On a recent trip to Tractor Supply Company, I realized something that I didn't like. With the exception of monthly board, my horse is cheaper to keep than my guinea pigs. Let's look at a side by side comparison, shall we?

First, there's the thing they both eat: hay. My horse's hay costs me $7 a bale. I buy it from the barn owner who buys it directly from a farmer. During the summer, he gets 1-2 flakes of hay a day, and a single bale can last a week. (In the winter, however, he goes through much more hay.) My guinea pigs' hay costs me around $10 a bag. When given free access to as much hay as they want (which is what should be done), that bag of hay can last anywhere from 4 days to a week. For convenience in comparing costs, I will say that the horse eats one bale a week, and the pigs eat one bag a week.

Weekly total so far: Horse: $7, Pigs: $10

Then there's the feed. The feed I get my horse is a pelleted feed. It costs $16 for a 50 pound bag. It lasts 8 days. The pellets I get the pigs costs $15 for a 5 pound bag. It will last about 10-14 days. I could make this comparison in terms of price per pound (which would be $0.32/pound of horse feed and $3.00/pound of guinea pig food), but that would skew things. I'm going to go with the weekly cost. So, in feed alone, the horse costs $16 a week, and the pigs costs about $9.

Weekly total so far: Horse: $23, Pigs: $19

After that comes the bedding. This is where the guinea pigs start costing a lot. For my horse, he gets wood pellets in his stall. During the summer, he can get by with a bag of pellets per week. Each bag costs me $6. The pigs, on the other hand, get Carefresh in their cage. Because of the size of their cage, they need the big bag. A big bag of Carefresh usually costs $20. (This is what I was buying when I realized this. I bought a bag of Carefresh on sale for $17 and a bag of horse feed for $16 at the same time.) This big, $20 bag of Carefresh lasts one week.

Weekly total so far: Horse: $29, Pigs: $39

Finally, in the things I buy every week, comes the fruit and vegetables. The horse only gets fruits and vegetables as an occasional treat, so his weekly total for that is $0. The pigs, on the other hand, could easily go through a head of lettuce a day if I let them. It's a little tricky for me to calculate how much I spend on produce for the pigs each week as the produce I buy goes not only to the pigs, but also the birds and my bearded dragon. For ease, I will say that the pigs eat half a head of lettuce each day, two apples a week, four green bell peppers each week, and about 6 baby carrots each week. A head of lettuce costs around $0.80 during the summer, apples are around $0.50 each (I think...), green bell peppers are $0.50 each during the summer, and I won't include the costs of the carrots. So, that's $5.80 on just those things, which I'll round up to $6. They often get other types of veggies as well, but I also grow some vegetables myself, so I'll just say that all the additional vegetables they get come from the garden.

This brings the weekly grand total to: Horse: $29, Pigs: $45, or a DAILY cost of: Horse: $4.14, Pigs: $6.43 (yikes!).

Now, I did not include vet costs, nor did I include the cost of monthly board. I also figured everything on summer prices, so hay for the horse in the winter is significantly more, as is the price of fresh produce for the pigs. The vet is often more expensive for the pigs, not the horse. I also did not include the cost of occasional purchases such as new toys, treats, farrier, medications, or anything else that I do not buy on a weekly basis.

I want to spend less on both the pigs and the horse (I'm pretty content with how much I spend on the birds and reptiles), but still provide everything they need. This is especially important because I'm hoping to add a couple of new animals (I'm still not saying what I want to get--I don't want to jinx it). One place where I can cut a lot of money is the cost of hay. I can do this by buying my own hay, and buying a bale of hay specifically for the pigs. I also need to grow more of the vegetables my guinea pigs eat. But the thing I REALLY want to spend less on is bedding for the guinea pigs. Does anybody have any suggestions for that? I use Carefresh because I have found it best for odor control, absorbancy, and not triggering my allergies.

On the positive side and somewhat related note, I mentioned in my last post that my last day of work was going to be Friday. But after discussing things with my manager, I'm staying at that job until I go back to my other seasonal job, which makes me quite happy. Also, I changed my blog layout. Now, I'm off to go research how much my hopeful new pets will eat.

We are now 12 days into the new year. The holidays are over, and the new semester has started at school. My Christmas seasonal job is almost done (tomorrow is my last day), and my spring/summer/fall seasonal job is just around the corner. I thought I'd share some of my animal related new year's resolutions and plans.

