Rusty hates carrots, and doesn't like corn or bananas either. He LOVES green peppers, and usually gets a bit of that twice a day when his feline roommates get their dinner. He DEMANDS his treats when he hears the cats getting their dinner. He used to squeal loudly for his snacks, but now he bites and rattles his cage bars so it sounds like a miniature jackhammer or machine gun. Really annoying, and he knows it. Sometimes he gets slices of apple, some tangerine sections, or some grapes (he likes the red ones better than the green). In the spring, I give him an occasional dandelion bud for a treat. He always has regular pellets (Kaytee Exact) in his bowl, and timothy hay also.
I bought him a running wheel once, but he never did figure out what he was supposed to do with it. He nibbled on it at first to see if it was a snack or at least something fun to chew on. Good "guinea gear" (besides the roomiest cage you can find): a plastic igloo, a "Chube" cardboard tunnel, and a critter corral (a short wire fence about 3 ft. across for non-jumping pets. You can link more than one together for a larger area).
In the spring, Rusty would hear birds chirping outside the open window, and he would answer them, imitating their chirps and whistles. The first time I heard him do this, I thought a bird had gotten in the apartment!
Three of the cats wanted nothing to do with him, but Peaches and Murrlin wanted play with him, until they got to be 3 or so. When Peaches outgrew her idea that he was just a big Beanie Baby to carry around, I would allow her to step into his corral under supervision. She would lay down and nibble on the timothy hay, ignoring Rusty. He had to step over her or go around her. When Sneakers was the only cat, Rusty noticed that Sneakers would back away whenever he approached. From this, Rusty deduced that he could CHASE Sneakers, and would jump and squeal with delight when he pulled it off. When GabbyTabby came along, I found that he was a little too interested in Rusty. Gabby was always trying to reach into Rusty's cage to touch him. Rusty would go into his igloo when he got tired of the unwanted attention.
Sadly, Rusty passed away on February 19, 2005 after battling an upper respiratory infection. He was more than 6 years old.
