Guinea Chronicles

Domain Moved

2007-08-02T16:56:00.000+08:00

Guinea Chronicles has moved to a new domain. Please update your feeds.

Latte Got Pinged!

2007-07-27T07:06:00.000+08:00

Here's Latte reaction to being pinged. [via The Young Businessman]

Try it out yourself!
How about you trying to create a Ping.sg advertisement to attract more users?

Your advertisement must meet these criterias:
Size: 600 X 450 pixels
Font: Microsoft Sans Serif, 36, Strong
Font Colour: White
Phrase: Meet XXX. He/She just got Pinged. Have you?

A Ping.sg logo must always be at the top your picture because you are helping to advertise Ping.sg.

Onslaught of Cute Guinea Pigs

2007-07-18T09:13:00.000+08:00

Latte would be very happy to see so many friends in this petting zoo. So many kawaii guinea pigs!

Talk to Me!

2007-07-12T10:33:00.001+08:00

Now that Latte's been with us quite a while, he's starting to regconise who feeds him and who scares him. Apparently, he's afraid of my dad. The loud opening and locking of the doors, who doesn't? Whenever I pass by the cage, Latte will wheek out loud. Nice. I'll chat with him and he'll respond with nods and shakes.

He's happy whenever my sister arrives home too because his hiding place will be cleared of poo. He's still running away whenever I'm trying to stroke him despite him calling for my attention. Ironic, huh?

Guinea Pig Care

2007-07-01T11:13:00.000+08:00

Time to provide some notes on taking care of guinea pigs. Here is a list of things on providing care such as questions on how to handle guinea pigs and asking yourself if you are the right person to own one. Guinea pigs are social animals and will need daily interaction. That I'm trying spend half an hour with Latte everyday.

If you have the space, let the cavy run around the house with some supervision. Electric cables and other things that can be nibbled upon must be kept away from the floors. You don't want to harm them in any way.

Guinea pigs don't smell (generally) unless you don't clean the cage regularly. I've to clean the cage soon. I don't want any smell other than the hay I'm giving daily. Here are the steps to clean the cage. The advantage of using grids and coroplasts is that it is easy to clean.

Be aware that some people may have allergies due to the allergen existing in the urine in the bedding. When the guinea pig scurries around, the proteins exposed will become airborne. If possible, get a family member who doesn't suffer from it to clean the cage. It would be best to clean the cage outside of the house. Always wash the hands and any part of the body that had come into contact with your piggie.

Take regular weight checks on the cavy because the change in weight will inform you of their medical conditions. Regular vet check ups would benefit them in the long run.

Reponding to Questions

2007-06-24T20:45:00.000+08:00

Latte's been choosy about his hay. He refused to touch those stick thin hay that is hard. Picky eater. The new hay does not get less during the day when usually, he would finish all or nearly all when I reach home. Is he hinting something to me? Get hay with more leaves instead of stalk?

Toilet training is difficult. Although he is responding to questions that we ask him, like "Are you Latte?" He would nod. "Do you want to drink?" He nodded. Other times, he would shake his head when we told him to be more obedient. Bad pig.

He loves being talked to and would respond if he felt like it. Bad pig. Otherwise, he loves the small house that I made for him. His favourite safe and hiding place. Shall have to change a new one when the coroplast is too smelly.

Stressed by Roach

2007-06-18T15:51:00.000+08:00

Latte's not eating hay as much as he usually would. I found out why when cleaning his cage. He was stressed out by baby cockroaches. Ew! I found a dead one in his litter box under his hay rack. No wonder the hay that was put up in the morning was reduced by very little in the evening. There was another live baby cockroach that was in his usual hiding box.

When the roach was caught and thrown away, he popcorned in the box a lot. Thank goodness it wasn't me who found it. I would have freaked out. Screamed the house down even. Looks like I have to check his cage more often. Maybe clean it more for the next few days to see how. Ants can be seen but it doesn't bother him that much.

Uninterested in New Food

2007-06-10T15:27:00.000+08:00

I added a small slice of carrot and orange for Latte. He spurned them, turning away, as if he was still angry by the noise made by the kids. Not my fault since they haven't been coming to my place for a long time since they started studying. My parents missed them because my mum had looked after the eldest for a long time.

I placed both into the small bowl and hoped that he would try them. I'm starting to feel that he's a picky eater. He spurned the apple that I placed a second time. I guess he'll need a buddy who loves to try new food to spurn him into eating all sorts of food. However, I'm afraid that I won't have the space to enlarge the cage space.

I placed some old T-shirts as new bedding to absorb his pee. It's not much but better than the newspaper being soaked. Photos would be lacking for a while here till I get a new camera.

