Am I doing everything right?

Cambridge Piggles

Cambridge Piggles

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi,
I’m new here and just got two young boars last Sunday. I have a 2 x 5 c&c cage for them. It has 3 hideaways, a snuggle sack, tunnel and hay box. I have two water bottles for them and give them fresh hay, pellets and a mixture of veggies. They’ve been eating well but never come out of their hideaways when I’m around. I initially tried to hand feed them but I think I scared them. Do you reckon I’ve blown it now and they’ll be permanently scared of me?

Sorry I’m very new to this all!
Thanks
 
Welcome to the forum

No you haven’t blown it!
It is incredibly early days. You are looking at weeks to potentially months for them to fully settle and to take food from your hand. Patience is the key!
They are all very different though. I have four boys. Of the two oldest - one took six weeks to take food from my hand , the other took a year and a half before he even stopped running away and attempted to take food for the first time. The other two were so much more confident and were wanting strokes and would be hand fed drom day one.
 
Welcome to the forum. I am slave to the beastie boys, Dignified Sir George and his boisterous companion Mischievous Master Boris.
It really is all down to their very individual personalities. Some are more cautious than others, it's early days and I'm assuming that they are young.
As @weepweeps suggested, coriander and other strong smelling herbs like basil, parsley etc often entice them enough to not be so afraid. Also they don't need to get too close to your hands to take it.
Enjoy the peace you have with them now, before you know it you will be asking if there's any way to stop them wheeking, staring at you and generally finding many different ways to harass you for more food! 😂
 
Welcome to the forum - we’re a great bunch here 🥰
It is very early days - I’ve had my two for nearly three years and the first 1 and 2 months were very hard, I wanted to do everything right and sometimes felt I was a failure - with experience you begin to realise that the piggies decide everything.
I found the best thing is not to approach them from above as they will see you as a predator ….if you can get them used to your voice with repetitive phrases and use coriander / parsley for hand feeding - good luck and don’t worry
We’d love to see photos of your boys and what are they called ? 🥰
 
Roselina said:
Welcome to the forum - we’re a great bunch here 🥰
It is very early days - I’ve had my two for nearly three years and the first 1 and 2 months were very hard, I wanted to do everything right and sometimes felt I was a failure - with experience you begin to realise that the piggies decide everything.
I found the best thing is not to approach them from above as they will see you as a predator ….if you can get them used to your voice with repetitive phrases and use coriander / parsley for hand feeding - good luck and don’t worry
We’d love to see photos of your boys and what are they called ? 🥰
Click to expand...
I’ve moved the plant so they can’t nibble it!
 
Wilbur&Rupert said:
Hi,
I’m new here and just got two young boars last Sunday. I have a 2 x 5 c&c cage for them. It has 3 hideaways, a snuggle sack, tunnel and hay box. I have two water bottles for them and give them fresh hay, pellets and a mixture of veggies. They’ve been eating well but never come out of their hideaways when I’m around. I initially tried to hand feed them but I think I scared them. Do you reckon I’ve blown it now and they’ll be permanently scared of me?

Sorry I’m very new to this all!
Thanks
Click to expand...

Hi

Just be patient and give them more time. The settling in process usually doesn't take just a few days but often several months rather than weeks. They will come round, don't worry.

You may want to bookmark the link in the previous post but you may find the links below particularly helpful in understanding where your piggies come from and how you can work around that. They are all part of the New Owners Information Collection with lots of other guides that help you learn what is normal and what not and that address many of the questions and concerns new owners have. Over 15 years on this forum with tens of thousands of questions and up to half a century of personal owner experience have gone into them.

New Guinea Pigs: How to Best Manage Arrival and Settling In
Arrival in a home from the perspective of pet shop guinea pigs
Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering and Cuddling Tips

All the best. Just give them a bit of time to regroup and then start again from scratch; each time they should come round more quickly and get that bit further. ;)
 
Wilbur&Rupert said:
They did a bunch of zoomies too with me in the room watching them. I’m so happy they are happy 😀 are you guys sure a 2x5 c&c is big enough? I’m thinking of expanding when I move house!
Click to expand...

