Meet the Pets - Mars and Argo

Only five short months after re-starting this blog, beginning this mini-series of 'Meet the Pets' and introducing our brood of 10 animals, we are finally at the very last post! Saving the best until last does not apply in this situation at all, and not because Mars and Argo aren't the best, but because all of our animals are the best.

So as for the final two family members, they are the smallest of the furry bunch and second smallest after the Leopard Geckos! After Athena (Columbian Boa) they were the last to join us after we adopted them right around when we moved in together at the end of January / start of February 2019. At the time of adoption, these poor guys were said to be only a year old and had already had two homes and been re-paired once. Mars had originally been in a pair with another piggy but was a big bully so when he had been taken back to Pets at Home because the family didn't want them anymore, they re-paired him with Argo. Mars and Argo were then adopted by a new family who after only a month turned back up at Pets at Home, phoned the store while sat outside to say they didn't want them anymore and then dumped them back at the store that day. These little guys had done nothing wrong and yet they already had 2 failed homes at such a young age. 

If you are considering adding a small furry animal to your family please research it a lot before you do it. (Obviously, this goes for all animals, but it seems people disregard the seriousness of small animals, some of which can actually be quite hard work). 

Just because these are smaller and thought to be less 'work' does not mean they are a toy to buy for your child who will more than likely get bored in a month or two. Once you are sure you can provide the time, money and love a new buddy/buddies will need, look to adopt an animal/s before going to buy. Please. A lot of small, local shelters may have pets other than dogs and cats but Support Adoption for Pets with Pets at Home are also a good programme specifically for Rabbits, Guinea Pigs, Hamsters and more. As their website states, ''These adoption centre units provide shelter for pets that can no longer be cared for by their current owners, and we do everything we can to find them a loving new home. For as long as they need, they will have a safe place to call home with us, and we cover the costs of their food, housing and any veterinary treatments that may be required.''

As you can probably guess, that is where Mars and Argo's story started and ended on the 26th of January 2019. They are finally in their forever home and don't need to worry about not being cared for properly or being abandoned again. Now let's talk a little bit about each of them...

A little bio and some quick facts:
Name: Mars 

Species: 'Albino' American Guinea Pig 

Gender: Male

Age: 2

Birthday: 7th February
Temperament: Ruffian!

Loves
Screaming at you when you open the fridge
Broccoli and Parsley
Playing with the cats
Being talked to because he has impaired vision
Running around the house

Hates
Getting put back in his house
Apparently his brother...

Despite most 'albino' guinea pigs apparently being more so hard of hearing than anything else, our guy definitely has impaired vision. By his body language and way he moves about this has always been evident and he is a good lad at responding to his name - whether that is because he knows his name or rather that he just follows the voice is to be determined. Either way, when he hears his Daddy talk he gets very excited and has his little nose right up in the air looking around for him. 
If you can't tell, Mars was named thusly because of his red eyes (like Mars the planet) and trying to stick to our naming theme of Gods and Goddesses, Mars being the ancient Roman God of War. Thinking about this it suits him well as he is a fighter who was re-paired due to bullying, has previously bullied his brother Argo, once fully attacking him which left us with a blood bath and meant we had to separate their beds completely! He also has one grey foot which has seen him dubbed Peter Pettigrew as a nickname...if you know, you know haha.
Mars is a loud, feisty, crazy little guy who makes us laugh when he 'popcorns' around the living room and takes over the cats cardboard castle. A big personality difference to his brother...

A little bio and some quick facts:
Name: Argo
Species: Silkie Guinea Pig
Gender: Male
Age: 2/3
Birthday: 7th February

