Fluffhead part 1

"Hello, my name is Fluffhead." These are the first words Fluffhead said to Alex. Sure he did not say them in the same way people do, but he definitely said them. Fluffhead had this amazing ability to connect with people. He'd look them in the eyes, and if they were paying attention, he would be able to convey exactly what he was thinking.
"Hello, my name is Fluffhead." At the time he was in fact more of a tufthead, but he knew how his hair was going to grow into a perfect heap of fluff. After he introduced himself to Alex and she thus alerted me to "look at this Fluffhead," he revealed even more of his charm. At the Petco off of I-10 in Chandler this little white ball of fluff was rooming with a much bigger red haired/eyed guinea pig who acted as the dominant one and was quite mean to Fluffhead. Fluffhead proceeded to trap the other guinea pig in the chube by waiting for the mean guinea to go inside the chube and then pushing on one of the sides so that the ends of the chube were blocked by the thinner walls of the cage they were in. The triumphant ball of fluff then began to spazz out, or so it seemed to us. We had not learned about popcorning, but after learning what it was we to this time have never seen a guinea pig popcorn in a pet store as much as Fluffhead did. From this chance encounter (Alex and I had been searching around town for a chinchilla without even stopping to notice guinea pigs) grew one of the most important relationships in all of our lives. Just seeing how smart and "weird" (actually happy and accomplished unbeknownst to us) made us fall in love with him.
In reality we knew absolutely nothing about guinea pigs. We bought all kinds of stupid things that night when we brought Fluffhead home. There was the tiny cage, which uninformed people (i.e. us) believed was a proper guinea environment. We bought guinea food with seeds in it that could actually perforate a guinea pigs intestines. The most stupid thing we bought that night was a ball for him to run around in which is actually harmful to a guinea's backs. We were stupid and clueless, but it was not all our fault (although we were entirely at fault for taking him down to Tucson in the ball in Alex's lap and then putting him on the floor of my parent's house filled with dogs. I will never forget the look in both Buddy's and Fluffhead's face. One of intense, mischievous inquiry, the other of absolute fear) . Companies make these products and advertise them as healthy, safe, and essential items for a guinea pig. We also did not realize that guinea pigs need an ever present supply of hay. We found this out by emailing a shelter asking if having a friend for Fluffhead would be beneficial since he seemed so lonely at times. It is simply amazing how little we knew. Lucky for us we had a wonderful and loving companion to teach these and many other things to us.