New piggy owner and concerns

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aina521

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  1. Hi everyone! I'm new to this forum and also a new piggy owner and I need some advice. I have 2 rats and I recently got 2 guinea pig babies (both sows). They're about 3-4 months old. The younger of the two, Shayera has a serious biting problem. When we got her, she was extremely calm, not skittish at all when she was picked up, she barely moved while we were holding her. After we brought her home, we realized it's not that she's not skittish, she's just too scared to move. During playtime, she tends to sit in one place while the other one, Kara, wanders around and explores and even chuts. Shayera makes almost no noises ever. Kara lets us hold her and cuddle her and she'll just sit by me without doing anything naughty. Shayera, on the other hand, has been biting us. They're not even little nips like she's tasting us. She has broken skin twice on my boyfriend. I'm not sure if she's being aggressive or playful. She doesn't grind or chatter her teeth beforehand, she just bites. She's only done it to me once, but everytime my boyfriend holds her, it's like she's just looking for an opportunity to bite. When our rats do something bad, we gently blow behind their ears to tell them to stop. We tried to do that to Shayera also, but it doesn't seem to work. Is there something similar to "discipline" guinea pigs? We want to bond with Shayera, but the biting really prevents us from wanting to hang out with her.
  2. Another concern I have is about Kara. Sometimes when I pet her she makes cute little noises. They're not particularly loud or shrieky so I'm pretty certain they're happy noises. But sometimes, she vibrates a little bit everytime I touch her, almost as if she's trembling. Is that what she's doing? Is she scared? She usually stops after a bit, but it worries me.
  3. Their pee is sorta cloudy white. I've felt it and it doesn't have a gritty or grainy texture. I've even examined the buildup on the felt in their cages and it's not gritty or grainy. Is this normal or are they getting too much calcium? Their diet consists of Oxbow Cavy Cuisine and fresh veggies (so far they will only eat romaine lettuce, carrots, and parsley).
  4. Last question, I swear! When they are in their cages, they mostly stay in their hidey house. Sometimes they come out to eat, but if we walk in the room, they freeze and run back into their house. They don't ever come out of it to even play. We've tried luring them out with veggies and treats, but they don't respond to it. I've sat with my hand in their cage holding veggies, and they won't come out even after 30-40 minutes. Even outside of the cage, they won't eat treats or veggies out of hands. It's hard to "train" them or bond with them if we can't bribe them. :(
 
Hi,

How long have you had these piggies exactly? It is normal for them to take a while to build up confidence in a new home, especially if they were not handled much before you got them. It sounds to me as if your biter is really scared. I would suggest you get a couple of cosy sacks, and when you want to pick the piggies up, shoo them into the sack. This will help them feel more secure and they can snuggle down in the sack on your knee until they feel ready to poke their noses out. HTH.
 
Hello, I don't know about the biting / discipline issue, sorry, but points 2, 3 and 4 seem pretty normal to me - same things I experienced with my pigs. Clive used to tremble a little when we cuddled him but not so much anymore. However, he does still like to hide / eat undercover. But he has always been a shy piggy - I think it may be just some instinctive behaviour as GPs predators usually attack from above in the wild. Clive did take a whole 48 hours to even come out of his box when we got him from the pet shop so really he has come a long way. Burt, however, will climb his cage, push his nose up to me and sit happily during cuddle time with no qualms. Some pigs are maybe just tamer than others.
 
Hi, my first thought is that your piggie sounds like she may be in pain, she isn't moving much and bites when handled this is not normal so I would suggest a vet check her over to rule out any broken limbs or even sore skin problems that could cause this. Once this is ruled out then I suggest getting them a fleece cuddle sac each and try picking her up in this, sit with her on your lap lots, hand feed her with treats of veg and get her used to being with you without being over handled, you will find her confidence grow with time and soon they should be both wheaking loudly when you enter the room instead of hiding! :-)
 
Hi and welcome!

I would firstly rule out a health problem, too.

If you can pick up Shayera via a convenience (tunnel, cosy, upturned pigloo or a folded towel), that would cut down a lot of the stress. When you have her on your lap, do so protected under a towel, so she can feel secure. Don't try to touch her, just have her sitting with you until she relaxes. Talk to her constantly and try not loom over her like a predator about to pounce. Give her time and space and to not crowd or punish her, please. I had more success with "accidental" brushes at first - but only after my latest skittish piggy had got used to sitting on my lap first.

Piggies can bite in self defence. Some piggies can be very frightened, especially when they have virtually not had any or very rough human contact. It may take some weeks, but if you are patient and persistent, you can get there eventually.

Here are more tips: http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=36239
 
They always do that trembling in my experience and is usually when they are unsure to something or is a new sound/thing. They get used to it :)
 
Great posts already, but I would also say that a trip to the vets to make sure all is well is first on the list. Then get a cuddle sack (plenty of forum members sell them with proceeds going to rescues) and give it time. You can tempt her with a nice treat in your fingers so that she associates fingers with food in the right way and won't be so scared.
 
Thanks everyone for the great advice. I'll take her to a vet first and see if it continues. I've had them for about a month. It's funny, Kara never bites. We trimmed their nails yesterday and Kara sat perfectly still while we did it, but we had to hold Shayera with oven mitts so she could gnaw on our hands while we did it.

What kind of treats do you recommend? We had some yogurt drops, but they didn't seem to eat them and I know they're not healthy. Like I said, the only thing they eat is romaine, parsley, and carrots. They LOVE carrots, but they refuse to eat them out of our hands, so it's hard to get them to associate our hands with treats. Our rats love yogurt (plain, not flavored) as a treat so we tried a tiny drop with the guinea pigs but they don't care for it, and I'm pretty sure it's not good for them. I don't think they even like their vitamin C supplement. Sometimes they eat it because I crush it in their dry food, but they won't take it as a treat (I read guinea pigs are supposed to love them as treats). I know parsley has a decent amount of vitamin C and red bell peppers are supposed to be an even better source, but they don't like bell peppers of any variety.
 
It took me 3 months to get Alfie to eat out of my hand so don't panic, it'll come with time. Have you tried cumcumber? Mine are picky but every one of them loves cucumber. You'll find yourself buying the veggie aile over time just to find stuff they like! There's a list of dos and don't foods in the food section to help you find there fav munch
 
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