Winston is moving in......

I have managed to convince my husband to let me bring Winston up to the house for the winter. I am concerned about him spending the winter on his own, without anyone to snuggle up to.

So this weekend he will be making the (permanent) move to the house, woo hoo!!

I have been looking at cages this week and have settled on this one.......

Skyline Maxi XXL Rabbit and Guinea Pig Cage
Classic home for guinea pigs and dwarf rabbits, especially sturdy metal cage with food rack. Size: 119 x 59 x 47 cm ( L x W x H)
- Base Dark Blue I think this will be more than enough for him whilst he is on his own and give me the room to find him a little buddy in the spring. I will changing to Aubiose bedding (which I will do a full review of for you). I have used this before for the girls a long time ago and used to use it as a beeding for my horses, so I know how efficient it is at absorbing fluids, keeping down odours and the wee just drops to the bottom, leaving a nice dry top. So super excited..... I will keep you posted on our progress and do a little update video to show you him in his new home.. Any advice from those of you who currently keep their piggies indoors, will be gratefully recieved. Now......How do I get the girls to the house too........lol xx

Guinea Pig Food

I thought I would share with you the hard-feed that I give to my little group.

I have tried many different foods over the years and have found a blend that seems to work very well. For me it is all about variety. I make sure that the pigs have every opportunity to try as many different additions to their diet as possible. I will show you in my next blog, the herb mixes that I make up for them as they may make an interesting addition to your feeding regimes.

So let's have a look at hard-feed.

For a long time I fed the girls Supa Guinea Excel pellets.....

I really like excel pellets. With these pellets that you are safe in the knowlege that your piggies are getting eveything that they need in their diets to remain healthy. These were always well loved by the girls.

 They also manufacture a different type as well, the blackcurrant and Orgegano line. Once again I found these a firm favourite in small doses. The girls would not eat this as their main diet, however, they did love it as a treat sprinkled on top of their usual pellet. Great product to add that variety!!


So what am I using now....

I am now an avid fan of Supreme Petfoods Selective Diet. I have been feeding this now for around 4 months. The girls (and Winston) appear to be very healthy with very shiny coats. It is a firm favourite and I can never find any wastage in their bedding.
http://www.supremepetfoods.com
I really like Supreme as a company. They spend a lot of time 'reaching out' to their customers and are always on-hand for nutrition advice....For me, that is the type of company that I will trust with my piggies nutrition.

I have filmed a video on feed so please feel free to check it out on my youtube channel.

I also feed a bit of Gerty as well, just to add variety to their diet. Mixes are renowned for allowing pets to pick and choose what they would like to eat, therefore they may not always be receiving the correct nutrition. To be honest, my piggies will still eat the pellets more readily than the mix, but they will eat it and I tend to give them a bowl, every other day to give them the choice.

If you are thinking of changing your food, please make any adjustments gradually over a period of a week. This will allow your piggies sensitive little stomachs to adjust to their new food!!

Please do see my facebook page for any feed questions that you may have, I will only be too pleased to answer them!!!  http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Cavy-Indulgence/137680379661358

VitaKraft Vita Verde Hay

I would like to share my review of the VitaKraft Vita Verde Hay. I genuinely love this product and use it as a treat for my 6 piggies.

Packaging: 16 mini bales of hay in a sealable (zip-lock) bag. Each bale is wrapped with 2 bands of brown paper which holds the bale together.

Product: Bales of green hay with added extras. The mixed variety bag comes with the following additions:

• Rose Petal (smells good enough to eat)
• Camomile (smells good enough to eat) 
• Dandelion
• Plain

Through some internet research I have found that each individual variety can be bought on it's own. There are 2 additional varieties, which are:

• Nettle
• Peppermint

Cost: I found this at a local independant pet shop and the cost was around £6.00 for the bag. This is reasonably expensive for a hay product, although it does depend on what you are used to spending on hay.

Piggy Likability Factor: My piggies all LOVE this hay and tuck into it very readily over their normal hay. It is sweet smelling and they all do jostle around to get a good position on it. I tend to break the paper bands and spread it out a little.

Overall Rating: Overall rating of this product is an 8 out of 10. The product is fab and a hit with all of my pigs. The only factor that lets it down is the cost. If you have 1 or 2 piggies then this hay will be a great addition to your feeding regime. I use it as a treat now and again as I have 6 piggies and have to buy an entire bale of hay for them to munch through with lasts about 4 weeks. A bale at my local equestrian supplier costs £6.50, so you can see the difference.

It is also good as an enrichment food as if you leave the paper bands on then it makes it hard work for the piggies to eat it and therefore keeps them busier for longer.

I would definately reccommend trying these mini bales. Your pigs will love them. You can google them and you will find many suppliers of both the bales and the bags of loose hay. I would love to hear how you get on, please feel free to contact me with your results at.....http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cavy-Indulgence/137680379661358

Introductions...

I'm Nikki, I'm 30 and married to a fabulous man. I have many animals in my life:

Toby: 3 year old German Short-Haired Pointer

Lady: 8 year old Ex-racing Greyhound

I also have 2 cats and last but by no means least....My 6 wonderful Cavies. (piccies below on my blog page!)

I started keeping Guinea Pigs around 3 years ago. I started my group with Fox and Badger, being new to the hobby, I had not realised how addictive they were and around 3 months later I went out and came home with 2 peruvian girls Owl and Rabbit.

All was well with the group, living in a 6ft by 3ft pen that my hubby had built for them. What we did not realise was that Rabbit was actually pregnant when we acquired her.... so 2 months later little Pie arrived!! It was  big shock! just a baby version of an adult piggy but around 2 inches long. I had to get online immediately to make sure all that I was doing was correct.

We are now three years on and the group of girls is very happy. They now live in an 8ft by 4ft pen very harmoniously.

Just 7 days ago I found Winston, as he is now named,  in a Pets at Home store in their rehoming section. His little card stated that he was 'highly aggressive' and must be homed on his own. So I fell in love with him and could not bare the thought of him being acquired by a family and spending the winter on his own in a cage in the garden. Having no experience of boy cavies I thought it was about time that I did!!!

So that is the story of how my group of cavies came about. Winston lives on his own for now, however, I hope to pair him with another boar once he is fully mature.

I am hoping to upload another youtube video and review in the next couple of days so please pop back!!!

It Begins........

Wow...so this is my first ever blog post. I wanted the opportunity to reach out to cavy owners and engage with them about their experiences. I also wanted to tell the world about my own precious piggies and give updates about all of the silly things that they get up to.


This blog will also provide me with an opportunity to review products and update as I go along.


I do not know at this point how popular it will be, however, sometimes one just need an outlet to express themselves..hopefully this is mine!!


I hope you enjoy!!