Wheatgrass for the Guinea Pigs

At the end of February, my sister Joy started a new project - growing wheatgrass for our pets Moonball and Walnut. We live in a condo building, and usually have a hard time getting fresh grass. We do mostly small container gardening in the balconies. We give our guinea pigs some inexpensive leafy vegetables, but they're not a substitute for fresh, sweet grass. So Joy did her homework, and discovered a very good tutorial on SproutPeople.org. There are also many blogs that have excellent how-to videos and directions as well.

It was a challenge finding the seeds. At first Joy went to a feed store and bought oat groats, but only a small percentage of that sprouted and grew. She later remembered that Healthy Options Shangri-la had a selection of organic grains for sale. She found some Bob's Red Mill brand "Hard Red Winter Wheat Berries" and "Hard Red Spring Wheat Berries" which were being sold for P169 per 2-lb pack. Oddly this was a better price than what was being offered at Manila Seedling Bank.

The grains are soaked (and drained, and soaked, and drained) for anywhere from 8 hours to 18 hours. They are later spread on potting mix or shredded newspaper in small recycled take-out containers, and left to grow, covered, in a dark area until they sprout and etiolate (grow pale grass shoots without sunlight). After some time the shoots are transferred to an area with indirect sunlight, and the grass shoots eventually turn green. They are spray-watered several times a day. By the time the grass reaches 5-7" it is ready to harvest. Joy does staggered plantings so she has a harvest every day, or every other day. A serving of wheatgrass in a low take-out tray is enough to feed the guinea pigs - it's only meant to be a treat, since they have pellets for daily sustenance.

One day instead of cutting the wheatgrass and putting it in a bowl, we decided to give Moonball and Walnut the entire tray. They loved it!

The mowed-down grass, root system and potting mix are then shredded and returned to our little compost bin for later re-use. We've tried growing some wheatgrass in A4-sized low plastic containers for wheatgrass juice, but the yield was quite low - after a spell in a Jack Lalanne juicer, we only produced about 5 oz for 2 containers' worth of grass! We fed the discarded grass from the juicer to Moonball and Walnut, so nothing was wasted. That was worth a try anyway :)

Walnut the Guinea Pig

Last Sunday, my sister Joy surprised me with a text. "Check your email for important bulletin!" I was so intrigued I immediately opened my email.
I saw this:

 

A walking ball of fur with eyes! "Her name is Walnut." Our other guinea pig, Moonball, is an American shorthaired cavy, so the prospect of caring for a fancier breed was exciting. Walnut is approximately 4 months old, what they call a Sheltie or Silkie. A cavy with Justin Bieber hair. My brother-in-law Tristan picked her out of a lineup at the Northeast Greenhills Sunday Market, and paid P500. He says he was enamored by her black button eyes and teddy bear looks.

Joy and Tristan decided to get another cavy to keep Moonball company, because they'd read that cavies are social animals. Moonball is now a year and a half old, so it was interesting to see how she'd bond with another cavy half her size. Walnut was skittish, and tended to run away everytime Moonball would attempt to smell or lick her. Good thing we had a couple of shelters - a huge PVC T-joint and an overturned plastic basket with cut-out sides - inside what we like to call the cavy-tat.

 

Eventually, Walnut's hunger forced her to leave the T-joint and join Moonball (and her bulk) at the food bowl.

 

 

At first we were concerned that Moonball would hog the food bowl, but Walnut managed to get her share of pellets.

Tristan would occasionally capture Walnut so Joy could give her a dose of Vitamin C from a syringe, and so Walnut would get used to handling and grooming. Right now she fits on Tristan's palm:

 

Joy also rebuilt the cavy-tat from a 2x3 to a 2x4 Stack-and-Rack cage held together with cable ties with a coro-plast box inside. The coro-plast (corrugated plastic) box is lined with an extra-large garbage bag and old newspapers, followed by a green plastic mesh floor where poop and urine could pass through. This makes it easy for us to collect the poop and newspapers for my mom's composting needs.

