Baby Pictures

One of most interesting things about boars (to me) is how fast they grow, and what changes take place as they become manpigs.  At least with the short-hairs, it's easy to see that they're bulking up.  They start to get that big pig swagger, they develop the shoulder hump and (at least in some cases) a bit of a neck flap from extra skin.

It's also interesting to notice how each pair of pigs develops differently from the other pairs, and how the younger ones eventually emulate the behaviors of the older pigs in the cage.

Anyways, I could go on all night but let's cut to the chase: comparison pictures are neat.   Have 3 pigs worth.

Nougat

    Nougat was a rowdy ball of fluff.  He was a rocket pig, save when he got to snuggle up in your jacket.  Then he was pure loaf.

Now he's big, more floofy, and just as cute.  I'm not sure how much bigger he'll get, he seems to have settled nicely into a pleasant loafing size.  He's lean and fairly laid back, though still a rocket until he gets to jump into your sweatshirt or jacket. 

Bonus pic - Nu takes a nap in one of the hidey houses.












Rubose

Ru was a little booger.  Noisy, excitable, and anxious when he couldn't see Chubs.

Look at that!  He's always looked like a pretty small guy so I wasn't expecting him to get really big, but he seems to be heading that direction anyways.  I have to wonder, knowing Chubs's early habits, if he isn't getting a bit plump. 

Bonus pic - Ru licks the table.  He knows there were other pigs there.  Where are theeeey???













MoMo

Mo was ridiculous.  That is all.

MoMo's still a young pig - he's just started down the road to manpighood - but it will be fun to see his final form, as it were.  And his hair, it will be neat!

Bonus pic: Mo gets his hair combed.  He has officially achieved mophood. 

Ru Lump

I turned around the other day to check on Chubs and Ru as their cage sits against the wall behind my desk.  I spotted Chubs right away, but Rubose was nowhere to be seen.  And then I saw a lump.  To my dismay (and amusement), I realized Ru had discovered he could burrow under the fleece.

Ru lump!

Ru lump sneaks up on Chubs!

Ambush!  Chubs does not approve of moving floors.












I'm going to have to find something to hold down the fleece (or change the arrangement, or get another layer) because Rubose loves it under there.  Every time I turn around now there's a lump in the cage, and each time it migrates to a different location.  Good thing today is full cage-cleaning day, I imagine he's already soaked some towels through this morning.

Mamba and NutNut Return!

My sister brought her pigs for me to watch for a few weeks while she moves.  Exciting!  Mamba is a beast, he's tippled in size since I last saw him.  I haven't weighed him, but I estimate he's 3lbs+.   And NutNut has doubled in size at least.

Mamba loafin out in his travel bin.  Look at those beady black shark eyes.

NutNut and Mamba loaf on the bed.  They were tired after the drive up.

Still hangin out.  I was trying to get a good view where you could see Mamba's eye(s), but it looks like this is a picture of NutNut's nuts instead.

Chubs and Rubose visit Mamb and NutNut's cage during floor time.  I dare say Chubs, Nougat, and Mamba all recognize each other.  Commence rumble-fest!









Both have settled in nicely so far.  It's fun to see how they get along - they warble at each other constantly, like Nougat and Mo, and Mamba has separation anxiety when you take NutNut out of the cage.  They're also super loafy when handled, which is awesome.  So much fun!

So Excitable

Chubs and Ru were out getting some floor time this morning when Ru discovered a plastic bag by my drafting table.  Naturally he had to tromp through it and, since the rustling of a plastic bag usually implies lettuce, he got super excited.  It was like a never-ending loop of guinea joy.  *tromp tromp tromp* *WHEEP WHEEP WHEEP*  *tromp* *WHEEP* *tromp* *WHEEP*

In other news, Nougat's become very bitey as of late.  He's always been an avid chewer, but I'd gotten him down from bitey to just nibbly a few months ago.  Now he's back to being bitey.  He doesn't usually break skin but he noms pretty hard, and his signature is the bite and pull.  I think it's a comfort thing, going to have to figure out if something's going on.  

More Visitors?

Looks like there may be more visitors on the way.  My sister's friend, the same one whom Anik adopted the last visitor pig from, has two other pigs (MooMoo and Chewy) that may need to be looked after.  She'll be gone over the summer and doesn't know when she'll be back, and though she really doesn't want to give her pigs away she's got nowhere to house them while she's absent.  So Anik and I volunteered to watch them.

