Look what Slave received at Christmas!

We were going to post this earlier but we wanted you to have plenty of time to meet new Guinygirl, Linn.

Slave's eldest son, our pigsitter, came to stay with us at Christmas and he gave her this calendar. It is full of lovely pigtures and is hanging where we can all see the pig of the month.

He also gave her this little book.

It is the next in the series of classic stories adapted by Bloomsbury Publishing to feature guinea pigs
in the starring roles. This one is the piggy version of the Nutcracker ballet. We all know how graceful piggies are don't we? Don't we........? Say yes everyone.

We particularly love the Sugar Plum Fairy pictured above. Slave always calls us her little sugar plums and we thought that this was appropriate.

And here is the handsome Nutcracker prince. We hope that Bloomsbury do not mind us sharing these photos especially as they might encourage our readers to go out and buy a copy.

New guinygirl: Linn

Hi everyone,
My name is Linn! I am a little over a year old.

My previous owners brought me to an animal shelter after my friends went over the rainbow bridge.
The animal shelter I came from is the 'dierenbescherming' slave thinks this is like the english RSPCA (=Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). There was one lone piggy in the shelter, the others already had friends, that was me, I am glad Cookie and Binky liked me enough to take me home with them.
You probably already know my new friends, Cookie and Binky. Unfortunately they had to say goodbye to their friend Raani just before halloween, she had a saddle back and quite some bladder stones in the 3,5 years of her life.
I really like my new boar friend Binky, we love to lie next to each other in the cage. He is very big compared to me... Here we are sharing a leaf of endive (just before I ran of with his leaf again ;)

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Welcome to our new addition to the piggie herd: Linn (unless we think of another name 😉)! They are starting to tolerate each other and here she is sharing a leaf of endive with Binky (after running away with his leaf three times)...

A post shared by Mieke (@pandameisje) on Dec 8, 2019 at 1:38pm PST

Though big, he and Cookie did loose weight since they meet me, I think all that running after me has made them more active.

I am a very vocal piggy, which slave Mikey likes a lot. Raani was also a little chatterbox at times, so she is happy I am a chatterbox as well.

At first I was rather afraid of taking veggies from the slaves. But the others always run up to the front of their cage, so I had to see what they were doing. I came here on 7 December 2019, and I now come to get my piece of veg, though occasionally I will steal a piece from the others. Slaves are sure I know my name, because when they call it out they can see me reacting. So after a week or so I learned when they are calling my name it means they have a piece of vegetable waiting for me. By now I have also learned that pills are okay, they others were so enthusiastic so I just had to try that. Slaves are glad I take the pills now, they say it will come in handy when I actually need pills, not sure what they mean by that...

I am not the best of friends with Cookie (yet), but she tolerates me most of the time. I do know she is safer then whatever is outside the cage and I tend to hide behind her or Binky whenever we get spooked by anything.

By now slave Mikey is pretty confident we get along well enough, ever since she found the three of us in and under our new hammock like this...

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Wie durft te beweren dat we niet allemaal in en onder de hangmat passen..? Who dares to argue we don't all fit in and under the hammock..? Hangmat en standaard van / hammock and stand by @slaaplekkerzacht

A post shared by Mieke (@pandameisje) on Dec 30, 2019 at 3:30am PST

This was taken half an hour after the one above, we were still in the hammock. Cookie is with her back to us in the first pigture, if you can browse (press >) to the second pigture, you can see she was enjoying a bit of sunshine. Mom thinks Cookie might think she is a cat...

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Ik denk dat de koppeling met newbie Linn nu zeker weten geslaagd is, na ruim een half uur liggen ze nog met zijn drieën in de hangmat... Bekijk op de tweede foto waarom Cookie met d'r rug naar ons toe ligt #hangmatvriendjes

A post shared by Mieke (@pandameisje) on Dec 30, 2019 at 4:16am PST

Anyway, now you know a bit about me,
wheeking new year, Linn
and the others Guinygirl Cookie, boar Binky
and slave Mikey

Happy New Year 2020!

Here is Bonny Piggyfriend to wish you all a very Happy New Year.

" There won't be fireworks, will there?" asks Bonny.

"Not if I can help it, " replies Slave. " I do not like them either. If there are any nearby, I will put on a CD to drown the noise."

" I do not mind the pretty ones," says Bonny, " but not the ones that go BANG!".

"Me neither," replies Slave. " Luckily not many people live near us so we should all be OK."

The Piggyfriends all say HAPPY NEW YEAR READERS! If you have a New Year photo of your piggies, please share it with us.

Happy Boxing Day from the Prairie Pigs !

