Meet the new girls!

Winky team has new additions! Meet Esk and Aagje!

Despite her qualifications as an escape artist, Esk is short for Eskarina the first female wizard on the Discworld. Aagje is our Curious Georgina, or as we say in dutch: Nieuwsgierig Aagje, constanly investigating, licking and biting things. She's also quite the commentator, muttering to herself when she's scurrying around the cage.

Aagje and Esk come from the Knaaghof. A very nice animal shelter in The Hague. Someone dumped Esk and Aagje together with four other pigs at a play farm and the shelter took them in and nursed them back to health. The pigtures that you see in this post, come from the facebook page of the knaaghof. They graciously allowed us to use them here. We can really tell that they were treated well in the shelter. They are such sweet girls, and it is obvious that they are used to being handled. They behave so well when their nails and hair are cut, or when their ears are cleaned 

We are so happy with our herd of four (Ties, Bo, Esk and Aagje) we cannot imagine that we ever lived with only three pigs in our household (okay.. Coco had enough pigsonality for two. But still)

Friday Video: Tiny Hamster's Tiny Date

We know, we're a day early. But Happy Valentine's day everyone! We love you all! *smooches the internet*. May your weekend be filled with lots of of rumblestruts and sexy purring. Ow yes, and food. Because you all know the way to a guinea's hart is through our stomach.



Have a romantic Wheekend!

Friday Video: Homemade Guinea Pig Toys

We loved last wheeks friday video so much, we decided to find another one for you this wheek. We tried out several of the toys and it was great fun trying to get all the food out. Which ones did you try? Or which ones do you plan to try? Let us know in the comments!


Have a fun Wheek!

Friday Video: DIY Guinea Pig Toys

There are some really great ideas in this video! Don't forget to supervise your pigs while they play with the toys



Have a nice Wheekend!

Friday Video: Inside a Hamster's cheeks

Have a nice Wheekend!

New Guinygirl: Peaches

We got a new friend, named Peaches, end of october...

This is what she looked like at the shelter.
She was observing everything curiously from her house

Slaves tried to bond us three with her.
She was curious, but very fierce,
teeth chattering and even snorting at us

As this led to a lot of agitation, we were separated.
Peaches turned out to be very scared, also for our slaves.
We had to find out who our new boss was after Daisy died.

Peaches got used to slaves, but also got really bored.
Bonding attempts failed...

At the end of the Christmas holidays, slaves tried to bond us again

Their plan was as follows:

1. Put all of us in a big run on neutral ground, with a fence in the middle. Peaches on one side, us three on the other side. They kept us in the run the whole afternoon, after about an hour it settled down a bit.

Having hay near the middle fence really helped there (Food = distraction and eating = social activity)!
2. The next day we switched sides. Again we were distracted with food.
3. Later that day the fence was opened, both the middle and the surrounding fence. This way we were given a bigger area to explore and to get to know each other. This way we could get away from each other if we wanted to. Berke did a great job protecting his ladies Woopy and Roos.
4. The fenced of area was closed again, making the area with all four of us smaller again. Again Berke kept doing a good job, and at some point Peaches accepted that. Victory!
5. We were put together in a thoroughly cleaned cage.

All four of us together in our cage!
Sorry for the bad picture quality. Roos is in stealth mode.
Her red brown color and the red brown cage wall
make her practically invisible.

Slaves had a hard time putting us together, and they want to say keep trying as long as nobody gets really hurt (blood drawn). Also don't try to separate us too quick, Mikey found it really hard to not separate us once we started chattering and nipping at each other.

Greetings from our cage!

The guinygirlz

Woopy, Roos, new girl Peaches and boar Berke

Friday Video: DIY treats

We want this!



Have a nice Wheekend!

Friday Video: Cochon d'Inde Twix

Have you met Twix?



This cute pig does tricks too!



Have a nice Wheek!

I am 6!!

