Baby Explosion Coming Up!

Watch out, one more month and there'll be another baby explosion in the caviary! Mom and I think a couple of our sows are pregnant, along with Miss Little Piggy, our friend's sow who was bred to our boar, Big Savings. Miss Little Piggy will probably be the first to have a litter. Next will probably be Molly, who was bred to Robin Hood. Lastly, Feedsfour was bred to either Thing One or Rumpelstiltskin (we switched boars to make sure she got pregnant) and will probably go a little after Molly.

Philosophy

Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened.

Anatole France

quick intro to me:  I am Melissa.  Cavy cuddler, Financial backer, cage builder, part-time cavy medic, and final arbiter of all decisions made (AKA Mom)

This is not a judgment on other breeders with a different philosophy. This is our philosophy. We came in to cavies after doing dog rescue for years. I can hear the gasps. We are not animal rights people. We are not vegan or vegetarian. We don't stalk breeders with plans to have their animals taken away by animal control. I don't care if you breed meat animals, reptile food, pets or show animals. If you take care of your animals and enjoy them we have plenty of common ground to be friends. Years in rescue have given us a bit different of an outlook than some breeders, however, and this post is to outline our philosophy.

First and foremost our animals are bred to be loving companions. They are handled from birth. Sows are held frequently through pregnancy, feeling little baby movements in her belly is a joy. We even have a stethoscope because finding little heartbeats is fun, too. Texel cavies are not the best breed for this because of their lovely curls. Petting tends to frizz them and decrease the quality of their coat. You can't help the breed you fall in love with, so we make the best of this and don't let it stop us. Izzy does groom very often to try to make up for it, though. Coat on a texel is at it's best when they are young, however, this is the best time to handle them and get them used to being handled. We handle them constantly when they are young. Our biggest goal is to produce loving and cuddly animals. A loving animal is always easier to care for and enjoy than one that isn't, and after their show career is over they become pets (some with the side job of breeding the next generation).

We don't take ourselves, our animals or even shows very seriously. Dangerous Beans, Choking Hazard and Bite Size all say "the heck with being stuffy and boring, we want to have fun!". We tend to bring a bit of the crazy to the shows with us but as long as we are laughing and having fun we are doing what we set out to do. You really can't take yourself too seriously when dealing with animals, anyway. All that does is convince them that they need to pee on you or something to lighten the mood (tip: Bring some extra clothes to shows in case you need to change. Or use an apron. Everyone will understand about the random wet patch on your clothes, but it gets uncomfortable).

We strive for the highest quality show animals possible. Why? Because winning is fun. Umm. No, that wasn't it... Well, it is fun, but that isn't the reason. The reason is that a good quality show animal is put together correctly and is healthy. You can't have an unhealthy animal with long gorgeous hair, etc. Showing gives you a good review of your animals and compares them against others from other breeders. It tells you if your animal has the genes that should be passed on to create another generation or is maybe just best as a well loved pet. It is also a critique of your husbandry. Your care of your animals influences how well they do on the table and by comparing your animal to others you can see where you need to change your husbandry. It gives you a chance to learn from other breeders and sometimes even teach new people things. By showing you can be certain you are going to further the breed with your breeding plans, which brings us to...

Breeding with a purpose. Breeding should be by choice and that choice should be a carefully considered one. Our thought process on breeding goes like this:
1. Is the animal healthy and at a good age to breed?
2. What are the animal faults? What are it's strengths? Do we have an appropriate partner for it?
3. What do we want from this potential litter?
4. Do we have space and finances to keep them forever if needed?

If we don't have a good answer to all of those questions the animal is not bred. Every animal bred here (or even brought here) has a home with us forever. We accept returns with no questions asked. We don't expect animals to be sold. We like it when they sell - feed gets expensive and making space means we can breed again - but we do not plan on animals finding a new home. We are prepared for them to stay. This does mean that if you aren't buying from us at a rabbit show you will be interrogated by someone that is barely tall enough to ride the bumper cars at the amusement park. In another post I will cover the questions we have for potential homes. Most people at shows know us and know the care of the animals so they can bypass the third degree. Mostly.

Health Tip: Fur Mites

At some point in a guinea pig's life, they are bound to get fur mites. This isn't anything you did wrong, or anything wrong with the animal, it's just normal. Usually a long haired cavy with mites will have bald spots, and a short haired one might have larger-than-normal bald areas behind the ears. To treat mites, you can use Ivermectin. Use a syringe and drop a drop of Ivermectin behind each ear. Do a second dose in 10 days.

*We use Ivermectin 1% injection solution.  It can be purchased at most feed stores and tractor supply.  Some people use other products but this is what we have experience with and usually have on hand.  It is also used for a heartworm preventative in dogs and a mite treatment in our rabbitry. -Melissa, AKA Mom

Farewell, Orange One

Scout "Pig" passed away this Thursday. He most likely had an upper respiratory issue, maybe from the bug that was going around in our family. Pig was an awesome animal, and he was what got me into this hobby. I will miss him dearly. We used to call him "The Orange One" because he was a beautiful deep orange color.