 

In the evenings after dinner we like to sit on the sofa and watch Walnut and Moonball run around or eat. Since they're still getting acquainted, there's a lot of chasing going on. Walnut is a perky little thing; despite being wary of the bigger Moonball, she has learned to spend more time out in the open instead of hiding in the T-joint all the time.

Right now Moonball is about 800 grams and is about as big as a puppy. She is well socialized with humans, so she actually enjoys being picked up and cuddled every so often. She's also potty-trained - she only pees and poops on the old newspaper folded in the corners of the cavy-tat. We're hoping Walnut catches on.
Cavies have a lifespan of about 4-6 years, given the best possible care. We plan to enjoy these two pets for as long as we can.

Summer Family Bonding

Last Holy Week our entire family packed up and went to our parents' place in Cavite, a place full of trees and flowering plants and birds. While walking around, my sister Joy saw this empty nest. It was about 9 inches high, and 3 inches across, perched on our bougainvillea.

We took my 5yo niece Lilo to the aratiles tree by the pond, and were able to pick a handful of berries. I must have been in high school the last time I did that! I think it's one of those things all Pinoy kids should experience.

We also found this giant millipede. Meanwhile, we collected the eggshells from the week's omelettes for a special Easter project

which later became this Easter Egg Tree:

And while we didn't have an Easter bunny, we were happy with Moonball the Easter Guinea Pig instead!

----------
Photos copyright Joy Abara. All rights reserved.

Guinea Pig Lap Time

It's Eid al'Fitr, a national holiday, and today I celebrate the first time our pet guinea pig Moonball got Lap Time!

Every day my sister and I would scoop her up and give her some liquid vitamin C via syringe, and at first she would struggle. Eventually I got the hang of handling her by the shoulders so she wouldn't slip from my grasp - I'd wrap her quickly in a soft face towel and Joy would feed her the vitamin C. Moonball is a warm little thing, with a little round belly, so I try to be as gentle as possible and not give her a fright.

While I was out having lunch Joy discovered that she could pet Moonball on her lap if she gave her carrot peels to munch. Moonball allowed herself to be stroked and occasionally nodded off. Naturally my little niece Lilo was delighted; her hands were too little to hold Moonball properly, so she just patted Moonball while she was on Joy's lap.

This afternoon after returning from errands Joy surprised me by putting Moonball on MY lap. She ate two or three little pieces of carrot peel and snuggled on her face towel. I loved stroking her! She purred and chirped and made these little sounds of contentment. She even fell asleep a while. "We just have to get her used to the idea that she will get carrot peels whenever she has Lap Time," Joy said. We figured twice-a-day Lap Time would be sufficient. Before this she was a frisky little thing that kept trying to evade us unless she smelled grass in our hands.

We used to have dogs, and I miss having them, but having a little guinea pig to pet is almost quite as good.

Cat-certo Cuteness

... because it brings a smile to my face at a dark time :) 

Please enjoy the performance of Nora the Piano Cat in a trademark cat-certo!

Catrina the Male Cat

When Catrina was still a kitten my dad had no idea he was actually male. Months later, I told him about the juvenile cat having balls, but it was too late and the name stuck. Anyhow, Catrina knew who the Alpha Male in our family was, so he would sit under the resthouse table very prettily begging for scraps. And no one could resist him. Usually, he would walk aloofly around the farm grounds as though he owned it.

One day we realized he'd disappeared, and someone in the neighboring farm had tried to adopt him, but he wouldn't settle. Eventually he found his way back to us, with a bit of green plastic string tied around his neck. The boys cut the offending string away, replaced his little chain necklace and tag, and fed and bathed him in the manner to which he was accustomed.

Catrina and my pretty farm dog Martina (archive entry My Pretty Mongrel) grew up together. They were so close that Catrina would actually sleep on top of Martina to keep warm. There were times we've caught Martina brushing up our pantlegs like she were a cat, and Catrina acting like he were a dog.

Catrina's actually never grown out of juvenile size. But he's grown sleek and presented me lots of times with photo opportunities. Once in a while I pick him up and give him a cuddle or put him on my lap stroking his fur, but after some time he likes to leap down and walk around in his lordly little way. I've seen male cats grow big and feral, but I'm glad my little Catrina remains dainty and adorable.