About us

Our Opinion on Raising Cavies Is...

The most important part of raising guinea pigs to me is that they are healthy and have an enjoyable life. Even though I breed and show my cavies, I do not condone keeping cavies strictly as stock animals. We do have enough cavies to call them a herd, but they are each given individual attention by getting time out of the pens for play. My pet peeve is people who keep one cavy all by his lonesome in solitary confinement. Cavies are herd animals and should be kept with at least one other member of their own species. Anyone that tells you that boars cannot be kept with other boars obviously does not know what he is talking about because that is not always true. Very seldom do I have anybody here at the caboodle who likes living alone.

Cavy Housing...

The pig towers, shown in the pigtures below, are the ideal way to house cavies. These tubs can usually be found at home improvement centers and sometimes department stores. The wire frames of the towers afford much ventilation, as well as encourage the good use of space. If it weren't for Greg, the towers never would have come to be, and neither would the pool play area as seen on the fun page. I come up with the ideas, and he helps make them come true. My pigs now have their very own room. Due to severe allergies, I had to move them out of the living room or send them all to new homes. WELL, I love them too much to give them up. I spend most of my time in my pig room but at least I can get away when my allergies start to get painful. Greg has once again came through for me and allowed me to take over his former paint booth and he even helped me (a little) to transform this room into the pig room. I hate that my babies are not in the living room anymore but I really am enjoying my own special retreat!

My new and improved pig room!

We installed insulation over my finished walls because I could not

keep the room cool enough in this Texas heat. It worked like a

charm and now my room stays below 80 all the time with the AC

on it's lowest setting. I admit, the silver walls are not as pretty as

my blue ones were, but the pigs are much happier so I am too!

MORE IMPROVEMENTS!!! I wanted my pool in my pig

room instead of out in the garage where it is too hot most

of the time for the pigs to play. The pool is big and my room

is small. I also didn't want it on the floor where I have to

bend over to put pigs in and take them back out.

(oh my aching back!)

SO, presto, I asked my genius of a husband to help me

figure out an easy way to get the shelf and pool out of the way

when I need to clean my pens or have folks into the room. On

the left is the drawbridge shelf in the upright position and on

the right it is down for pig playing fun. I love it!

I did away with the underbed tubs and built my trays out of

coroplast. The "runs" are close to 7' long and 2' wide.

Below you see several levels and of course the doors are open
so I can get the picture. Doors are kept closed the rest of

the time. The picture looks dark, but the pens are very well lit

during the day. I have a nightlight for them at night.

Cavy Feeding

We feed Petrus guinea pig pellets, timothy or coastal hay free choice, and once a day, our pigs get a teaspoon each of Omolene 300 sweet feed. We also keep alfalfa cubes available for everyone. In addition, we supplement their diet with black strap molasses, oatmeal and vitamin C crystals.

Every evening at around 8 PM the squealing starts for the nightly treats. Yes, they can tell time! Favorite treats at this hour are carrots, banana leaves and cucumber.

ATTENTION! You can buy fresh Petrus guinea pig pellets and sweet feed by the pound at Fine Feathered Friends in Old Town Spring. This is MUCH better for your cavies than the prepackaged stale junk... plus, his prices are great! The store is located at 26303 Preston Ave. #D, Spring Tx. 77373 phone is 281-288-4307. UPDATE...Mark is closing the pet store but he is still selling the bulk feed out of HodgePodge unlimited...next door. Same phone number.

In case you haven't noticed, we love these little critters very much. Our motto would have to be:

PIGS RULE!!

From Cavy Caboodle, and the Smith Family:
"Thank you for visiting, and we hope you enjoyed your stay!"

Y'all come back now, Ya hear?