About Guinea Piggles
Guinea Piggles was created by Monique, and now her husband, Julian, also helps with creating the videos and other bits and bobs behind the scenes!
When we first had guinea pigs, it was for our daughter (nickname Bug), who had begged us for ages to let her have some. Knowing how quickly a lot of children get bored of pets, we resisted for a long time, and then decided, when Bug was 15 years old, that we would let her have a pair of guinea pigs.
As Bug became busy with school exams, music exams, and her budding music career, Monique took over with the care of the guinea pigs, and is now full time guinea pig mum!
Our first guinea pigs
We bought 2 guinea pigs from a pet store as we were completely unaware of the fact that there were so many guinea pigs in rescue centres. We also didn’t consider the journey these guinea pigs may have had before they arrived at the pet store at the time.
We also didn’t realize what was really involved in caring for these small pets, and we should have done a lot more research before getting them. There is so much we didn’t know about guinea pigs when we first had them!
Despite having to learn along the way, we fell in love with these adorable little furries and wanted to help other people who were planning on getting guinea pigs, or who already had them, to have the information they needed to care properly for them.
The beginning of Guinea Piggles
We started Guinea Piggles at the end of 2016 with our Guinea Piggles website and then, in 2020, we started our youtube channel. We also have a Facebook Group you can join to share information about your guinea pigs, ask questions, and help other guinea pig owners too with their questions.
We also use the website and youtube channel to make product recommendations for guinea pigs. There are so many bad products that are on sale for guinea pigs that are dangerous, unhealthy or unnecessary. We ONLY recommend those that are safe, healthy or will enrich the life of your guinea pigs.
How you can support Guinea Piggles
We earn a small commission if you click on some of these product links and make a purchase and this helps us immensely as it means we can spend the time required on making good quality videos and information that in turn helps you care for your guinea pigs. We are really grateful for all your support in this way.
The Guinea Piggles mission
Our mission is to help as many guinea pigs as we can to have a good life, by providing helpful information and helping to educate guinea pig owners and those who are planning on getting guinea pigs.
Meet our guinea pigs!
We have 4 guinea pigs at the moment, which is a small herd of 3 females and one neutered male.
Baileys
Baileys was our first guinea pig who we bought as a baby from the pet store in April 2016. She’s an Abyssinian with a very sweet nature. She’s always been pretty healthy apart from the odd hay poke which she seems to get more than any of the other guinea pigs! She’s really good friends with Sunny Pig and you’ll often find them side by side in a hideout!
We bought Baileys as a pair with another baby Abyssinian guinea pig who we called Butterscotch. But Butterscotch sadly died within a week of having her with a URI. We believe she must have been ill when we got her.
We bought another baby guinea pig from the pet store so Baileys wasn’t alone. This was our dark colored Abyssinian, Brandy, who sadly went over the rainbow bridge in early 2020.
Sunny Pig
Sunny Pig is an Abyssinian guinea pig, and was adopted from the rescue section of the pet store mid-2016 along with Sparkles. We don’t know exactly how old she is but she was probably at least a year old when we got her. She’s always been pretty healthy since we had her.
But in early 2021, she was a lot less active and spent time looking rather sad so we took her to the vet to see what might be wrong. After a scan, the vet thought she had a tumour on her ovaries so we had her spayed. It actually turned out to be a benign cyst which was great news. However, we think she probably had hormonal issues as she’s gone back to being her normal happy and lively self since recovering from the operation.
Sparkles
Sparkles, a Sheba Mini Yak, or “Bad Hair Day” guinea pig, was adopted from the rescue section of the pet store along with Sunny Pig as they were already in a pair.
Sparkles is quite a nervous guinea pig although she’s quite placid when she’s being handled. She needs regular grooming which includes the occasional bath and fairly regular hair cuts to keep her clean and to prevent her hair getting in a state!
Mr Jaffas
Mr Jaffas is an American crested guinea pig. He was alone in the adoption part of the pet store and we were told he didn’t like other guinea pigs so would need to be housed alone. We felt really bad for him, so we adopted him towards the end of 2016, had him neutered, and he adores his female friends!
We’re not sure how old he is but we believe he was probably around a year old when we adopted him.
We were told that he lived on just pellet food previously and we believe the lack of hay and fresh veggies in his diet may have led to his tooth troubles. He has to go to the vet every few months to have his teeth trimmed and they aren’t in the best condition but he loves his food like any other guinea pig and, providing he has regular tooth trims, he seems to eat without too many problems.
He also has a big soft lump under his chin. The vet wasn’t sure what this was but it doesn’t seem to cause him any problems – it just adds a bit of character to him and wobbles as he eats or walks!
Mr Jaffas has the most adorable personality. He’s always been very nervous and very active. His favorite thing is chasing the treat ball around the cage in an effort to get the pea flakes that fall out as it rolls around!