I have sadly lost 5 piggies of mine since the beginning of this year, but there have also been some new arrivals.
3 year old large unwanted widower Pioden ("Magpie" in Welsh) from The Potteries Guinea Pig Rescue has taken my old gent Maelog's slot and has bonded with the surviving widows (Papi sadly had to be pts just three days after Maelog). Pioden has the stinkiest testosterone exhaust I have ever come across in a neutered boar and he is a bit on the rampant side, but he has thankfully calmed down a lot now that he is happy again!
A 1 year old mother and half year old daughter pair from Milhaven Guinea Pig Rescue are lookalikes to my 5 year old sister pair Hedydd and Heulwen; they'd been persistently overlooked. Mum Hyfryd ("Lovely") was found with a boar and another (also pregnant sow) in a tree stump in a park. Daughter Hirael ("Long Brow") was born at the rescue.
They have been a bit slower to find their feet, not just with me, but also with other piggies. Hyfryd is on the skittish, theeth-chattery and tussly side because she is rather insecure and that usually doesn't go down well with at least one or more piggies in each of my groups. But they are coming along as a pair, bit by bit.
Sadly, a bonding of Hyfryd and Hirael with my latest arrival, Barri ("Summit") from The Excellent Adventure Sanctuary (TEAS), has not come off yesterday. This time not because of Hyfryd but because Barri had not bothered to read the bonding manual and drove straight through several red bonding lights, metaphorically speaking. The bonding lasted less than 4 minutes before it ended in a bust-up (thankfully no bites).
Barri has just passed his 6 weeks' post neutering op wait and has fetched up at TEAS after being treated wrongly for a bad fungal infection to the degree that the treating vet wanted to have him pts! Thankfully with @furryfriends (TEAS) ' good care, he has made a full recovery and is slowly regaining his trust in humans after his ordeal.
He's another one that is rather insecure with other piggies, but he has bonded with Briallen ("Primrose"), who was showing interest in him when I was conducting some pre-bonding evaluations in a divided run on the lawn this week - a sentiment that was amply reciprocated, as Barri promptly managed to squeeze through the divider in the bonding pen to introduce himself yesterday!
Oh, yes, and I also finally got to re-bond my bereaved single 6 year old lady Ffwlbri with her sister Tesni and Tesni's adored one year old toy boy Gethin - third attempt lucky! Ffwlbri had refused any new companion since her last companion Tanni's death in January.
Busy times indeed and yet another cage layout change needed...
3 year old large unwanted widower Pioden ("Magpie" in Welsh) from The Potteries Guinea Pig Rescue has taken my old gent Maelog's slot and has bonded with the surviving widows (Papi sadly had to be pts just three days after Maelog). Pioden has the stinkiest testosterone exhaust I have ever come across in a neutered boar and he is a bit on the rampant side, but he has thankfully calmed down a lot now that he is happy again!
A 1 year old mother and half year old daughter pair from Milhaven Guinea Pig Rescue are lookalikes to my 5 year old sister pair Hedydd and Heulwen; they'd been persistently overlooked. Mum Hyfryd ("Lovely") was found with a boar and another (also pregnant sow) in a tree stump in a park. Daughter Hirael ("Long Brow") was born at the rescue.
They have been a bit slower to find their feet, not just with me, but also with other piggies. Hyfryd is on the skittish, theeth-chattery and tussly side because she is rather insecure and that usually doesn't go down well with at least one or more piggies in each of my groups. But they are coming along as a pair, bit by bit.
Sadly, a bonding of Hyfryd and Hirael with my latest arrival, Barri ("Summit") from The Excellent Adventure Sanctuary (TEAS), has not come off yesterday. This time not because of Hyfryd but because Barri had not bothered to read the bonding manual and drove straight through several red bonding lights, metaphorically speaking. The bonding lasted less than 4 minutes before it ended in a bust-up (thankfully no bites).
Barri has just passed his 6 weeks' post neutering op wait and has fetched up at TEAS after being treated wrongly for a bad fungal infection to the degree that the treating vet wanted to have him pts! Thankfully with @furryfriends (TEAS) ' good care, he has made a full recovery and is slowly regaining his trust in humans after his ordeal.
He's another one that is rather insecure with other piggies, but he has bonded with Briallen ("Primrose"), who was showing interest in him when I was conducting some pre-bonding evaluations in a divided run on the lawn this week - a sentiment that was amply reciprocated, as Barri promptly managed to squeeze through the divider in the bonding pen to introduce himself yesterday!
Oh, yes, and I also finally got to re-bond my bereaved single 6 year old lady Ffwlbri with her sister Tesni and Tesni's adored one year old toy boy Gethin - third attempt lucky! Ffwlbri had refused any new companion since her last companion Tanni's death in January.
Busy times indeed and yet another cage layout change needed...
