Dragons!

Some of you will know, J and I have been considering adopting Guinea pigs for a while. We've always enjoyed having pets, and have missed having a furry friend around since our wonderful dog Holly passed away in late 2015. We've discussed lots of options, and decided after much deliberation that we were ready to be pet parents again, and that Guinea pigs were exactly the right choice. Guinea pigs are very social, and love human company, but should always live in pairs, as they are not happy or healthy on their own. In fact, we learned that it is illegal in some countries to have one Guinea pig by itself. We decided to get a pair as our Christmas presents to each other. We wanted to find some who someone already owned and was trying to find a home for, but after weeks of searching, we'd come up with nothing.

Then one of J's colleagues said there was an adorable brother-sister pair that was 6 weeks old at a little local pet shop in Upper Hutt that doesn't even usually have Guinea pigs, and that we should go get them right away. We went to just have a look, and then immediately fell in love and took them home. Not exactly how we intended it to happen, but that's how it goes. We were hoping for a brother and sister, so I think it was meant to be.

This is Roxim, the brother and J's special friend. He was about 450 grams when we first got him, and has now grown to about 800g. (This picture was taken at about 600g). He's got a gorgeously big, round tummy that we love.

This is Kazul, my beautiful baby girl. She was about 350g when we got her, and was up to about 550g before her surgery, but then went back to 450g as she healed and had to take antibiotics. We were a bit worried and started feeding her special weight-gain foods (like sweet corn and sunflower seeds), and she's up to 600g now, so we're hoping we're back on track. 

For years before we ever even considered Guinea pigs in our lives, we've had these names picked out. They are the names of two dragons in one of J's and my favourite book series, The Enchanted Forest Chronicals. Kazul and Roxim are among our favourite characters in these books, which we've both read multiple times (and both liked before we knew each other, which is amazing, given that they're fairly obscure). So we knew that our next pets would be Roxim and Kazul if at all possible, which is part of the reason we wanted a boy and a girl. And it all worked out.

We brought Kazul and Roxim home and set them up in their little inside habitat that we got at the pet shop, and they were skittish, but did well. They are such cuties!

We also got them a beautiful outdoor hutch, which we built for them because we're such good parents.

Here we have J, great father that he is, modifying their hutch to have an attached base and fences over the doorways. Why, you ask? Well, I'll tell you.

We got our new babies on Saturday, and spent the rest of the day cuddling them and admiring them and falling completely in love with them. Then, on Sunday, we decided to see how they'd enjoy being outside, and put them in their outside hutch. They explored a bit and ate some grass, so far so good. But then when I opened the door to check on them, Kazul bolted right out and disappeared into the undergrowth! I have never been so shocked and horrified! The wooded area you can see all around J in the picture extends for a long ways in multiple directions, with no fences or anything. And little Kazul weighed about 350grams and has no natural defenses or survival skills of any kind. And our neighbourhood is full of outdoor cats! I will let you know now that despite all odds, we did find and rescue her in the end, but not before spending 7 harrowing hours frantically searching and trying not to give up hope. J was alternately helping me to search and monitoring our community Facebook pages, where we'd asked people to keep their cats inside and for any advice on how to rescue her. People were very nice and supportive, and her eventual rescue was as a result of one of their tips, so yay for social media doing some good! I was in the wooded area the whole time, alternately tromping around the incredibly steep hills covered in thick (and often sharp) undergrowth and sitting completely silently in the hopes that she'd move and I'd be able to hear her. The silent moments were even harder, as I struggled to keep from crying. I was wracked with guilt that my momentary lapse in vigilance was going to result in the death of an innocent baby if we couldn't find her soon. I couldn't figure out how to come to terms with that, especially as the hours built up and it became increasingly impossible to believe that we'd find her. After about 6 hours, J said that someone online suggested putting out food (which we'd already done), and waiting with a towel to throw over her if she came out. Apparently, Guinea pigs will feel hidden and safe under the towel, so you can grab them without them running away at unbelievable speeds. I was completely exhausted, and sitting quietly near the food was a technique I could manage, so we tried it. And after an agonizing half hour of inactivity, out popped Kazul from the undergrowth! I was ready with my towel, but before I even moved she was gone again. That might have been the worst moment of it all. But after another 20 minutes, out she popped again. I hurled the towel from quite far away, and it miraculously landed right on top of her. I then launched myself across the hillside, landing with my arms and chest forming a triangle of walls around the bulge in the middle that I hoped ferociously was her and not a vine or something. Too afraid to move in case she could make a break for it, I managed to call J, who came down and reached under my arms and pulled out Kazul! Seriously, it was a miracle! I've never been so relieved! We rushed her upstairs, and neither she nor Roxim went outside again until we'd made their outside hutch fully escape-proof.