Agent Minty here aka Polo Piggyfriend. It is my 6th. birthday so Slave decided I should have a bath in order that I looked nice and clean for my birthday photo. It is hard keeping a white coat smart. I have been a Piggyfriend since I was a tiny piglet.



“ I don’t mind having a bath especially when I got a slice of apple to munch whilst I dried by the fire.”






“ When I was dry, Slave gave me this fresh grass to munch. Grass is in short supply at this time of year so I shared it with my friend, Dorian as he is nearly 5 1/2.”







“ After eating all that lovely grass we both needed a nap.”

Agent Zeppelin

He does it again! Which way is agent Zeppelin facing? Is it left or right? Get guessing!

P.s. We forgot Friday Video yesterday, we'll post that later this wheek. Our apologies

Good News and Bad News

Here’s agent Zeppelin with bad but also with good news.

Pepper

 I’m very sorry to tell you that the lovely miss Pepper passed away last Wednesday. Since October she had painkillers and antibiotics to suppress an abcess in her chin. Three weeks ago the vet opened the abcess because she was in a lot of pain. Despite the hard work of D and mister B, they cleaned the wound two times a day, she felt worse every day. So D and mister B decided to help her cross the Rainbow bridge just before Christmas Eve.

Geny

 We miss the lovely girl very much but it’s not good to be alone too long, so after a few days I went to the Kuufke shelter where I (and Pepper) used to live. And there she was, a lovely white sheltie girl from around 3 years old with mysterious red eyes. It was love at first sight as you can see on the pigture. Her name is Geny and she will introduce herself later but for now she is still a bit shy.

Love at first sight?

 Bye miss Pepper, we will never forget you xx

Friday Video: Rollin' Christmas

To quote the Piggyfriends; we are all available if they need round and fat piggies for the next one!


Have a happy Wheekend and a great 2015!

Happy Holidays Everyone

" Mine, all mine!!!" says Garnet Piggyfriend.




"We are only having a little piggy joke. " says Petunia. " Every Slave knows that piggies must not eat candy canes." " Especially these ones." chuckles Garnet. " They are made of glass and we are going to hang them on our tree."




" Let's put up our sign, Garnet." says Petunia.






" This is our seventh Pigmas at Piggyfriends, " chorus the two little friends " so we have the honour of wishing everypig and everyslave a wonderful holiday season. We hope that you all have loads of treats and lots of fun and love."





" Nolllaig shona, " says Slave. " Yuletide greetings everyone and happy whatever else you might be celebrating."

Friday Video: Rollin' Safari

What if animals were round?
...
They'd be more like guinea pigs!



Have a nice Wheekend!

Friday Video: Massage

We want one! A massage, that is.



Has a nice Wheekend!

Friday Video: Peek a Boo

This is just too cute


Have a nice Wheekend!

November Piggies of the month: Revy and Abby roo

Just in time before the end of the month November: 

our calendar piggies are Revy and Abby-Roo of the CaliCavyCollective.

Be sure to visit their website: www.calicavycollective.com

----

Ahoy! Revy here along with my sidekick Abby-Roo. I was quite excited to be chosen as this month's calendar piggy - even if I do have to share it with my cage mate. Now, onto the story of how we got our names and Undercover Agent aliases...


I received my name from my foster mom at Orange County Cavy Haven guinea pig rescue. My feisty, domineering personality and rocking awesome eye patch reminded her of a pirate. While casting about for names of female pirates she came up with Revy. The name stuck. My forever home humans had some thoughts of renaming me but realized Revy was the perfect name once the new home shyness wore off and my charming true self emerged. Good thing too, because I certainly didn't fancy being stuck as yet another "Oreo". Naturally, it followed that my undercover alias became Agent Pirate. 

