Need Help With New Adopted Piggy

[chelbrot]

Okay so I just adopted a cute little guinea pig from a woman who wasn't taking very good care of her, but she was so sweet I thought she deserved a new home and someone that would treat her right! So her previous owner didn't give her any sort of actual guinea pig food, just hay and carrots apparently. Also all of her nails are really over grown. I just picked her up today, and she is very calm and lets me pet her and seems so sweet. So my question is: How do I go about getting her to eat her actual food? I've bought the Oxbow cavy cuisine, as thats the brand I trust for my other small pets. Will she just see it and know to start eating it or what? Also, what do I do about her nail situation? I know you can't clip them off all at once because they would bleed. But if she's never had her nails clipped before is she going to freak out on me? How do I go about this? Any help or advice would be very much appreciated! Thanks!

 

[piggyfan]

Hi and welcome to the forum. How lovely you took on this piggy. It is really good she has had hay as that is the most important part of her diet. I would trim a little bit of her nails off each week to help keep them down. Can you see the quick on her nails? Once she has been quarantined are you going to try and bond her with your guinea pigs? When she sees them eating pellets she will learn to eat them too.

 

[Mother Hubbard]

Well done on rescuing a piggy. Considering how overgrown they are and how confident you are cutting them, you could always take your piggy to the vet, and get a bit of a check over?