New Guinea Pig mama

[hillkar84]

Hi guys we are new here. My daughter asked for a pet and we thought a Guinea Pig would be a great first pet. He was good yesterday when we got him but today he seems to just hide in the little tunnel we got him. And now my daughter thinks he hates her. I keep trying to tell her that he just needs time because he is a baby only two months old and we took him away from his brother. I know he probably needs a friend so they can play. I just don’t know what to do. His name is Caine.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Welcome to the forum

He is going to be scared so it does take time for them to settle. Being alone as a baby will not help though. It is vitally important that you get him a friend - guinea pigs are highly social and must never be kept alone, particularly a baby of his age. At this point his social and interaction needs with another piggy are higher than at any other point (an adult piggy can manage being alone for a couple of weeks for example during the immediate time after the death of a cagemate, but a baby can’t manage being alone at all). It’s one of their welfare rights that they have companionship and a single piggy will become depressed and lonely. Can you go back and get his brother?
Boars can only kept in pairs.

It is also important to manage the expectations of young children with piggies. Guinea pigs are fantastic pets but not really children’s pets despite the reputation of them being so. As prey animals, most piggies generally don’t like to be held and handled and for that reason most young children struggle with them. Interaction with piggies is Koch less about handling them and much more about watching even and providing enrichment (a vital part is companionship with their own kind rather than with humans).

The best thing is to cover his cage with a sheet so he feels safer and not attempt to handle him for the first week. He needs to settle in and feel safe. After that you begin to sit by his cage and talk to him, try offering food from your hands. Once he feels safe enough to take food from you then you are starting to earn trust - this stage can take anywhere from a few days to months so patience is needed (one of my piggies took a year and a half before he took food from me for the first time).

Even piggies who do learn to like cuddles (which is the minority) generally take many months to come round to it. It’s important she is prepared that it may also never happen.

If you can go and get his brother as well and reunite them then that will help him hugely - it won’t make him handleable, but it is best for his long term welfare and happiness.
Two boys need a cage ideally of 180x60cm to have enough space

New Owners' Essential Information and Practical Tips Starter Collection
New Guinea Pigs: How to Best Manage Arrival and Settling In
Children And Guinea Pigs - Age Appropriate Interaction And Responsibilities.
Companionship
Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering and Cuddling Tips


Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars

 

[Wiebke]

Hi guys we are new here. My daughter asked for a pet and we thought a Guinea Pig would be a great first pet. He was good yesterday when we got him but today he seems to just hide in the little tunnel we got him. And now my daughter thinks he hates her. I keep trying to tell her that he just needs time because he is a baby only two months old and we took him away from his brother. I know he probably needs a friend so they can play. I just don’t know what to do. His name is Caine.

Hi and welcome

Please consider a same gender friend. We can help with the sexing.

You may find these links here helpful in understanding where your little one is coming from and what you can do. Plese accept that guinea pigs are prey animals that haven't had anything in the way of friendly human contact before coming into a complex pet home where they are expected to function as an instant animatd cuddly toy.
Arrival in a home from the perspective of pet shop guinea pigs
New Guinea Pigs: How to Best Manage Arrival and Settling In (this is a practical step by step guide for the first days and weeks)

How Do I Settle Shy New Guinea Pigs?
Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering and Cuddling Tips
How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pigs Safely (videos)

Children And Guinea Pigs - A Guide For Parents
Children And Guinea Pigs - Age Appropriate Interaction And Responsibilities.

New Guinea Pig Problems: Sexing & Pregnancy; URI, Ringworm & Parasites; Vet Checks & Customer Rights
Illustrated Sexing Guide
A Closer Look At Pairs (Boars - Sows - Mixed)


All these links are part of our very helpful New Owners resource which contains all the how-to advice and in-depth information on the various care/feeding/housing aspects, understanding behaviours, learning what is normal and not, spotting early signs of illness, hot weather care etc.. You may want to bookmark the link, browse, read and re-read at need since you will pick up on different things at different levels of experience.
Getting Started - Essential Information for New Owners

PS: If you get another companion, you cannot just stick them into the cage. Guinea pigs are territorial. Please contact us ahead so we can talk you through the bonding and settling together process which takes around 2 weeks after the introduction as well as what to do if the two boys turn out to be not a personality match.

 

[hillkar84]

Hi and welcome

Please consider a same gender friend. We can help with the sexing.

You may find these links here helpful in understanding where your little one is coming from and what you can do. Plese accept that guinea pigs are prey animals that haven't had anything in the way of friendly human contact before coming into a complex pet home where they are expected to function as an instant animatd cuddly toy.
Arrival in a home from the perspective of pet shop guinea pigs
New Guinea Pigs: How to Best Manage Arrival and Settling In (this is a practical step by step guide for the first days and weeks)

How Do I Settle Shy New Guinea Pigs?
Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering and Cuddling Tips
How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pigs Safely (videos)

Children And Guinea Pigs - A Guide For Parents
Children And Guinea Pigs - Age Appropriate Interaction And Responsibilities.

