Intro to G. Pigs

I did not grow up with guinea pigs, nor did I ever think of owning one, ever. They are rodents and please lets not go into rats and mice. Hamsters are really the worst, sort of the sad type-A being of the rodentia.

"Yo, Hammie, slow down dude..."

"No, can't, must keep running, must keep wheel turning...."

But here we are the proud and unmitigatedly happy owners of three, count 'em, three guinea pigs.

Melli-mac - the bully pig
Peanut - the scared pig
Pumpkin - the mellowed pig
All females.

M&M has always been the more aggressive animal, and Peanut, until recently, the more docile. Pumpkin was added in the last six months and there was interesting reactions from the established animals.

M&M literally backed her butt into a corner and chattered her teeth at Pumpkin. She wasn't going to be snuck up on.

Peanut didn't do anything but everytime Pumpkin came by, she snapped at her. While she didn't run like M&M, she didn't cotton much to Pumpkin. So, we did what all the good books and websites said to do - we gave them a bath together.

One thing about guinea pigs - they really don't like to be in water and they can't take being cold. So, you put all three in a bathtub, fill it with about 2-4 inches of water, and give them a splash.

Then you pull all three out, give them all a nice warm drying with a fluffy towel and a hair dryer, and voila, you have three g. pigs that suddenly are bonded for life because of that "hair" raising experience.