The Business Guinea Pigs move into their winter quarters

When it starts getting cooler outside, a little move begins for our Business Guinea Pigs every year: Rocky, Toffy, Mojito and Mr. Grey leave their outdoor enclosure and move back into the house for the cold months.

Our four guinea pigs like to spend the summer outdoors. Out there they have fresh air, grass, shady spots and, of course, plenty to watch. But as soon as fall comes and the temperatures drop noticeably, it's time for their winter quarters inside the house. And no, we don't mean a little cage stuck in some corner. The Business Guinea Pigs get plenty of room indoors, too.

From the outdoor enclosure to cozy winter quarters

During the warm months, Rocky, Toffy, Mojito and Mr. Grey live in a roomy outdoor guinea pig enclosure. There they can run around, hide, doze and go about their perfectly ordinary guinea pig business. When fall arrives, their daily routine changes. The days get shorter, the nights get colder, and at some point we say: okay, time to go back inside.

Then the four of them move into their winter quarters together. It's in a quiet part of our house and is set up as a big enclosure. That way the guinea pigs have enough room in winter too, can find a spot to themselves and stay together as a group. For us, the move has simply become part of the year. Summer means the outdoor enclosure. Winter means the house.

A quiet spot just for the guinea pigs

For their winter quarters in the house, it mattered a lot to us that the animals aren't right in the middle of all the daily hustle and bustle. That's why their enclosure is in a quieter part of the house. Of course they still notice what's going on around them. But not every footstep, every conversation and every opening door happens right next to their enclosure.

And anyone who knows our four knows this already: each of them uses the winter quarters a little differently. Rocky probably has to check first whether the new location offers any kind of business opportunity. Toffy mostly wants to know whether every last bit of the food supply survived the move. Mr. Grey observes the whole affair with the necessary calm. And Mojito looks at you as if he obviously knew back in August when the move would happen. Some things just don't change, even when you move from an outdoor enclosure to an indoor one.

Why the real Business Guinea Pigs matter so much for our books

Rocky, Toffy, Mojito and Mr. Grey aren't just characters someone made up one day for our children's book series. Behind them are our real guinea pigs. Their quirks, the looks they give us and lots of little moments from our everyday life keep giving us ideas for the Business Guinea Pigs.

Of course, our real guinea pigs don't run companies. Rocky doesn't own a ballpoint pen, either. And in real life, Mr. Grey doesn't wear tiny gold professor glasses. But anyone who watches animals for a while knows how different their personalities can be. That's where a lot of our stories come from. From a look. A certain reaction. The guinea pig who's always first at the food. Or the one sitting next to it, seemingly not impressed in the least. The stories in our books are made up, and the business topics are told in a way kids can follow. But the guinea pigs' personalities are very much based on the real thing.

The winter quarters are a source of ideas, too

Of course, the move into the house changes our everyday life with the guinea pigs as well. Suddenly they're much closer to family life again. We walk past the enclosure more often, watch them in between other things, and notice those little moments that sometimes turn into whole scenes later on. Maybe Mr. Grey will explain something extremely important one of these days. Maybe Toffy will once again guard something that, in his opinion, urgently needs guarding. Maybe Rocky will come up with a new business plan. And Mojito? He probably thinks it's not a very good idea. Before Rocky has even said it out loud.

Until next spring

For the next few months, the big enclosure in the house is home for our Business Guinea Pigs. Outside, fall can come, and winter after it. Rocky, Toffy, Mojito and Mr. Grey have settled into their quarters. And when it warms up for good next year, the next move begins: back to the outdoor enclosure and into their summer season. Until then, there will be eating, sleeping and watching in the house, and probably some early work on the next highly questionable business ideas. Welcome to your winter quarters, you four.

That's how we do it with our four guinea pigs. If you have guinea pigs or would like to, you'll find the most important rules on space, company and food in the fact sheet, with the source.