Ever wondered who was behind this site? Ever wondered what other activities they did, how the site evolved, or what that person's cavies looked like? Lyn, a moderator on the Cavy Forums, wondered too. Below is an e-mail interview conducted by Lyn to let you all learn a bit more about me, the webmaster of Cavies Galore.

CCO: Could you tell us a little about yourself?

Jeff: I'm 15 and I've always been around computers. Our first computer was a state of the art 286 megahertz computer. To give you an idea of how old this was, Microsoft didn't even dominate the operating system market. I first discovered the internet when I was 10, but I didn't really get into it until later. I joined a local swim team when I was 11 and although I only stayed on the team for a year, I still enjoy swimming. I play soccer during the summer and wrestling during part of the school year. I find it odd that most people know so little about all the strategy involved in wrestling and think it's just a violent sport. I bought my first computer when I was 13 after spending two years as a paper boy (I preferred to be called the Paper Delivery Specialist).

In middle school I took a before school class called Generation www.Y (pronounced Generation Why). Through Gen www.Y I get the chance to co-teach six college level classes a year to pre-service teachers. I get a real kick out of it because I'm a student, giving teachers lessons and homework. The classes focus on how to deal with integrating technology into current lessons, how to teach students to find and evaluate information on the internet, and how to deal with hate sites, porn sites, and other "sensitive sites".

I've also had the chance through Gen www.Y to sell their class at a state wide summer institute for teachers and administrators, to a group of visiting administrators from New York state, at two national trade shows, and to a local school board.

Although very few students that take Gen www.Y get the chance to become so active in it, I enjoy being up front and speaking to an audience.

CCO: I'm impressed. You sound like an industrious young chap (and it sounds like you don't have time to get into "trouble"). As for teaching the teachers, do any of them complain about homework? And how do they deal with bad grades? (any bribes, threats, or complaints?)

Jeff: I stay pretty busy trying to balance my social life (yes, I have one), computer hobby, and school work. When I teach the pre-service teachers I've found that the biggest challenge is getting them to question and have discussions. They don't mind the homework and I don't get to grade them, an adult has to do that. The worst classes I've ever taught were when the pre-service teachers never said a word. I would ask specific questions, try to spark discussions, yet no one seemed awake enough to participate. It makes me understand how my first period Algebra teacher feels when none of the students can concentrate (including me). :-)

CCO: How did you get involved with this site? And how long has it been up and running?

Jeff: I started Cavies Galore, as it has always been called, around early 1997. I didn't get the domain name, caviesgalore.com until the beginning of 1999. I started out with the simple idea that Cavies Galore was going to do more than just talk about my cavies. When I first put up my FAQ I only answered questions that I didn't see at most conventional sites, such as why your cavy farts.

I first made the page in a web page builder on a free server (xoom.com). Since then I've learned HTML and pay a host to serve the page. When I started out I would work on my page or learn about how to make a better page every day. I began to stop editing the page as much after a few months, but when I bought a domain name I really worked hard at a new layout (which I've changed again) and more content. Now I try to edit and add to the page about once a week. Even if I don't put a new feature on the site, I still try to work on some part of the site each week.

CCO: When I go to the Google search engine and put in "cavies", your site is the first one that pops up. Did you ever imagine it would become so popular?

Jeff: I never thought the site would become such a hit. I wanted the site to provide services that no other cavy sites provided, later I started to add a little bit of everything. One of the reasons the site has become so popular is because of the enormous amount of information on the forums, content is king, as I like to say.

CCO: Were the cavy message boards a part of the site from the very beginning?

Jeff: Message boards weren't added to Cavies Galore until I started to receive about 40 unique visitors a day to the main page. Only then did I feel that there was enough traffic for people to use the message boards and not have their question sit unanswered for days on end. At first it was a struggle to keep participation in the boards high, but it wasn't long before I found a few devoted cavy slaves, err, owners that stuck around and brought a great sense of community to the boards. I believe the forum was a great traffic booster as it provided a place with constantly updated information and discussions.

CCO: How did you recruit your monitors and what stringent winnowing process did you go through to find these qualified people?

Jeff: Every moderator was carefully selected from the FBI database of citizens who committed minor infractions of the law between the ages of 4-10. Each one had to be a cavy owner for the past 15 years and have at least 34 cavies on hand at any given time. They are even required to stay awake 23 hours a day to provide thought provoking and witty comments on the board.

Actually, I started a thread on the forums asking for a moderator. The moderator had to frequent the boards, be knowledgeable in the ways of cavydom, and be able to handle sensitive topics with care. When visitors wanted a genetics forum I told them that sure, you can have another forum, but I need a moderator for it. I didn't want to have a forum that addressed an issue I know nothing about without having a knowledgeable moderator to answer questions and spur discussions.

COO: Have you ever met any of the moderators, face-to-face, in a neutral, non-threatening setting?

Jeff: I've never met any of my moderators outside the internet. I don't know what they look like, and they could even be lying to me about their names. :-) The closest we've come together is by communicating through e-mail when a touchy situation pops up on the forums. Then we start brain storming ideas to diffuse the situation and keep it from happening again.

CCO: Do your parents know about your web site?

Jeff: At first my parents didn't know about my web site, but when I spent over 100 hours on line in one month and had our internet provider bill us an extra $80, I think they found out. My parents know about my site and have some basic guidelines for my site and surfing. A few examples are, don't go to porn sites unless you want your computer and internet access taken away, don't use our credit card without our permission unless you want your computer and internet access taken away, don't give out your home address to anyone without our permission unless... I think they need to think of new punishments. :-)

CCO: Where do you see yourself 4 years from now ? (Seeing as how you're the "Web Master" and this is Your Site, we're all VERY interested in your answer.)

