New owner and confused

[Freedom22]

Hi everyone, I've had Freedom for about 2 months and I brought her in for a check up and all was good when I first got her. So I know it's not teeth issue. However, one day she laid in a corner and just never came out. She would eat if I brought her the food. She's not going into her litter box, therefor poops where she is laying. Poops are normal. I've now separated her from Libby and on day 2 she started to walk around again but not to much, and goes back in her corner. Not even in a covered corner she is in a wide open space. She come to treats, she's started to come to my hand again, I was scared she wasn't drinking so I put a syringe and give her water. I can't get into the vet till Monday and I'm just scared. There is no crust in her eyes or nose.
As long as I bring her the food, she eats it no problem. She's not breathing differently, but not that I would know what is normal and what is not. They are little breaths , no whizzing.
Is this just a moment where keep an eye on her, hope for the best and wait till Monday?

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m sorry to hear this.

As you cannot gauge hay intake by eye, and hay is the most important part of the daily diet, please switch from the routine weekly weight checks and instead weigh her daily. This will give you a much better idea of whether she is getting enough hay. If she is not eating hay consistently she will be losing weight. You must step in and syringe feed her if that happens. This step is just as important as seeing a vet.

Please do get her to the vet as soon as you can.

Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
Weight - Monitoring and Management

Can I ask why you separated her from her friend? We don’t recommend separating on medical grounds. Piggies feel much better when they have the comfort of their friend and separation is stressful (and stress can lower the immune system further). Also, a medical separation has the potential to ruin a bond and mean they never want to go back together again

 

[Freedom22]

I’m sorry to hear this.

As you cannot gauge hay intake by eye, and hay is the most important part of the daily diet, please switch from the routine weekly weight checks and instead weigh her daily. This will give you a much better idea of whether she is getting enough hay. If she is not eating hay consistently she will be losing weight. You must step in and syringe feed her if that happens. This step is just as important as seeing a vet.

Please do get her to the vet as soon as you can.

Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
Weight - Monitoring and Management

Can I ask why you separated her from her friend? We don’t recommend separating on medical grounds. Piggies feel much better when they have the comfort of their friend and separation is stressful (and stress can lower the immune system further). Also, a medical separation has the potential to ruin a bond and mean they never want to go back together again

Hi thanks for the info. She is eating lots of hay. Being she is not going to the hay I bring it to her so I know how much she is eating. I don't know how much she use to eat because it was a free for all but I will weigh her to make sure.

I separate them because they really haven't bonded yet. Freedom would do the rumbling and butt swaying and she really was the boss. They can see each other. Even through the bars she's still rumbling and I just thought that was extra stress. I can't even say it's effected Libby, she's actually way more active without someone complaining at her all the time

 

[Piggies&buns]

Hi thanks for the info. She is eating lots of hay. Being she is not going to the hay I bring it to her so I know how much she is eating. I don't know how much she use to eat because it was a free for all but I will weigh her to make sure.

I separate them because they really haven't bonded yet. Freedom would do the rumbling and butt swaying and she really was the boss. They can see each other. Even through the bars she's still rumbling and I just thought that was extra stress. I can't even say it's effected Libby, she's actually way more active without someone complaining at her all the time

You can never tell how much hay they are eating, it’s impossible to gauge by eye that she is actually getting enough. The weight checks are the only way to know.
Yes hay should be a free for all - and again it’s the routine weight checks which are so important
If she is not voluntarily going searching for hay, then please put large piles of it by her at all times. Please don’t delay on syringe feeding if necessary.

How long have they been together? If it is longer than two weeks, then they are definitely bonded. Seeing those behaviours of rumblestrutting is totally normal - all piggies do it at some point or another. It does not mean they are not bonded.

 

[Freedom22]

You can never tell how much hay they are eating, it’s impossible to gauge by eye that she is actually getting enough. The weight checks are the only way to know.
Yes hay should be a free for all - and again it’s the routine weight checks which are so important
If she is not voluntarily going searching for hay, then please put large piles of it by her at all times. Please don’t delay on syringe feeding if necessary.

How long have they been together? If it is longer than two weeks, then they are definitely bonded. Seeing those behaviours of rumblestrutting is totally normal - all piggies do it at some point or another. It does not mean they are not bonded.

Just weight her and she's the same as last week and yes there is a quite a bit of hay within reach and I keep it full because I know how much she use to love jumping in it and burrowing.

They've been together about 3 weeks now. They could have bonded but I've never seen them play, sleep anywhere near each other and they haven't even bothered to look at each other in the last 2 days. I've reopened the gate so we will see what happens

 

[Piggies&buns]

Just weight her and she's the same as last week and yes there is a quite a bit of hay within reach and I keep it full because I know how much she use to love jumping in it and burrowing.

They've been together about 3 weeks now. They could have bonded but I've never seen them play, sleep anywhere near each other and they haven't even bothered to look at each other in the last 2 days. I've reopened the gate so we will see what happens

Keep an eye on her weight daily from now until she is recovered. Weigh her at the same time each day and log each weight. It’s good she hasn’t lost weight.

Its quite normal for them to not sleep together - it’s not a sign of bond problems if they don’t sleep together. My boys have been together for four years and never share a hidey.

If theyve been apart for a couple of days, then the introduction needs to be done on neutral territory. Don’t reintroduce them in either of their cages because it can be seen as a territory invasion.

 

[Tnoz]

I have two boys whom won’t share a bed, but the other two boys quite happily do, all piggies have different likes etc all different personalities,

 

[Freedom22]

I have two boys whom won’t share a bed, but the other two boys quite happily do, all piggies have different likes etc all different personalities,

I'm learning that. I have 2 females. One gets into everything and the other is a bit of a B*tch. I literally have 2 of everything but Libby has to be with wherever Freedom is at. And Freedom rumbles and pokes at her while Libby squeals likes she dyeing. It was actually nice not to watch for a day. I'm always afraid of a full on fight. But here am I watching it all over again now. If that's bonded ok? LOL They literally have 20 FT X 3 FT of space, all the tunnel in the world . It's like Libby says "be my friend" and the other "go away" I can't wait for them to hit puberty.

 

[Piggies&buns]

The squealing is likely submission which is completely normal - she is literally saying she isn’t a threat to Freedom’s dominance. It’s a good thing but I know it doesn’t sound nice to us
As they have been separated they will need to reestablish themselves so you will see dominance.
You will see it throughout life and with sows, when they come into season (which is around every two weeks)

Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs

How old are they?