Friday Video:

We're a bit late, but since March this year, it is no longer allowed to test any component of cosmetic products on animals in Europe. Hurray for the people who made this happen *happy popcorns*


Have a nice Wheekend!

Cavies with tails?

When we have a new arrival at Piggyfriends, our Slave tries to find out which food he or she had in their previous home so that she can gradually change it over to our own feed. Our new boy, Toffee, was used to having Wagg guinea food, so she bought a small packet of it for him. Here he is with his Wagg. Can you read the words on the packet? It says " Healthy from nose to tail"! Do the people at Wagg think that we have tails or have they used the same label that they put on their dog food?

As you can plainly see, Toffee has no tail and upon careful inspection, neither do any of the rest of the Piggyfriend herd. We suspect that none of our readers have tails either. Deduct points from Wagg for a silly package but Toffee says that their food is yummy.

Friday Video: Dinner Time

These two twisted sisters are getting ready for their dinner. And we love it!


Have a nice Wheekend!

Guinygirlz' not-so-New Cage (DIY)

Slave is pretty sure we posted this before, but maybe slave is just affected by the heat here, cause
we can't find a post about our not so new cage on our blog... So here it is!
We have been enjoying this cage for quite some time now!

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Our daddy slave has been quite busy lately with a big piece of wood, and many smaller pieces, nails, glue and corner profiles...

So a small preview of our new cage and how it is being made

This is the big piece of wood, it measures around 122 by 125 cms (around 48" by 49")

Dad was clever and used spare Ikea shelves
(slaves used glass shelves in part of their closet)

Here you can see the frame of Ikea shelves together,
which is going to support our new cage,
in the sides slaves can store boxes of pellets, hay and bedding

This is it on top of the smaller pieces of wood, and
maybe the shelve frame (we can't see for sure)

Here strips were glued in the openings,
to hold the pieces of plexiglass (hobby glass)

This is how the cage looks by now, all front strips are in place...

...Should be finished soon, right?

Slave has shared this video before, but maybe you wouldn't mind seeing our cute faces again?
Woopy enters first, followed by Lily, Daisy and Roos. Mind you it's a pretty long video...
And the finished cage, here we get to be in there for the first time:

Friday Video: the Real Bing Cavy

Another Bing video!



Have a nice wheekend!

Calendar Piggies: July 2013

Our Oz Granny Glynis tells us about her lovely girls! Unfortunately Velvet left us earlier this year ;'(




Well Velvet RIP was a beautiful gentle sweet natured baby girl. She adored her food and when little she and Onyx would roar around their house and look for treats that i'd hidden. When she lost her sight she'd still manage to zoom around but not quite as much, but she sure knew where all the food bowls were!!
Velvet loved nothing more than a chinny rub first thing in the morning when i'd greet them both with " goooooooooood morning good morning my beautiful babies" and she'd often be sitting out in the open (totally unawares of course being blind) and i'd tap the ground near her and speak softly and say 'chinny chinny' and she'd raise her head and let me scritch that beautiful chinnie of hers. Being a long haired girlie she had to be groomed, this was not a favourite thing, but if some lettuce was on offering when having to go thru the humility of yet another butt bath and nail trim she'd be happy as a little piggie :-)
Her quiff was an amazing lilac/grey with under skirt being tan. She had black nails. Her eyes used to be deep pools of black, but then sadly became blue opaque. Her blindness never hindered her, i kept up the routine of morning feeds in the house, but would remove Onyx cause if Velvet missed some food (as it might be hidden under her volumous quiff LOL) cheeky Onyx would zoom over and nick it!!
When she was ill with her cancer Onyx did take care of her, but once she started to improve after her big op she would shoo Onyx away. When her time was coming, the last few days, Onyx was allowed to groom her and sit very very close, just like they used to when small piggies. I think she found this very comforting knowing her sister was looking after her.
Velvet Duchess was one of a kind, a diabetic and blind little girl who never complained and was so good about taking her medications.


now Onyx

Onyx was always the one first to the bowl and the first to run away! It took me way longer for her to calm down and allow me to do chinnie chinnies with her LOL As you all know Onyx has black nails except for ONE her 'tan glove' She is silky black with undertones of tan. She was always the slimmer of them both. So when she got ill and i nearly lost her it was really hard to get her back up to a reasonable weight again.
Onyx adored to reach up and try to pinch the parsley and the cucumber from the hanging treat bar. She could and still can to this day do 'standing piggie' :-) she loves to get up on her hind haunches and reach up for a treat. She is also very clever and can do 'up up' when i put my hand in and she will come and reach up and stand on my hand so i can get her out and put her into her house for dinner.
She too doesn't like butt washes or nail trims. Luckily she doesn't need too many cause of having short hair, tho she does have a cute little 'tail' when it's winter as she gets whisps that grow long on her bottom and on her ears.
Onyx is also blind in one eye cause of cataracts, her diet had to change also when Velvet got the diabetes. I used to sneak her bits of corn but then Velvet would come up and sniff her mouth, which didn't impress Onyx. Tho if Velvet was eating Onyx would go right up and sniff her mouth and try to pinch her food.
When Velvet went to the bridge, Onyx was bereft...... i was very very worried and she lost a lot of weight. I had already had a little stuffed sock toy in with the girls and thought this might help but no way she didn't want it in there anymore. It took about a month before she would move around the whole house again...... even months later one day i saw her run up the ramp and brrrrrrrr like she used to cause Velvet would be sleeping upstairs...... then Onyx realised she wasn't there so she just came back down stairs, so i hurriedly gave her a little snack to brighten her up again.