Maybe I should open a piggie daycare, hahaha.  I think I'd need a bigger room.

Beady Eyes

Ru has recently learned to be creepy.  I think he got it from Chubs.  You know, where your pig just sits there facing you and stares, black beady eyes unblinking.  I think it's the lack of stereoscopic vision that does it.

It makes me wonder about a guinea pig's visual range.  I'm sure they have a great panoramic view, given that their eyes are situated on the sides of their heads like most prey animals (you may notice when your pigs are browsing they look up and around with each eye to keep an eye out for predators).  They have to have some forward sight though, so I wonder just how good it is and how much they can focus.

At least he hasn't figured out how to do shark eyes like Chubs.  Nothing like looking over while doing crunches on the floor and seeing Chubs, head up, silent and poised and watching you from over the cage wall.  Silly pig.  

Rearranging & Mo gets a bath

Looks like the new pig is going down with my sister to stay with NutNut and Mamba.  I'm sending her down with the new cage I made for Chubs and Rubose and my extra fleece as she'll need more space.  Chubs and Ru are in a temporary, smaller cage for the night.  Tomorrow I'll get them set up again properly.

I've been at a forum all weekend and hadn't been able to brush Mo out - he had a couple small mats on his belly and was starting to get a little grungy.  It wasn't terrible, but I figured since I'll be away the next couple of days I'd go ahead and give him his bath.

  Slightly grungy Mo.  I love the way his fur falls and floofs all over the place.

He's not super fond of the water, but he's probably the calmest of all my pigs during bath time.

Mo is getting super used to the blow dryer.  He usually decides to lay down once his fur starts to dry. The last time I blow-dried him he raised a back leg when I tickled him so I could dry his belly.

Dry and combed!

His face ruff is still a bit damp here...

All done!

The Visitor!

As I mentioned earlier in a LJ post, my sister has a friend with pigs down at college who has decided she likes rats better.  She's paying less attention to her pigs and since one of them has been acting up she would like to get rid of it.  Two days ago my sis introduced him to Nut Nut and Mamba, and he seemed to do well with them.  Yesterday she brought him up and we introduced him to Chubs and Rubose.  Oddly (or awesomely) enough, they had no problems with each other.  Rubose established that he was second in command AND that Chubs was boss.  Chubs kind of sniffed around, smacked the new pig in the face with a front foot the one time he got uppity, and then continued on his merry way.  No chattering, hackling, sidestepping, teeth showing, complaining, or anything aside from Rubose rumbling and dominating the newcomer.

Rubose and new pig hang out on the couch.

Ru's actually a little bit larger then the new guy, despite the fact that he looks smaller in every picture we've taken so far.









Rubose hangs out on a towel.  He's going to have an awesome piggie face when he grows up.

Rubose, Chubs, and new pig hang out in their crate while they wait for their cage to be cleaned.

Ru gets impatient.  Chubs and new pig huddle together.  I was really surprised - at this point Chubs was soft purring/vibrating (the opposite of the loud angry purr), and seemed pretty happy he had a buddy who would just sit with him.













We'll see where new pig ends up, but it's pretty likely that he'll either be up here with me or down with my sis at school.

A Question of Dominance

For whatever reason Nougat and Mo picked today to square off and see who's going to be boss pig.  This usually involves a good deal of noise, scent marking, chasing, mounting, contests of who can put their nose higher and the occasional attempt to pee on one's opponent.   Hilariously enough it looks like Mo started it, though he's only half Nougat's size.

+1 Mo, for launching off the rainbow hut onto Nougat because he's too small to mount Nu.
+1 Mo for using Nougat's face as leverage to try and get his nose higher.   

+1 Nu for bulldozing Mo around the cage with his face.
+1 Nu for using the cage sides to scrape Mo off his back.

Oop, now they're tired and they've both gone to sleep.  Looks like the score is tied, though I'm sure they're not finished yet.  I guess we'll find out!

What's with the loafs?

What's with the loafs, you say?  Have you ever seen your pig loaf around, all lazy and stretched out?  Does your pig kind of look... like a loaf of dough, or bread?  If so, well, there you have it.   You are in possession of a piggy loaf.  And while all pigs may not look very loafy (Chubs looks more like a squash, for instance), you can rest assured that they all know how to kick it, loaf style.