Bedding Types

2007-06-08T13:19:00.000+08:00

Latte's still running away from me. The square coroplast with some old clothes is his new hidding place. I think he loves it since he started using it recently. The cardboard tunnel was his first hidding place but with poop all over. I kept pouring them into the litter bin. Hopefully he'll learn.

I've been looking at other types of bedding that are odour absorbant because as a boar, his pee really is strong. A material that is often used is fleece. Quite expensive, I must say. I won't be able to put it into the washing machine. My mother will freak out.

Other types of bedding could be chopped cardboard, Megazorb, shredded paper (blank ones), VetBed (must be darn expensive) and a few others. I must put those in corners because he likes corners.

New Litter Tray

2007-06-05T22:21:00.000+08:00

The toilet training still continues. Poop is less seen in the rest of the cage but the newspapers seemed to attract his chewing. I guess I need to put more chewy toys for Latte. I decided to recycle the old cage base as the litter box and created a cardboard step to make it easier for him to get to the hay rack. Hopefully he will pee in there too. See the newly cleaned cage below.

[via Webshots]

Latte made some sounds though I'm not sure if he was happy but I guess he was because he popcorned twice under the hay rack. Gee, he could have done it outside and wouldn't hurt his head. Anyway, he laid down after a while and it was the perfect moment to take a photo of him relaxing.

[via Webshots]

I hope to be able to stroke him without him running away from me every time. The best thing about the large cage is that I can clean it even when he's in it. He doesn't seemed bothered by the vinegar smell though. While laying out the newspapers, he kept running under which I had to pat down so he would move away. Time to check out which sort of bedding suits him as boars tend to mark their territory.

Must Bond With Him

2007-06-04T09:47:00.000+08:00

Note to self, must spend more bonding time with Latte. He keeps running away and hidding in the small corners where he feels safe. I can't even stroke him! The toilet training continues. Below is what I imagine him to think for yesterday's adventure with a giant me.

[via Webshots]

I love my new hayrack. I have more hay now! Yes! I don't understand why that giant is always disturbing me. I like hiding in there. It's safe! I get to poop and pee. She has decided that I shouldn't pee anywhere but I like that nice corner, no one can touch me but something is moving. No! She is attempting to touch me! I like it but she is huge! I'm scared. Must find corner. Must run fast. She stops. I stop.

I'm looking for a hiding place. Ah, my hay. I can burrow myself. No, something is moving on top, the light! She moves my hay away! No, I must hide! This thing can be lifted, I discovered yesterday, good. I hide. She talks to me. Asking me something. I don't understand her but she has always been talking to me, sometimes, she sounded angry.

[via Webshots]

She keeps spraying something on my pee. She has started moving my poop towards where I'm hiding. Is she going to bury me with it? No, wait, she's not. She dumps them somewhere near me. Why does she always do that? I do as I please.

Completed Cage

2007-06-02T14:38:00.000+08:00

The cage is done. After 2 hours of struggling with the measurements and re-cutting. The provided coroplasts sold in Popular is too small. I decided to buy 3 large pieces instead of 2. Thank goodness. It wasn't easy because the coroplasts refused to bend even when I slit them halfway.

My hands hurt. My neck is stiff. And finally, with all the struggles and cutting and perspiration and perserverence, it paid off. Sort of. At least it's large and Latte loves running in it except when he's scared. He'd hide under the hay rack. You can see below.

[via Flickr]

He feels safe under it. At least he's eating. I'm still trying to toilet train him. It takes quite some time but with the new cage, I hope he learns and adapt faster since there's a lot of space for him to run now. Except my dad says it's too big. But he'll grow bigger ma. Here's the photo of the new cage.

[via Flickr]

Cage Materials Bought

2007-06-02T03:48:00.000+08:00

I finally bought some cage materials for Latte. Took me nearly 3 hours of sourcing for the following: metal racks that are used in the kitchen for hanging stuff, metal rack that is used for holding stuff, 3 packets of cable ties (not sure how many I would need but more is always safe) and a spray bottle. Photos to be uploaded but it's silly to post the materials when I can post the completed cage later, right?

I didn't buy any coroplasts because I was alone and the 8 racks for the cage were effing heavy! I doubt I could handle the large coroplasts (2 for the base) and the heavy racks. I managed to muster enough strength for the white vinegar bottle too.

I don't understand though, why is there so many different types of vinegar?! For the white vinegar, they merely stated "Imitation Vinegar" while in Chinese "白醋" which means white vinegar. -_-' Another bottle stated the something else that slips my mind at this moment because it's nearly 4am now and I can't sleep because it's hot.

