61. Hailey's First Litter

11th March 2024

Hailey's First Litter

When we opened the girl guinea-pig tractor today, we were greeted by the sweet sight of three new baby guinea-pigs. Two boys and our first ever girl. Baby guinea-pigs are born like perfect little miniature versions of the adults, not hairless like rats and mice and these cuties belonged to 'Hailey' and 'Arlo'.  It was always going to be an interesting combination in terms of colouring and personality, as Hailey is hands down the most timid of our guinea-pigs and Arlo (who we added to our tribe when the others were about 5 months old) is, to put it kindly, anti-social. 

When Jamie first picked up Arlo (a tan martin guinea-pig male with ruby red eyes) he failed to notice that not only was Arlo being kept in isolation but he was literally covered in bite wounds. His ear was ripped and he was in a bad way. Fortunately, his intolerance of other guinea-pigs did not extend to people and Arlo remains to date the most affectionate guinea-pig we have ever had. He used to actually stand up on his back legs and 'squeal' to be picked up and cuddled in the mornings.

We didn't know how it would go when we put Hailey in with Arlo but apparently this particular female guinea-pig was okay. He also took being introduced to his daughter 'Luna' through the run mesh quite well but as he attacked his son 'Gizmo' and bit him on the nose we decided to spare the other boy 'Jake' from meeting his neurotic father.  

So here they are: 'Luna' with her predominantly black satin coat and father's love of humans; Gizmo with his lilac satin coat and Dad's ruby red eyes; and 'Jake' with his mother's timid nature.