Buddy

[Renonvsparky]

Meet Buddy.





He's the newest addition to the herd. He looks to be 2-3 months old. My daughter (the same one who gave us Buttercup) is visiting with the grandkids from Reno and when she heard about Wilber, she thought I would like Buddy, so she got him from Petco in Springfield. Of course she's right. I wanted to tell her about adoption, but I didn't want to be unappreciative or to hurt her feelings, so I'll do that at a later time. My wife did look to see if they had any PEWs like BJ, but they didn't.

He's a sweet little guy and he doesn't squirm or try to run when I hold him. He did get shaky when I put him up to the other guinea pigs. I guess he'll have some adjusting to get through. His coloring is very cute and he's got a little angel face to go with it. He was in the tank with a few piggies who were quite a bit smaller than him and was asserting dominance. His being the only one that was larger than the others suggests that he's been there for a while. The staff at Petco said they were glad to see him go to a loving family after my daughter told them about me, my other 9 guinea pigs and how I have a guinea pig wall of fame for the ones I've lost.

I'm doing some rearranging to accommodate another cage. He's in the hospital cage for now until I can get him a bigger one. He's still small enough that it's not too small for him but that'll change quickly. Let the adventure begin!

[Lynx]

I hope he works out well. It is tough to talk to a child about giving someone a pet.

[Renonvsparky]

Well, she's 34 years old, so not a child.😁 I get what you mean though. It's ok. Buddy is adorable and he's going to be a great little friend just as every guinea pig I've ever had.

[Lynx]

I do think (besides your issue of adoption vs. purchase) that because of the commitment having a pet entails, any "gift" should involve consultation.

Sounds like you have a lovely 34 year old daughter.

[ItsaZoo]

He’s adorable. Your daughter knows how much you love your piggies and what a good life they have. And she knows you will make room in your heart, and in your house, for just one more. Every piggy deserves a good home, whether from a rescue or a pet store. Buddy is a lucky little guy.

[Renonvsparky]

So Buddy is still getting used to us. He runs into his tunnel if I get too close to his cage. He will sit still and let me pick him up after I've lifted the tunnel off of him and he sits still while I hold him. Tried him out on a few of the different treats I give my piggies. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that he likes them all so far. Carrots, wheat grass (of course) and carrot greens. He's a good hay eater and doesn't have any problems finishing his daily ration of lettuce, bell peppers and cucumbers. I have yet to get parsley, as I don't give them very often and second round of the radishes and beets don't have enough greens yet. Haven't tried apple yet either. I only give apples once a month and only a small slice.

He was formally introduced through the cages to the other guinea pigs. He touched noses with them and purred at Skipper. He squeaks at them too. The older pigs like other piggies and Buddy was no exception. He spent more time outside of his tunnel today than he did yesterday. I'm already working on getting him to take food from my hand. Shouldn't take too long.

[Lynx]

Sounds like he's a keeper! (aren't they all ;-)

[Renonvsparky]

Buddy is getting more used to his surroundings. He squeaks with the rest of the piggies at feeding time. So far he hasn't taken up the cage nibbling yet. Let's hope he doesn't. I'm still working on getting him to take food from my hand. I did his bedding change last, which means that the scent from the other 9 guinea pigs was all over the pen. He went nuts popcorning and squeaking loudly when I put him in it. Of course he froze when I whipped out the phone to record it. You'll just have to settle for a photo 😁.

[ItsaZoo]

It’s so much fun to find out what they like and how they react. My little Ruby Sue is a bar chewer. She just gets frantic she thinks there’s food. So now Millie is getting excited as well. She’s across the room but can still pick up bad habits.

[Lynx]

Oh, man, bad habits are indeed so easy to pick up!

Hopefully no broken teeth and a good appetite.

[daisymay]

So glad you have another beautiful piggy and that Buddy is settling in well!

[Renonvsparky]

Quick update on Buddy. It looked like he was becoming somewhat of a little hermit and that's unsatisfactory. The problem is that his cage is all the way across the room from the others on a little cabinet. I didn't like that setup from the start but it was done on the fly, so we didn't do much pondering on where to put him at the time. We started noticing that he looked depressed, so we did some rearranging for him. My dresser is right next to the cages and had to TV on it. My wife's matching dresser had her large jewelry chest which I bought for our first anniversary in Okinawa on it. So we shifted her jewelry chest to the cabinet that Buddy was on; the TV to her dresser where we both can still see it when we're in bed and put Buddy on top of my dresser next to the other cages. It works out for him to be up high enough to be right next to Val and Earl where he can see and interact with them.

This is already having a positive effect. Buddy still doesn't take food from my hand and he is still a little bit apprehensive about being picked up, but he stopped hiding in his tunnel all of the time. He's remarkably calm sitting with me once I get him out of his cage. It only took 3 or 4 days to see the improvement. He's quite a bit more active now. He even squeaks at his neighbors and they respond to him. Val and Earl are big time squeakers to begin with. Buddy likes the communication too so I think this arrangement will be a lot better. Thankfully he still hasn't picked up the cage nibbling yet. I've been holding him every day and he even ate a baby carrot while sitting with me.