Red Nose Day…..

Red Nose Day is fast approaching and we thought we’d take part this time. Of course it will involve guineas and raising money for RND. Watch this space for updates

A date for your diary….

It was confirmed today that the Spring Piggie PM will be on 25 April Just under 3 months to get everything prepared and printed! We should just about do it I think, 3 months is a good minimum time to set, anything less is too short and ends up being a rush- Karen doesn’t do rushing

The guineas that are going will be selected nearer the time but it will probably be the usual suspects, all being well.

So its nose to the grindstone now and lots of prepping to be done After raising money to refurbish the shed I would like to either enhance the immediate area outside the shed or buy a new air conditioning unit with the funds raised…

Karen (Looking to the Stars on Planet Guinea for divine inspiration).

Reach Up For The Stars…

… and you may find Miss C.

Yesterday Little Miss Curious went to be a Star on Planet Guinea, she is the light one with a bright patch on her that is always near the front and continually moving- almost ‘bouncing’.

Miss C came to Planet Guinea as a guest in 2004 after a large local RSPCA rescue, although there were lots of boars here there weren’t many sows and we decicided to help out by taking in a few from the rescue. Boars and sows had been running together and most sows were pregnant. Miss C may have had and raised a litter or even gotten seperated from her babies in the rescue as there were around a 100 guineas involved, but lets stick to the facts. Miss C and what was thought to be her sister (because they looked alike) came here along with some other sows, all were kept until the chance of pregnancy had passed and then offered for rehoming. Her age was thought to be around 4 months on arrival because of her size but she hardly grew anymore so it remains unknown…

Miss C was starting to take a dislike to the guineas she was with and was only happy with one of the boars here. They lived happily together in a pair and were advertised as a pair looking for a home together.

Eventually the boar, Lewis, was offered a home but Miss C was not, as they had been here a year it seemed unfair to deprive him of his Forever Home, so off he went. In the meantime Miss C was paired with various guineas but never offered a home. After 24 months enough was enough and I put her in with Ginger’s girls, a gentle group who were accepting of her prescence and she soon settled down, quite suprising as previously she had gone for guinea’s necks regardless of gender, all except for the lovely Lewis. Miss C seemed to find a sense of belonging with her new group of friends which brought about security for her

When Ginger went to be a Star on Planet Guinea Cloud became the boar of the group, Miss C took an instant liking to Cloud and made herself his number one sow. The transformation in this little person over 4 years was amazing to see, she was now confident to tell sows their place without having a full on fight as before.

Her way with other guineas was almost Human, if someone was in the way she raised her front paw and tapped them on the rump until they moved, Miss C never nipped after being integrated into the group.

Miss C was not a cuddle pig and didn’t go to vet visits and the like, she didn’t ‘do’ sitting and cuddling though she would ‘ask’ to be picked up but then tug at your clothes until you put her down. She lived in a walk in pen and would frequently sit and chew the bottoms of my jeans or walk over my feet. She did appear on calendars, cards and the Bags of Fun stickers, Miss C was a party guinea and loved the Thin Bags of Fun- great for sitting in and eating your way out, or if it got too much simply tear your way out!

The only way to learn about guineas is through experience, thanks Miss C for everything you’ve taught me, especially the behaviour stuff, most useful

Karen (Reaching for the Stars)

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to you and yours!

We start the year on Planet Guinea full up with rescues and having turned away 39 guinea pigs last month(from pet homes, not breeders). Let’s hope 2009 doesn’t turn out how we started it then .

Full up is 18 guineas ready for rehoming and one undergoing treatment. I have abandoned the idea of a waiting list because there is no guarantee when places will be vacant, still contact me if you have a guinea(s) from me that need rehoming, and I’m happy to point you in the direction of other rescues too, just can’t guarantee there’ll be any space .

Mr. Big who was born here last year weighing in at just 44g has found his Forever Home with Duchess, Marigold and Katie, also from RGPR

Karen, (looking forward to 2009 on Planet Guinea )

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star…

On Thursday 11 December Little Marsh left us to become a star on Planet Guinea. He’s the little one that sparkles.

Marsh would have been just 8 weeks old on Sunday. He is the smallest guinea pig I’ve had born here that has lived past a week old, he weighed in at just 35g. Although it wasn’t apparent from a distance Marsh didn’t have any eyeballs, though he had lids… It just looked like his eyes were sealed tightly closed. He saw Sally (vet) who confirmed that they were non existent.

Marsh simply lived life, he popcorned, he zoomed, he wheeked and he eat well- there was nothing wrong with his mouth (and I checked his teeth regularly!).

