Guinea Pigs Have Arrived!

Helen82

Helen82

Teenage Guinea Pig
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Location
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Have picked up my guinea pigs from the rescue today! Journey up the M1 took longer than expected with queues and whatnot but they seem alright and polished off all the cucumber I put in their carrier with them. I have 1 quite big female, approx. 2 and a half years old who's a bit more nervous/skittish, 1 smaller female, also about two and a half, who is the most confident and is obviously going to be the boss, and 1 small neutered male who is about 10 months old and obviously likes to pretend he's in charge but I think he's lost that particular battle! All as yet unnamed. The larger female and the male are hiding in one of the houses together; smaller female did a reconnaisance of the cage before going in with them but has now had another explore and is in one of the hideys up the other end of the cage. Will post pictures as soon as I can!
 
Oh how very exciting. A new piggy family. Look forward to seeing photos once they have settled.
 
I'm currently sat at the other end of the room, being quiet and stealthy (!), and all 3 are having a run around and noisily munching their veggies, so looking good so far. Little male and smaller female still seem to be having a power struggle but nothing too drastic!
 
How exciting getting a whole new family at once! If they are already eating veggies and exploring that's a really good sign, most new piggies hide for a week :)
 
Betsy said:
Exciting times!
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Yes! The little male has been rumblestrutting and popcorning all day, not sure what smaller female thinks of all this - at times she's been a bit submissive at other times she's made it clear she doesn't want any of his nonsense and done the odd rumblestrut herself. Not yet clear who's going to be top pig! Larger female seems to not want to get involved with something so undignified! But despite the noises and posturing they all seem okay together just haven't yet established the hierarchy. The only thing I'm a bit concerned about is they do seem to be having a scratch rather often...not sure if I'm being paranoid or what. Hoping it's just the move into a different environment, getting used to the Carefresh bedding etc and not anything else... There's nothing wrong with their digestion at any rate, in fact I'm sure they're going to eat me out of house and home (and despite what I've read on here I hadn't quite bargained for the volume coming out of the other end!)
 
Been a mixed sort of day today, they've been mainly hiding and a few frayed tempers, but at evening veg time the two girls have taken food from my fingers through the grids (little boy too scared to). Smaller girl and little boy still trying to work out who's in charge; oddly enough it's the larger girl who seemed the shyest who seems to be settling in better. She was the first to take food from me and has seemed more relaxed when I've been talking to them. I think being fairly free of the power struggle and 100% motivated by food (as opposed to the others only being about 90%!) she just seems to be getting on with things more! I really need to settle on names for them but nothing seems to be sticking at the moment!
 
I've been out for much of the day - smaller girl seems down in the dumps so am wondering if anything has occurred, she's been making rather submissive noises at little boy's rumbling. Still early days yet so I'll wait and see. Apart from the broccoli which didn't go down well they've been eating all the veg I've put out, but little boy and smaller girl weren't quite as enamoured with the celery this evening as they have been. Larger girl is not so fussy20180922_193243.webp - Hoover would probably be quite a good name for her! This is a pic of larger girl having a peaceful and relaxing nap...just before in trying to quietly leave the room and not disturb her I accidentally kicked the door and sent her scurrying off in fright :oops:
 
Merab's Slave said:
She’s a real beauty.

Shouldn’t worry about her running away - I have a young pig who still does that after 2 months
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Thank you - she's definitely the pretty pig, smaller girl looks a bit like a scruffy sheepdog! Trying not to worry about every little thing at the moment - it's just that of the three she seems to be getting used to my voice a bit more quickly than the others and I repay that by scaring the bejeezus out of her!
 
Kale was met with universal approval at teatime, which is just aswell as the bag's big enough! Also put some timothy hay in for the first time. They've so far been eating meadow hay which they like, but they've all gone mad for the timothy hay! Little boy in particular has been zooming and popcorning all over the place; the cage was bouncing a bit but so far the correx and my construction skills have held up to all the excitement!
 