After that, I was painfully conscious of the fragility of these little lives, and we still had one more trial to get through - spaying and neutering. In addition to not wanting babies, male Guinea pigs are calmer, happier, and nicer to their fellow Guinea pigs once they're neutered, and females need to be spayed to avoid developing polycystic ovarian syndrome, which can be fatal. So they needed surgery. But general anesthesia on such a tiny creature is not without its risks, and I lived in a fairly high state of anxiety for the several weeks we had to wait until they were big enough and old enough for the surgery. Fortunately, our miraculous luck continued, and they both came through surgery extremely well. Kazul's incision was colossal on her tiny body, and we did have to go back for antibiotics, but she's healing fine now. We took this picture once she was healed enough not to mind being held up like this, so it's hard to tell how intense the incision looked at first, but still, imagine an incision from pelvis to mid chest - that's huge!

We have a wonderful time cuddling our amazing dragons. Yes, somehow our delight in finally getting to bestow our dragon names on real creatures has evolved into our referring to them as "the dragons." I think it started as a bit of a joke, but it turned out to be a glorious indication of how exciting and wonderful we find them, and it stuck.

Randomly during my day at work, I suddenly think, "When we get home, we can cuddle the dragons!" and it brings a smile to my face every time!

At first, they were quite nervous, and needed a lot of reassurance. You can see in this picture that I'm holding food out to her, but she's not taking it. It took time to convince them that we're not as scary as we seem, but they're learning.

You can click here to see a video of Kazul discovering that my giving her food (and cuddles) is a pretty nice thing, also that lettuce is the best! If you turn up the volume, you may be able to hear her adorable bubbling noises, which are awesome!

And click here for a video of them delighting in their outdoor hutch and expressing their youthful enthusiasm for life by running around all over the place. I pretty much managed not to laugh, partially for the benefit of the video, and partially because sudden noises like laughing used to scare them into hiding. Not so much anymore, although they still don't like coughing.

Pretty soon after we got them, I started worrying that their indoor habitat wasn't big enough for them, especially if it was too rainy and/or cold for them to be outside during the day. So after some looking, we found this used cage, and once we removed the top and added a cloth to cover the storage underneath, and rearranged the lounge to accommodate its enormousness, it was perfect. The dragons love it, and now we don't worry if they can't go outside for a few days. Also, it looks like a crib, which is hilarious. Also also, notice the cool, curvy piece of driftwood I found at the beach, and which they love hiding under and climbing on. Also also also, notice the wooden ladder I made for them out of sticks I found in the backyard. They love climbing it, hiding under it, and chewing on it. Grand success.

Click here for a video of Kazul enjoying the ladder (and checking the driftwood for food) and Roxim demonstrating his disinclination to be as adventurous as Kazul when someone is near the cage. He is actually more adventurous than she is when they're out of the cage, and will do almost anything for food, so I'll have to get a video of that at some point. I do realize that they're not doing anything that exciting, but for some reason I can watch them every day and never get tired of it! I just adore having a window into their little lives in their little world.

One day, when the ladder was on the driftwood, we looked over and discovered that Kazul had jumped all the way on top of the house! I wouldn't have thought she could do that! Ever since, she does it from time to time and seems to enjoy it. Roxim did it once, but we think it must have been an accident, because he seemed surprised and unhappy to be up there, and immediately jumped down and hid. Hilarious.

Kazul has also discovered the joys of proper cuddles. When I hold her, she'll often spend a little time exploring around my lap, maybe have something to eat, seem a bit lost, and then appear to remember that if she nuzzles up again my chest, I'll put my arm around her, and then it's the best thing ever. She is so happy when she does this, and even sometimes falls asleep. It's so cute I almost can't handle it!

Roxim has a much more fiery temperament than Kazul, and he and J commiserate about how difficult the world can be and have worked out a system on which they can agree. One of their more adorable pass-times is sharing celery, which they both love. Roxim loves all food (except, inexplicably, courgette/zucchini), and will test anything near him just to make sure it's not edible.

Dad and Lucinda got to meet the dragons when they were here, and of course they loved them, too.

As I believe I mentioned after our trip to the States, I re-did my Whānau (Family) Leaf at work. My children were delighted to learn about the new additions to my whānau, and often admire them in their place on the tree.

I am fully willing to admit that my singular obsession with the dragons is a bit over the top, but I'm okay with that. I thought that I'd enjoy having Guinea pigs as pets, but I had no idea how much delight I would take in them! What a lovely surprise - although I should admit that J told me I would be obsessed before we even got them, so perhaps I shouldn't have been surprised. He's usually right about these things. I don't think I realized how strong and unique their personalities would be, or exactly how good they would be at cuddling. J says that Guinea pigs are the only small rodent pets that really enjoy cuddling with people, and it sure seems to be true! We're very lucky and happy!