This week’s Pets of the Week are a pair of adopted guinea pigs.
What makes this “odd couple” so special? Is it their polar-opposite personalities? Their insatiable love of cilantro and food in general? We’ll let owner Sheryl explain.
Meet Chester and Button, two male guinea pigs adopted from the Arlington Animal Shelter. If Felix Unger and Oscar Madison were reincarnated as guinea pigs, they’d be these two. They live together in a giant cage we built, with a separator in between so that they don’t kill each other. (They really like each other in principle.) Chester is neat and tidy, and Button? Well, behind that sweet face lies the heart of a bulldozer.
Chester is a guinea pig who thinks he’s part cat and part dog. He purrs loudly when you pet him, and while he might protest if you try to pick him up, he likes nothing more than to curl up in the crook of your arm and snooze. When he’s not inhaling cilantro and romaine lettuce, he is most likely either chewing on the cage or running in circles through his little tunnel.
Button is a portly dude who likes his chow. He’s much shyer than Chester, squeaking and racing to hide when you attempt to even pet him. He thinks he is part rabbit, as he is known to hop around his part of the cage gleefully when he thinks no one is looking. (We are.) He wants nothing more than to snuggle up to Chester, but Chester is a people-pig and not so much a pig’s pig. Tragic.
The two love mealtime best of all. Chester whines and wheeeeeeeeeks! Button squeaks at such a high octave range. It sounds a bit like a dolphin harmonizing with a car alarm. But it is a happy time when the guys get their orchard grass, their vitamin C tablet, their pellets, and — if they behave — an occasional treat. They lose their tiny minds if a piece of apple is on offer. All they need to hear are clinking dishes or rustling plastic bags to assume it is time to dine. And then the wheeeeeeeeeeeeking is relentless.
Want your pet to be considered for the Arlington Pet of the Week? Email [email protected] with a 2-3 paragraph bio and at least 3-4 horizontally-oriented photos of your pet.
Each week’s winner receives a sample of dog or cat treats from our sponsor, Becky’s Pet Care, along with $100 in Becky’s Bucks. Becky’s Pet Care, the winner of three Angie’s List Super Service Awards and the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters’ 2013 Business of the Year, provides professional dog walking and pet sitting services in Arlington and Northern Virginia.