A 2x5 is definitely big enough but never any harm in giving them more room! When I had two piggies, mine had a 6ftx6ft space (so essentially a 5x5 c&c)
(You just need to make sure you use soiled bedding on the day you expand or move them to a new territory. Any new territory will cause a new round of dominance as they reestablish their relationship and using soiled bedding can help ease the transition - we can help you with that at the time)
 
Piggies&buns said:
A 2x5 is definitely big enough but never any harm in giving them more room! When I had two piggies, mine had a 6ftx6ft space (so essentially a 5x5 c&c)
(You just need to make sure you use soiled bedding on the day you expand or move them to a new territory. Any new territory will cause a new round of dominance as they reestablish their relationship and using soiled bedding can help ease the transition - we can help you with that at the time)
Click to expand...
Oh wow. I didn’t know! I’m not seeing any sign of dominance establishing unless I’m missing it? Never seen any mounting or squabbling… what else should I look out for? I’m very curious!
 
Wilbur&Rupert said:
Oh wow. I didn’t know! I’m not seeing any sign of dominance establishing unless I’m missing it? Never seen any mounting or squabbling… what else should I look out for? I’m very curious!
Click to expand...

It’s early days at the moment but you are going to see it, particularly If they are young and still to get to their teens! Once the teens hit at 4 months of age then things usually really start to ramp up. You will see mounting, rumbling, chasing etc

I see from your picture that you have two hides with only one door and that bendy log bridge is pushed up against the side of the cage. With boars, it’s so important to not have any dead ends. When chasing each other you don’t want one to end up running into a hide and not being able to get out the other side. So I would remove the two hides with only one door. Replace them with more bendy log bridges. Move the current bendy log bridge into the middle of the cage so they can get through all areas without risking before trapped inside a hide or dead end by the other piggy. Such dead ends can be a flash point for potential issues if one piggy is trapped by the other.

I would also add a second hay area and stop using food bowls. Spreading their pellets and veg in amongst big piles is hay served two purposes. It means the dominant cannot food hog and it also provides good enrichment. They have to use their minds to find them rather than sitting eating at a bowl which doesn’t take any brain power!

Boar guides below

A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs
 
Piggies&buns said:
It’s early days at the moment but you are going to see it, particularly If they are young and still to get to their teens! Once the teens hit at 4 months of age then things usually really start to ramp up. You will see mounting, rumbling, chasing etc

I see from your picture that you have two hides with only one door and that bendy log bridge is pushed up against the side of the cage. With boars, it’s so important to not have any dead ends. When chasing each other you don’t want one to end up running into a hide and not being able to get out the other side. So I would remove the two hides with only one door. Replace them with more bendy log bridges. Move the current bendy log bridge into the middle of the cage so they can get through all areas without risking before trapped inside a hide or dead end by the other piggy. Such dead ends can be a flash point for potential issues if one piggy is trapped by the other.

I would also add a second hay area and stop using food bowls. Spreading their pellets and veg in amongst big piles is hay served two purposes. It means the dominant cannot food hog and it also provides good enrichment. They have to use their minds to find them rather than sitting eating at a bowl which doesn’t take any brain power!

Boar guides below

A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs
Click to expand...
Thank you for the advice! I’ll change it now and purchase more tunnels and log bridges ! :)
 
Piggies&buns said:
It’s early days at the moment but you are going to see it, particularly If they are young and still to get to their teens! Once the teens hit at 4 months of age then things usually really start to ramp up. You will see mounting, rumbling, chasing etc

I see from your picture that you have two hides with only one door and that bendy log bridge is pushed up against the side of the cage. With boars, it’s so important to not have any dead ends. When chasing each other you don’t want one to end up running into a hide and not being able to get out the other side. So I would remove the two hides with only one door. Replace them with more bendy log bridges. Move the current bendy log bridge into the middle of the cage so they can get through all areas without risking before trapped inside a hide or dead end by the other piggy. Such dead ends can be a flash point for potential issues if one piggy is trapped by the other.

I would also add a second hay area and stop using food bowls. Spreading their pellets and veg in amongst big piles is hay served two purposes. It means the dominant cannot food hog and it also provides good enrichment. They have to use their minds to find them rather than sitting eating at a bowl which doesn’t take any brain power!

Boar guides below

A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs
Click to expand...
I wish I had found this site before getting my piggies. :( I feel like I’ve done it all wrong!
 
Just thinking down the line… if they did fight would it be worth separating them and getting them neutered and getting them each a sow? I have room to do this! I’m just a worrier and like to plan for the future
 
Wilbur&Rupert said:
I wish I had found this site before getting my piggies. :( I feel like I’ve done it all wrong!
Click to expand...

