Hello - I have just got my first guinea pig yesterday & kitted out the cage - I'm worried though. He hasn't eaten anything since yesterday when we got him. He hasn't touched his water - he has this morning just started to pop his head out of his cosy bed area. Also is saw dust not good for them just a little bit on his floor. Please write back
First guinea pig
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mikulinek
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Hi Louise and welcome,
It's good that you're so concerned but at the moment you needn't worry. Your piggy will need a week or so at least to adjust to his/her new surroundings so you probably won't see him/her very much. Piggies are naturally very timid and shy animals because in the wild they are prey animals. You should act as normal around him/her so they can get used to the noises and sounds etc. in your home but don't try to force them out. They will come out soon enough to investigate.
You can then try feeding him/her from your hand for a while and then try petting and feeding together. It may be two or three weeks before you can try to pick them up for the first time.
As for dust, it depends on the piggy. You can't hope to keep your home and their's entirely dust free and most piggies are ok any way. There will always be hay dust from there food and some piggies are allergic to dust or even hay but you will find this out in time. Some sneezing is normal but constant or persistent sneezing is a sign of allergy so if that happen, get you piggy checked out by a good cavy-savvy vet.
Apart from that, best of luck and I hope you have a lot of fun and a great relationship with your piggy. You will find lots of advice and friendly, helpful people here.
Finally, at some point, you might want to think about a piggy friend for your piggy. Piggies can live "ok" on their own with a good owner but they are much happier, healthier and have a better quality of life if there's another piggy in the house. They are very communicative and social animals and they crave other piggies to talk to
It's good that you're so concerned but at the moment you needn't worry. Your piggy will need a week or so at least to adjust to his/her new surroundings so you probably won't see him/her very much. Piggies are naturally very timid and shy animals because in the wild they are prey animals. You should act as normal around him/her so they can get used to the noises and sounds etc. in your home but don't try to force them out. They will come out soon enough to investigate.
You can then try feeding him/her from your hand for a while and then try petting and feeding together. It may be two or three weeks before you can try to pick them up for the first time.
As for dust, it depends on the piggy. You can't hope to keep your home and their's entirely dust free and most piggies are ok any way. There will always be hay dust from there food and some piggies are allergic to dust or even hay but you will find this out in time. Some sneezing is normal but constant or persistent sneezing is a sign of allergy so if that happen, get you piggy checked out by a good cavy-savvy vet.
Apart from that, best of luck and I hope you have a lot of fun and a great relationship with your piggy. You will find lots of advice and friendly, helpful people here.
Finally, at some point, you might want to think about a piggy friend for your piggy. Piggies can live "ok" on their own with a good owner but they are much happier, healthier and have a better quality of life if there's another piggy in the house. They are very communicative and social animals and they crave other piggies to talk to
kellyx
Junior Guinea Pig
hi
we are new to gps aswell ive had daisy just over 3 weeks now she was like yours to start with but just after 3 weeks shes tottally different she does the circle trick for her favourite veg
loves sitting on my lap eating her vegs, loves being cuddled runs around the pen chasing my chihuahua even though my chihuahua is on the other side of the cage i still cant believe how lovely guinea pigs are .
I'm now waiting to get her a little friend though even though she gets constant attention i think she would love her own little play friend
we are new to gps aswell ive had daisy just over 3 weeks now she was like yours to start with but just after 3 weeks shes tottally different she does the circle trick for her favourite veg
loves sitting on my lap eating her vegs, loves being cuddled runs around the pen chasing my chihuahua even though my chihuahua is on the other side of the cage i still cant believe how lovely guinea pigs are .I'm now waiting to get her a little friend though even though she gets constant attention i think she would love her own little play friend
Thankyou for that! Well I was going to get another bore today. But is that too soon. I was going To get one that was in the same cage as he was in yesterday that shouldn't cause any problems will it?
mikulinek
Teenage Guinea Pig
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It's very difficult with boars Louis tbh. It entirely depends on their characters.
With boar pairings (which contrary to popular belief, can be very succesful) you will always get one dominant boar. The question is finding a boar who will submit to the other one and be happy with that. If you get two boars who want to be dominant, you will get a little of squabbling and most of the time they will need to live in separate cages - like our two. This is still better than having just one piggy as they talk to each other through their cages and are happy that another piggy is around.