My first mate Abby-Roo (yes, she is currently my only shipmate.. my plans for crew expansion and naval domination shall commence as soon as I finish devouring this lettuce leaf.. and that one... and what's left of hers... oh, and take a nap...) landed at a local shelter with the unfortunate name of Sonic. Our humans met her at Cavy House Guinea Pig Rescue and recruited her to be my ship - er, cage mate. Both agreed that her name had to go as she did not in any way resemble a blue male hedgehog. A flurry of increasingly absurd potential names followed: Lily, Jasmine, Brie, Frosting, Popcorn, Barley, and even Tofu were considered before they finally went to have lunch. Needless to say, I was snickering in my pigloo.


After a good meal (and the return of common sense), they finally settled on Abby-Roo, short for Abyssinian Peruvian. They thought Roo also suited her because her rooster tail-like butt fluff kept smacking me in the face. I may or may not have tried to bite it a few times but that is another story. They gave her the undercover alias of Agent Kermodei because her ivory coat reminded them of the white spirit bears that live in Canada's Great Bear Rainforest.


And there you have it! Agent Pirate, reporting out.

Friday Video: Kitten Therapy

We have just one question? Why hasn't anyone filmed guinea pigs making their owners happy and relaxed? Our J relaxes when she hears us munching hay or when we snuggle up to her.


Have a stress-free Wheekend!

Chaos at Piggyfriends. The Epilogue

Hi all,

Sorry this post is so late, mum is ill and totally forgot to post this for auntie Penny.

The Guinygirlz: Woopy, Roos and Berke

and the new girl...

---

The builders have finished today just in time for Slave's birthday. Here is a picture of the outside of our room. If you enlarge it you can just see some of our pens on the right hand side.

And here is another one of the back of our room.

We are all very pleased that everything is back to normal again. It has taken a very long time, much longer than it should have but we hope that you have enjoyed our little story.

Cast list is as follows....... 

Bosworth was played by Agent Plantagenet

Florence was played by Agent Firenze

Angelina was played by Agent Mouse.

Lotte and Lola were played by Agents 88

Susie was played by Agent Gemini

Otto was played by Agent Mystery

Garnet was played by Agent Big Red

Petunia was played by Agent Flower

Polo was played by Agent Minty

Dorian was played by Agent Silver Streak

Gandalf was played by Agent Wizard.

Max, Tyrion and Rafferty were played by themselves.

Director and Chief Photographer was Agent Firenze.

Catering by our Slave.

THE END.

Friday Video: how a dog adopted baby guinea pigs

Have a Nice Wheekend!

Friday Video: Dear Kitten

First of all, our apologies that we didn't post a video last wheek. But we were really busy and Agent Yougie and Popcorn's pigtures were just sooo cute, that we thought it wouldn't be that bad to give them the spotlight on our blog for a bit longer (thank you, agents! You really saved our furry behinds there)



Have a nice Wheekend!

P.s. Indeed Woopy, Roos and Berke, there is something stirring in the Winky team haystack
P.p.s. two somethings actually ;-)

This and that

Hi all,

There are two things our slaves asked us to share.

First, Mieke will not make an Undercover Guinea Pigs Calendar for 2015.
We haven't recieved much replies yet, thank you to the ones who did send in pigtures.
And if our slave is honest, it really is quite some work, and she decided to not do it this year, maybe next year...

Secondly, we had word from M and the boys. They have succesfully moved house!

The boys now have a great patch of grass for summer! Unfortunately they don't have a good internet connection yet, that will take a few more weeks.
They are all doing well.

Wheeks and piggy kisses,
Woopy, Roos and Berke

p.s. There seems to be a piggy around that looks a bit like our beloved agent F....

p.s. 2 Auntie J, of Bo and Ties, keeps sending pigtures to mom as well, she keeps ooh-ing and aah-ing... What would that be about?

Happy Halloween from Agent Yougie and Agent Popcorn

Chaos at the Piggyfriends: Episode 8. Piggy of the Month

Florence Piggyfriend here.

