Guinea Pig Sitting Still

[Lioly19]

I bought 6 female guinea pigs6 weeks ago. They lived together with many others in a huge barn.They were very timid but friendly. They have all settled well and eat and drink fine. They live in a hutch with a huge run attached. One guinea pig (Trixie) sits in the same corner of the top tier of the hutch all the time. When I close the hutch she does venture to the food bowl but does not come down into the run voluntarily. I have placed her down in the run a few times and she crawls under the ladder and then goes upstairs after a few minutes. All of the others run about and are confident doing so. I thought she would just need time to settle in to her surroundings but now it's been 5 weeks I am getting a bit worried she may be ill or something. None of the other guinea pigs seem to bully her or anything - they get on fine and cuddle up/share the food with no squabbles. Any ideas on what could be wrong/ what I can do or is this just her personality? thanks

 

[Wiebke]

I bought 6 female guinea pigs6 weeks ago. They lived together with many others in a huge barn.They were very timid but friendly. They have all settled well and eat and drink fine. They live in a hutch with a huge run attached. One guinea pig (Trixie) sits in the same corner of the top tier of the hutch all the time. When I close the hutch she does venture to the food bowl but does not come down into the run voluntarily. I have placed her down in the run a few times and she crawls under the ladder and then goes upstairs after a few minutes. All of the others run about and are confident doing so. I thought she would just need time to settle in to her surroundings but now it's been 5 weeks I am getting a bit worried she may be ill or something. None of the other guinea pigs seem to bully her or anything - they get on fine and cuddle up/share the food with no squabbles. Any ideas on what could be wrong/ what I can do or is this just her personality? thanks

Hi! Please have her vet checked to be on the safe side.
Switch from monitoring once weekly to daily at the same to make sure that she is eating enough. 80% of the daily food intake should be hay, so make sure that she has got constant access to it and water upstairs.

It can be that she is traumatised for some reason.

 

[Merab]

Welcome to the forum.
I’m no expert on behaviour but there are others who I’m sure will be along with advice.
There is some information on the forum threads about guinea pig behaviour for you to read.
It may be nothing more than that she is shyer or more timid than the others.
If you are really concerned then a vet check could be a good idea in case of an underlying health issue.

We’d love to see pictures of your herd

 

[Pound Shilling & Pig]

She is probably naturally more cautious than the others. Do you have hideys in the run and does it have a cover on? As a prey species guinea pigs do not like to feel exposed and need to have easy access to hiding places. If the only place to hide is up a ramp this is not a fast enough escape route. If you already have hideys in the run I would put a couple more in, as if she is the pig at the bottom of the pecking order trying to share with a dominant pig can be a bit intimidating, even if you are seeing no signs of bullying and she will return to where she feels safest. Once she knows she as quick and easy access to cover her confidence should start to grow

 

[Lioly19]

Hi! Please have her vet checked to be on the safe side.
Switch from monitoring once weekly to daily at the same to make sure that she is eating enough. 80% of the daily food intake should be hay, so make sure that she has got constant access to it and water upstairs.

It can be that she is traumatised for some reason.

Hi! Thanks for replying. I'll definitely get her checked over incase there is something physically going on that I haven't spotted. Thankfully I have a great vet who knows her stuff when it comes to guinea pigs. She has access to fresh hay and water upstairs aswell as some veg. Hopefully it's nothing serious and she will come out of her shell in time. I hate seeing her alone while the others roam downstairs

 

[Lioly19]

Welcome to the forum.
I’m no expert on behaviour but there are others who I’m sure will be along with advice.
There is some information on the forum threads about guinea pig behaviour for you to read.
It may be nothing more than that she is shyer or more timid than the others.
If you are really concerned then a vet check could be a good idea in case of an underlying health issue.

We’d love to see pictures of your herd

Hi, thanks for replying to me!
I'm going to have her checked over to make sure I haven't missed anything that could be the problem. Hopefully the vet doesn't find anything concerning & she is just a bit shy. I'm wondering would picking her up and handling her more be better or worse? As that may get her used to us but then also she may be awfully scared. Someone else's opinion would be appreciated!

 

[Lioly19]

She is probably naturally more cautious than the others. Do you have hideys in the run and does it have a cover on? As a prey species guinea pigs do not like to feel exposed and need to have easy access to hiding places. If the only place to hide is up a ramp this is not a fast enough escape route. If you already have hideys in the run I would put a couple more in, as if she is the pig at the bottom of the pecking order trying to share with a dominant pig can be a bit intimidating, even if you are seeing no signs of bullying and she will return to where she feels safest. Once she knows she as quick and easy access to cover her confidence should start to grow

Thanks for the reply! They have a hidey downstairs that is like a wide tunnel. Thinking about it I realise that that wouldn't feel too secure and safe due to the opening at both ends. I am going to make or buy a few hideys tomorrow that will be better and I think possibly this could be the trick! Can't believe I hadn't thought about this better! Thank you

 

[Reenie]

Maybe she's scared to go down the ramp? I fostered a piggy once who wouldn't come down from the top of the hutch. I eventually had to return him to the sanctuary as, at the time, I had nowhere else for him. He was always going back, but I had to bring it forward.

 

[Wiebke]

Better get hideys with two exits because part of normal dominance is to chuck an underpiggy out of prime territory. With a group also make sure that you have more hideys than piggies, for the same reason. have at least two upstairs. Children's stools make great hideys in larger areas.
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