Skittish Babies

[Tamgirl1983]

I am a new mom to two 6 week old baby girls who are sisters. The girl from whom I adopted said that one of them might be blind in one eye because she was born with some cloudiness to it . They are both just now getting used to the new enviornment and are easy to pick up , but, when I put them back they just run into the hidey houses and stay. The one who might be blind has pretty , open , clear , eyes that blink often . However, she does startle easy when I pet her. My question is : Is this blindness or is she just very skittish? I am kinda worried about her learning the layout of the cage because they are still very small. When do babies start to come around and be more outgoing?

[Haley0489]

I adopted my three boys at 6 weeks. How long it took for them to come around depended on their personality. One was person-friendly within a week, the other came around soon after, and my final piggie is still skittish nearly two months later.

[Tamgirl1983]

Thank you for that info. One of the girls just likes to hide alot and is very nervous but I take her out of the pigloo for food and water often so maybe she will come around soon.

[erikahand83]

As long as the eyes are clear and follow movement she should be fine but you might want to have a vet look at her just to be sure.

[rabbitsncavyluv]

I'd take her to a vet. The owner should have. Cloudiness is often a scratch or infection that is treatable. Do you have a photo?

You can tell if they are blind, if their eye reflects a certain way.

Babies tend to be more skittish.

[Tamgirl1983]

The owner couldn't afford to take her to a vet , and since she seemed to eat and poop and thrive , I suppose she didn't see any need. The cloudiness is gone. I don't have a pic of her eyes yet , but she seems to look around . Perhaps it was a scratch that healed on it's own and she is just skittish. How do their eyes reflect differently? I intend on taking them both to the vet early next week, for a once over just to make sure everything is okay.

[Tamgirl1983]

Another thing, I know they are young , and I have tried to show them where the food is and the water bottle is , but it seems like they mostly stay in the same spot. I worry that they aren't getting the nutrition , food , water , etc . that they need. They eat if I put the veggies and pellets in front of them , or if I put them in front of the hayrack. I know I am being a worrisome mommy , but I was wondering if this is normal since they have only been in this cage for two full days. Should I just back off? I intend on taking them to the vet soon, probably Monday. I am just concerned that it seems like they aren't exploring as much as they should be .

[Metroid & Boo]

I've had my Boo for almost 2 weeks now and yesterday was the first time I saw him drink from the water bottle. Same thing with Metroid. None of them ate on their first day with us, Metroid ate for the first time on the second night and Boo also ate on the second day but only after he saw Metroid eating his veggies.
They weren't very active either, Metroid used to sit on the same spot all day long, and Boo loved to play dead! He didn't move at all and always stared at the same thing. He wouldn't even run away when we got close to his cage or tried to pick him up. It was like he was dead. He was only 7 weeks old so maybe that's why he was so quiet.
Your girls are probably very scared and that's why they're not very active or eating a lot. Give them a few more days and they will be more confident, once they don't feel as threatened they will come around and start eating and playing.
Maybe you can try leaving the food in their cage all night? My Metroid wouldn't eat when we were around him but always ate all his veggies at night when we were sleeping.
Hope that helps