kitrat
Junior Guinea Pig
Sorry in advance this has turned out to be a long one! :
I just want to sort of 'review' my progress as guinea pig owner after these first few months as I have some questions and thoughts that I can't answer having little previous experience to compare to.
So I've had my two girls about 5 or 6 months now, I took Nutmeg off my Mum who no longer wanted to keep pigs after Nutmeg's friend died, and then I bought Baby Pig as a youngster (a 'proper' name never stuck!) to be Nutmeg's companion. Nutmeg was a bit sad before Baby came but she has been wonderfully content ever since the first big lick behind the ears she gave when they first met
1. So they live inside in a C&C cage, I try to put them out on the grass when I can (weather is often horrible here and I work full time but the outside cage is not secure enough to leave them during the day unattended) but they don't seem to enjoy it much. Nutmeg is familiar with living on the grass and will occasionally venture out of her hidey house to nibble but Baby pretty much refuses to move, only rarely will she come out for a nibble (they do have grass underfoot in the hidey house so shes getting some grass but not much). I thought over time this would improve but it hasn't yet. I resorted last time to removing the house and putting some packing paper that they like to hide in down, so they could hide but not fully. This worked great with Nutmeg she was having a wonderful graze around and looked lovely and relaxed, however Baby was resistant to coming out at all as usual. I want her to come out and eat some grass for her teeth due to my next point. Is there something I'm doing wrong, something else I can try?
2. So my next point was that It's hard to get them to eat sufficient hay. I saw somewhere it should be 90% of their diet
(is that realistic?) I'm struggling to get them to eat even half that. They for some reason won't eat much hay if it's in a hay rack, if it touches the floor of the cage then it doesn't get eaten, I've started using empty glove boxes (for latex gloves) which has definitely improved things temporarily however they seem to be loosing enthusiasm lately. I've switched to expensive Timothy hay from the cheaper version which did help a bit but I'm going through a patch with it where the strands aren't so long and this may be why they are loosing interest. Is it because they are spoiled? I give them veg most mornings and evenings and their pellets are always available, should I scale the pellets at least back? I don't want them to run out but maybe I should limit it to a certain amount per day?
3. So my other concern is Baby's behaviour. She is just so nervous, I know they are jumpy creatures obviously but Nutmeg is always pretty chilled and you'd think that would calm Baby down but she runs away if I so much as move my hand sometimes. Is this relatively normal? I've relaxed about her nerves a bit now that I've realised her running around at 5am isn't out of abject terror but because she's doing zoomies! (I've never seen her do this
I only get to hear it). And now she will come out for food when I'm there which she wouldn't before. I suppose she's getting a lot better these days, is it just an age and experience thing? She will eat on my lap after a bit of time so i suppose she's ok really. Is she just of a slightly more nervous personality? When she is too scared to come out she just sits in one place all the time and her wee soaks into her fur badly so it's not ideal as it looks like I'm going to have to give her baths more frequently than she or I would really like to.
4. Some health concerns. Nutmeg is an older lady and for a long time before I took her off my Mum she sounded a little wheezy and always has since. My Mum has always used a vet experienced in guinea pigs who says they 'go like that when they get older'. I wasn't sure and took her to a vet near me a few months back and she wasn't convinced she had an infection but we did a seven day course of antibiotics anyway but this had no impact. So I'm not really worried cos she is happy and healthy looking, I just wanted to check if anyone had any experience with this?
Also I've noticed that baby has a bit of a waxy ear (blergh!) in just one ear, looks ok, doesn't look irritated or infected or untoward in any way but she freaks out if I try to clean it (just the exterior part of the ear). I did a bit of ear drops but she's not really having that either, not sure how much drops are actually entering her ear. Just something to keep an eye on do you think? She is long haired and I read they are more prone to waxy ears.
5. Positive notes: I love my piggies so much! I wish I had a massive house and I could have hundreds! I love hearing Baby's youthful zoomies and she constantly makes little low level squeaks as she walks around which is so cute. I love how happy Nutmeg always is. I love that my boyfriend who was initially apprehensive about them is now in love with them and like me would like a third one (not sure their cage is quite big enough though). I am happily addicted!