I was so pleased to be piggy of the month in the Calendar. I can't believe that it is nearly Halloween again as so much has been happening here at Piggyfriends. If you have been following our Chaos story, you will know that our pigroom, which is also Slave's conservatory, had to be rebuilt as it was subsiding. We could not post an episode whilst Slave was away on her holiday as she took her camera with her. Then she brought it back and her computer died. Luckily the repair guys were able to resuscitate it and here we are again.

Slave has been painting our new wall green.
This colour is called Angel's Palace.
I think that it should be called Piggies' Palace.

One of our homes has been moved into the new room.
Who lives here?

"We do. This is our home and it is back where it should be!"
say Bosworth and Rafferty.

" This is my home. Please lift me in
so that I can eat that grass." says Susie

" Our home is ready for us to move back in.
Come on Otto!." say Lotte and Lola.

" Here I am." says Otto. " There is grass to share."

" My friend Angelina is being taken to our home by our pigsitter,
who is helping put our room back in order.
She is not scared now." says Florence.

"And here is Slave carrying her plants back in from the garage!
I'll show you more of our new room soon.
We don't all live in here as some of us stay in the dining room."

Friday Video: Teddy Bear the Porcupine's Halloween Feast

And he's having pumpkin! How adorable is he?


We did some searching on the web after seeing this video, and found out that he helps to educate people, and that he did the voice of Sebastian the hedgehog in The Hobbit; an Unexpected Journey.


Hope you have a nice Wheekend!

Repost: Different piggie breed pigtures wanted for the 2015 Undercover Guinea Pigs Calendar!

Hey all,

So I want to try to gather pigtures of your piggies of different breeds, so we can make a calendar for 2015 with a different breed every month.

This year's Desktop calendar

As always I need your help! So please send me pigtures of your piggies. Pictures that show us how they look (or differ from other breeds) are most useful of course. Any breeds will do, please let us know what breed your piggie is, and if you have pigtures of late piggies in a particular breed, feel free to send them in too!

Every month in 2015 I would like to make a post about that month's particular breed. If you have any explanation about the breed (i.e. Rexes have curled wiskers, US teddies straight), know about special traits they have (for example of rexes it is often said they are bigger then other breeds). Maybe how they came in to existence (a mix of two other breeds) anything that is interesting for us to know, let us know.

Check on the contribute tab for our email address and send us your pigtures!
Please also send me their (agent) names and breed.

Thanks, I hope we can make another gorgeous Calendar for the upcoming year, and of course make a little profit we can donate to a shelter...

You can see most of our previous calendar piggies here. or click on the labels on the right side with Calendar 2014, 2013 or 2012.

Mieke,
and the rest of the blogging trinity (Janneke and M)

The 2012 Wall calendar

Friday Video: for the Birds

Hi all,

We weren't up to writing a Friday Video post so soon after Coco's passing. But we wouldn't want to deprive you of a Friday Video for too long, so here it is. Al least it cheered us up ;-)


Have a nice Wheekend!

Agent Chanel checking out

Coco smiling prettily for Mister R.

We're sorry to bring you bad news again. Our Coco left for the rainbow bridge today. She had been suffering from kidney failure for a while now, but today she was feeling so bad that we went to the vet and helped her make the final journey.

We might write more about the kidney failure and the diagnosis another day, but for today we would like to remember our little diva as she was (and we do mean 'diva' in the sweetest way possible. Every member of our household loved Coco and her antics, even Bo when nobody was looking).

This morning, while Coco, Bo and Ties were waiting for their cage to be cleaned, Coco was lying comfortably on a soft towel. Since she was obviously not feeling well, J wanted to make the cage as comfortable as possible for her. So she made her a nest of hay. In the other corner of the cage she put a wooden house, to make sure that Bo and Ties would leave her be and play with the house.

Huh? Where's Coco?

Coco was lowered into the nest and immediately started looking very annoyed. Next thing we knew, she was dragging her tiny body to the other side of the cage and then sat in front of the house. Every once in a while throwing J a dirty look.