Marsh knew that his Life measured 4 foot by 2 foot, felt warm, sounded like guineas munching and chatting, smelt like good hay and tasted of Coriander. It was having 4 little brothers to play with, it felt soft and was fun to zoom once you’d got the hang of using your whiskers Who needs eyes when there’s no enemies to prey on you?

It’s sad when you lose someone that’s spent their whole life with you, no matter how short…

Karen (counting stars)

Satin

Satin isan older lady of around 6-7 years who has returned to Planet Guinea after outliving her two boarfriends. Satin arrived here as an unwanted pet with some other guineas and was rehomed with Stubbs. It wasn’t long before she was back again but this time she was back to choose a new boarfriend after the sudden departure of Stubbs.

She chose Vincent (who later became known as Vinnie) as her new partner. Interestingly enough Vincent was Stubbs’ son! A few years passed and sadly so did Vinnie, Satin’s Humans knew that it was a choice between a new friend for Satin or giving Satin back so she could find a friend here. They decided that they no longer wanted to keep guineas and that they would return Satin.

Currently Satin is living with some of the residents on Planet Guinea who are very accepting of newcomers. However, it would be nice to find her a new home (indoor) with a new friend or maybe someone from RGPR. She’d like somewhere with plenty of soft hay and lots of Readigrass

Satin with the black and white Stubbs. Satin’s white blaze has all but disappeared now.

Marsh’s Vet Visit.

This morning Marsh and his brothers and Posy went to see Sally, our vet, for confirmation of the eye condition. She was unable to give any definitive answer because he will change as he grows, but it seems like there are no eyeballs and even if they eyelids do part/open then he won’t have any sight.

Sally suggested looking out to see who is the guide pig out of his brothers. Apparently dogs in the same position will form strong bonds with a sibling and they are then rehomed together. Sally would like me to ‘keep him back’ for a while so we can monitor him as he grows.

He will be rehomed eventually, and will go with his chosen one from here so will not be available as a single guinea for pairing with another. This way at least when he goes to his new home he’ll have someone familiar round him.

Karen (Not best pleased at having a litter of 5 boars, but then I have been extremely fortunate gender and number wise this year…)

Meet Marsh

This is little Marsh who was born either with no eyes or they are stuck fast. I’ve tried bathing to open them (guineas do get sticky eye at birth sometimes) but it hasn’t helped. Probably a result of inbreeding.

Marsh on day7

And then there were 5…

Tree is the brown and white patched one…

Today little Tree went to be a star on Planet Guinea, she’s the dark and light patched one that likes to shadow other stars.

Tree was one of the heavier babies but that didn’t count for anything today. This morning she was out of sorts, still active but something wasn’t quite right. This afternoon I found her little body on its own, she had passed away some time ago. I must admit I was more disappointed than shocked, I was half expecting it. I just hope this is the last one to leave us, it’s not good for Mum (Posy) to keep losing them like this. They may only be animals but there is a sense of loss I’m sure.

Despite the sense of loss a mother sow will let the babies have their own squabbles about who’s going to suckle, there’s no ‘he’s smaller than you etc etc’, and nature plays a big part.

Karen ( Who now has an incredibly bright sky over Planet Guinea )

Rosa…

Yesterday the lovely Rosa went to be a star on Planet Guinea. She’s the very shiny one that moves with meaning and purpose. Even when at first she can’t be spotted it’s not long before she’s there in the ‘front row’.

Rosa was given to another rescue because her Humans could no longer keep her. They had originally bought her from the stock for sale pens at a show- Rosa was a purebred Saffron Satin. The rescue quite rightly decided that they would inform any prospective owners of all the dangers of Osteodystrophy (a metabollic disease present in some Satins). Unfortunately the matt guineas sounded like a safer bet and Rosa was left on the shelf and the rescue decided to keep her.

At that time I had room for someone to join us so Rosa arrived to see who she would fit in with.

Unfortunately Rosa had a few issues with joining a group but took to the second group who ignored her completely while she ‘got over herself’. Rosa had this need to tell everyone she was boss despite the fact that no one was bothered- but told they were. Eventually Rosa settled down and even helped to integrate the humanised Genie into the group.

The transition from insecurity to simple completeness was an honour to watch, and has been commented on by several people!

Only a couple of weeks ago Rosa visited a school with Rainbow and her pigture is on the wall in the classroom and in many exercise books. She has also visited vet open days were she was the shining example of a ‘good satin’.

But Rosa’s most important bit for Pigdom was to show that not all satins will suffer from Osteodystrophy. Though this is something she could’ve gone on to develop there were never any signs of it and she isn’t one of the ‘chunky’ pigs that are talked about as being ‘good stock’.

Karen (Missing the orangeness in Cooper’s pen )