Very up and down day today. Two girls took some veg from my fingers again; little boy took his first bit of veg from my fingers, but was only brave enough to do it once! He's also found a new favourite spot - climbing on top of the plastic house - to announce his butchness and masculinity to all and sundry... I will have had them a week on Wednesday and need to do a full cage clean then. To do this I'll need to put them in their run below the cage. But I was thinking that trying to catch them, putting them in the run for the first time and all the noise and kerfuffle of me cleaning their cage above them would be too much newness all in one go. So I thought I would try and put them in their run for the first time this evening, just for a short while, so it wouldn't be so new and terrifying on Wednesday. Or at least that was the plan, but despite following all the tips about how to pick up guinea pigs in hideys, tunnels etc, I completely failed to get a single one and we ended up with three scared piggies cowering in the far corner of their cage where I couldn't reach them. I've given it up for today but now I'm having a mild panic about how I'm going to be able to get them out to clean the cage... To make up for the failed catching episode I have fashioned them a new multiple entrance hidey out of a cardboard box and they seem quite pleased with this. Larger girl also followed a kale trail half way up the ramp to the loft, but then backed down again so I'll try that again tomorrow.
 
Helen82 said:
Yes! The little male has been rumblestrutting and popcorning all day, not sure what smaller female thinks of all this - at times she's been a bit submissive at other times she's made it clear she doesn't want any of his nonsense and done the odd rumblestrut herself. Not yet clear who's going to be top pig! Larger female seems to not want to get involved with something so undignified! But despite the noises and posturing they all seem okay together just haven't yet established the hierarchy. The only thing I'm a bit concerned about is they do seem to be having a scratch rather often...not sure if I'm being paranoid or what. Hoping it's just the move into a different environment, getting used to the Carefresh bedding etc and not anything else... There's nothing wrong with their digestion at any rate, in fact I'm sure they're going to eat me out of house and home (and despite what I've read on here I hadn't quite bargained for the volume coming out of the other end!)
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Aww your piggies are very cute! I hadn’t quite realised how much pooping they do either!
 
Helen82 said:
Very up and down day today. Two girls took some veg from my fingers again; little boy took his first bit of veg from my fingers, but was only brave enough to do it once! He's also found a new favourite spot - climbing on top of the plastic house - to announce his butchness and masculinity to all and sundry... I will have had them a week on Wednesday and need to do a full cage clean then. To do this I'll need to put them in their run below the cage. But I was thinking that trying to catch them, putting them in the run for the first time and all the noise and kerfuffle of me cleaning their cage above them would be too much newness all in one go. So I thought I would try and put them in their run for the first time this evening, just for a short while, so it wouldn't be so new and terrifying on Wednesday. Or at least that was the plan, but despite following all the tips about how to pick up guinea pigs in hideys, tunnels etc, I completely failed to get a single one and we ended up with three scared piggies cowering in the far corner of their cage where I couldn't reach them. I've given it up for today but now I'm having a mild panic about how I'm going to be able to get them out to clean the cage... To make up for the failed catching episode I have fashioned them a new multiple entrance hidey out of a cardboard box and they seem quite pleased with this. Larger girl also followed a kale trail half way up the ramp to the loft, but then backed down again so I'll try that again tomorrow.
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Don’t let today’s experience put you off. We’ve all had days where our piggies have given us the run around - even now I have one who’s a devil to catch. You have to find what works for you. I’m more confident with new piggies because I’ve handled more, but each new one is different. If needs be, can you just leave them in the cage while you clean but shoo them down one end and clean the other? I’ve been known to do that for several weeks while terrified piggies settle in. Even now I do that sometimes. Cleaning out takes longer that way but they do get more used to you cleaning and tidying. Don’t let it scare you.
 
