All the Colours of the Rainbow

Each variety of cavy is remarkable for the features of its breed. These 'focal points' are the aspects that breeders strive not only to maintain but to improve with each generation that is born. One notable feature of any cavy, is coat colour. The importance of colour, in terms of showing and breeding varies depending on the breed in question.

The Three P's: Pet, Pedigree, Purebred.

A pedigree animal has a recorded history. The word purebred is sometimes used synonymously with the term pedigreed, however pedigree refers to the written record. Animals can be purebred but not have a pedigree. Just because an animal has a pedigree does not mean it is purebred. Confusing I know.

Six Wonderful Cousins

Over the Christmas Holidays I got to witness two beautiful births. Magic and Goldie were put to their boars on the same day, so I knew depending on conception, that they were due around the same time.

The First Texel

 I watched and waited all week. I did half hourly checks, I made hubby check, I sent my daughter down to check. I watched and waited some more. On Thursday I gave in to temptation and went out for the day to finish the Christmas shopping. So of course mid-morning I get a phone call from hubby to say that my babies had finally arrived.

The Day My First Pedigree Babies Arrived.

October 26 2013 it finally happened. After what has felt like the longest pregnancy on the planet my sweet sow YoYoMar "Night Star" finally gave birth to a litter of four sheltie pups. The sire for this litter is Carrara "Lord Seraphim".

Lilac and Gold Are Such Pretty Colours.

This week saw me bring home some stud additions. Now I was definitely not planning on traveling anywhere to pick up any guinea pigs this week being that I am now 38 weeks pregnant. However, I simply could not pass this little group up. If you read my blog regularly, you would know Minnie and Balthasar, my sheltie half-siblings. 

Photo Updates

I was busy today taking some update photos, so I thought that I would share them. As you can tell, I have named my two additions from last week. Hard to believe they are one week old already!

Minnie and Zavier's Litter Has Arrived

My beautiful pedigree sheltie has given birth today. I was waiting on her pedigree partner to arrive but when he wasn't yet available and the months rolled by, I came to the decision that a pet litter would be the best choice. This litter effectively eliminates the risk of dystocia, which is most common in sows bred and having their first litter after approximately 6 months of age. Dystocia is the inability of the pubic symphisis to open during labour due to a loss of flexibility that can occur at maturity.

Pedigree Update

YoYoMar "Night Star"

Months of patience have seen me finally blessed with another sheltie sow. This lovely lass has been nicknamed Star. She has a beautiful personality and has settled in really well. This makes her Enchanted Kingdom Cavy Stud's third pedigree sheltie. 

It All Started With Zavier

Like many cavy fanciers, my interest started with repeated requests from my eleven year old daughter to have pet guinea pigs. After explaining that we needed to be properly set up before bringing home new pets and how taking care of guinea pigs would require a commitment to caring for them that would need to be honored, a day out at the markets with friends changed everything.