Hi i got my first two piggies today and one of them who i was told is timid and shy(was with previous owner for 5 months) she has been staying in the corner, not eating/drinking much and making persistent crying noises is this a normal reaction or should i be worried?
Timid little piggie
- Thread starter heidiG
- Start date
In my title it said new born pup it meant to say my new piggies not sure why it autocorrected to that
Lorcan
Forum Buddy
Hi and welcome
Guinea pigs are prey animals; they need more time to settle into their new surroundings. They then need to establish/re-establish a working hierarchical group in their new territory.
Please place a sheet over the top to give the timid piggy a feeling of safety and place hay and water nearby (the two most important things), as well as sprinkling some veg and pellets around. Your piggies will move around and eat when the room is quiet.
Your timid one is currently simply a bit freaked out but will settle down if you just leave her be.
You can find lots more practical tips for settling in and making friends with your piggies - from learning how prey animal instincts work, how you avoid triggering them, making friends with them with a little course of piggy whispering, how to pick them up safely hands-off and prevent them from freak-jumping during lap time etc.
Plus lots of other practical how-to tips, learning what is normal or not, understanding behaviours and some important basic care tips and information in our special New Owners collection that will hopefully help you to a good start. You may want to bookmark the link, browse, read and re-read at need: Getting Started - Essential Information for New Owners
You are of course always welcome to ask any questions in our Care sections. And you'll get the hang of how our forum works.
Guinea pigs are prey animals; they need more time to settle into their new surroundings. They then need to establish/re-establish a working hierarchical group in their new territory.
Please place a sheet over the top to give the timid piggy a feeling of safety and place hay and water nearby (the two most important things), as well as sprinkling some veg and pellets around. Your piggies will move around and eat when the room is quiet.
Your timid one is currently simply a bit freaked out but will settle down if you just leave her be.
You can find lots more practical tips for settling in and making friends with your piggies - from learning how prey animal instincts work, how you avoid triggering them, making friends with them with a little course of piggy whispering, how to pick them up safely hands-off and prevent them from freak-jumping during lap time etc.
Plus lots of other practical how-to tips, learning what is normal or not, understanding behaviours and some important basic care tips and information in our special New Owners collection that will hopefully help you to a good start. You may want to bookmark the link, browse, read and re-read at need: Getting Started - Essential Information for New Owners
You are of course always welcome to ask any questions in our Care sections. And you'll get the hang of how our forum works.
New pets are always exciting and frightening in equal measure. That is why we have put together our Starter guide collection as we cannot repeat all tips in every post; they will hopefully cover the most commonly encountered issues.
You will undoubtedly find more things you are not sure about. Please feel free to ask them all; we will answer them in a friendly and helpful way.
It is not easy for you to step back and not hover right now, but that is what you need to do. Just give them the extra cover (exposure to open space is one of the prey animal instinct triggers) because that will give them more courage to go and explore the cage because they feel more protected.
Merab
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Welcome to the forum.
You will work out how to navigate the forum as you use it.
There’s still stuff I’m not sure about.
You will work out how to navigate the forum as you use it.
There’s still stuff I’m not sure about.
Bill & Ted
Forum Buddy
Welcome to the forum
”New Born Pup” just means you are new to the forum, once you have posted a few times it will change and you will have something but I can’t quite remember
But I remember seeing that when I joined and wondering if I’d just something in wrong, you haven’t. It’s “Junior Guinea Pig” I think
Hope your little shy has settled a bit more today x
”New Born Pup” just means you are new to the forum, once you have posted a few times it will change and you will have something but I can’t quite remember
But I remember seeing that when I joined and wondering if I’d just something in wrong, you haven’t. It’s “Junior Guinea Pig” I thinkHope your little shy has settled a bit more today x
Engel
Adult Guinea Pig
I placed a large blanket over the cage and only removed it to clean or refill hay/food/water. I kept it like this for about 2 weeks. Then I kept only half the cage covered. They'll settle with time. Don't be alarmed if they squeak when being picked up either (although I'd leave them be for at least a week. Then use a soft cozy for them to walk into, then lift.) My newest girls have been home for 4 weeks. They're more comfortable with me in the cage now but if I go to touch them or lift them, they panic. Some piggies take longer than others so please don't be disheartened if they take a while.
Betsy
Anniversary Herd
I've had Lexi and Thea since November. I adopted them from someone who couldn't keep them any more. Lexi was very scared to begin with and would shriek in fear whenever I went near her and would run away and cower in a corner whenever she heard an unusual sound. Now with patience on my part and taking it at her pace she will come up and sniff my fingers when I open the hutch, she'll walk into a hidey if I need to pick her up and cuddle time is now 5 minutes long instead of 1 minute before she starts to freak out. Some piggies are just naturally more frightened of things than others.