Hi everyone, it's me, Pavarotti from the Prairie Pigs!  We all want to wish everyone a wonderful peaceful and happy holiday season.  It's Boxing Day here in Canada and the silly humans are all out shopping, but we guinea pigs know how to really celebrate --- by eating cilantro out of boxes!

We received two piggy-themed Christmas cards this year (behind me in this photo).  The lovely card on the right came from Auntie Penny, all the way from England, and when you open the one on the left, the guinea pig sings Jingle Bells.  I`m known for my singing voice too, but I'm more of a tenor while the guinea pig who sings on the card sounds like a soprano (or maybe a chipmunk!).

Happy Christmas Readers!

Carter Piggyfriend here. On behalf of the Piggyfriend herd, I would like to wish you all a very Happy Christmas.

I hope that you all received lovely presents from your Slaves and that you are full of carrots and other good things. Now all of you be good piggies and let your Slaves have the rest of the day off after preparing Christmas feasts for the humans.

Slave Penny says Happy Christmas to all the readers too.

Happy Holidays!

Nugget here. I've never been in a holiday photo without my brother Eddie
or my brother Stuart Little, but this year (not for long, my mom tells
me) I am a lone pig. Therefore I am here with my buddies Tommy the Elk
and, of course, Snoopy. We had fun posing together. I hope my mom and
dad put lots of goodies in my stocking, and I hope you get lots of
wonderful treats, too!

Sometimes posing for a pigture is a little bit scary.

Martin Piggyfriend here. Slave is taking lots of Christmas pigtures ( there is no stopping her once she gets out her camera ) and she wanted me to pose with this huge reindeer.

How come Bonbon and Magnus got to pose with the pretty things from the boxes? This was a step too far so I ran and hid underneath it.

Slave's son is home for Christmas so he picked me up to show me that the reindeer was not really scary just BIG compared to a little piggy like me. Actually, up close, he looks rather friendly so.....

.....I agreed to sit next to him and this is the result.

After all that excitement, I flaked out for a nice nap. I was too tired even to tackle that chicory leaf  ( but I did eat it later ).

We have received a Christmas card!

"Look piggies! We have received a Christmas card," says Miss Marple Piggyfriend.

" And it has lovely piggies on the front. I will prop it up so that you can all see it."

Miss Marple shrewdly suspects that she has seen these piggies before and she is right.

She opens the card and detects that it has been sent by our friends the Surrey Squeakers.

" Thank you Squeakers," say all the Piggyfriends in unison " and thank you to Slave Stefanie too."

The Piggyfriends cannot help but notice that the Squeakers are eating grass, which is in short supply here at the moment as Slave's friend's farm is flooded due to the endless rain.

Magnus is helping too.

Here is another box of pretty Christmas things from the attic. Maguns is helping to unpack them.

" Mama Bonbon said that there might be carrots in the next box," says Magnus.

" I do not think that this is what she had in mind, Slave. This is a nice, jolly carrot and it is fuzzy and orange just like me but it is not what I was expecting."

" How about this one sweetie?" asks Slave. " Now that is more like it," says Magnus. " Thank you! I will share it with Martin."

I am helping.

Hello readers. Bonbon Piggyfriend here.

Slave brought boxes and boxes of pretty things down from the attic and I am helping.

"Look!" says Slave. "Candy canes."

"Well, yes, they look very nice but I am not sure that they are edible. Maybe there will be carrots in the next box."

Are your Slaves doing weird things like this?

More photos of our new girls.

Bounty loves his new girls. Our pigsitter came to visit and he held them on his lap so that Slave could take some better photos. Please excuse the tatty towels but Slave did not want him to end up with soggy trousers.

Here is Saffron

And here is Ebony.

Slave loves an agouti because they are a different colour underneath. You never see this so here she is in an undignified pose so that you can see her orange tum.

Our new girls have settled in really well and have discovered the radiator that runs along the back of the pen. They would rather nap here with Bounty than use their wooden house. Slave tried to take a photo of them all in a row but they saw the camera coming and scattered. Maybe next time!

New Piggyfriends!

Hello readers. Bounty Piggyfriend here. Slave found a piggy rescue online called Pooh Piglets and she called them to see if they had any piggies needing a new home as I have been on my own. The lovely lady that runs it knew Lyn and Liz from Palace Piggies, from where many of the Piggyfriends came before they moved away and she also knew our wonderful retired Rodentologists as she went to see them for lessons. She also knows Jason, who gave us Bonbon, Bella, Miss Marple, Hazel and Bonny as they both show their piggies. Slave says that it is a small world. Well piggies are pretty small.

So last Monday, Slave took me to meet some piggies. I was in charge of the sat nav as Slave did not know the town to which we went and she did the driving. Miraculously, we parked in front of the rescue on time and we went into the shed to meet some piggies. Slave was hoping for a baby boar to be my companion but they did not have any.