You really haven’t done anything wrong at all - you have a wonderful sized cage and things like not using bowls and adding extra hay areas are easily solved. They are the sort of things you only learn through experience so please don’t think you’ve done anything wrong.
 
Wilbur&Rupert said:
I wish I had found this site before getting my piggies. :( I feel like I’ve done it all wrong!
Click to expand...

You’re here now. 😃

It’s all a learning curve. It’s great you are listening to all the great advice you’ve been given. Some people don’t take kindly to friendly advice.

They look so happy. 😃
 
weepweeps said:
You’re here now. 😃

It’s all a learning curve. It’s great you are listening to all the great advice you’ve been given. Some people don’t take kindly to friendly advice.

They look so happy. 😃
Click to expand...

weepweeps said:
You’re here now. 😃

It’s all a learning curve. It’s great you are listening to all the great advice you’ve been given. Some people don’t take kindly to friendly advice.

They look so happy. 😃
Click to expand...
Just want the best for them! If the boars fight would it be worth separating them, neutering them and getting them each a sow? I will have a dedicated piggy room so will be able to give them the space
 
That’s one option. Or they could live as neighbours or be given a male friend each.

Hopefully with all their space they will be fine 🤞🏻
 
:agr:

As I said earlier in the thread, I have four boars.

Two of them are 6 years old and are a very happy bonded pair. I’ve had them since they were 4 months old.

The other two are 18 months old. They came to me at 9 weeks old and were together as a pair. Sadly at 18 weeks old they had a huge fight and have lived separately but side by side ever since. They are very happy as they are. The older pair live above them in the upstairs part of the cage.

My two boys will stay single but side by side. I don’t want more piggies (I also have two rabbits so the six animals I currently have is quite enough!) and I can’t get them a sow each as my bonded boar pair cannot be around sow pheromones.
 
Piggies&buns said:
:agr:

As I said earlier in the thread, I have four boars.

Two of them are 6 years old and are a very happy bonded pair. I’ve had them since they were 4 months old.

The other two are 18 months old. They came to me at 9 weeks old and were together as a pair. Sadly at 18 weeks old they had a huge fight and have lived separately but side by side ever since. They are very happy as they are. The older pair live above them in the upstairs part of the cage.

My two boys will stay single but side by side. I don’t want more piggies (I also have two rabbits so the six animals I currently have is quite enough!) and I can’t get them a sow each as my bonded boar pair cannot be around sow pheromones.
Click to expand...
Ahh ok! Sorry I missed your earlier comment. Sounds like you have a lovely fur family! :)
 
Wilbur&Rupert said:
They did a bunch of zoomies too with me in the room watching them. I’m so happy they are happy 😀 are you guys sure a 2x5 c&c is big enough? I’m thinking of expanding when I move house!
Click to expand...
That is definitely a big enough space for them. Yesterday I met someone who saw my boys temporary cage (120 ferplast) and told me about keeping their 3 guinea pigs in the exact same cage! I wasn't in a position to be able to say anything about it unfortunately.
Try not to worry too much about any future falling out as you have said that you have space in the event of a break up. You have a huge chance that they will be fine.
Sadly there is a lot of misinformation around regarding our furry overlords but you are in the right place to find out how to do things the right way.
When they do get a bit older, watching the rumblestrutting and seeing how macho they think they are is so adorable 🥰
 
Little update in case anyone is interested. Both piggies took veggies from my hand and now they don’t seem to run away when I make movement unless it’s too abrupt ! Trying to keep movement slow. Quick question; do pigs feel more threatened when you look directly at them? I know they are prey animals and wondering if they feel more comfortable when you are just pottering around doing your own thing and not watching them?
 
I
Wilbur&Rupert said:
Little update in case anyone is interested. Both piggies took veggies from my hand and now they don’t seem to run away when I make movement unless it’s too abrupt ! Trying to keep movement slow. Quick question; do pigs feel more threatened when you look directly at them? I know they are prey animals and wondering if they feel more comfortable when you are just pottering around doing your own thing and not watching them
Click to expand...
My two don’t mind me watching them - I agree abrupt movements startle them and approaching from above will send them running ! Pottering around is good as they get used to everything ….vaccuming , radio, tv etc
 
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