VickiA said:
Don’t let today’s experience put you off. We’ve all had days where our piggies have given us the run around - even now I have one who’s a devil to catch. You have to find what works for you. I’m more confident with new piggies because I’ve handled more, but each new one is different. If needs be, can you just leave them in the cage while you clean but shoo them down one end and clean the other? I’ve been known to do that for several weeks while terrified piggies settle in. Even now I do that sometimes. Cleaning out takes longer that way but they do get more used to you cleaning and tidying. Don’t let it scare you.
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Thanks! I'm not sure that I can leave them in whilst I clean as I really need to disinfect the correx and give it a good wipe down. I've been trying to keep on top of taking out poo and the wet bits of hay and Carefresh but I'm not quite in the swing of this so to speak and I think a lot of wee has probably soaked to the bottom... I think I'll have another go trying to catch them to put them in the run tomorrow, and the success or not of that will dictate how the clean goes on Wednesday!
 
Molly3827 said:
Aww your piggies are very cute! I hadn’t quite realised how much pooping they do either!
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Thank you! I didn't think it was quite so bad until I realised there was more of the stuff buried in the hay aswell...
 
@VickiA I decided to follow your advice and do a cage clean today with them still in the cage. So I wasn't able to use the pet disinfectant but I was able to at least give the correx a wipe down with a damp cloth (aswell as obviously get rid of all the old bedding etc and disinfect their plastic hidey). They were giving it all the "how dare you destroy our home and everything we've ever loved" but seemed happy with the fresh bedding, at least for a few minutes, then it was "where's our tea?"

Before the cage cleaning episode, we had some progress with the ramp this morning. Both girls got half way up, then backed down again. Little boy followed the kale trail all the way to the top of the ramp, but then some noise from the girls spooked him and he ran back down. But later he remembered he'd left some kale at the top of the ramp and went all the way up, taking two steps out into the hay loft, but then the excitement was all too much and he went back down. Still, very encouraging though!
 
Congrats on your new piggies. Lovely cage set up, they certainly are spoiled. Only a suggestion, would it be worth making a removable lid for the loft and top half of the ramp? The cover would help them feel secure up tgerecand would likely mean it gets used more. If it was removable it wouldn't interfere with cleaning it?
 
Thank you! And also thank you for the tips about covering the loft, I had been thinking about putting a fabric cover over the loft and completely forgot about it! I think I'll leave the top half of the ramp uncovered for the time being - I think it was more because the girls are (I presume) fully grown and therefore a bit wider that they felt a bit constricted going up the ramp that put them off; little boy is smaller and a bit more agile. If only he uses the loft that will be a positive as it would give the girls a break from his raging hormones!
 
Today is our one week anniversary - they weren't exactly pleased with me marking the occasion by hoovering their room... They did however get a veggie banquet straight after in a bid to try and get them associating the scary vacuum cleaner with nice things. I have also finally decided on their names: little tortoiseshell boy is Stanley, black, white and brown girl is Jess and black, white and blonde girl is Primrose! The piggy politics is a bit stressful at the moment. Stanley is sort of in charge, but a small, young, insecure leader (he comes a poor third at veg time); he's a bit shy, very rumbley and hormonal, but a happy-go-lucky popcorning chap. Primrose is bottom of the pecking order (except at veg time when she usually dominates) but seems to accept the fact. Jess is causing the stress and trouble at the moment - I think she has come second in the pecking order but she's a bit put out by it all at the moment. Stanley is the new boy and I'm guessing she was boss of Primrose when it was just the two of them, so I think she's potentially unhappy about loss of position. She's being rather tetchy, territorial and sulky and sort of on the edge of okay behaviour today, but I'm trying to keep my eye on the situation. Never having had guinea pigs before I'm not sure whether it's stress about the move and new surroundings, annoyance at potential loss of position, unacceptance of loss of position, she's perhaps in season or all four at the same time... Just hoping that with a bit more time things will settle down!
 