Slave put me into a pen on the floor whilst she looked at some prospective dates for me. She was spoilt for choice but she saw this little lady and she put her in the pen with me.

Slave loves an agouti and said that she looks just like Kiwi, my neighbour at home except that she has a little crest on her head. Her name is Ebony, even though she is not black. She came to the rescue from a breeder who did not want her any more and she has had lots of piglets. She was rather nervous but she came and sat next to me whilst we ate chicory and Slave looked at the other girls.

She thought that this piggy looked pretty ( and so do I ) so she was put in the pen with me and Ebony. She did not even have a name poor thing and she also came from a breeder. We all got on well together and I was hoping that Slave would take these nice girls home with us.

The lad who helps at the rescue went to get some more piggies. He came back with a cosy full of baby sows and Slave said that my pen at home is big enough for more piggies. She would have added one or two of these little girls but the sharp eyed lad noticed that one of them had fungal in her coat and Pauline, the rescue lady, checked them all out and they had to be returned to the other shed for treatment when we had gone. All the humans furiously washed their hands and Slave looked at a cage full of feisty Abbies instead but when she saw how well Ebony, the nameless girl and I were getting on she decided that she would just take them.

Slave had taken an extra carrier just in case she found me some new friends but Pauline said why not put them all together for the ride home and here we are.

A bit of a squeeze but it was nice and warm in the car and we were all full of chicory so we fell asleep on the way home. Slave decided to name my second new friend Saffron.

Ebony had only been collected from a show the day before we went and, having only spent one day at the rescue and then being driven a long way to our house, she was understandably nervous. Here you can just see her peeking out from behind my house. She and Saffron explored my home.

Slave gave us a pile of grass but my new friends were unsure what to do with it. They said that they had never had grass before. How dreadful! They had a sniff at it and ate a few blades but....

.....Saffron preferred the broccoli leaves.....

.....and so did Ebony.

I love my new friends. When they have settled in, Slave will take some more photos to share with you. In the meantime, please welcome Ebony and Saffron to the Piggyfriend herd.

Happy Hallowe'en to all of our Readers.

The Piggyfriends would like to wish you all a Happy Hallowe'en with lots of treats. We apologise for the paucity of suitable seasonal decorations but Slave cannot open the little cupboard where they live. These were all that she could come up with as they are too big for the cupboard.

"Will you help me light this candle please Slave," says Bonbon. "I have never done this before."

Take care with the candles everypig!

A VIP visit. A Very Important Piggyperson comes to see the Piggyfriends.

Not long ago, we had a VIP visit us here at Piggyfriends. GPDD readers will know Ann Evans, our very good friend and the world's best Rodentologist.

She and her husband, Paul were on holiday in England, visiting lots of friends and they came to see us! What an honour!

Here they are with our Bonbon.

And again with Martin.

We all got cuddles and then it was the turn of our Carter. He had been having trouble eating and our Slave suspected that he had oral thrush and treated him accordingly. He is all better now but it was a while before he could eat properly and when something like this happens, our teeth sometimes overgrow a bit.

As we knew that Ann would be coming, we asked if she could bring her piggy dental kit with her so that, rather than have Carter undergo anaesthesia at the vet, he could have a thorough inspection with the expert.

Here he is, getting ready for the procedure. You can see some of the equipment at the bottom left of this photo. One of the separators and a file.

In the picture below, he has the buccal separators in his mouth so that Ann can see right inside. Ann has him in a little drawstring bag so that his paws do not get in the way. Our retired Rodentologist used to tightly wrap patients in a towel. Both methods work well as we tend to get our feet into everything and the person wielding the instruments needs to see clearly what is going on.

Now for the scary bit. Ann is looking inside Carter's mouth and has clippers and files at the ready.

Carter had some little bits filed from his molars and when it was all over, which did not take very long, he was sitting on Ann's lap tucking into some favourite pieces of veggie.

We do miss our Rodentologist and hope that no pig needs any dental treatment until Ann's next holiday.

Carter says "Thank you Ann! Now I can eat  properly again."

Out-Takes (Sometimes They're So Bad They're Good)

I tend to take many pigtures of the Prairie Pigs, even when I'm not working on a blog post; guinea pigs are so incredibly cute even when they're just going about their regular piggy lives that they make great photo subjects.  Of course, some pigtures turn out better than others --- and then there are the ones that go so disastrously wrong that they are more fun than the "good" ones.  This post is about those pigtures: you know you should delete them, but instead you go back to look at them again and again because they always make you smile.

