They look pink to me. I may be wrong. So calm and relaxed so quickly. What's your secret?Does he have pink eyes?
The Legend of Barry Jenkins
His eyes are pink. It's his best feature! I am the guinea pig whisperer LOL. All it really takes is love and kindness. I show them lot's of both. It's easy to do given how adorable these little guys are.
You can call him BJ! I adore his eyes. The only guinea pig I wouldn't own is a hairless and that's not because of their appearance (they are as adorable as any guinea pig). It's because of the extra care their skin requires. I'm not sure if I can keep up with it, plus I'm not sure I could get anyone to do it when I have to travel.
I put a hammock in his cage to see if he'll get in it. I have a sneaky suspicion that he might because of the way he burrows into the holding blanket and curls up when I hold him. So far he's gone under it but not in it. Either way it's another thing of interest to him and a place for him to hide if he gets scared.
I put a hammock in his cage to see if he'll get in it. I have a sneaky suspicion that he might because of the way he burrows into the holding blanket and curls up when I hold him. So far he's gone under it but not in it. Either way it's another thing of interest to him and a place for him to hide if he gets scared.
I always hold my guinea pigs on a fleece blanket for comfort and to catch their messes. With BJ it led to a discovery of something he likes. He burrows into the blanket and he has a good time doing it. He doesn't mind being in a funny position either, as long as he's under the blanket. I've never had a guinea pig go on his back like that, but he seemed to be comfortable, so I just let him lay however he wants to.
That gave me the idea to put one in his house. That turned out to be a great thing. He loves it and wasted no time in making it comfortable for himself. He still spends a lot of his time laying in his house, but he lets me reach in and pick him up. He also comes out to sniff my hand and nibble my finger. I have yet to weigh him. I've been letting him get use to his new home before subjecting him to that. I have a feeling that he's overweight and out of shape. A couple days more and floor time starts.
That gave me the idea to put one in his house. That turned out to be a great thing. He loves it and wasted no time in making it comfortable for himself. He still spends a lot of his time laying in his house, but he lets me reach in and pick him up. He also comes out to sniff my hand and nibble my finger. I have yet to weigh him. I've been letting him get use to his new home before subjecting him to that. I have a feeling that he's overweight and out of shape. A couple days more and floor time starts.
BJ doesn't eat much in the way of veggies. He'll eat carrots pretty well but barely touches the lettuce, bell pepper or parsley. He digs the pellets and eats plenty of hay. I don't think there's anything wrong with him. None of the signs of sickness are there. I just have to figure out his eating habits. He does move around his cage and reacts to the other guinea pigs. His cage is right next to Sammy and Dean. I'm getting him a wellness exam as soon as I can. I already know they're going to tell me he's overweight. I'm working on that.
- Lynx
- Celebrate!!!
Having Sammy and Dean nearby will hopefully mean he will see other guinea pigs eating the green "good stuff" and he will be more interested in it.
I saw a tv clip this evening about a hugely overweight dog that could barely walk. What they did was water therapy for perhaps a year to take the pressure from his legs and get him exercise. That and cutting foods dropped his weight substantially and he is a new dog!
I don't believe we have run across a guinea pig that is so heavy that it has difficulty moving (except for a pregnant female). I have always thought exercise works wonders for good health.
As for evaluating weight, there are some great guidelines written by a vet on this page:
https://www.guinealynx.info/weigh.html
I saw a tv clip this evening about a hugely overweight dog that could barely walk. What they did was water therapy for perhaps a year to take the pressure from his legs and get him exercise. That and cutting foods dropped his weight substantially and he is a new dog!
I don't believe we have run across a guinea pig that is so heavy that it has difficulty moving (except for a pregnant female). I have always thought exercise works wonders for good health.
As for evaluating weight, there are some great guidelines written by a vet on this page:
https://www.guinealynx.info/weigh.html
That's him! He's about 2.9 lbs by my scale, but it's difficult to tell how accurate that is since he's a little bit too big to sit on it and he didn't like sitting on it. He doesn't seem to have any difficulty moving around when he wants to. There's no telling what kind of life, environment, diet, etc he had prior to being surrendered to the humane society. I plan to just keep giving him love and all of the exercise I can. Hopefully he'll get better.
He looks like such a sweetie. I'm so happy for both him and you. He's gotten a great home!