Jeff: Assuming the net operates in the same way it does now, here's my prediction. Cavies Galore will have become the number one mega super whizbang cavy site (sort of like Microsoft, but without the lawsuits). There will be live chats with Peter Gurney and other acclaimed cavy authors and vets. There will be a separate forum to discuss each aspect of owning, breeding, and showing cavies to prevent too many questions posted so that some are lost in the shuffle. You will be able to find extensive information on showing, breeding, owning, and the genetics of cavies through pages of information on the FAQ. You will also be able to fill out an interactive questionnaire that will determine just what disease your cavy has and how to treat it. Experienced cavy owners will man the site every day, at any hour to answer any cavy questions you have through one on one chats.

While I'm at it, here are some things that I doubt will happen but would be really cool. A volunteer group of programmers will make nifty cavy games to download just from Cavies Galore. The site will be bought out by a large pet site and I will have enough money to pay for college and to fund my next internet start up.

CCO: That's pretty ambitious, Jeff. My only problem with this picture is the "experienced cavy owners" manning the site 24 hours a day--won't their cavies suffer if they spend this much time on the forums? (We know Pinta lets her cavies wander freely, but she does need time to feed them their meds, etc. and I'm sure she could use some sleep.)

Jeff: Let me enlighten you, There will be so many experienced cavy owners standing by that each one will never need to spend more than one hour answering questions. Besides, they can always pet their cavies with one hand and type information with the other.

CCO: I take it you have one or more guinea pigs. Can you tell us something about them, names, any interesting stories, how you acquired them?

Jeff: I have had two male, mixed cavies, Spike and Pluto. Pluto passed away from multiple infections and illnesses when he was about 3 years old. The vet and I did everything we could, but he just couldn't take the strain. I bought them from a local chain store, who takes very good care of their cavys, they even use Carefresh (a type of nonwood, quality bedding). When I bought my cavies I knew absolutely nothing about them because they were my first ever and after reading three cavy books I still learned more on line then from the books.

I let my cavies run around one of our rooms and they never want to go back to their cage. I tried to trick them in their cage by tempting them with a bunch of parsley. They were very suspicious and would advance a few steps, then step back, and right before they reached the cage, they ran off! Another time I was on the floor reading a book and Pluto was walking along pretending to look for crumbs. He slowly drifted over to me and then he lunged forward and took a bite out of my book! He tried to this three other times, but I had wised up. :-)

CCO: How old were you when you got your first cavy?

Jeff: I was 11 years old and I knew nothing about cavies. I actually wanted to buy a gerbil, but I went shopping right after we had a 10 day power outage and all the gerbils had died! When I saw a cavy I thought they were so cute! So I bought a cavy instead and you can thank your lucky stars this site isn't Gerbils Galore. :-)

CCO: Yes, Jeff, I imagine we all know there is a Guinea Pig God somewhere, looking after their well being (one not, however, quite as powerful as the Gerbil God). Have your cavies enjoyed good health?

Jeff: My cavies have enjoyed very good health. They've had small colds and sniffles, but some extra vitamin C and lots of cuddle time works like a charm. One time they started to fight and I had to separate them for three days, but when I put them back together they were so happy they've yet to fight again. The only other mishap they've had is when they were infected with mites from some cheap hay. At least I know of a knowledgeable vet.

CCO: What do you find most appealing about guinea pigs in general and yours in particular?

Jeff: I enjoy the level of trust that my cavies have for me. They know I wont drop them when I pet them and they know that they only get fed at certain times of the day. I just love it when they fall asleep on my lap, as long as they don't slobber. Have you ever tried to get green slobber off your pants? :-)

CCO: As for the Green Slobbers, I'm sure mine are much too dignified to attempt dripping any on me. One has, however, bitten me, early in her career as a pet guinea pig. Have either of yours ever drawn blood or were they friendly little guinea pigs right from the start?

Jeff: Neither of my cavies have bitten hard enough to draw blood. They were very anti-social at first, but lots of cuddle time has fixed that. Sometimes they will even fall asleep on my lap, very cute.

CCO: Are you a cavy slave like the rest of us or are they well-trained, cooperative little guinea pigs?

Jeff: I like to think that I trained my cavies, but I sense that the opposite happened. When I hold them I find that they will crawl up my shirt when they want to pee so I can take them back to their cage, this is handy, but I think they trained me to know when to take them back. I have made special trips to the grocery store for cavy vegetables, cleaned their cage in a downpour, and even clipped grass for them to eat when it was too cold for them to go outside. I'm afraid this qualifies me as a cavy slave.

CCO: Do you think guinea pigs really like us?

Jeff: Well I sure hope so! It would be a bit of a let down to know that they simply take for granted having their cage cleaned, getting fed at anytime of the night, and being petted for hours on end.

CCO: Are there any animal personalities you wish your guinea pig possessed? A cat's or dog's, for instance?

Jeff: I wish my cavies would be a bit more particular about where they went to the bathroom. I trained them to only go in one area of their cage once, but they soon grew tired of it and went everywhere, which means I have to clean the cage even more!

CCO: Many of us can't thank you enough for running and maintaining such a useful board. And it has been a pleasure getting to know you a little more. We will look forward to posing occasional probing questions in the future, and all hope you have enough time to get your homework done. Thanks.