Lhasa
New Born Pup
Hi all! I am very much new to the forum, yet I've had my guinea for three months now. I am a brand new owner that would like some advice. Never done this before!
A bit of backstory (skip to the other paragraph if you want), my friend pawned this piggy off on me. He bought this little girl for his kids, as a pet. He meant well. But it was from some Petco down the street and who knows how the unsupervised kids treated her. About three months ago is when my friend said that no one in the house was showing her any attention. They had her at least a year. Maybe a year and a half. In that time, I'm sure she she was being fed and watered, cared for, but he felt bad that the kids had lost interest and thought she needed more. I love animals; I work with dogs. But I knew nothing about guineas. I quickly realized how insanely personable and characteristic they are! =D
Okay, skip ahead to now. Three months of ownership. I have a few specific questions, but really I welcome all instruction. I have done much research on how to properly care for her, so I know about a lot of her problems. In fact, let's address them.
1. She's alone. She was bought solo and being a petshop casualty, I expect she was raised that way. I know guineas need to be the social creatures they are, but even if I can get her a companion, that is an idea down the road. For these last three months I have been trying to fill the social role for her. I take her out of her cage daily. We'll get into the size of said cage, but I bring her out usually twice a day, sometimes three, in a little... I dunno, 8ft square area. 4x4. It's my bed =P Well half of my bed. I have her own blankets that I lay down. She has her chew toys (which she never touches) and lots of paper towels and towel rolls, which she wants to completely next it. And I sit there with her the entire time, usually with my tablet so I can continue my day, but she is out like this for at least 4 hours every day. I've been taking some of the paper towels away because if I give her enough, she will get underneath and just sleep. I thought it would be better for her to get interaction and exercise during that time.
2. I'm really, really concerned about cage size. I measured it a while back and it's like 3 feet and a few inches by 2 feet and a few inches. I have read the recommended sizes and clearly this is not it. I was ready to tackle a project to build her something better on the cheap, because money is an issue, but life took over. In lieu of that, I bought a collapsible playpen for her to exercise and play in. I was doing this for her a few times a week at first, but that dwindled to once a week, and now I just don't know. She cries when I walk away from the pen (it's fully loaded with hidey holes and toys and treats). I'm not even sure she likes being in there now.
3. Her diet. I'm so at a loss! As far as her timothy hay goes, she seems to prefer it in a bowl, but will also just waste half of that scattering it around. I've seen her forage around the pen in what she messes up but the loss rate is just crazy. It's basically a second layer of bedding. And I know she needs so much of it so it's a multiple times a day thing to make sure she has more in her bowl. I bought her a hay rack and she likes it pretty well. She'll always prefer the bowl though. Again though, it's multiple times I day I will refill the hay rack, making sure I physically stick large tufts of hay through the gaps because that's the only way she seems to be satisfied! But I'm basing this on her whininess. And she will stop crying if I do this with her food.
4. Second part of her diet. She won't eat veggies. Won't. Best results I've had are a tip to rub fruit juice over them (natural, like smearing a grape over it) and she will express interest. Mostly licking the vegetables and maaaaaybe sooooometimes eating a few bits of veggie. I had tried... so many different veggies. Carrots, lettuces, spinaches some cabbages, broccolli, cauliflower... so much more. It's not a question of variety. She does have a daily feed of pellets for her vitamin C (which she goes bonkers for. loves it), but I thought it would be way better for her to have the real thing. Again, she is a pet shop born girl and I am sure my friend who owned her prior did not feed her veggies. Probably too many fruits to boot.
I would love to ask more but it is late here. Maybe this could be the start to better understand my Ginny. That's actually her name, by the way. Embarrassing how unoriginal it is, but I can't change it now! She's been Ginny her whole life before me =)
Thanks for any and all help! I will check back and respond to any questions or whatever may be needed to further this.