I was experimenting with the macro focus on my camera and had a perfect portrait of my piggy Jasper all framed and focused, but in that nano-second between me pressing the button and the shutter releasing, Jasper decided to come over for a closer look to see if the camera was edible.  I do love his  punk hairdo, but this might be a little too close a view...

Jasper again, this time exiting Stage Right.  He had finished off the cilantro bribe and decided he had better things to do if the food was gone.  I enjoy this one because it really looks as if he is tiptoeing away, trying to make good on his escape before I notice that my model is gone.

I was taking pigtures of Bonnie McSmithers nibbling delicately on a pile of hay when my subject suddenly disappeared.  Apparently she decided she wanted to go for a more immersive experience and burrowed right into the middle of the pile!

Do these remind you of a pigture that you are keeping stored on your phone for those moments when you need a giggle?  We'd love to see it too!  Use the Contribute button above to share.

New Piggyfriend! Meet Bounty.

Hello readers. We are delighted to announce the arrival of a new Piggyfriend.

His name is Bounty.

He was a long time coming to us.

Long story cut short....... Slave went to our local rescue in the hope of adopting him and another piggy called Carrot. Although many piggies have come to us from this rescue in the past, Slave had to fill in loads of forms and send them photos of our accommodation with measurements of indoor and outdoor homes. She went to meet them both and got to pick them up but was then told of further complications before she was allowed to proceed any further. There had to be checks with the small animals manager before she could take them home and a follow up appointment with the rehoming team.


At first, Carrot's photo was labelled reserved on their website but not Bounty's so Slave called and left messages ( no one ever seems to answer the phone ). Next she called her friend, who works on Reception and eventually got a call back from the small animals section. This time she was told that she could have them both but had to have an appointment to speak to the rehoming team. Then Bounty's photo had the reserved label but not Carrot's.


At long last, she went to collect them both but the rehoming person only had papers for Bounty and she was told that Carrot had already been adopted. No one there seemed to know why she had been told that she could have them both as "no one is allowed to take home two piggies unless they are a bonded pair "! The number of times Slave has brought home several piggies from this rescue counted for nothing nor the fact that our junior Slave used to work there or that Slave used to help him take the rescue film shows out to our local villages. Or that she had previously been asked if she would be willing to take problem piggies as she is an "experienced Piggy owner".

Although Bounty was allowed to come home that day, he was only "on trial" with us in case Slave  wanted to take him back. As if! She was then supposed to go back the following week to pay for him. She was so upset that she asked if this could be done over the phone and this was allowed.

A further call stated that she had not been told that she could have them both. Who is telling porkies then? So eventually Bounty became ours. He is a jolly little fellow who has made himself right at home.

This rescue used to be such a friendly place but how it has changed and Slave is never going back there again. It had better remain nameless on the grounds that we might incriminate ourselves. We hope that Carrot found a good home. Say hello to Bounty!

Piggies and their Pet Cats

Here at the Prairie Pigs, we have always had pet cats.  To tell the truth, the cats were here before we were, but they were just running wild with no one to give them direction (goodness knows our Slave/Waitress/Pig Mum was not up to the task of creating order).  Fortunately, now we Piggy Overlords are here and ready to take charge of everyone!

Here's Jasper with his pet cat Clancy.  Officially, cats are not allowed in the Piggy Room without pawprint authorization from one of the guinea pigs, but Jasper sometimes allows Clancy to sneak in so that he can catch a peaceful snooze away from his troublesome cat brothers.  We think Jasper might have picked Clancy to be his pet because they are almost the same colour.

Oh, no!!!  Here we have a Very Bad Cat!  Her name is Portia and she isn't frightening at all, but she often follows the Waitress in when we are being served our afternoon grass snack, and tries to eat any grass that falls outside our cages. Why???  Cats should not eat grass, especially grass meant for piggies!  Where is the Security Guard when you need him?

Do other piggies have pets?  We would certainly like to hear about them if you do.

Exciting news! New baby piggies

Earlier this month we told you about the new piggies adopted by our Junior Slave. You may remember that Zelda was the victim of a hoarder and it appears that she was part of an attempt at a breeding programme. Oh dear.....

It was not long before they could feel the movement of baby piggies inside her and one morning they came to give out breakfast to their little herd and they found these.

Zelda had given birth in the night to two little mini mes. Two sweet little chocolate babes were scuttling around the cage as if they had always been there. Sadly they did not get to see her give birth but mum and babes are doing well. Our Slave says that watching piggies being born is a magical experience. We are just glad that they are all OK and we got to see them on Skype when they were just one day old.

Here they are again. Zelda is enjoying a well earned rest with her little ones. Aaah!!


So please welcome more Pigpenpals. Ripley has temporalily been transferred to another cage as the babes thought that she would also provide milk and that was a bit much for her. Well done Zelda. Virtual hugs all round.