After about a month of searching for the perfect one, I finally got a guinea pig. I went from store to store looking for the one, but none of them were calling me. I had a very specific guinea pig in mind and I was not settling for just any ol’ pig out there—I was looking for the pig of my dreams. And oh, he is the pig of my daydreams, my regular dreams, all my dreams. He is the most perfect pig to live in this world. I need everyone to know that Gus is the world’s greatest guinea pig, since just me knowing is not enough, so here are eight reasons to prove my point.
1. His name is Gus
Sometimes it’s Gustopher when he’s being naughty, or Gustave when I haven’t seen him in a while (and when I say a while, I mean like 10-15 minutes because I’m always at his cage bugging him), or Gussy when he’s being cute. He’s going to have an identity crisis because he has so many nicknames, but they’re all just so fitting. We had a hard time choosing his name, but once we heard “Gus” we knew it was the one. The name picked him! He’s such a Gus. Gus the Guinea Pig, how precious?
2. He is very small
Gus is tiny. Most guinea pigs are about the size of a small football, but Gus is a baby so he’s about the size of a potato. If he keeps eating the way he does, he’ll be the size of a house cat; but for now, he’s so tiny and adorable. Ugh, you can’t not love baby animals!
3. He eats vegetables better than most kids and adults
Every night Gus gets a little kale, turnip greens, and tomato salad before bed, and he gets so excited when he sees the bowl coming his way. I barely have enough time to put the bowl down before he’s already begun eating it.
4. He’s very healthy
Gus is the image of health. I aspire to be like Gus. As stated above, he loves his little nightly salad but also, all he eats is hay and kibble aside from his vegetables! He’s such a little health nut. His favorite treat is carrots (I wish) and while he doesn’t love broccoli, he’ll still eat it.
5. He’s very low maintenance
Gus’ favorite toy is a toilet paper roll. Yes, a toilet paper roll. He loves to stick his head in them and chew on them and pull them into his little castle. I’ve been making all my roommates collect their toilet paper rolls—bless their souls. Here’s a picture of Gus coming home with all his lovely new housemates!
6. He’s very chatty
Gus loves to make weird noises that I can’t really identify yet. He squeaks and squeals, and through my research, I’ve figured out that it means he’s happy, but I don’t really know what he’s always happy about. He’s probably just happy I’m his mom and he’s my perfect pig, but that’s just a guess.
7. He’s adorable
I spent a good month searching for the perfect graham cracker colored pig and he was the only one I found! I was starting to lose hope because I looked and only came across fluffy brown ones, bad hair day multi-colored ones, very scary dark brown ones and even a couple of naked guinea pigs, but no graham cracker colored one. No graham cracker colored one, that is, until my sweet little Gus was found. He’s the perfect sandy graham cracker color I was looking for, so I knew he was the one.
8. He’s very shy but still perfect
Gus is very skittish and nervous still, but I can tell he’s warming up. He’s let me pet him a couple of rare times, but it usually lasts for about a second until he skitters away into his castle for safety. He’s definitely coming around—he’s just a little nervous pig for now. This is Gus on his very first day home.
Guinea pigs are unique little critters—they have a lot of personality and no two guinea pigs are alike. They’re great college pets since they are low maintenance and fairly cheap. Just make sure to play with your pig so they don’t get bored. If you’re looking for a little furry friend, you’ll never find one as great as Gus (sorry not sorry), but guinea pigs are perfect!