I'm blessed to have these two little girls in my life.

Friday Video: How to Keep Guinea Pigs Cool in the Summer

A nice tutorial on how to keep us cool in the summer.



Have a nice Wheekend!

P.s. see also our PLAY report from the archives

Life on the Balcony

We've been watching you garden-dwelling pigs for years now. And we've been jealous. But now we have the balcony. Okay, not exactly the balcony since mom thinks that's too high (and hot). But today the balcony was brought to us during play time. And we loved it!

Hurray! It's food and a tunnel

(Coco) Nomnomnom

(Bo) Hey, this helps

(Bo) Coco! Move your big butt!

Sabotage

(Coco) Victory!

(Bo) Mine.

(Sjeuf) Hey girl

And while our gentleman finally gets to eat, the girls sleep..

Revenge of the Guinea Pigs

We did a slightly different type of photo shoot. Instead of looking as adorable as possible, we got into the characters of villains (undercover agents come with evil guys, right?) And what would be more appropriate than taking it out on the humans?

We want 24/7 access to the fridge!

Accessorize this!

Lab rat?

  

P.s. No guinea pigs or humans were harmed during this photo shoot. The pig in the fridge is a stuffed toy ;-)

Friday Video: Pinky and the Brain

We're so sorry that we've forgot to post a friday video yesterday! So to make it up to you, we're posting one of our favorite cartoons this wheek



Hope you're already having a nice Wheekend!

Friday Video: Bunny Mission Impossible

We're sticking with the buns this wheek. Apparently they are secret agents too..


Have a nice Wheekend!

Friday Video: the Binki Returns

No, we haven't forgotten about Friday Video, we just liked the fourth of July pigtures so much that we gave then some extra time in the spotlight. But, for your viewing pleasure, here come the rabbits!
To make up for our untimely behavior, we're also posting a video with 2 humans that channel the awsome happiness that makes us popcorn. We especially like the enthousiasm in the male human (and we're laughing like the female human) Have a nice Wheekend!

Happy Fourth of July

Agent Yougie (Gruden von Squeakycheeks) and Agent Cannonball (Benito) are celebrating Independence Day in the USA!

Friday Video: I'm not a Gerbil

A classic today from the infamous Bing. We've all been there, haven't we?



Have a nice wheekend!

Calendar Piggies: June 2013

Just before the month ends, the calendar piggies from June would like to say hello.

Bo, Sjeuf and Coco

(Coco) welcome to our crib! We are the Winky Team, and this is where I welcome our guests and place our orders for our waitress.

Three carrots to go please!

Our cage was bought a few years ago, and it's 140cm x 70cm (55 inches x 27 inches). We've actually bought this online since our staff cannot be bothered to make one for us (humpf). But as you can see, it is quite big and rather sturdy. When we moved from Haarlem to Amsterdam, the movers actually named it the Jacuzzi, and our slave (who is tall and squishy) can easily fit into it. Not that we like it when she does. But never mind. To your left, miss Bo Peep is taking a nap. We do most of our home decorating ourselves. We're actually kinda proud of the nest that we've built.

Bo

Sjeuf is also sleeping in our 2 door bedroom. It was built by grandma's boyfriend and has been a favorite ever since. I'll wake Sjeuf so that he can show you around the kitchen.

Sleepy Sjeuf

(Sjeuf) welcome viewers of Undercover GP. I know everybody says this, but the kitchen is where the magic happens!! Today we're having a salad of herbs. Very nommy if I may say so. Our staff grows this stuff fresh on the balcony. Yes, we are living the good life here in Amsterdam ;-)

Sjeuf having lunch

We always have a stash of pellets ready for a midnight snack (or midday.. or morning..). Today, we've made the cage extra fancy and placed 2 extra pellet bowls in the cage; one for each guinea. Although the setup of our cage varies weekly, you can see that we also have some bricks in the cage for wearing down our nails. We actually prefer this bit of high tech furniture to our pedicure lady, but you didn't hear that from me *wink wink*.