Helen82 said:
Today is our one week anniversary - they weren't exactly pleased with me marking the occasion by hoovering their room... They did however get a veggie banquet straight after in a bid to try and get them associating the scary vacuum cleaner with nice things. I have also finally decided on their names: little tortoiseshell boy is Stanley, black, white and brown girl is Jess and black, white and blonde girl is Primrose! The piggy politics is a bit stressful at the moment. Stanley is sort of in charge, but a small, young, insecure leader (he comes a poor third at veg time); he's a bit shy, very rumbley and hormonal, but a happy-go-lucky popcorning chap. Primrose is bottom of the pecking order (except at veg time when she usually dominates) but seems to accept the fact. Jess is causing the stress and trouble at the moment - I think she has come second in the pecking order but she's a bit put out by it all at the moment. Stanley is the new boy and I'm guessing she was boss of Primrose when it was just the two of them, so I think she's potentially unhappy about loss of position. She's being rather tetchy, territorial and sulky and sort of on the edge of okay behaviour today, but I'm trying to keep my eye on the situation. Never having had guinea pigs before I'm not sure whether it's stress about the move and new surroundings, annoyance at potential loss of position, unacceptance of loss of position, she's perhaps in season or all four at the same time... Just hoping that with a bit more time things will settle down!
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Oh piggy politics - it can all change in a flash. But I do love a young boar rumblestrutting his way round his ladies and trying to be the man in charge. It sounds like things are all moving in the right direction. It’s early days for them and you. Well done doing the cage clean with them in it. They’ll get used to it in time.
 
VickiA said:
Oh piggy politics - it can all change in a flash. But I do love a young boar rumblestrutting his way round his ladies and trying to be the man in charge. It sounds like things are all moving in the right direction. It’s early days for them and you. Well done doing the cage clean with them in it. They’ll get used to it in time.
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It's funny to watch him strutting and slinking about because he's about half the size of the ladies! Sometimes they make submissive noises, other times they tell him to get lost in piggy language.

Jess still seems to be in a foul mood, but they're all eating fine - dill and parsley went down very well at tea time. And Stanley has properly discovered the loft! After their tea time veg he ran straight up the ramp twice and did invisible victory laps underneath the timothy hay that's up there. Once I get round to putting some sort of cover over it he may realise he can actually stop up there for longer if he wants!
 
I'm so jelly! I've never had sows, and experiencing the joys of watching the social interactions of a boar with his sows must be really great ^.^

I have three beautiful boars that make me very happy. I remember when I got my first pair though, and watching those dominance behaviors for the first time can be really nerve wracking! I can totally relate :)

Since piggies are new and still getting to know you, it will take a while before they trust you enough to handle them. My advice is to move veeerryy slowly when approaching them, and make sure to always scoop them up. Don't be afraid to offer treats after successfully catching them or handling them, and don't be offended if they don't eat or accept treats from your hands at first! They will eventually once they trust you and warm up to you. Best of luck! ^.^
 
MomoMura said:
I'm so jelly! I've never had sows, and experiencing the joys of watching the social interactions of a boar with his sows must be really great ^.^

I have three beautiful boars that make me very happy. I remember when I got my first pair though, and watching those dominance behaviors for the first time can be really nerve wracking! I can totally relate :)

Since piggies are new and still getting to know you, it will take a while before they trust you enough to handle them. My advice is to move veeerryy slowly when approaching them, and make sure to always scoop them up. Don't be afraid to offer treats after successfully catching them or handling them, and don't be offended if they don't eat or accept treats from your hands at first! They will eventually once they trust you and warm up to you. Best of luck! ^.^
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Thank you for your advice! I'm taking it slowly - Primrose is the most receptive to me, she seems more used to my voice and now comes to the front of the cage wheeking at breakfast and tea time! Stanley is the most scared of me still but seems like a happy little sort, he's always either rumbling or popcorning. Jess is still a bit bad tempered with me and the other guinea pigs but this morning she was actually at the front of the cage with Primrose awaiting her breakfast - a breakthrough!
 
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