Essay over! Thanks for any advice.
I just want to sort of 'review' my progress as guinea pig owner after these first few months as I have some questions and thoughts that I can't answer having little previous experience to compare to.
So I've had my two girls about 5 or 6 months now, I took Nutmeg off my Mum who no longer wanted to keep pigs after Nutmeg's friend died, and then I bought Baby Pig as a youngster (a 'proper' name never stuck!) to be Nutmeg's companion. Nutmeg was a bit sad before Baby came but she has been wonderfully content ever since the first big lick behind the ears she gave when they first met
1. So they live inside in a C&C cage, I try to put them out on the grass when I can (weather is often horrible here and I work full time but the outside cage is not secure enough to leave them during the day unattended) but they don't seem to enjoy it much. Nutmeg is familiar with living on the grass and will occasionally venture out of her hidey house to nibble but Baby pretty much refuses to move, only rarely will she come out for a nibble (they do have grass underfoot in the hidey house so shes getting some grass but not much). I thought over time this would improve but it hasn't yet. I resorted last time to removing the house and putting some packing paper that they like to hide in down, so they could hide but not fully. This worked great with Nutmeg she was having a wonderful graze around and looked lovely and relaxed, however Baby was resistant to coming out at all as usual. I want her to come out and eat some grass for her teeth due to my next point. Is there something I'm doing wrong, something else I can try?
2. So my next point was that It's hard to get them to eat sufficient hay. I saw somewhere it should be 90% of their diet
(is that realistic?) I'm struggling to get them to eat even half that. They for some reason won't eat much hay if it's in a hay rack, if it touches the floor of the cage then it doesn't get eaten, I've started using empty glove boxes (for latex gloves) which has definitely improved things temporarily however they seem to be loosing enthusiasm lately. I've switched to expensive Timothy hay from the cheaper version which did help a bit but I'm going through a patch with it where the strands aren't so long and this may be why they are loosing interest. Is it because they are spoiled? I give them veg most mornings and evenings and their pellets are always available, should I scale the pellets at least back? I don't want them to run out but maybe I should limit it to a certain amount per day?3. So my other concern is Baby's behaviour. She is just so nervous, I know they are jumpy creatures obviously but Nutmeg is always pretty chilled and you'd think that would calm Baby down but she runs away if I so much as move my hand sometimes. Is this relatively normal? I've relaxed about her nerves a bit now that I've realised her running around at 5am isn't out of abject terror but because she's doing zoomies! (I've never seen her do this
I only get to hear it). And now she will come out for food when I'm there which she wouldn't before. I suppose she's getting a lot better these days, is it just an age and experience thing? She will eat on my lap after a bit of time so i suppose she's ok really. Is she just of a slightly more nervous personality? When she is too scared to come out she just sits in one place all the time and her wee soaks into her fur badly so it's not ideal as it looks like I'm going to have to give her baths more frequently than she or I would really like to.4. Some health concerns. Nutmeg is an older lady and for a long time before I took her off my Mum she sounded a little wheezy and always has since. My Mum has always used a vet experienced in guinea pigs who says they 'go like that when they get older'. I wasn't sure and took her to a vet near me a few months back and she wasn't convinced she had an infection but we did a seven day course of antibiotics anyway but this had no impact. So I'm not really worried cos she is happy and healthy looking, I just wanted to check if anyone had any experience with this?
Also I've noticed that baby has a bit of a waxy ear (blergh!) in just one ear, looks ok, doesn't look irritated or infected or untoward in any way but she freaks out if I try to clean it (just the exterior part of the ear). I did a bit of ear drops but she's not really having that either, not sure how much drops are actually entering her ear. Just something to keep an eye on do you think? She is long haired and I read they are more prone to waxy ears.
5. Positive notes: I love my piggies so much! I wish I had a massive house and I could have hundreds! I love hearing Baby's youthful zoomies and she constantly makes little low level squeaks as she walks around which is so cute. I love how happy Nutmeg always is. I love that my boyfriend who was initially apprehensive about them is now in love with them and like me would like a third one (not sure their cage is quite big enough though
). I am happily addicted!Essay over! Thanks for any advice.