Our cage

You can also see our play pen in the distance. We play on a nice green blanket, surrounded by a big pet run. Well.. we hope you've enjoyed the Winky Team mansion. Thank you for stopping by, but we have very important business to take care off. So off with ye. Bye!!!

Nomnomnom.. very important.. nomnom

Friday Video: Guinea Pig Armor

This was all over the internet this wheek.  If you haven't seen it, here's your chance


Have a nice Wheekend!

PLAY: Cool Summer

Out of the archives, Igor's PLAY research report on how to enjoy a cool summer. We did update the link list because most links in the old post were gone or outdated

Igor, studying hard

(Igor) This wheek I want to explain to you how you can get the most out of the cold object that your slave has placed in your cage because the weather is too hot. I actually don't have any experience with these since my current home has been very agreeable thus far. But I wouldn't be a professor if I couldn't supply you with useful information. So, I have interviewed Suus and Yaya and I've also conducted an in-dept analysis of the photo archives. And last but not least, my lovely assistant Lonneke has reviewed the extensive literature study concerning cavies and summer that is already online. We've included a literature list at the end of this report for your convenience.

What is it?:

Concept: a cold object in your cage, preferably when it's warmer then 30 degrees (Celsius = 86 degrees Fahrenheit). You can lie against this object in different kinds of ways to make your life a bit more comfurtable.

Material: in our home we use plastic soda bottles filled with water. These come from the freezer and to make sure our paws and tongues do not stick to it, there is a towel wrapped around them. Instead of the freezer, you can also use the fridge. This is less dangerous, but it stays cold for a shorter period of time.

Variations: besides the bottles there are also other options available (see the literature list for more information). Some slaves put bricks or clay tiles in the fridge, others use ice substitutes with cooling fluid, other use beerbottles or beer/soda cans (from the fridge!! Do not put beerbottles or cans in the freezer).

Dangerous?: Keep in mind that guinea pigs always test for ediblility. Especially ice packs with a cooling gel can be dangerous. If you use a soda bottle filled with water, make sure it not too full because water expands slightly when it's frozen, and this can damage the bottle (and you won't notice until the ice has melted). The use of a sleeve or towel is recommended. It’s comfortable and keeps us from contracting frostnip. If you do not want to use a towel or sleeve, wait a little while to make sure the bottle is no longer sticky due to the cold.

Application: During the interviews and going through the photos archives I was able to abstract the following positions:

1. Going the Distance. You don’t have to lie on or against the cold object. Just the presence of a cold object in a cage will lower the temperature by a few degrees. Suus suggested that it would be a good idea if I'd wave some cool air in her direction with a fan. Tsssskk.. little princess..
2. The Cool Cashew. Wonderfully demonstrated on the pigture by Robbie. Yes, fellow guinea pigs, you have to admit, the cashew position is the best position if you want to get comfy, right? Robbie shows how you can combine this optimally with a cold object.
   
   
   
3. The Belly Flop. Auntie Guiny demonstrates how to stand against the bottle with her belly. Suus assured me that according to auntie Guiny this was very comfortable and refreshing. Whatever it was, it was also very effective against auntie Guiny’s sloshing armpits.. 
4. The Standard Pose. In other words, just lying next to the object. In the pigture you can see Jan the boar doing an attempt to drape his chin flaps over the bottle as sexy as piggidly possible. Yaya on the other paw, is positioned full-lenght next to the object. According to Yaya, this is the optimal position for enjoying your cold object, it takes very little effort (in comparison to the belly flop) and the body-bottle contact zone is maximized. 
5.  The Pancake. Ideal when you get a (hot) water bag filled with ice cubes or a tile from the freezer. You just climb on and spread out.. 

DIY-factor?: Almost every slave has an empty bottle somewhere. And I don’t think they have a shortage in towels (at least not when I have to take a bath :-S). So this should be easy to make. If you're going with the tiles, just drop by a hardware store and buy a few. It shouldn't be very expensive and the advantage of the tiles is that you can fit more of them into a fridge of freezer. The bottles keep cold longer.

Target audience?
For every cavy that lives in a space that can heat up to over 30 degrees Celsius or 86 degrees Fahrenheit. Overheating is very dangerous for us, so I'd really recommend that your staff looks into this.

Literature list
Keep guinea pigs cool and comfortable in summer heat - Guinea Pig Today (June 8, 2012)
Heate-Stroke in Guinea Pigs - Peter Gurney
How to keep your guinea pigs cool in the summer - Happy Cavy Blog
In the heat of the moment - Guinea Pig Welfare

Friday Video: another Bond Video

Hurray! We've found another Guinea Pig Bond video! Enjoy!



Have a nice Wheekend!

Friday Video: the Chicken or the Egg

What came first, the chicken or the egg?


Have a nice Wheekend!

Friday Video: Somebody's Watching Me

Hmm.. this sounds all too familiar..



Have a nice wheekend!