Peanut on Instagram

I have been dabbling with Instagram on my phone lately. Obviously, some pigtures were involved. Check out this one of Peanut:

Peanut on Instagram

Frontier Pigs

Following my graduation from law school in May, I packed up the pigs... and we moved allll the way up to the western frontier... in Bismarck, North Dakota!!! My fiance Cole, AKA piggy dad, has been living up here working for the past year. I stayed in Iowa City to finish up law school and the pigs stayed with me. It's about time our family was reunited!

As for the move itself, I was worried about the guinea pigs on the long drive (around 10 hours)... but everyone did well in the car, and settled in very nicely once we got here! Here are a few things we did to ensure safe, happy piggies on the long road trip:

1. Hard-sided carriers: We used hard-sided cat carriers for the drive. We have smaller, soft carriers for regular vet trips, but the hard-sided carriers are safer for long drives. Plus, they give the pigs more room to move around. Guinness, Peanut and Wally each got his own carrier for the move. You can find the carriers here on Amazon.com. They had bad review for cats and other heavier animals because the plastic isn't super strong, but they are plenty strong for little piggies. 
2. Washable Beds: I found some washable carrier pads/beds for the pigs on Amazon.com as well. They were soft and fluffy, and the pigs seemed comfortable in them. We bought them a few weeks in advance and let the guineas try them out before the trip. 
3. Cooler: We carried a cooler in the car--for the pigs, and for us too. We packed some snacks like cucumbers and carrots for the guinea pigs and made sure they ate a little snack every few hours. 
4. Water: Although we didn't put water in their carriers (too messy...) I brought a few water bottles in the car and hand fed them water at stops. They would take a few sips. The cucumbers also provide plenty of water. 
5. Limited hay/other snacks: at stops, I also gave them fun snacks, like yogurt covered timothy hay, and a little bit of hay as well. This made a bit of a mess, but I shook out the beds at stops. 
6. SEATBELTS: We definitely strapped the pigs in with seatbelts for extra safety :) The size of the carriers was perfect and strapped in nicely. This made me feel a lot safer and ensured that their carriers didn't shift too much during the trip. 
7. We borrowed Cole's step dad's truck (4 door) for some extra room. Plenty of room in the cab, plus extra hauling space in the truck bed. Meanwhile, my tiny Mazda got towed behind the U-Haul. 
8. We never left the pigs unattended. When one person ran inside for food or bathroom, the other stayed close by to supervise and keep the AC running in the truck. It was a warm day and guinea pigs are very sensitive to temperature fluctuations. They are also prone to overheating/heat stroke. 

Peanut Riding Shotgun in the Truck 

All in all, a very successful move! Even though our Bismarck apartment is smaller than our place in Iowa City, fortunately there is a much better space for the pig cages. More on their new habitat coming soon. 

Piggies... just hanging out :)

I had to leave my piggies for almost 2 weeks while I went to Mexico with my friends over Spring Break. Luckily they have wonderful grandparents (my Mom & Dad) who live in Des Moines and were more than willing to babysit them over break! So I had to bring them to Des Moines and didn't get to see them for wayyy too long.

Upon my return I obviously had to take excessive piggy pics. They are just eating some hay, hanging out and looking adorable!

Guinness loves the hay with added mint!

Peanut spying on his buddies 

Peanut munching on hay :)

Peanut having a drink 

Wally looks so whiskery!

Guinness' furry piggy butt

Peanut digging around in his hay box

Wally (AKA "Wooster") eating hay

Wally is such a curious piggy!

I tried to take a picture of Guinness sleeping but of course 

he got curious and tried to attack the camera string!!!

New Friends

Peanut started acting a little crazy in his adolescent years... so unfortunately I had to separate him and Guinness. For a while, all 3 pigs were living separately, which was a huge pain for me! But lately, I've been letting Guinness and Wally play together. They were doing so well together, that I decided to put them in the same cage yesterday. What a couple of cutie pies! There is occasional "rumble strutting" but for the most part they get along great. Here are some pigtures from their play time together and their first day as roomies:

Wally and Guinness playing in the pig pen

Munching on hay

Cuties

Just relaxing

 

Seeing what's for breakfast... 

Pigs eating veggies together

Chrismukkah pigs

I took a few pigtures for our 2nd annual Chrismukkah card. Last year, it was just me, Cole, and Guinness. Now that we have 2 more pigs, it would have been REALLY tough to get everyone in one shot, so I took some individual shots of my boys :)

PEANUT! He is quite the rascal... this is 

the only picture I got with the antlers on!

GUINNESS... I call these his "glamour shots" because he 

just sat there and posed for me... what a photogenic piggy!

Posing for the camera again! Piggy lips!!!

WALLY! What a cutie. My Chrismukkah present :)

Wally eating the ribbon

Piggie Tent

I ordered the most adorable guinea pig toy from the Laurel's Zoo store on Etsy... a camouflage tent! It's the perfect pig size. You can even take the fabric off the tent rods and wash it. I love Etsy for guinea pig accessories because its hard to find fun, good quality toys in pet stores.

I've had the tent for a few weeks and the pigs have always sniffed and nibbled at it during play time. Finally, Guinness decided to give it a try yesterday! Wally must have smelled Guinness in the tent and gotten jealous because he decided to try it out too. Here are some pigtures of Guinness and Wally in the tent.

 Guinness testing out the tent

Guinness got his hair a bit messed up!

Wally camping out

Wally's hair is messed up too!

Peanut hasn't gotten in the tent yet, but when he does, expect more pigtures!

Play time with Wally

Wally has become so much more outgoing since we got him in August--just 2 months ago he was a shy little peeg, but now he's very brave and social! He loves play time, especially when I lay on the floor with him and give him treats. He runs around and popcorns like a crazy peeg! 

Here are some cute pigtures of Wally playing recently:

Nomming some lettuce

More nomming

Curious pig

Up close chewing shot!

Looking for more treats...

Exploring the cave

Piggy bum!

In the cave

More lettuce

Whiskers!