I went to check on Latte and he seems to be sleeping soundly, for once. Usually, he would scurry around because of the sounds, maybe it was because I was the only sound and everyone of my family is sleeping soundly, he is less excite/agitated/scared and remains soundly asleep. How I envy him.

I can't get to sleep even though my eyes are tired! GAH!

Hay Rack Ideas

2007-06-01T11:30:00.000+08:00

I'm looking at hay racks. A lot of different ways to design a hay rack. One way is to put it above the litter box, provided the guinea pig is litter-trained. I'm still in the process. Apparently, I should change my method. Not working so far. Let's see how tonight goes.

[via Cavy Cages Forum]

The innovative idea is using a bird food holder.

[via Cavy Cages Forum]

Cool idea, no?

[via Cavy cages Forum]

I think the above is one of the cheapest way to do the hay rack and I can buy it in NTUC. :D

More Cage Ideas

2007-05-31T22:19:00.000+08:00

Look at this cage. Isn't it wonderful if I can build it this big? Must be crazy, for one guinea pig, right?

[via Cavy Cages Forum]

Just one thing, I believe fleece is expensive here. The next cage is absolutely fit for a king!

[via Cavy Cages Forum]

I totally dig the hay loft for the guinea pigs.

Cage Design Ideas

2007-05-31T15:04:00.000+08:00

I've been looking around for cage design ideas. I need to keep Latte's nails filed instead of my attempting to cut them. I will be needing something bricks to help them. Any idea where I can get those as shown below?

[via Cavy Cages forum]

A cage design idea I really like is the one shown below.

[via Cavy Cages forum]

If there is really space, I would be building a larger cage. Guinea pigs tend to need the space to run and exercise a little. Have been doing quite a bit of research on cage designs and so far, the open top cage would be suitable for my case. I don't have cats or dogs.

Toilet Training Begins

2007-05-31T12:10:00.000+08:00

I have managed to put Latte in a temporary box while I cleaned his cage. Serious, he loves to escape from my grasp. Took quite a while and this time, I decided that the smell had to go. There is no way the cage should smell. I grabbed him firmly and placed him in the box with his food bowl.

Asked my youngest brother to help me look after him while I washed the cage and prepare some things. As the dish bowl that my friend had bought for me was large enough for him to sit in (for now), I placed some of his poop as a start to toilet training him. I used a smaller bowl for his food and another for the hay. Stole those bowls from my sister as she used to own hamsters. :D

Last night, he jumped in his cage once. I think it's called popcorning. Cool.

Was thinking about getting a hay ball so he could exercise while eating the hay. Besides giving him a treat for letting me carry him, anyone is able to suggest other methods?

Running Away From Me

2007-05-30T20:36:00.000+08:00

I spoke too soon. Just before I left, I decided to spend 30 minutes to bond with Latte. Usually, when he sniffs my hand, he wouldn't nibble but he decided that my hand was food. Told him off sternly. When he decided to nibble on the bowl that contain his food, I said "Oi". Apparently, he understood my tone. He stopped.

I'm having trouble trying to carry him so that I can clean the cage. However, he keeps running off and has been agitated ever since I left him in the living room. The first day, he let me carry him without much struggling. Seems like the living room is not a good place since a lot of noises are going on. I can't put him in my bedroom because they is no space.

Looks like I shall have to bribe him with a treat like pear or pandan leaves to let him be less anxious about me carrying him.

Active and Curious

2007-05-30T08:14:00.001+08:00

[via Flickr uploaded by BluROceaN] Latte's getting more active now. He's starting to sniff my fingers whenever they are within his reach. He nearly chewed my camera too! I must be thankful that he doesn't chew my fingers. I wonder why he thinks that the camera is food. Must teach him to differentiate soon. Or else, he'll be chewing everything I put in thinking that it's food.

He's still disturbed by the slightest noises made. The train passing outside my flat has made him jump most of the time too.

I finally managed a clearer photo of him from the top.

Naming It

2007-05-29T21:43:00.000+08:00

I've been thinking what name to give my guinea pig. It's a him and very timid at the moment. He has since grown more active for the past 2 days. However, he's very afraid of loud noises and sudden movements.

After asking around, I decided to name him Latte Combo. Will be working on him to let him recognise his name.

New Baby

2007-05-26T21:29:00.000+08:00

I have a new baby. It's a guinea pig. It wasn't my first choice because I prefer cats. However, I don't have the space to keep it caged and I don't like cats to be caged either. Here's the 1st photo of it. Quite dark as I got it in late in the night.