1. Ride more. I was doing really good with riding more consistently until about half way through October when my work hours changed and I was also doing a lot of babysitting. But I'm happier, and the horse is happier, when I ride on a regular basis.

2. More outside time for the birds, guinea pigs, and reptiles. Obviously this has to wait for the weather to warm up. Allow the pigs to graze more.

3. More varied diet for the birds and guinea pigs. The birds already get a pretty varied diet, but I'd like to add some more stuff. The pigs get the same veggies all the time. This brings me to my next one...

4. Plant a bigger garden this year with more veggies. So, this isn't strictly animal related, but I grow as much of my own veggies as possible for the critters.

5. Get ____s. I'm hoping to add a couple new additions to the animal side of the family, but I don't want to say what just yet. I will say it is a mammal, but is in a different order than any of our other animals.

6. Do all the projects I want to do for the _____s. (Goes with the last one.)

7. Build another playstand for the birds, or expand an existing one. Also, make more bird toys.

8. Start feeding Delilah a raw diet. I'd love to do this, not sure I can though.

9. Blog more.

10. Post more pictures.

11. Have a bird room. (I can dream, right?)

Added later, because I forgot about them:

12. Redo the guinea pig cage. I've been meaning to do this for ages, but I haven't.

13. Figure out a way to spend less on guinea pig food and other supplies, without cutting quality.

I think Prudence might be blind or at least has very bad eyesight. How this has escaped my notice for nearly three years I have no idea. Maybe she hasn't been like this the entire time I've had her, or maybe she just manages living with it very well.

Tonight I was holding her and petting her like normal. But tonight I noticed that when my hand gets close to her eyes, she doesn't blink. So I took my finger and moved it closer and closer to her eye. I got less than a centimeter away from her eyeball and she still didn't blink. I held her up to a light and her eyes remained fully dilated. My mom shone a very bright light in her face and her eyes did dilate some. So, she at least has light/dark vision.

I've never noticed her running into anything, but the layout in her cage is nearly always the same. When she's in an unfamiliar area, she moves slow, never runs. I tested this tonight too. I put her on the floor in a strange room and tried to get her to run, but she just walked very slowly, sniffing and wiggling her whiskers.

I'm trying to figure out if she really is blind or has bad eyesight. Pam also let me put my finger extremely close to her eye without blinking. So, maybe that's just a pig thing. If she is blind/nearly blind, it may be the reason why she refuses to go on the upstairs of the guinea pig cage, even when the only food is there. I will have to keep a close eye on her and see if she does anything that indicates that she has poor vision.

Pam has been with us for three days now and she has been busy. Busy with what? Winning people over. She has won everybody over, from my a couple of my nephews to my dad. When I went over to my sister's house last night, my youngest nephew (four years old) asked me, "Why didn't you bring the giggy pig?"

But most of all, Pam has won me over. Okay, sure, she did that before we even got home with her, but she has just flat out stolen my heart. She comes when you open her cage, she cuddles when you hold her, and she is so curious and playful. I mentioned before how sweet she is, but let me reiterate. She is the sweetest pig ever.

I had forgotten how much fun baby guinea pigs are. She gets so excited about the silliest things--Oh! Look! I have food in my dish! Yum! I think I'll popcorn. *popcorns* Oh! Look! There is that silly cat looking in my cage again! I think I'll popcorn for her! *popcorns* Yum! That water from my water bottle sure tastes good! I'll popcorn because it's so good! *popcorns* (The aforementioned "silly cat" is Delilah of course. And for those of you living in guinea pig-less households, this is popcorning: video #1: watch the littler one, video #2--this little piggy needs a bigger cage though, video #3--watch the little one again.) 

Pam reminds me of my very first guinea pig, Babe. I was no more than nine when I had Babe, maybe even younger. He, like Pam, was a very sweet little pig. He loved to be held and played with and he loved his veggies! He looked very much like this pig. He died of heatstroke one year when our air conditioner died. He was the guinea pig that started it all.

I've been wanting to get another guinea pig ever since Camo passed away last year. Prudence and Sadie seemed to miss having a third pig around. I was waiting for the right pig to come along. She finally appeared today.

This is Pam (after "Polythene Pam" by the Beatles). She is the sweetest little pig. Before we got her, my mom was holding her and she almost fell asleep while being held. While we were holding her, she was very friendly and curious. When my mom picked her up from the cage, she willingly came.

