Guinea Pig in the paintings

Guinea Pig in the paintings

 It has been a week since our adorable guinea pigs became a family. Guinea pigs must also be scared and stressed because of the new environment. It was a busy day for me too, cleaning the cage, checking the health of guinea pigs, and controlling the temperature. In addition, the daily life changed by the guinea pig also had to adapt. Here's my week's experience with a few guinea pigs. Actually my site is mainly about painting and art. But after wrestling with Pinky and Squash for the past few days, it's almost full of my piggy story. It seems unavoidable for the time being.

  First. Guinea pigs are much more adorable and cute than I've ever imagined. As I raise my children, there are times when I think that their backs are the cutest. In particular, the back view of babies walking around in diapers gives an indescribable impression. So were the piggies. The back view of eating hay, especially the two of them eating together, is so lovely.

 Second. When raising a guinea pig, it is difficult to clean up the cage. Of my guinea pigs in a week, squash cleverly almost finished the potty train. It's lovely to see him run to the toilet pan when the signal comes from eating hay.  But Pinky still poops here and there. ​

 ​Before piggys came to my house, I had studied about them by watching YouTube and internet resources. And I discovered that I could potty train them. When the cavy got used to the new cage, I started training them by moving the litter pans around. I plan to try Pinky in the future. Anyway, once one of the two is trained, the cage cleaning is much easier.

  ​Potty training is important as it can help them live in a more sanitary environment. I plan to work on this in the future.

Third.  My cavy are one of the rodents, so tooth are constantly growing. That's why he grinds his teeth and makes them shorter. For times like this, I bought wooden chew toys and put them in, but they still grind everywhere  in the wooden cage. If you put a cloth around it, it will eat less.  

Fourth.  ​There are unexpected variables. For example, we put ceramic bowls that don't fall down easily for babies, but the naughty ones turn them over at once. So I thought it was my daughter's toy. Since my daughter is a fan of L.O.L. dolls, she has a lot of toys related to it. Among them, there is a bath tub, which fits into the gap of Piggy's liter pan and is fixed. I use this to put the pellets and vitamins they eat. very satisfied!

Fifth. A lot of the stuff I read before adopting guinea pigs talked about noise and smell. For me, the noise wasn't too bothersome as they are nocturnal so they mostly doze or sleep during the day, i.e. they are less active and move at night. On the contrary, the crowing sound is so cute. Smell is not a problem if you clean it frequently. 

 However, it is even more helpful to have a deodorizer sold at grocery store in the room. In my case, I put coffee powder inside the silicone below and hung it. This also helps.

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 Lastly, guinea pigs are timid animals. So they run away in shock at the slightest noise and rough movement. That's why when approaching them, don't approach them suddenly, but approach them gently in slow motion. I did this and within a few days they allowed me to touch their heads with my  hands.

  Because they are weak and timid little animals, I have been stressed for a few days with a deep sense of responsibility and concern. So I couldn't enjoy seeing their cute faces to the fullest. But after about a week, they and I all seem to get used to it. Now, when I cut strawberries as small pieces and put it on my palm, they will come to me closely  and eat deliciously.  They  don't run away like before. 

 ​Anyway, it seems that a lot has changed in a week since the guinea pig came to our house. Taking care of them has made me busier because I have to put them on my tight schedule. But both my husband and children are doing well together. Most of all, I find it rewarding to see a child who feeds and bathes with me.

  ​Guinea pigs were first spotted by Spanish people in the 16th century when they went to South America, and Dutch traders took them to Europe. After that, it entered England in the early 16th century and was sold at a high price of 1 guinea per animal, the British currency of Guinea. For this reason, it was mainly bred in high society, and it is known that Queen Elizabeth I, who we know well, also raised guinea pigs.

 Portrait of holding a guinea pig proofed  how much she loved this cute little animal. 

  In modern times, there is artist  who paint portraits with these guinea pigs. The run is titled Old World Pet Portraits and the artist is Caro lew. She works by drawing portraits of her companion animals by grafting them with famous paintings.

www.carollew.com

  ​Below are some of the guinea pigs she drew.

 Among her story in her site, the following sentences  touches my heart.  

I dusted off my skills and got to work creating a concept that makes a statement I feel deep in my heart; Animals are as worthy of respect and honor as humans are. by Carol Lew (excerpt by her site. oldworldpetportraits.com )
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  ​In this article, I can feel the anguish and passion of an artist who has been thinking about art for a long time and found a work and direction that he truly wants to do.