From left to right: Rumple, Pig, and Gold

Pig and his "best friend" (more like mortal enemy) Robin Hood

Crantini Blast?

I recently found out that Mr. Gold has a brother-but it turns out it wasn't who we thought it was. When we bought him, he was caged with Rumpelstiltskin, whom we bought with him. We assumed that they were brothers. The birth of Feedsfour reinforced this theory, because Gold, the father, was orange and the mother was TSW while Rumple and Feedsfour both had cream. Theoretically, if they were brothers, Gold would have a good chance of carrying genes for cream.

However, that theory turned on its head when Dreamwalker came in June. I went to the website of the breeder to look at pictures of Dreamwalker as a baby and happened to look at a picture of the other boar in the litter, an orange and white. I compared Gold to the picture out of curiosity. Sure enough, they matched perfectly. Mom was skeptical, though- what are the odds that I'd buy a pig and unknowingly get his brother nearly six months later? Next to none. Eventually I bugged her enough that she asked the breeder, and she told her story. After she sold Gold to me, she became very sick and didn't get a chance to record what had  happened to him. He was one of the mysteries of her caviary. She sent me his pedigree and told me his real name: Crantini Blast.

Mr. Gold/NF Flashback/NF Crantini Blast

Rumplestiltskin/NF Biohazard

NF Dreamwalker

Health Tip: Corneal Abrasions

Sometimes guinea pigs get an eye condition called a corneal abrasion. In my experience I've only had two guinea pigs with corneal abrasions, and both of them were baby Texels. Sometimes the fur curls into the eye, giving it a corneal abrasion. I have also heard from experienced breeders that other breeds can get corneal abrasions from hay poke or getting bedding in their eyes. This can happen at any age in any breed, although it is most common in baby Texels. It is treatable, so don't panic if it pops up in an animal in your herd.
To identify corneal abrasions, look for a cloudiness in one or both eyes. They also may not want to open the eye/eyes with the corneal abrasion(s). You can use a guinea pig with normal, healthy eyes to compare to if you are not completely sure what to look for. Usually in Texel litters one baby with a corneal abrasion pops up every two litters.
Once you know an animal has a corneal abrasion, you need to know how to treat it. When I had an animal with one, I became scared because I thought she was blind. Luckily, my friend and mentor let me know what it was and how to treat it. You can use either Triple Antibiotic or vitamin A capsules. Either way, you treat it twice a day, morning and night, until the eye looks normal. To use the vitamin A capsules, you break them open and squeeze all of the liquid into the eye. Use one capsule per eye and make sure all of the liquid goes into the eye, especially if the animal is trying to keep the eye closed. To use the triple antibiotic, take a small amount of it from the tube with your finger and gently rub it on the eye. I like to hold the animal until the triple antibiotic has dried completely so their cage mate doesn't lick it off. My personal concern is that if they lick it off, the animal that consumed it might get sick because guinea pigs cannot have many antibiotics.
You should check all of your Texel babies (and your other piggies) for corneal abrasions often. Gone untreated, a corneal abrasion could potentially blind the animal. However, if you treat it, it should clear up in about a week and a half, depending on the animal, and the animal will live healthily.

Dangerous Beans x Choking Hazard

Dangerous Beans had her litter! I would say finally, but I can't, really- I wasn't expecting her to have a litter for a couple weeks at least! The boar may have still been in with Dangerous Beans, so she may be pregnant again, although I hope not. That's why you should remove the boar as soon as you know the sow is pregnant, even if cage space is tight. I realize that this was a mistake on my part, because I wanted to give her time to recover after having a litter.

Welcome IPP Baked Beans and IPP Cool Beans to the world! They are both broken Texel boars. 

Baked Beans, please be agouti!

Baked Beans

Cool Beans

Sonny Sparklepants!

Hooray for a new Satin piggy! Introducing TCH's Sonny Sparklepants, and american satin boar who will be bred to Cher. He is a deep red color and very shiny. He was born near the end of December. Thank you Donna for the awesome piggy!

Sonny and Cher

Little Cavies, "Pig" Adventures, Pe-nel-o-pe Go!

This weekend, we went to the 4-H Rabbit Workshops and- "pig" surprise- came home with a piggy. Welcome "Penelope" to the caviary! She is an american baby sow with a fur fault called "angel wings," which puts a couple rosettes on her back. Her breeder, a show friend of ours, was looking for a pet home for her, and Mikey needed another sow to hang out with Nightwheek. Right now she is about three weeks old, and Nightwheek seems to think shes's her baby sister. We named her after a hamster from an old television show, Hamtaro. She looks a lot like Penelope , a little brown and white hamster who likes to wear a blanket over herself. 

Mikey holding Penelope a few hours after she came home

Penelope from Hamtaro