Have you ever heard of a pignic? They’re really cool. Last Sunday, my family and I went to one. When we arrived, our guinea pigs were checked to make sure they were healthy and to double check that they were all females. After getting a clean bill of health, our guinea pigs were placed in the girl pen. There was also a boy pen. If your guinea pig did not behave well, you had to put it in a special “time-out” pen. One guinea pig bit three guinea pigs on the nose! You can guess where that pig was sent. It was a fun day and we enjoyed sharing our pigs with other people. It was also lots of fun meeting other peoples’ pigs. We saw a Texel, a Teddy, several Americans, Peruvians, Silkies and even a Coronet. By the way, Queen Betty made good friends with the Texel. The people who hosted the event had contests with the following categories: longest hair, messiest hair, the heaviest, the lightest, and the people with the most pigs. Although ours did not win, we all had a wonderful day and hope to go again in September.
To find a pignic by you, please visit the links page and click on cavy madness. On this website, you will find a link to “pignic central” where you can find dates and locations of pignics all over.
Besides playing with guinea pigs, one of our favorite things to do is read about them! Here’s a list of some of our favorite books:
1. A Tale of Two Guinea Pigs, by Lisa Maddock. This book is very, very funny. It’s about a 9 year old girl who loves solving mysteries. When she meets two guinea pigs, Teddy and Pip, she must solve the mystery of where their human friends have gone and why no postcards have been sent. Along the way, she discovers the guinea pigs’ big secret. Teddy and Pip can talk! Visit the website for this book to learn more about them. You can also write to Teddy and Pip and even get a response. www.teddyandpip.com
2. My Guinea Pig and Me, by Immanuel Birmelin. This book is non-fiction and has beautiful pictures. It contains lots of information about guinea pigs and also has fun ideas for things to do with them, such as building a guinea pig playground. This has been one of our favorites!
3. Guinea Pig Gang, by Ben M. Baglio. This is a fiction book about a girl named Mandy Hope who loves animals. Her parents are vets. She starts a guinea pig club for her friends.
4. The Proper Care of Guinea Pigs, by Peter Gurney. In this book, there are beautiful pictures and lots of interesting facts to learn about guinea pigs.
5. Great Big Guinea Pigs, by Susan L. Roth. Did you know that guinea pigs were once as big as buffalo? This story is about a mother guinea pig who tells her baby guinea pig about how guinea pigs evolved. It is based on actual recent research and the pictures are collages made from all different kinds of paper.
6. Your Guinea Pig, by Wanda L. Curran. If you’re interested in breeding or showing your guinea pigs, this is the book for you.
7. Charlie Hits It Big, by Deborah Blumenthal and illustrated by Denise Brunkus. This is a book about a guinea pig that goes out on an adventure in Hollywood. My sister and I really enjoy this story. It always makes us laugh!
8. Guinea Pigs, by Karen Bawoll. This was our first guinea pig book and is excellent for beginners as well as people who already have guinea pigs.
9. I Completely Know About Guinea Pigs (Charlie and Lola), characters created by Lauren Child. This is my favorite Charlie and Lola story of all time! Lola gets to take home the class pet, Burt the guinea pig, for school vacation.
