Guinea Pigs

Introducing the newest members of the majikfaerie family:

The white one is called Snowy (Snowflake for short) and the Ginger one is called Shyly.

Littletree has been bugging us to have a pet since… well, since forever. My longtime readers (yes, both of you) might remember we did once have a pet, Estrella the Hermit Crab, who mysteriously died after just a few months.

Since then, I’ve been nixing the idea of pets, saying that we can’t have dogs or cats because we live in a small cabin in the bush with lots of wildlife, no mice or rats because we have enough problems with wild rodents and I set out traps, and no rabbits because feral rabbits are such a problem in Australia and I don’t want to add to it.

Finally, we narrowed it down to say Littletree could have a Guinea Pig.

Only I still had one excuse up my sleeve – we lived in a tiny one-room cabin with no place for a pet. I promised Littletree that we could get one as soon as we got a house of our own because then we will be done with travelling and settled down.

And yes, it’s true. we bought this house just over a year ago *hangs head in shame* but at first we were still moving in, then we were going to Tasmania. Then we were going to Thailand. Then we were going to Far North Queensland. Then Littletree and Purple were going to Israel. Then we were all going to New Zealand. (This is me settled down; not travelling any more!)

I finally ran out of excuses, so Purple and I capitulated and bought Littletree a couple of Guinea Pigs, as well as a nice hutch for them to live in (which I spent an afternoon painting and will soon be moved out onto the grass).

Littletree plays with them loads since she got them (let’s see how long that lasts *rolls eyes*). She brought them to Life Drawing Class, and decided to draw the Guinea Pigs rather than the model

Today Littletree built the Guinea Pigs a little castle with her blocks

She hand-feeds them

As much as I’m not really convinced having pets is such a great idea (I don’t remember this being in the brochure when I signed up for this parenting gig!), at least Shyly and Littletree are colour-coordinated

And if it really doesn’t work out, I hear Guinea Pigs are quite tasty ;)

Death of a Star

Lots of stuff happened while we were internet-less, I might catch up on them all, but probably not.
Anyway, one major change is that Estrella, Littletree's pet hermit crab, died.

We don't know why; she was just fine, getting pretty active, and all. Here she is just the day before.

We went to town for the day and when we came home, she was out of her shell, lying in the sand with one claw ripped off :( I have no idea what happened.



Littletree was sad, of course, but not overwhelmingly so. She made a little burial with Purple. Then she asked for a bunny.

Estrella the Hermit Crab

Littletree has been hassling for a pet for a while now. We've been getting books about animals out of the library, looking in the pet shop, and watching endless animal videos on youtube.
She really really really wants a pet. Of course, she wants a kitten most of all, and a bunny, and a puppy, and a fish, a mouse and a kitten...

We talked with her a lot about why we aren't getting a cat - because we live in a very small cottage in the bush, and there's a lot of birds and wildlife around that the cat would kill. Likewise a dog. there are wallabies and poterroos and koalas on our property. Not to mention that we often go travelling so we can't really make a commitment to a pet.

We talked about all the responsibility of having a pet; feeding grooming, litter/ cage maintenance, exercise, etc. And still she wanted one.

Since Dogs and Cats are out, and I don't want any mice, since we have enough trouble with rodents in the house as it is, we decided to get her a fish. Something small and low-maintenance. We figured; if it doesn't work out with a goldfish, then we can always put it into the pond by the pool.

So off to the Pet Shop we went, to check out how much a small tank and a couple of goldfish would cost. Lalala... We decided on the smallest tank they had; it was about 25cm x 12cm, and 2 goldfish and a little catfish to help keep the tank clean.

BUT THEN!

The phone rang, and the petshop woman went off for a few minutes. That's when we found the Hermit Crabs. Of course, it was Littletree's choice; we talked with her a bit about how to take care of it and what it will involve. But she was sold in the first second she saw the crabs.

Admittedly, it seems a little funny to be buying a crab from the pet shop when we can just go to the beach and catch one, but it was definately a lot cheaper than buying fish, what with the tank and accessories and whatnot. And much cooler ;)

Littletree named her Estrella