A bit of backstory (skip to the other paragraph if you want), my friend pawned this piggy off on me. He bought this little girl for his kids, as a pet. He meant well. But it was from some Petco down the street and who knows how the unsupervised kids treated her. About three months ago is when my friend said that no one in the house was showing her any attention. They had her at least a year. Maybe a year and a half. In that time, I'm sure she she was being fed and watered, cared for, but he felt bad that the kids had lost interest and thought she needed more. I love animals; I work with dogs. But I knew nothing about guineas. I quickly realized how insanely personable and characteristic they are! =D
Okay, skip ahead to now. Three months of ownership. I have a few specific questions, but really I welcome all instruction. I have done much research on how to properly care for her, so I know about a lot of her problems. In fact, let's address them.
1. She's alone. She was bought solo and being a petshop casualty, I expect she was raised that way. I know guineas need to be the social creatures they are, but even if I can get her a companion, that is an idea down the road. For these last three months I have been trying to fill the social role for her. I take her out of her cage daily. We'll get into the size of said cage, but I bring her out usually twice a day, sometimes three, in a little... I dunno, 8ft square area. 4x4. It's my bed =P Well half of my bed. I have her own blankets that I lay down. She has her chew toys (which she never touches) and lots of paper towels and towel rolls, which she wants to completely next it. And I sit there with her the entire time, usually with my tablet so I can continue my day, but she is out like this for at least 4 hours every day. I've been taking some of the paper towels away because if I give her enough, she will get underneath and just sleep. I thought it would be better for her to get interaction and exercise during that time.
2. I'm really, really concerned about cage size. I measured it a while back and it's like 3 feet and a few inches by 2 feet and a few inches. I have read the recommended sizes and clearly this is not it. I was ready to tackle a project to build her something better on the cheap, because money is an issue, but life took over. In lieu of that, I bought a collapsible playpen for her to exercise and play in. I was doing this for her a few times a week at first, but that dwindled to once a week, and now I just don't know. She cries when I walk away from the pen (it's fully loaded with hidey holes and toys and treats). I'm not even sure she likes being in there now.
3. Her diet. I'm so at a loss! As far as her timothy hay goes, she seems to prefer it in a bowl, but will also just waste half of that scattering it around. I've seen her forage around the pen in what she messes up but the loss rate is just crazy. It's basically a second layer of bedding. And I know she needs so much of it so it's a multiple times a day thing to make sure she has more in her bowl. I bought her a hay rack and she likes it pretty well. She'll always prefer the bowl though. Again though, it's multiple times I day I will refill the hay rack, making sure I physically stick large tufts of hay through the gaps because that's the only way she seems to be satisfied! But I'm basing this on her whininess. And she will stop crying if I do this with her food.
4. Second part of her diet. She won't eat veggies. Won't. Best results I've had are a tip to rub fruit juice over them (natural, like smearing a grape over it) and she will express interest. Mostly licking the vegetables and maaaaaybe sooooometimes eating a few bits of veggie. I had tried... so many different veggies. Carrots, lettuces, spinaches some cabbages, broccolli, cauliflower... so much more. It's not a question of variety. She does have a daily feed of pellets for her vitamin C (which she goes bonkers for. loves it), but I thought it would be way better for her to have the real thing. Again, she is a pet shop born girl and I am sure my friend who owned her prior did not feed her veggies. Probably too many fruits to boot.
I would love to ask more but it is late here. Maybe this could be the start to better understand my Ginny. That's actually her name, by the way. Embarrassing how unoriginal it is, but I can't change it now! She's been Ginny her whole life before me =)
Thanks for any and all help! I will check back and respond to any questions or whatever may be needed to further this.
I think there might be a two birds with one stone here. She needs a companion. Obviously living with your own species is beneficial but for a pig this is how you learn what is safe. If she was brought up alone she hasn't learned from anyone else that eating veggies is safe! A friend may well encourage her in this.
Very little effort, minimal outlay and have lasted me 6 years. I probably need to replace the pad as it isn’t quite working any more. But has cost me pennies in terms of spend over the years. You are in America, I believe uhaul pads are a great option for you but they don’t exist in the uk.
