Merry Christmas! Guinea Pig Style

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays!

This year the staff here at Fuzzy Today took some Christmas pigtures we want to share.

Cola the Elf
smallcolaelf

Santa Fizz
smallsantafizz

The Others…
I know, but they wish to remain anonymous at this point because they do not take photos very well. They came to me at almost two years of age and cameras are not their thing.

They did love sitting in this though:
others1

Singing for treats:
others2
Our fur blends in very well with the fuzz around our bed, we love it!

Yes, we did wear the costumes and hats – for about one minute! Long enough to get pictures while munching on carrots and then be off into floor time with more treats.

Guinea Pig in Bed

We here at Fuzzy Today love guinea pigs, especially ones doing adorably cute and inexplicable things.

Here is a guinea pig named Chester, in bed all tucked in:
c7tk6eN
(source)

I hope that he has a good nap!

While pictures like this are irresistible, I have a hard time reconciling the idea of putting Cola or Fizz in a bed long enough to get a picture. So many opportunities for bathroom accidents and the like. But this really makes me want to take more themed or posed pictures with them!

Guinea Pig Pirates

Guinea pigs love boxes! Perfect for hiding in, chewing on, moving about, and they are a cheap and easy to find item. We here at Fuzzy Today spend a lot of time running through box houses, chewing them to make art, and marking our territory!

Both Cola and Fizz LOVE their boxes, we re-purpose many so they have variety.

So this pirate ship crafted out of boxes amazed us:
tumblr_ms4fg6UdON1qzis54o2_r1_1280
It has a couple floors, with a ramp to get up there. Love the doors to run through.

Complete with Guinea Pig Pirates:
tumblr_ms4fg6UdON1qzis54o1_500

Chew, chew, chew…
tumblr_ms4fg6UdON1qzis54o6_r1_1280
(shiro_ko via guineapigmemes)

We would love our humans to make us something like this! Well, we do not want to wear pirate hats. That seems unnecessary to our enjoyment of the cardboard.

The true problem for me would be assuring the thing was structurally sound. I could easily make a ship shaped box they run through, but climb on? I do not know if I would trust anything I make to take their tiny tubby selves as they attempt to chew it apart.

Please make us one humans! We expect one by the end of the day…
– Cola and Fizz Pig

Pigloo

Are you familiar with calling this plastic igloo a pigloo?

41IFKoh6cHL._SX450_
(Amazon.com)

Only today did we realize it might be an odd term when this meme picture and had people wondering what a pigloo was:
gpmeme

For the record, we here at Fuzzy Today (your guinea pig staff) never turn our hidey houses and pigloos over! We have no idea how it happens and we are totally innocent!

Cola wants to share this pigture of her IN her pigloo:
Colahiding
She is more likely to move the pigloo to hide and eat, or hide and sleep…Well, you get the idea.

Fizz wants to share this pigture of her with her far superior hidey house:
IMG_20130905_140144_1
Fizz loves this because of the lip in the doorway, there is always a side to lay against. She will flip her house, but only to get my attention when she is out of food or if she is angry that food she thought was coming was late or never came. She knows she is NOT innocent!

Back to pigloos…These plastic small pet igloos come in a few different sizes and can easily be used for multiple types of pets (hamsters, rabbits, etc.). So we suppose they could be hamloos or bunloos too.

Only ever having them for guinea pigs means I always thought of them as pigloos. I am not sure if the first one I purchased for my guinea pig years ago was called that on the packaging, if I simply thought the term was cute, or if I read it somewhere.

Here are some more guineas (not your staff) enjoying their pigloos:
20------ Peppers and friends - pigloo 1 - photo by starfishpaws
Peppers and Friends – everyone fits…almost comfortably… (starfishpaws)

20------ Peppers and friends - pigloo 2 - photo by starfishpaws
Peppers and friends – defeating the pigloo! (starfishpaws)

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Wadel and Feather – the top is the best spot! (source)

2012-11-29 11.26.58
Coco sleeping in pigloo (lifesvr7)

iglooover
I will protect my space in the upside down pigloo! (source)

Have you ever called the igloo a “pigloo” or anything like that? Do your pets also turn them over?

Your ever diligent reporters, who never flip their homes,
– Cola and Fizz

Guinea Pig Portrait

What is believed to be the oldest portrait of a guinea pig in English art has been discovered! Previously in a private collection, it will soon be on display to the public for a short time.

Portrait of three Elizabethan children, including possibly the first portrait of a guinea pig
(photo credit:  Jonathan Farmer/National Portrait Gallery)

The painting is simply titled Three Unknown Elizabethan Children and is from 1580 by an unknown Anglo-Netherlands (probably Flemish or Dutch) artist. The painting features three children, all very well dressed. The boy in front is thought to be 6, the girl 7, and the boy in the back 5 years old. The girl holds the guinea pig while the boy behind her holds what appears to be a finch. Guinea pigs were introduced to Europe by Spanish traders. Once prized meat in their native home, they became popular exotic pets among wealthy Europeans.

I do not know how much more their is the painting as all photos of it show only this much. It is very exciting to think that guinea pigs have been such beloved pets that they would make it into a portrait!

The painting will be on display in London at the National Portrait Gallery as part of the exhibition Elizabeth I and Her People running from October 10 to January 5, 2014.  The exhibit will include other portraits, paintings, and over 100 objects (like costumes and coins).

I would encourage anyone in the area to check out the Gallery and this exhibit. I love history and this would be amazing if I could get to it!

Story originally from the BBC.

Guinea Pig Armor

Have you ever wanted to dress your guinea pig up in an appropriately sized real suit of mail complete with helmet? Now is your chance! Check out this hand made guinea pig sized armor set on ebay:

$(KGrHqV,!lMFGTkQzuSLBRt8W4kZ+Q~~60_57

 

This armor is currently up for charity auction on Ebay with all proceeds going to benefit the Metropolitan Guinea Pig Rescue. The auction has 4 days left and the current bidding price (last I checked) is over $35o!

Here is what the armor would look like on your guinea pig’s back:

$T2eC16V,!y0E9s2S65dnBRt8W4cwgQ~~60_3

 

And here is the mail and helmet:

$(KGrHqJ,!nwFG1bDPP4VBRt8(Cig6w~~60_57

 

The Metropolitan Guinea Pig Rescue is a nonprofit organization in Virginia that rescues, rehabilitates, and adopts out guinea pigs. To find out more about them visit their website at mgpr.org.

I think this armor is adorable and amazing! It would make a great photo prop if you have a photogenic pig at home.