from time to time, but he eats the rest of his veggies, a lot of hay and a few pellets. His weight is still hovering just above 2 lbs so he's healthy. He's a pleasure to have; as are the rest of the herd.

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Renonvsparky

Post   » Mon Aug 26, 2019 1:19 pm


I have some oxbow critical care left that I keep around in case I have to start hand feeding one of my piggies. It's going to expire in about 6 months or so and I don't want it to go to waste. I'm getting a new bag of it. So what to do with the older stuff? Well Scruffy actually loves it and will lick it right out of the bowl. I've been leaving extra water on his veggies and sprinkling about a quarter of a teaspoon of it on them. I remember it seemed to stimulate his appetite before. So far it's working because I didn't have to remove any uneaten lettuce.

I know that the hay is the most important part of the guinea pig's diet and he eats plenty of it, but I'd still like to see him eat the full cup of veggies every day. I don't see any downside to a little bit of critical care on them as long as it doesn't cause him to get overweight. He's only got less than 2 months before the outside grass goes dormant. When that happens, that will be missing from his daily intake. He does get wheat grass, but it's not quite the same. With the difficulty I have keeping his weight up compared to the other 3 pigs, this is a good option.

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Renonvsparky

Post   » Tue Aug 27, 2019 2:28 pm


He does get wheat grass, but it's not quite the same.
I should probably clarify this. What I mean is that it's not the same as far as volume. Wheat grass is every bit as nutritious as the grass from the lawn and probably more so. However I'm not able to get enough for all 4 pigs to eat their fill like they can on the lawn. Speaking of which, I've been putting off mowing it for several days so they can get plenty, but it's getting out of hand. Oh well, it'll grow back in a few days and they can still get some. It's just not the longer blades they have been getting.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Aug 27, 2019 9:37 pm


I think wheat grass is richer and sweeter (more sugars). So regular grass, though it might not taste as tantalizing, might make a better frequently eaten grass.

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Renonvsparky

Post   » Thu Aug 29, 2019 2:52 pm


Well you wouldn't know the difference watching my boys eat either one. They devour both kinds very quickly! 😁

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Renonvsparky

Post   » Tue Sep 10, 2019 6:45 am


We noticed the shorter days and cooler evenings already. They seemed to start right as soon as September started. The human hasn't gotten it through his head yet because he tried to take us outside at our normal time and it was getting too dark and the breeze made it feel too chilly for us. Luckily he figured it out after only a couple of minutes when my brother, Mr Bubbles poofed up his fur so we didn't catch colds. We were very unhappy when he rushed us back into the house. He even had the miniature humans help to get us inside quicker so we didn't even get to eat very much grass. That's ok though because they all went back out and picked us all a bunch of nice long grass to eat inside.

That's not going to fly tomorrow. We are going to give him a stern reminder to take us outside earlier so we can pick our own grass to eat. It's so much better that way because we can get a dandelion leaf or two with the grass. When the miniature humans pick grass for us, they get the shorter blades. We prefer the longer ones. I guess that's better than no grass at all.

Mr Bubbles and I got weighed today by the human. He got really excited for some reason. My weight is up to 2 lbs and 6 ounces. I can't imagine why he got so excited about that. Mr Bubbles is still heavier than me. He was 2 lbs 11 ounces. Maybe someday I'll get my weight back up there 😌. It's time for our nail trim again too. Why does he make such a fuss over us? It's all good because we love the attention! TTFN!

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Renonvsparky

Post   » Fri Sep 13, 2019 2:07 am


Poor little Scruffy. He woke up this morning with a discharge coming out of one nostril. Doesn't look too serious, but I got him a vet appointment for the 17th. The vet's office said that if it gets worse, or if his behaviors change, I can bring him in before then. Hopefully it's not a URI. It had dried and gotten a little crusty so I cleaned it up with a warm, damp piece of gauze and I'll check it again in the morning.

It's not related to Scruffy's previous post since he was only outside less than 5 minutes. If anything, it might be the AC in his room. It's set to keep it about 70° in there, but it only kicks off the compressor when it obtains the set temperature. The fan still blows. I have it pointed away from the piggies so it doesn't blow right on them, but I'm going to turn it off at night when it cools down.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Sep 13, 2019 9:41 am


Being observant is the best protection against illness!

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Renonvsparky

Post   » Fri Sep 13, 2019 10:36 pm


His nose is clear today, so perhaps it was just dust or another irritant. I'm still going to monitor it and have him looked at.

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