for all you animal lovers...

[Rudi]

... no, no, it's NOT that kind of posting, just some guinea pig photos.

My daughter has a couple of guinea pigs (as well as other assorted pets and critters), and in the local paper we found an article about an upcoming Guinea Pig Show, so we attended with one of our "girls". (There's a reason why we have two girl guinea pigs... they even judge the boys and girls separately, just to be safe, I guess... :D)

Attached are three photos from the show.

These two girls appear to be veterans, and were not at all fazed by all the attention:
http://www.users.bigpond.com/ruda/demo/crw_4159l_std.jpg

This is our little girl, "Stripey" (don't ask, my daughter named her :)):
http://www.users.bigpond.com/ruda/demo/crw_4160l_std.jpg

This little girl did not appreciate being handled at all... :)
http://www.users.bigpond.com/ruda/demo/crw_4164l_std.jpg

I was amazed at some of the breeds and how seriously some people take their guinea pig breeding (and showing). Some of the animals on display were nothing short of amazing, and looked like anything but guinea pigs (One little guy looked like a wig! A wig that moves! :))

If anyone else here has guinea pigs, let's see them! :)

[Leighow]

WELL RUDI:

I like your photos, they remind me of my nephew’s "cage" !

I like the 1st picture best…these guys look so huggable.

On the other hand, I could wear the “wig”, buy a shoulder parrot, and have it shout voice commands of our beautiful dog “Bailey”.

See Yah

HOWIE

[mjordan]

Guinea pigs are neat animals... must better than Hamsters (which are born pregnent). I had one for awhile that went nuts over green peppers. I use to feed him a piece when I got home from work and as soon as I walked in the door he would be at the front of the cage squeaking at me.

On your pictures, you need to use fill flash or else turn towards the light. You are getting too much contrast between the shadows and light areas. Even a reflector bounching some light back on them would help.

I wonder if you can stack a Guniea pig like you can a dog at a comformation show? ;D

Mike

[Rudi]

mjordan wrote:
On your pictures, you need to use fill flash or else turn towards the light. You are getting too much contrast between the shadows and light areas. Even a reflector bounching some light back on them would help.



Mike,

fill flash was used (check the catchlights in the guinea pigs' eyes). Unfortunately, I was at the only vantage point that available during the judging, and the contrast was still a bit too great. It was just before midday. and the low winter Sun (I'm in Australia) was pretty strong. I might have mentioned this before, but any time the Sun's up, it comes in pretty strong Down Under... :)

And yes, guinea pigs are pretty neat. They learn fairly fast who is feeding them, then squeal and carry on every time that person walks anywhere near them! My girlfriend's daughter has a boy guinea pig, who licks her hands every time he sees her. We asked the vet about it (as the guinea pig doesn't lick anyone else's hands), and were told that because the two of them are such good friends, they have formed a bond and the guinea pig is grooming her. :D

[Don Ellis]

Fun pictures, Rudi. Thanks.

Guinea pigs are so great, I have no idea why anyone would want a hamster. About thirty years ago I got a pair of them and they taught me more about guinea pig behavior than the pamphlet I bought at the same time.

The manual said they were stupid and it was extremely rare for them to stand on their hind legs. All I had to do was touch the cellophane on the lettuce and these two were standing up like prarie dogs and whistling.

The other thing I learned was that newborns pop out road-ready and looking for lunch. I left for work one morning and returned in the afternoon to find five (I think) little ones, bright-eyed and racing around -- none of this lying blind and feeble in the corner for the first few months of life. It was time to see the world NOW.

Really excellent pets. Because they can't climb, I took a strip of eighth-inch flexible plastic, 12 inches wide by 60 inches long, and taped it in a large circle. I put that on a non-absorbing, laminate-covered table and sprinkled wood shavings inside. Once a week, I'd put the pigs in the sink, pick up the plastic ring, sweep everything into a cardboard rubbish box, and fill it up again. Total cleaning time was about three minutes.

No pictures to offer you -- just some guinea pig memories and building plans. Thanks for photos. (I'm a smooth-coat man myself.)

Cheers,

Don

[Rudi]

Don Ellis wrote:
The other thing I learned was that newborns pop out road-ready and looking for lunch. I left for work one morning and returned in the afternoon to find five (I think) little ones, bright-eyed and racing around -- none of this lying blind and feeble in the corner for the first few months of life. It was time to see the world NOW.


Yep, they look like heads on legs! I think they actually hit the ground running! They start eating straight away, yet still breast feed... kind of like yours truly... :D

Don Ellis wrote:
(I'm a smooth-coat man myself.)


You have a smooth coat? !!! :O :p

[Don Ellis]

You have a smooth coat? !!! :O :p

You don't? I don't want to see you at the beach! 8)

Don

[Gord]

I loved the use of the natural lighting. Sometimes to much fill flash can take away from the actual warmth of the light. Great shots!
I loved the first and third. I thought the second picture you could of changed the angle of the shot for a more appealing photograph.

[Don Ellis]

The third guinea pig is great. I can hear the person saying, "Now look, we need to have a little talk here." And the guinea pig raising his hand and replying, "Take it easy, big guy. This is a guinea pig you're holding, not some dumb animal. Let's discuss this reasonably."

Don