My DD wants to know what to buy the Guinea-Pigs for Christmas...?

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Not, what to buy her Long Suffering Mother

Last year (we have had them a year and a few weeks now) they had:
Santa Hats (bottle covers from Poundland). A very quick Christmas Eve photo, then they discarded them (ie shook them off)

The stalk from the brussel sprouts with a couple left on. Not ideal considering GP2 s "Natural Gas" problem

The peelings from carrot,parsnips and swede (again not a good idea -GP2)

Nice parsley

They've got a Pet Bed.
A tunnel.
A wicker house.

They won't actually know will they, unless we tell them?

I could throw all the ripped up wrapping paper into the paddling pool and let them go wild in it?

[FernieB]

IME the best present a small furry can get is a lot of wrapping paper to go mad with (and food).

[KRITIQ]

Oh, Christmas with cavies can be such fun! :)

How about:

• Small paper bag filled with fancy hay. Toilet or kitchen role cores also work well for this.
  

• Small branch of a fruit wood tree for gnawing.
  

• Willow ball or wreath
  

• Corn on the cob wrapped in the shape of a Christmas Cracker. If you don't use tape (just twist the ends,) you can just fling it at them and let them unwrap it themselves.
  

• Shoebox house. Take off the lid and turn it over. Cut a rounded "door" in one side. Paint it or stick on pictures using non-toxic paints and/or glue. (When they get tired of running in and out, they'll just chew it up.)
  

• Shampoo from Gorgeous Guineas (although that will be like getting a gaudy sweater from Aunt Mabel if they aren't keen on taking baths.)

[BonkeyMollocks]

One of these....www.amazon.co.uk/Rosewood-Boredom-Breaker-Natural-Fragrant/dp/B000ZSU7K0?tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

You will be loved FOREVER!

[BonkeyMollocks]

Well that worked

here !

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

they've got the Gorgeous Guineas Shampoo (in 3 flavours). I'd imagine their faces would be the same as 13 yo DS will be when he gets his Lynx bodywash ("You want me to wash ")

The parsley bell looks good, those boys love their parsley.
I will grow some peashoots on the windowsill for them too.

[fortifiedwithtea]

Take DD to Build-a-Bear. If she's like my 2 DDs, she won't need asking twice. DD gets a new toy, piggies get the box . Build-a-bears are like ready made piggie houses. Cut out door and window. Its quite likely that OB is getting one as DD2 wants to spend her birthday money.

Or, how about a pop-up tent. We had one from p@h still knocking about the garden somewhere. OB and his brother had so much fun fightssharing it .

[BonkeyMollocks]

YY to the pop up tent!

I found a small one in a charity shop, thought it would do the job to keep the hay off the fleece i was using at the time yeah right , filled it to the brim with hay and they went loopy!

[guineapiglet]

This will be our first christmas without guineas for 8 years ..... last year, our farmer friend delivered us a HUGE hay bale, which we put with all the guineas, supposedly to last them a few months. Ha! They treated the bale like a large, personal play thing, making nests in it, burrowing in it, chomping and sleeping in it, it was wonderful to watch - the noises coming out of it were deafening, if guineas could smile they had big grins on their faces for weeks. THe bale was slowly demolished over the course of Christmas and New Year. It kept them warm, entertained AND fed at the same time. And it only cost a fiver!!!

[BonkeyMollocks]

Awww guinea I hope you get some soon!

I have just given my boys a toilet roll tube stuffed with hidden parsley and naice hay- neither if them 'get it' . They have never had to work for parsley before.

LittlePig is popping on top of it and BigPig is doing his backwards bum shuffle pulling it around

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

guineapiglet (fingers crossed on the house and prospective cavies front )

I love the haybale idea, I could lob one into the boys rabbit run and they could prance round it until GP1 dug his way in and GP2 would follow

They got a haybox full of barley straw (which is lovely, soft and springy) at the back and sides and sweet meadow hay.

They dived right in (but within 24 hours it will be flattened, peed on with pooh nests tucked into the corners) Bless Them !

[dietcokeandwine]

For our guineas' first birthday, 8 yo DS made them cardboard 'birthday cakes' - basically cut out two circles of cardboard and then fixed a wide strip of cardboard around the edge of each to form a kind of circular box. We stuffed them with dandelion leaves. Pigs LOVED them - could easily get to the dandelion treats so snaffled them in seconds and then spent many happy hours gnawing at the cardboard.

Could you get DD to do similar? Maybe get her to cut out Christmassy shapes (stars, bells, stockings?) from cardboard and put lettuce/parsley/dandelions into them?

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

My GPs have a cardboard box in the paddling pool and GP2 is chewing the cardboard (yay- proper guinea-pig behaviour )

I was getting a bit worried about the boars because IME they gravitate towards paper to chew it and mine are a bit meh.

(It does mean they don't eat newspaper which is good)

I might treat them to some wide pipework (B&Q /Wicks) for their run in the garage. DD can make a guinea-race-track with pipes and boxes.
We could back a small box with food to 'motivate' them.