The G-Herd (2010 Blog)

[ZoeyGirl]

I've really been enjoying all the blogs on here. I thought I'd take this time to introduce you to what I've dubbed as the G-Herd! First of all, I've always had pets (mostly dogs) growing up. It wasn't until 2005 that I was able to get my first pet as a 'grown up'. Since we live in a duplex, we started out w/ 3 guinea pigs and now we're up to 12 guinea pigs, a dog, a hamster & a rabbit. We've had a few different bettas and some gold fish but they don't live as long.

Since I've introduced our newest member, Buddy (I think that's the name we've settled on since the name Cookie didn't seem to fit him), I thought I'd introduce you to our other furry family members.

I'll start w/ our dog. She'll be 6yrs old in August and she's a black lab/chow mix girl. We got her from a family that was moving & couldn't keep her. She's the best dog that we could've asked for. Her name is Pepper.

Here's a few of my favorite pics of her. The first one is of her 'guarding' her piggies. She's really good w/ them. I think she thinks they're her pups.

Keeping my youngest child warm.

 

[ZoeyGirl]

Here's our hamster, Bella. We've had Bella for almost a year. My middle child/daughter really wanted a pet of her own. I was really never a fan of hamster. I had one when I was younger and it was the meanest thing I ever had. But Bella is so mellow. I'm so glad we were able to get her.

Here's a few pictures of her as well as her cage that I made for her.

And her cage:

 

[ZoeyGirl]

Of course, I thought I'd put up Buddy's picture and his cage that I also built. I need to take some more pictures of him. He is so cute but alittle onery. He's scheduled to be neutered at the end of the month. I hope he does well and his oneriness settles some. He's only been w/ us for about 2wks, so I'm sure he'll mellow some in time.


I was told by the previous owners that he's a French Lop. Does he looks like one?? I'm not sure what the difference is in the lops. And he has that one ear that doesn't lop too much.


His ride home. This is the cage that came w/ him.

Him getting settled into his new cage.

And his new cage. I still have more stuff to do to it. He doesn't/can't access the 2nd level yet but I got something together to help him. He'll be able to hop onto it as well as hide underneath it.

 

[ZoeyGirl]

Tomorrow I'll try to post all the guinea pigs. That will probably take alittle bit longer since I only have a dozen. I've had guinea pigs since July of 2005! We've had lots of foster piggies in the past and we had up to 23 at one time. I think 12 is a good number to have.

 

[Wabbitdad12]

Cute fur family.

Buddy is a cute bunny, if he is young its common for lops to have one uppy ear and one down ear.

 

[ZoeyGirl]

Thanks for the info! I was guessing he was between 6mons to a year old. I know someone who got their bun from a breeder and they know the exact age of their bun. I compared nails and they both are about the same. I'm guessing Buddy's close in age to theirs.

 

[ZoeyGirl]

Now, I'd like to introduce you to my current herd of guinea pigs. We start off w/ Patches and Lily. Patches is my only neutered boy piggie. He was adopted from a friend of mine that rescued him from a shelter. I adopted Lily from a GP rescue near Chicago. The two made the ride down to my house in Central IL on July 17, 2007 and have been together ever since.

Here's Patches who will be 6yrs old in November. He was actually born at the shelter and he's the only one we know the exact birthdate. He's a black & white American.

And his 'wife', Lily. She's about 4yrs old and is a himi teddy guinea pig. I have a passion for himis and self-black piggies.

Our next girl that moved in was Puddin on August 5, 2007. She came from the same shelter Patches had lived. We're thinking she's about 3yrs old. She's a black (w/ a brown spot on her shoulder & some on her buttside) American piggie.

 

[ZoeyGirl]

The next 2 that joined the G-Herd is Luna & Roxie on January 30, 2008. Someone dumped about 9 piggies in a nearby town in the park. Luckily, the North GP rescue has someone that lives in the town & she was able to pick them all up. I really wanted to adopt one when I found out that there were some himis in the group. I fostered two girls because they had to be put on pregnancy watch. During this time, I would decide which one I'd keep. Well I was too attached and after the pregnancy watch, I officially adopted both girls. (Luckily, neither were pregnant.) We're not sure if they're a mother/daughter set or sisters but they're not going anywhere.

Here's Luna who's about 3yrs old and she's considered a himi Abby/Peruvian mix girl. She's also my 'baby'.

And here's Roxie who's about 3yrs old as well. She's not a full blooded himi but we love her! She's considered an abby.

 

[ZoeyGirl]

The next 2 piggies that came to live w/ us actually came from Arizona! There was a big hoarder case there a few years ago and one of the volunteers was driving (via RV) from AZ to Michigan. He offered to drive any piggies to their new home that would be on his route. I think they ended up adopted out around 10 piggies. These 2 girls came w/ him and arrived at our home on July 4, 2008.

This is Jetta. She's about 2yrs old and is my self-black Americanpiggie. She was alittle wild 'child' when she first arrived but she's settled down. Here's one of my favorite pics of her.

Her travel mate is Josie. She's one of my special needs piggie. She was born w/out an eye but that doesn't stop her from getting around. She's one of my very loud piggies and will protest if I don't hurry w/ her veggies. She's about 2 1/2yrs old and is a black, brown & white Peruvian.

The next girl that came to our home is Mocha. She was rescued from a shelter from a friend of mine up North. She moved in September 26, 2008. We think she's about 3yrs old as well. She's a crested chocolate brown American.

 

[ZoeyGirl]

On December 7, 2008, we took in another special needs girl we named Mylie. (My daughters' were huge fans of Mylie Cyrus.) Someone on a GP forum was looking to get her rehomed. She had to have her back leg amputated. They're not sure what happened in her last home but the vet was unable to save it. With that amputation, no one wanted to adopt her and the lady was afraid they'd put her to sleep. I offered our home to her. She's a wonderful piggie and gets along very well. She's really blossomed since being here. We think she's about 18mons old. (She was very young when she arrived.)

Here's Mylie. She's a PEW/himi mix American piggie.

The next two piggies came from another friend that rescued them from a shelter up North. They were in such bad shape when she rescued them. They arrived on January 21, 2009. We named them Greta & Morgan.

Here's Greta. We think she's about 2 1/2yrs old. She's a golden agouti American/Silkie mix girl.

And here's Morgan. She's about 2yrs old and is a chocolate & white American.

 

[ZoeyGirl]

Last but certainly not least, we have Koral. She's our only spayed girl. She came to me from a rescue in Central IN. She was considered a senior girl but once she got here I realized that she's younger than they thought. We think she's about 4yrs old. She came to live w/ us on March 14, 2009. She's considered an orange & white Abby.

We've had plenty other piggies come & go through our home & hearts since July of 2005. Some came through as fosters, others left over the rainbow bridge. All touched our hearts in their own special way.



I would also like to show off my current piggie cage. It's 2 Lowe's shelving units connected together. I have 5 piggies (Patches, Lily, Puddin, Greta & Koral) residing on the top level. Six piggies (Luna, Roxie, Jetta, Josie, Mylie & Morgan) reside on the 2nd level. And Mocha resides in half of the 3rd level (she's a loner piggie).

Well there you have it. All the furry kids! I also have 3 human kids and a hubby of almost 17yrs. I hope you enjoy them like I do.

 

[Amy27]

All your babies are adorable!

 

[Wabbitdad12]

Cute piggies!

 

[ZoeyGirl]

Thanks!

 

[irishbunny]

Aww all your animals are lovely!
I'm a big piggie fan too I have three boars

 

[cheryl]

Goodness..i agree..your fur family are all just lovely...i loved looking at all their pictures..