I am not new to guinea pig introduction, yet every time it goes entirely differently than any other time. When we introduced Bean and Mocha, it was crazy because we didn’t know yet that Mocha was male. Obviously we had to separate the immediately or face the consequences. It was nuts. After Mocha died, we brought home Buttercup. Introducing her to Bean was entirely anti-climatic. They accepted each other straight away.
Introducing Buttercup to Inigo & Fessik was another story entirely. They had never been separated, so they already had a dynamic. It took some time to sort out their differences, but eventually Buttercup established herself as “boss” of the herd.
Now that I think about it, introducing Spike to Buttercup was similar. They seemed fine at first, then Spike began making a play for dominance. Buttercup was controlling access to the food, and eventually Spike drew blood (or Buttercup headbutted something, which is possible.)
It took awhile, but they seem to be getting along now. I’ve only had to intervene once in the last week or so. What a relief.
Otherwise, our time has been full of family and friends. That doesn’t sound like news does it? I finally got to experience the splendour that is The Loft. The Loft Board Game Lounge is a magical place where you can drink, eat tasty snacks, and play boardgames. All for only a $5 cover charge. We started off with drinks downstairs at the Lunenburg before heading upstairs to play boardgames until 1AM. Awesomesauce.
And I finally got to see The Giver. The book it’s based on has special meaning for me; it was my favourite book when I was in elementary school. I was so worried that the movie was going to let me down, especially when I saw the critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Don’t pay any attention to them. It’s a wonderful movie.
Coming up this weekend is a camping trip to Silent Lake with good friends Eric and Alex, and their daughter Kyla. I’m really excited. They make very good camping buddies, and I’ve heard excellent things about this campground.