I held her in my lap on the way home rather than make her stay in her box (yeah, I know, bad me, having an animal on my lap in the car). This time, she DID fall asleep. She doesn't squirm when being held. She purrs and mutters when we pet her. Once we got home and I put her in her cage, I let her be for awhile. When I went back to check on her, she came to me rather than running from me. This little pig is definitely the sweetest guinea pig I've ever met, and I've met a ton of little guinea pigs.

She's under a month long quarantine before I introduce her to Sadie and Prudence.

This is what one day's worth of fresh food looks like here. On the menu today is a variety of lettuces, collard greens, bell peppers, and apples.

Here is all of it together:

The birds' food (Lenore's is on the top, Digby's is on the bottom):

 
Maxwell's portion:

The guinea pigs' portion.:

I'm not afraid to admit something: My pets eat better than I do.

I am pretty picky about what my animals eat. Not crazily picky, but picky enough. I make sure they get the proper nutrition, and research any new food I give them.

The big dogs, Bella and Jax, eat Taste of the Wild. I know this isn't the best food, but I've been pretty happy with it. When we first started feeding it, I very quickly saw a huge improvement in Bella. Her coat was shinier and she had more energy. Taste of the Wild is a grain free diet with plenty of meat. It has no corn or soy. If I had things my way completely, I'd have Bella on a raw diet.

The little dogs, Maggie, Ellie, and Ricky, eat a brand called Country Naturals. This food is not grain free, but it has a higher meat content than most brands. Ellie has a very sensitive stomach and gets sick (mostly diarrhea) if she eats most dog foods. Anything with corn, wheat, or most other gains, makes her sick. We tried her on Taste of the Wild, and for a while, she was better, but she started getting sick again. When we got Ricky, he was already eating this food. We decided to try it for Ellie too, and she has done very good on it, so we keep the little dogs on this food.

Shadow and Delilah are on completely grain free diets. They get Taste of the Wild dry food, and Delilah gets Wellness canned and Taste of the Wild canned. Shadow gets canned food if she asks for it, and she eats whatever she catches. Tin Tin would be on a grain free diet if he quit going to the neighbors and eating their food. Like Bella, if it was totally up to me, the cats would be on a raw diet.

The birds, if they would just cooperate, would be getting a good diet too. I'm working on this (see other posts). My last bird got pellets, vegetables, and a small amount of seed. She had a decent diet, but I've learned more about bird nutrition since her, so the lovebirds will have an even better diet (if they would eat it).

Even the smaller animals get a high quality food. The guinea pigs get fed Oxbow pellets and timothy hay. They also get dark, leafy greens everyday, and usually another vegetable and a bit of fruit. Maxwell gets whatever greens and veggies the pigs are having and gut-loaded crickets.

Meanwhile, us humans don't eat as healthy. We eat things like McDonalds and other restaurants. I've read the book Fast Food Nation, and I've also read the book Food Pets Die For. The pet food book bothered me way more than the one about fast food. If only I made myself eat as well as I make my pets eat...

I'll put all the other animals all in one post.

First up are the guinea pigs. I have two guinea pigs, both girls. Their names are Sadie and Prudence. They are named after a couple of Beatles songs.

Sadie is on the left, Prudence on the right.
(On the far right is Camo, who died earlier this year.)

Next is my bearded dragon, Maxwell. He, too, is named after a Beatles song.

Maxwell

Then there are my turtles, Lucy, Jude, and Rocky. Yes, all three of them are named after Beatles songs as well. (OK, I'll make a confession. I am a big Beatles fan. Ellie is named after a Beatles song AND a Rolling Stones song. Her full name is Eleanor Tuesday, after Eleanor Rigby and Ruby Tuesday.) Lucy and Jude are African sideneck turtles. These two are the two most awesome turtles I have ever known. Rocky is a yellow bellied slider.

Jude, in the front, and Lucy, in the back

(I currently don't have a picture of Rocky)

I also have a bird, Digby. He is a blue masked lovebird. He is still learning to trust me, but he is getting better everyday. Today, he even stepped up onto my hand (which was inside a towel) from inside his cage.

Digby

Finally, there is my horse, Brush. He is a thirteen-year-old ex-racehorse Thoroughbred, born and bred here in the Bluegrass State. He still sometimes acts like a racehorse. I'm (slowly) training it out of him. He is usually a good boy though.

Brush
(I cheated. He isn't really that dark and shiny. I had just hosed him off. He is very dark though.)