Iris
was born into a litter of three pups on 16th February 2012. She quickly
turned out to be very strong-minded and followed mom closely by and eager to
explore and striving to be the first one to climb on top of the roof of the
house, drink or any other activity. She became a bit headstrong, and a bully
to her smaller sister, so when they were old enough her sister had to be
moved into another cage with another younger female for company, the boy with
dad, and Iris stayed with mom. Something she was more than happy about, as
she loved to snuggle next to mom in the tube.
Her mother became ill after a year or so, and sadly died, I was very worried
for Iris, she seemed depressed and if I tried to introduce her to her sister
and the younger females, she lived with, she was terrified! I was not sure
what to do, and I was afraid she would pass away, because she seemed to be
unwilling to do anything. I spend a lot of time with her, talking to her and
petting her, and she eventually came about, thank goodness. I tried again to
let her meet her sister on neutral ground, and she seemed ok with it, they
both did, they had some time on the kitchen floor to play, then I slowly
introduced the other three females, and success! The five girls bonded and Iris is
now the proud piggy leader of the little troop of rascals!
Since then, Iris has grown and gotten more independent, she's good at
communication and letting me know if something upsets her, water may be
running low, or she wants a treat or attention, she'll stand up on her back
legs and bite the bars moving her head to look at the problem, then bite some
more, to let me know. Perhaps she just wants out on the floor. She and the
others greet me every morning when I wake up, with Iris calling first to ask
for breakfast.
When she drinks, she has a very bizarre way to drink, she sits down, rests
her front all the way down on the bedding, crooks her head up and neck back
and drinks, I am not sure why she likes to drink like this, its rather funny,
and whenever I try to take a picture of her doing silly things, she stops, I
think she doesn't want to be laughed at.
Iris loves food, and to snuggle under a green knitted scarf my grand mom made
me, its warm and comfy to hide in, she's very cheeky and is sometimes still a
bit of a bully popcorning and coaxing the others to play. I think she's still
a small pup at heart, learning not to be so attached and that its ok not to
be clingy. She's very loving and doesn't mind hanging out next to me, she'll
let me know somehow when she wants to go back, like how she does on the floor
when playtime is over, she'll follow me and stand with her front paws on my
leg or foot so I know she wants up. She is a very special guinea pig.
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