Together at Last! Miso and Archie are Guinea Pals

As you may know, I have five guinea pigs in five separate C&C cages. Why? Because none of them seem to get along well. Naturally we keep the boys and girls separate, for obvious reasons. Miso got along well with his father Ponzu and his brother Shoyu, but since they passed away Kokiri has become overly aggressive (Miso literally jumped for joy when we put up a divider in their cage, poor guy). Mama Mochi and daughter Pocky used to live together, but being a bit bigger Mochi would bully Pocky around and so we separated them as well. Now, with her own space and uninhibited access to food, Pocky has grown bigger and more confident, and she tends to pick on her mom whenever I put them together! The latest addition to our guinea pig family is Archie, a friendly and ultra-hyper little guy, and his good nature seemed agreeable enough that he just might be able to have a cagemate.

We tried putting all the boys together for floor time. Again, Kokiri was just too aggressive, but Archie and Miso seemed to get along well so we tried giving just the two of them floor time. Aside from a bit of rumble-strutting, there weren't any serious conflicts. After a few nights of floor time sessions, the boys really appeared to enjoy playing with each other, and we decided to go ahead with our plans for a combined piggy cage.


First we started with a buddy bath. It was Archie's first bath, and he didn't like being wet at all. Miso, having received several in his life, resigned himself to his watery fate

We're at the start of another heat wave. The warm weather is good for piggy baths, at least when you have damp piggies who keep bopping towels off of them.

Miso and Archie even cuddled together so cutely, and eventually fell asleep side by side as they waiting ever so patiently for their new home to be put together.

We (and by that I mean my boyfriend) took Miso's and Archie's 2x3 C&C cages and combined them into a spacious 2x5. We got them a new Bigloo and put in their chubes, two litter trays, and a cute plaid dog bed. The grids along the top are there so that we can put a fleece canopy over part of the cage to shield them from sun and wind.

They're taking a bit of time to adjust to their new pimpin' pad. You go in the bed, not under it, Miso!

Archie doesn't seem to realize that Miso isn't keen on sharing whatever pigloo he's in, but I'm sure as colder weather sets in they'll be all cuddly. I saw them eating hay from the same hay rack just a few minutes ago. I'm really glad that they're getting along well, and that we can give them a bigger cage as a consequence. Next we'll be trying to get the girls together!