Sleep and awake time

[Steve 'n' Piggle]

Do they have times of the day when they are more sleepy?

My pigs are about 12 weeks old and they have definate times of the day where they are quite still and snoozy. Now I write this it seems a silly question to ask, but is this normal behaviour?

Also, they aren't eating much of what I offer them. I am introducing things slowly but some bits they aren't even trying. It's odd to me after having 3 sows who would eat EVERYTHING! They've been out on the grass every day, eaing hay and dandelions and a few nibbles of carrots and tops but not much else. They happily eat their dry pellets.

Just wanted to check they are ok

 

[flips]

My pigs tend to nap after any activity. |) Guinea pigs pretty much graze and sleep. Mine always have a nap after lunchtime cucumber.

Keep offering them different foods. When they are a few months older you can start reducing the pellets gradually and this may encourage them to eat new things. Also, I have found that their tastes change. My original girls hated celery when they were little but now they love it.

 

[Hanwombat]

I find once mine have had their breakfastit all goes very quiet for a good few hours.
Guinea pigs generally will eat, then sleep, then eat, then sleep

 

[Abi_nurse]

I'm not sure about the time of day question. I never seem to notice. Piggies seem to have an active period of time then sleep in little shifts of 20min of so and then are active again. I think it might be a thing to do with being in the wild. Ive watched my heard before and sometimes nearly all are asleep but then there is always one awake and watching.

As with the food, do you mean veggies? I dont know what to suggest to be honest? So long as they have unlimited hay which is 80% of their diet and they have the chance to have veg then i wouldnt worry too much. They may just need time to get used to all the flavours.

x.

 

[claire8234]

Hi

My two boys are 9months old and go beserk at breakfast time, wheeking their heads off and running about. They then collapse in a corner and have a little snooze!

They do this on and off all day. Have a run about then a little power nap

If I put them out on the grass they jump about for ages before finally collapasing in the corner and having a snooze so sounds normal to me

 

[Freela]

I do notice that my girls have active times of day and sleepy times of day- they generally coincide to the daily routine. They are very active in the morning (hay time!) and in the evening (treat time and free play time!) and when the kids get home from school (mooching and making cute faces in exchange for attention time!) Generally after each 'meal' or bout of activity they will snooze, and when I'm home in the afternoon they are moderately active, grazing and drinking and generally puttering around, but not as hyped up as they are when something exciting is going on.

 

[mikulinek]

I think napping/snoozing usually syncs in with their eating and floor time. After any activity or after eating, our boys will have a good 10 - 15 minutes' nap.

As for eating. I think it sounds like they're eating plenty for their age. You might want to cut back on the carrot and just stick to tops. Similarly, lots of dandelion (everyday) is not good either in terms of the amount of vitamin A. Grass, parsley, maybe the odd piece of pepper will always go down well and you start introducing things like tomato or celery when they get a bit older. They're an acquired taste usually and piggies don't always go for them straight away. Our two boys rejected tomatoes for example until they were aobut 6 months old but now they love it!

The thing to do if you are worried about their eating is to weigh them pretty much every day or every other day. At their age, they should be putting on a good few gramms everyday - our two put on 5g per day at that age. If they are putting on good weight and growing nicely then you really don't need to worry about their food.

The other thing to remember is they will be eating at night so this may be the period when they eat the most hay.

 

[Jayne.]

I've had a lone boar, a pair of boars & now a trio of boars & all 6 were most active at dawn & dusk! During the day (even when I'm home all day) they tend to sleep on & off for most of the day, until about 6.30 pm when they go absolutley mental for several hours! Haha!

On the food issue, is it fresh food you're having a problem with? Having a trio, it's hard to please all of them as they have different tastes, but I have noticed that if you leave them with the food, as soon as they realise nothing else is coming & see there brothers eating, they eventually tuck right in!
So if one guinea pig likes something, the other one should hopefully join in eventually as they don't like to think they're missing out on anything! :p

 

[danone]

as the others said,eat,play,sleep,eat,play,sleep etc etc etc
mine always have a sleep after popcorning and running around like nut cases !

as for the food it took me 5 months to get a solid diet veg wise .
keep trying new things but keep an eye on the calcium levels .