New Guinea Pig Problems: Sexing & Pregnancy; URI, Ringworm & Parasites; Vet Checks & Customer Rights
Illustrated Sexing Guide
A Closer Look At Pairs (Boars - Sows - Mixed)


All these links are part of our very helpful New Owners resource which contains all the how-to advice and in-depth information on the various care/feeding/housing aspects, understanding behaviours, learning what is normal and not, spotting early signs of illness, hot weather care etc.. You may want to bookmark the link, browse, read and re-read at need since you will pick up on different things at different levels of experience.
Getting Started - Essential Information for New Owners

PS: If you get another companion, you cannot just stick them into the cage. Guinea pigs are territorial. Please contact us ahead so we can talk you through the bonding and settling together process which takes around 2 weeks after the introduction as well as what to do if the two boys turn out to be not a personality match.

So you wouldn’t suggest a girl his age?

 

[VickiA]

So you wouldn’t suggest a girl his age?

Absolutely not. He would impregnate her almost immediately. Guinea pigs are best kept in same sex pairs.

 

[Minnou]

Absolutely not. He would impregnate her almost immediately. Guinea pigs are best kept in same sex pairs.

This. They can be having babies of their own from 2 months. My girls go into heat, like, every 2 weeks. They can get pregnant again within hours of giving birth. You'd be swamped.

You'd have to have him neutered first or the female spayed before introduction.

 

[Wiebke]

So you wouldn’t suggest a girl his age?

Boars start making babies from 3-5 weeks of age and sows have their first season between 4-6 weeks - that is basically as soon s they are weaned. We see plenty of cases resulting from mis-sexed pet shop or breeder piggies on here.

Sows come into season again within hours of giving birth. There is no menopause for either gender; domestic piggies are basically nonstop breeding machines until the day they die (goes for both genders).

You cannot step in on time to prevent pregnancies and you are also facing about every 4th or 5th birth ending with the death of babies and/or the mother - and that is guinea pigs in good care; the odds are even worse in less than ideal conditions. And since you are basically playing lottery, there is never any quarantee that you are one of the lucky ones.

A fair percentage of my own adopted piggies over the years have started out with a mis-sexed or intentional bred pair; by the time rescues waded in it had advanced to several generations of uncontrolled breeding that had gotten badly out of hand and what we call a hoarding situation - if just one of the original pair was carrying a faulty gene, babies with major problems will become ever more common from about generation #3 until they are virtually all pups affected not long after.
And yes, rescues have been dealing with those kind of cases.

Your boy and girl will never be able to live together again after the initial meeting unless one of them is safely de-sexed, which is not cheap at all. You only need one mis-sexed baby and the whole circle starts again.

PS: Please accept that we are a strictly no intentional breeding forum. Our discrete courtesy pregnancy and baby section is reserved to help owners dealing with an unplanned pregnancy/surprise babies and any support is only given with the explicit aim of ensuring that there are no more babies.
You are supposed to have read our very explicit rules on that subject before ticking the box during your registration. You should also find a welcome message to that effect when clicking on your envelope icon at the top of the page. Terms of Service And Forum Rules

 

[Merab]

Welcome to the forum.
I can only echo the advice already given

 

[Piggies&buns]

If the brother he was separated from is still available, then you could try to get him.
You would still need to rebond them on neutral territory following the bonding guide which has been linked in.
Any bond comes down to compatibility so the two piggies have to like each other to be able to form a lifelong friendship. If a bonding fails then the two piggies need to love side by side in separate cages.

If the brother isn’t available now, then any male piggy . You absolutely cannot get a female friend for him though.

He would have to be neutered first and then have a six week wait after surgery before he could be introduced to a female. This would mean he is facing months alone which wouldn’t be fair given his age.
You are rather unlikely to find a spayed sow in a rescue centre.

 

[Wiebke]

If the brother he was separated from is still available, then you could try to get him.
You would still need to rebond them on neutral territory following the bonding guide which has been linked in.
Any bond comes down to compatibility so the two piggies have to like each other to be able to form a lifelong friendship. If a bonding fails then the two piggies need to love side by side in separate cages.

If the brother isn’t available now, then any male piggy . You absolutely cannot get a female friend for him though.

He would have to be neutered first and then have a six week wait after surgery before he could be introduced to a female. This would mean he is facing months alone which wouldn’t be fair given his age.
You are rather unlikely to find a spayed sow in a rescue centre.

Spayed sows are a little bit more common in the USA but it is generally still only very few rescues who do it - and decent rescues are far and few in between in the USA. I second looking for the brother.

Texas Rustlers Guinea Pig Rescue in Lewisville is the best guinea pig rescue in your state and the safest place in the whole of Texas to get guinea pigs from but I don't know whether they have de-sexed sows or not. But they are just on the far side of Dallas from you so it may be worth enquiring. As Texas goes, this is pretty local...
For contacts: Guinea Lynx :: US Guinea Pig Rescue and Shelter Organizations
Rescues (Adoption and Dating), Shops, Breeders or Online? - What to consider when getting guinea pigs