Mona Chen

Despite having different personalities, Muffin and Acorn grew to be inseparable friends.

Walking into my house after a long school day is rarely a quiet experience. The moment I open the door, I’m greeted by high-pitched squeaks from my guinea pigs, Muffin and Acorn, always excited for their long-awaited feeding time. By the time I enter the living room with a bag of timothy hay, they’re already standing on their hind legs, pressing against the side of the cage. 

I’ve always wanted a pet since I was a child. However, my mom never liked animals, thinking they would make too much of a mess at home. In the past, the only pets she allowed in the house were goldfish and shrimp, but I raised them with limited success since they were delicate creatures with specific water preferences. 

My dad, realizing the challenges of keeping fish, consulted a friend who has kept a variety of pets. He learned that hamsters and guinea pigs are great options: They can live in a closed space and don’t require as much maintenance as dogs or cats. Last June, he successfully convinced my mom to get me a guinea pig as a reward for doing well on the SAT. 

 

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We decided to purchase a 2-by-4-foot cage that was open at the top, which would provide lots of space for guinea pigs to run around. After setting up the cage, we placed pee pads, a hideout and some containers for food and water. We also bought timothy hay and vitamin C-infused pellets, which would supply their main diet. 

I chose a dark brown guinea pig from PetSmart and named her Muffin, which fits her round, fluffy shape. When Muffin first arrived, she stayed in her hideout and didn’t eat or drink for the entire first day. I was quite worried, knowing that guinea pigs needed to eat hay almost constantly for a healthy digestive system, but it turns out this was normal behavior for natural prey animals like them. 

 

We finally got Muffin to eat by offering an orange slice. After three days, she began peeking out of her hideout, and we all watched intently and stayed as silent as possible. With our phones recording, Muffin finally came out into the broad daylight, carefully walking around the cage and sniffing her surroundings. 

By the end of the week, Muffin was no longer afraid of us. My mom provided lots of vegetable treats such as bell peppers, cucumbers and lettuce, and I enjoyed watching Muffin munch happily and captured every moment with my phone. 

After another week, we brought home a companion for Muffin: a smaller guinea pig with white and brown fur. I named her Acorn, despite the fact that both pigs are shaped that way. Unlike Muffin, Acorn stopped hiding after less than a day, maybe because Muffin’s presence made her more comfortable. However, until the week after, Acorn would dash into her hideout whenever I approached. 

Although Muffin and Acorn quickly bonded, their personalities are quite different. Muffin is bolder and friendlier, while Acorn is skittish and is startled easily. As Acorn grew, she also became more dramatic, often making rumbling noises and repeatedly trying to assert dominance over a calm, unbothered Muffin. Yet, they always end up munching on hay side-by-side like best friends. 

My favorite moments of keeping guinea pigs occur when I give them their favorite treats — romaine lettuce, apple peels or other fruits. At first, Acorn snatches a piece and runs into her hideout while Muffin stays outside. Since Acorn used to be a lot smaller, she did this to avoid getting her food stolen by Muffin. 

 

Although grabbing and running remain a habit, Acorn is never afraid to steal food right out of Muffin’s mouth, often starting a miniature tug of war that leaves me and my parents laughing. After months of recording their funny moments, I even put together a guinea pig video and posted it on YouTube, garnering over 100 likes. 

Having a pet, though, comes with some responsibilities. I have a daily routine for maintaining the guinea pig cage, which I usually do after coming back from school. I first replace the pee pads and clean out any poop or scraps of hay that somehow made its way underneath. I still remember how shocked I was at the amount of waste they produce, and that alone helped me understand why daily cleaning is necessary. Afterwards, I refill the pellet dish, hay holder and water bottle, then give them each an apple stick as a chew toy. 

Nowadays, Muffin and Acorn live a peaceful life, spending most of their time eating, sleeping and occasionally sprinting around the cage when they’re energetic. Although they remain skittish and rarely tolerate physical contact, they still bring me lots of joy and I appreciate having them. 

As I’ve discovered, life with guinea pigs may be noisy and quite messy, but it’s never boring.