Age is another factor. This could be a loooong post so I'll try to stick to the main points. At around 3-5 months old, boars enter "pubity" essnetially and testosterone starts to run amock in their bodies. This can continue right up until full maturity at 14 months old. During this period, they will be aggressive and stroppy with any other boar - even if they had previously good relationships. This might not lead to separation if the bickering doesn;t end in full-on fighting with biting and scratching. If this does happen, you will need to separate them. You might eventually be able to reintroduce them at a later stage but this is quite rare.
If you have an older boar and a younger boar together with a reasonable age gap, you might have a better chance of success as the older boar could be protective and fatherly to the younger one. There's a trick to introducing them but that takes a few lines to explain.
Finally, if you want to get another boar of the same age, you will need to keep them apart to begin with and introduce them to each other on "neutral" ground. If they get on, they may be able to live together but you will need to clean the cage thoroughly beforehand and make sure you have two of everything (water bottle, hay feeder, treat/veg bowl etc.) that way they won;t get territorial.
You may want to think about neutering your boar at a later stage (but before he reaches 1 year old) and then you can pair him with a sow (female piggy) which is often more succesful.
Let me know how it goes please - oh and what's piggy's name and do you have pics?
With boar pairings (which contrary to popular belief, can be very succesful) you will always get one dominant boar. The question is finding a boar who will submit to the other one and be happy with that. If you get two boars who want to be dominant, you will get a little of squabbling and most of the time they will need to live in separate cages - like our two. This is still better than having just one piggy as they talk to each other through their cages and are happy that another piggy is around.
Age is another factor. This could be a loooong post so I'll try to stick to the main points. At around 3-5 months old, boars enter "pubity" essnetially and testosterone starts to run amock in their bodies. This can continue right up until full maturity at 14 months old. During this period, they will be aggressive and stroppy with any other boar - even if they had previously good relationships. This might not lead to separation if the bickering doesn;t end in full-on fighting with biting and scratching. If this does happen, you will need to separate them. You might eventually be able to reintroduce them at a later stage but this is quite rare.
If you have an older boar and a younger boar together with a reasonable age gap, you might have a better chance of success as the older boar could be protective and fatherly to the younger one. There's a trick to introducing them but that takes a few lines to explain.
Finally, if you want to get another boar of the same age, you will need to keep them apart to begin with and introduce them to each other on "neutral" ground. If they get on, they may be able to live together but you will need to clean the cage thoroughly beforehand and make sure you have two of everything (water bottle, hay feeder, treat/veg bowl etc.) that way they won;t get territorial.
You may want to think about neutering your boar at a later stage (but before he reaches 1 year old) and then you can pair him with a sow (female piggy) which is often more succesful.
Let me know how it goes please - oh and what's piggy's name and do you have pics?
Hi! Great that you are thinking of getting him company!
No, he would be better off with company! Just be aware that as guinea pigs are prey animals that live in herds, they take a few days or weeks to get their bearings in new territory. It is even more frightening when they are alone. They also need to sort out who is top and who is bottom at first.
Here are more tips on settling shy new guinea pigs: http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=36239
Alternatively, you can think about finding a rescue where you can take take your little boy for some boar dating to find him the ideal friend. If he is still young, he may be better off with an adult daddy pig to show him the ropes; otherwise another youngster is OK. Reputable rescues are more frequent in the UK than in the US.
We have lots about bedding in our housing section; I have my indoors guinea pigs on fleece, for instance. Please make sure that he has plenty of hay - it should make up to 80% of his daily food intake. Hay will also help to calm him down, as will a cuddly toy.
I am looking forward to seeing a picture of your little boy!
My little piggie is called Chunk. He is all over white with a brown patch around his eye. I will add a picture shortly. Thankyou for both of your help! I'm thinking of getting rid of the saw dust as most pictures I have seen doesnt seem like a lot of them have it & most of the cages are with blankets. Ive just had a visit down to my local garden centre and I have brought a log cabin for him and some treats. I cant wait for him to want to play but for the moment I am going to let him get used to his surrounding.
mikulinek
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We started out with sawdust and hay but, even if the piggies like it, it's a lot of work to clean out a cage with that kind of bedding. Having fleece, vet bed and/or blanket means no dust for you or piggy and about half the time spent when it comes to cleaning
Just keep a eye on her and she should be fine, when I got my one pig she didn't eat for about 2 days than would only eat when she was alone. It's been about a month and she's just starting to eat with people around, give lots of kinds of veggies and fruit, some fresh grass is nice to, adentually they won't be able to resets l
Good luck
lGood luck
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