Come on! I'm waiting..

Finally J caved, put a towel in the house, and little miss diva made herself comfortable. Needless to say, no cage mate was admitted into the house. Weak as she was, her pigsonality made up for that (she even got herself a tall, handsome bodyguard)

(Ties) nothing to see here, people. Please move along..

Coco sweetie, we'll miss you. Try to go easy on the other pigs at the rainbow bridge, there's plenty of chicory for everyone

Big Pigs.

When I go on holiday, I always miss my herd of Piggyfriends, so I was delighted to find a few of their big relatives, some lovely capybaras, in Dartmoor Zoo in Devon, England. I am always wary of zoos and am the first to complain if the animals' quarters are not up to scratch but these lovely capybaras had a huge enclosure, which they shared with two nice tapirs and some rheas.

When we arrived, it was a hot day and the first animals that we met were these capybaras, basking in the sun beside their pool.

 

And as you can never have enough capybaras, here are some more. The one beside the tree was obviously having a nice dream as he kept waving his paws around!

Here are their friends, the two tapirs, who were also fast asleep when we arrived and were snoring very loudly. Sorry about the wire but I could not climb in to take a better shot.

Later in the day it rained and the capybaras all woke up and went in search of lunch. Just like our piggies, they love their fresh grass.

When we were leaving, the capybaras were walking in a line like a piggy train to go to their big wooden shelter where they had lots of hay but, unfortunately, there was too much wire in the way for me to take a good pigture so here is one of the tapirs, one of whom was in the pool that they share with the capybaras.

I wish that I had room at home for a capy but their pool was bigger than my garden.

 

Daisy had a bladder stone part 2

I wrote this part last Sunday, when I did not know yet how she would be doing on Monday... 

So after we took Daisy home on friday we force fed her some science recovery and she seemed to be doing pretty well. Our vet was saying we had a really strong piggie, as she thought earlier that day that she would not make it.
I forgot to mention they also removed a polyp from her bladder.

On saturday, we kept a hawk's eye on her most of the day and she ate some chicory (see the video), drank a little and nibbled some hay. Of course we kept up with the force feeding and medicine, and she started to object quite violently. Which of course did not make it easier for us, but I was glad she was this feisty as it meant she was feeling better.

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Look Daisy is eating chicory! #guineapig #eating

View on Instagram

Today, sunday, she is still hanging in there, but she seems a bit less than the day before... It does get faster to hand feed her though but she does not want to eat by herself. Though I do think she ate a little parsley on her own. As we put in quite some food the day before, but did not see her dump any of it on the back side, I tried to separate her from the rest. I put up some C&C grids, gave her hay, a drinking bottle and pellets, put her in to see if she did poop. Within 5 minutes however she escaped, and to my surprise she left at least one poop. I felt like she was saying. "Hey mom, I did a poop, i'll let myself out now, okay?'
A bit later that day she seemed a bit more perky and that was when I think she ate the parsley. Also hand feeding her went a lot smoother. I did notice her tummy seems really swollen, also when she walks she sound like something inside is really sloshing... Anyone have a clue what is happening there?

We are keeping up the force feeding, she had less at this time of day, then she had yesterday. She has antibiotics (novadox: which is doxycycline), Carprofen as painkiller (this is rymadil I think) and cysaral for getting her gut to keep moving (it is cisapride). Today I also syringed her some water inbetween the force feeding, and some oil in case she was so swollen because of gas.

Right now she seems okay-ish, and I really hope she gets through another night, so we can talk and maybe take her to the vet again tomorrow.

I'll keep you posted and hope you will keep your fingers and paws crossed for her. She fought so hard to stay around, so she really deserves to get better soon!

On a happier note: Berke turned 3 yesterday, and he plus the others were happy to see Daisy back. They are sweet to her, and keep her company some times.

Hugs to all your Piggies,
Mieke of the Guinygirlz: Woopy, Daisy, Roos and Berke