Color Me Crazy

Meet the newest members of the Wilkes family.

This is Humphrey…

…and this is Spotty.

Humphrey and Spotty are two female guinea pigs that came to live with us today.  Here are the girls with their proud new owner.

And here’s the story.

Charlotte has been asking for a hamster or guinea pig pretty much since we moved back to the States.  She has really wanted her “own” pet for a lot longer than that, but we’ve been pretty consistently telling her “no,” especially with the new baby, flooded basement, and everything else that has been happening.

A couple weeks ago, Charlotte and Elijah had to write a persuasive plea for language arts.  Charlotte wrote about her great desire for a hamster or a guinea pig.  One of her favorite book series is about a hamster named Humphrey (thus the unusually-named girl hamster).  She has a friend who owns a guinea pig, which is very friendly toward Charlotte.  So, she’s been flip-flopping on which one she actually wants.

Anyway, today I found a posting on one of my home school Yahoo groups about two free guinea pigs plus gear to a good home.  One of the children in the house was allergic to hay, a staple in these girls’ diet.  The guinea pigs’ old names were Piglet and Lily; they are about four years old and have always been together.  After a quick consult with Jeff, I called the owner and then drove over to let Charlotte see them.

Of course, it was love at first sight.  I should’ve taken the camera to the house for the initial meeting. 

The life expectancy for guinea pigs is anywhere from four to eight years, so I warned Charlotte that these girls might live for a long time or not, once we took them home.  I also asked if she was sure she wanted two older guinea pigs instead of a young one that she perhaps picked out herself.  But none of this mattered to her…she was perfectly happy with these two, and they seemed to take to her pretty well, too.

After about 30 minutes of get-acquainted time, we were loading a cage with two guinea pigs, two bags of wood chips, a big box of food and guinea pig treats, and one happy little girl plus her brother into our van.

So, here we are.  New baby on the way in a matter of weeks, a not-quite-finished renovation project…and two new pets.  In my weary state, the thought of having all of the paraphernalia already purchased, a how-to list provided, and the word “FREE” were just too much to resist.

Am I nuts?!