I just got this little girl today. I’d like to know if she’s healthy or looks healthy. I over think a lot. I’m use to my My pig I’ve had for months being active around me and she’s not because she’s just scared. Let me know if there’s anything I should do!
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Hi and welcome
Please accept that we cannot replace a hands-on vet check and declare a piggy healthy just from pictures.
As with all new piggies, please double-check the gender and keep an eye out for the usual pitfalls that come with piggies that are not adopted from a good welfare standard guinea pig rescue with mandatory quarantine and vet care.
New guinea pigs: Sexing, vet checks&customer rights, URI, ringworm and parasites
Do you still have your other piggy or have they passed away?
By far the biggest gift not just for settling in a piggy and bring them out but to also to satisfy their biggest species need and boost their life expectancy and long term health is a companion of their own kind. Guinea pigs are prey animals that live in groups; even though they have been domesticated as farm animals for 3000-6000 years, these instincts are still very strong - both the prey animal instincts as well as the need for same species companionship.
Companionship
If you can get there, please consider contacting the The Pipswheekery in Cabot AR for adopting a suitable companion if you haven't got one already. Instead of just one baby to love, you will have two piggies and get to enjoy all the lively complex social interaction that makes guinea pigs so unique and fascinating. You are lucky to have a good welfare standard guinea pig rescue in your state (rare for the Midwest). The rescue works with a fostering and volunteers scheme so their adoptees are more used to a home environment and human interaction than commercially mass bred pet shop babies and they are only rehomed when fully healthy and guaranteed not pregnant.
Facebook:
The Pipswheekery
Website:
Home| The Pipswheekery |Cabot AR |Guinea Pig Rescue
This is what arrival in a pet home looks from the perspective of a piggy. I have written this article for Guinea Pig Magazine to help new owners understand why their expectations of an instant living cuddly toy is often very much clashing with the reality of bringing a frightened piggy or two home:
Arrival in a home from the perspective of pet shop guinea pigs
In order to make friends, give her space to hide and make her feel safer in their new home by placing a sheet or blanket over the cage or a good part of it. Place hay (should make 80% of the daily food intake), a little green veg (15%) and 1/8 cup (= 1 tablespoon) of pellets near her hiding place. Make sure that she has access to a bottle and a little water dish at first. she will come out to explore when nobody is in the room and she will feel safe. Establish a daily routine with different calls for all the regular things. Keep in mind that piggies pick up on tone and melody more than on the word itself; this will help her to make sense of her confusing and frightening new world.
How Do I Settle Shy New Guinea Pigs?
How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pig Safely
Try to avoid behaving like a predator and use social interactive cavy behaviours to invite her into the group you are leading and tell her in piggy language that she is loved and cherished. You can find detailed information on how guinea pig prey animal instincts work, what to do to not be perceived as a predator as well as a little course in 'piggy whispering' in this link here. Being able to interact with her in ways she instinctively understands instead of waiting until she has figured out humans will help speed up the process quite a but. You are also removing yourself more quickly from the predator category if you present yourself as a herd leading 'super-cavy' and give her a herd identity:
Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering And Cuddling Tips
All these helpful practical and informative guides are part of our comprehensive new owners guide collection, which you may find very useful for bookmarking, browsing, reading and re-reading at need as you may discover more new fascinating and helpful things about guinea pigs in there:
Getting Started - New Owners' Most Helpful Guides
I hope that this helps you? Please give yourself and your little girl time to find her feet in a way that is respectful of her needs as much as of your own desires.