Temperament: Timid

Loves
Broccoli and Parsley
Chewing anything wooden
Laying in the sun


Hates
Being picked up
Getting groomed


As I stated above, this guy is almost a complete opposite to Mars. Don't get me wrong, he has a good loud squeak on him too, especially when Mars starts and he will join in but in general, he's much more reserved and chilled out. He enjoys being out and exploring but tends to shy away from the living room, it seems he is completely indifferent to the cats, being neither a fan of them nor being scared of them...he just doesn't acknowledge their existence haha.
A few months ago we had a terrible health scare with Argo when a small golf ball sized 'lump' appeared on his throat. It ended up being a bacterial infection of the lymph nodes that got larger over a very short amount of time and ended in tears. This was at the time where the boys shared their home in our kitchen. I came into the room to a scuffle and the sight of blood...a lot of blood, espcially for such a small nick caused by bully Mars. Luckily Mr H was at home and after my screaming we were able to get him looked at, cleaned up and quarantined for a few days in a separate large indoor cage where we could keep him clean. When it was time to put him back into the his house we decided it was necessary to separate them for good and blocked it off into two sections. Now Argo has one side and seems much happier and relaxed. He gets himself in and out easily at his leisure to run around still too, just like his brother (just at different times)! 
Oh! And as for his name. Long story short it came from a small band/girl I watched online years ago. We'd already named his brother and so Mars Argo sprung to mind and seemed to me a nice fit. Only later did I find out that Argo is also the name of a famous ship in Greek Mythology just fitting it into our theme! 

There we have the final members of The Hallow Family!  
Make sure to have a look back on the rest of this mini series for super cute photos of our other 8 babies and read all about them. Click the links below:
Dog // Baker

Snakes // Anubis, Athena and Hades
Cats // Aurora and Eos
Lizards // Hela and Freya

Thanks so much for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed meeting our family. Please leave us links of posts about your pets in the comments!
Until next time!

Baker Turns 8!

Our boyo, Mr Baker Hallow, turned a massive 8 years old on August 26th! I really can't believe that in less than 6 weeks, he will have been in my life for such a long time. Other than my parents, he has been the only constant for me over those eight years and we have such a complex relationship you can definitely tell we've spent a heck of a lot of time together. Of course, like most dog owners can relate to, he has been my best friend (minus my husband) and is the closest we'll have to a child...and because of that, we do love each other very much as well as occasionally butting heads. Come to think of it, the main reason we do butt heads is when he constantly cries for no reason, but that is 100% a 'hereditary' trait he's gotten from me haha!
Back when I first started writing here again in April, I posted a mini-series introducing all of our 10 pets. Click here to read Baker's 'Meet the Pets' post and learn a little more about him.

Every year on his birthday Baker has always gotten presents and had at least a small tea party, some years a proper party with doggy cake and a couple times a BBQ. This year however his birthday fell on a Wednesday and his Daddy only has one day off a week. The other usual party guests, his Granny and Granda, were obviously unable to attend too due to the current world issues.
That means turning 8 was a slightly different affair. On the day I took his annual portraits with the banner I make him and it was extra special this year now that his bedroom is finally fully finished. Then the following day is when we celebrated as a family. Mr H and I blew up lots of balloons (he literally has an obsession with balloons) in the morning so that when he came down he'd have a big surprise before opening his presents!
Check out the video below to see how he reacted to the balloons and him opening his presents.
Lastly, at the end of this post, I've included the past 8 years of his birthday portraits...he's getting an old man now!
Until next year...

Meet the Pets - Hela and Freya

We're almost there guys! The penultimate 'Meet the Pets' post in our little mini-series introducing our blended family of 10 fur and...non-fur (?) babies! This weeks post is dedicated to our youngest and smallest members, Hela and Freya!

If you can't tell from the photos, Hela and Freya are Leopard Geckos and they are actually sisters from the same clutch. Mr H got the girls as tiny babies of around 10 weeks of age in August of 2018, which coincidentally was the same month we started talking, meaning, although we didn't get them together, I have known them most of their lives.

Quick Overview

Names: Hela and Freya

Species: Leopard Geckos

Gender: Female

Age: 2

Birthday: 15th August

Above is Hela! Hela gets her name from the Norse legend 'Hel', known as the goddess of death and daughter of Loki. She can be told apart from her sister easily due to her much darker colouring and prominent black spots, her eyes are also a super pretty blue-grey!
Hela began as the feistier girl, less interested in being handled and had a bit of dominance over Freya when they lived together. At around 8 months of having them, we separated them to live in their own enclosures after the 'dominance' turned a little bully-ish.
Since being separated both girls have done brilliantly and Hela has grown to love being handled, enjoys coming out to explore and is a great poser for photos!

And this girly is Freya! Following our naming theme, Freya is indeed also named after the Norse Goddess associated with love. I find it funny that legend says Freya rides a chariot pulled by two cats and our two cats are obsessed with watching the geckos given the chance! 

