Guinea pigs pop down the chimney for a surprise Christmas!
Friday, December 28th, 2007Santa must have thought that we’d been very good this year when he delivered two beautiful guinea pigs to the farm on Christmas morning. It was difficult to be sure who was squealing the loudest, Laura or the guinea pigs, when Laura opened her last present - a guinea pig book with a note on the front “We’re in the lounge” on the front!
Both baby girls, the guinea pigs are very cute but look so different from each other. Penny is your more typical smooth coated type, usually referred to as an English cavy. She is black and white with an adorable pink nose and seems to have adopted the role of “top pig” and likes to think she’s in control. Although still nervous in our company, she is getting more 
adventurous and will explore her surroundings more and makes constant chirrupy, bird-like sounds. Hope this means she’s happy - we’re still getting used to all their different sounds and trying to interpret what they are communicating to us and each other.
Snuggles, our other guinea pig, is a grey Abyssinian with loads of swirling rosettes of hair that just make you want to curl up next to her - hence her apt name. You could be forgiven for thinking that she’s having a bad hair day, every day! Her big eyes look like dark pools of water and she is still quite a nervous wee thing who does a great impression of playing dead if she is spooked by anything.
We know that taming the guinea pigs will require patience and can’t be done overnight. They’re slowly being introduced to the benefits of a cuddle on our laps whilst enhancing their cultural awareness with Coronation Street or BBC News 24 
in the background! They really are adorable pets and, despite their understandable anxieties, have never shown any aggression towards us, or even an inquisitive nip. You can see why they make great pets, even for younger children.
We are enjoying trying out different fruits and veggies to see what they like and hopefully both the guinea pigs will eventually look to us as their friends and with as much affection as we have for them.
Diane