Like I said about Hela, they are easily told apart and Freya is overall the lighter coloured with lots of yellow and tan markings and greeny golden eyes.
She really has always been the most docile of the pair and will lay on your chest for hugs or have a slow amble around when she is out of her enclosure.
We have no idea why, because there are no health problems like metabolic bone diseases or anything, but unlike her sister, she prefers to walk around and chill out flatter to the ground rather than have her limbs extended and stand tall (as you can see if you compare the photos)...perhaps it's laziness haha!

We are currently in the process - and have been for over 8 months now...whoops - of building the girls their very own custom vivariums from a kitchen cabinet that we bought for only £10 in the Ikea Bargain Corner way back in December. Now that we are cancelling our Honeymoon we will have some extra funds that we can funnel into this project and hopefully (finally) get it completed!

So yeah, meet Hela and Freya, our beautiful, tiniest roommates.
Until next time!

Meet the Pets - Aurora and Eos

We've caught up with Baker and introduced the snakes, so that leaves us with only 6 more pets to talk about haha! Next up are the pair who are collectively known as 'The Girls', Aurora and Eos. If you'd asked me 2 years ago whether I was a cat person or a dog person I would have obviously said 100%, dog person. I've always loved cats too of course and after having these ladies in my life for the short time I have I have to say I'm a 50/50 person! Look at these faces and tell me how you couldn't be.

A little bio and some quick facts about Aurora

Breed: (Assumed) Aegean Cross

Gender: Female

Age: 5

Birthday: 31st January

Temperament: Quiet, reserved, very food motivated.

Loves

Strings/ribbons

Sweeties

Sleeping under the duvet at night

Bird watching

Hates

Dusters

The noise when sellotape is pulled off the roll

Closed doors

Aurora is the epitome of the smallest sibling - butter wouldn't melt! She is usually the one being naughty but somehow manages to make it so Eos is blamed. Her worst habit is definitely clawing at the side of the sofa and using the wallpapered walls to stretch on. If you didn't know any different you'd think Aurora was a kitten because she is so small built and has a higher register voice...not that she uses that much (unless food or treats are involved). Despite being sisters, it isn't just their looks that separate them either...they have very different personalities! Aurora was usually the reserved, happy-with-her-own-company cat though over the past year or so of being in this house she has actually come out of her shell more and I often walk around holding her in my arms like a baby while she purrs.
After she's finished with napping all day and Baker is in bed, she'll come for a visit on the sofa then either settle on the arm of the chair or sit bolt upright directly in front of the TV to remind you to feed her. When food is on the plate that's when she makes her voice heard and not before long shes pushing her way under the duvet (making you build her a tent by putting your knees up) to settle down for the night.

A little bio and some quick facts about Eos

Breed: (Assumed) Aegean Cross

Gender: Female

Age: 5

Birthday: 31st January (Yes, they are sisters from a litter of 3)

Temperament: Loving, talkative and sporadically energetic

Loves

Boxes

Laying on my chest in bed

Catnip toys

Sitting on things that make a noise like bags and paper

Hates

Being held like a baby

Smells of certain things

Bin men/window cleaners etc

Eos is what you'd call the 'goofball'. She does the most random, silly, funny things. From sitting in weird places like the fruit bowl and laying like superman to getting the zoomies, climbing on top of the doors and sitting at the window growling at the post person or bin men. Eos on a whole is the shy, lazy girl who prefers her own company unless it's on her terms. She isn't as happy to be picked up and cuddled but more so comes to you for the odd fussing throughout the day and for huge cuddles in the evening when we are reading in bed.
Eos may disappear for most of the day just chilling in the bedroom, but when she is around you can't half hear her! She is a proper little chatterbox and you can have a full-on conversation with her if you know how to interpret what she's saying. Their personalities really do seem to have switched slightly and despite being the bigger, crazier girl she will let her little sissy check out things first...especially when it comes to saying hello to visitors in the house.
This is our bigger girl with lots of fluffy hair that she gets all over the place, luckily she enjoys being groomed. The most important thing about Eos is her love for boxes though and she has predominantly been the one who has enjoyed the cardboard castle we broke our backs making!

I didn't realize exactly how difficult it would be to sit down and try to describe our cats in words. It's not that easy because they seriously have such intricate little natures, that change often, probably more so than Baker, and it really should reiterate to people who do not believe animals to be sentient beings how much they do think, feel etc.
Life would certainly be much different if Mr H hadn't had these girls and they weren't a part of our big blended family.