Water: Wont Drink

[NewPigOnTheBloc]

First of all,
Hello everyone and nice to meet you all.

I just got my first Piggy today, Monty is his name and he's adoreable.
8 Weeks old, male. I bought him a large cage, pleanty of room to run and hide. Good food, good bedding and padding, a nice soft floor for his little feet. I basically followed everything i've read everywhere and things seem to be going really well. The lady in the store said it might take some time for us to bond, and that i should not expect him to be taking food from my hand right away. Monty was doing exactly that within an hour, what a champion. Anyway, i've set him up with the same water bottle his cage had at the store, i've tried moving it around the cage, showing it to im directly, i've tried rubbing carrot juice on the mouth piece (he seems to really like carrots). I've tried basically everything i have read of or can think of to try.

He's eating ok, albeit only from my hand or when i put the food directly in his little hidey hole. I'm thinking it might just be that he's young and scared and getting used to his environment and not quite into exploring etc yet. But i thought i had best check with the people who seem to know whats what. I would appreciate any pearls of wisdom anyone can offer.

Thankyou.

ps: If he continues like this, how long can he go without water?

[NewPigOnTheBloc]

I really dont mean to be impatient, but incase i didnt make myself clear, it has now been 24 hours since i bought Monty and i have not seen him drink once, not a single time. I'm beginning to worry a lot about him. Dont get me wrong, he seems happy, he's active and eating. Though he is ONLY eating Carrot, and almost exclusively from my hand, if i put it in the hole he likes to hide in he will nibble on it, but wont eat it as readily as if i offer it to him. It's kind of strange.

I have a solid grain/pellet mix that i bought from the shop when i got him and he doesn't seem interested in it at all. I've offered him apple, broccoli, green beans and peppers/capsicum. He will only eat carrot.
I'm running out of bright idea's any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Thankyou.

[Ly&Pigs]

Since you just got him, he may need time to adjust to his new surroundings. If he knows where the bottle is and it's a type he's used to he will find it when he gets thirsty.

If the pellets are a mix as you seem to suggest, he needs plain high quality pellets and nothing that has seeds, nuts, dried veggies or other bits in it.

Carrots aren't a good thing to get him started with. You need to work on getting him to eat lettuces (any but iceburg) and bell pepper. I'd stop feeding carrot completely for now as it's more of a treat veggie, high in sugars and oxalates and not nutritious. Sometimes it takes pigs weeks to months to learn to eat veggies. You've had him for 24 or so hours and he's probably never had many or any veggies. The ones you have offered, with the exception of the capsicum/bell pepper, aren't good to start with. Broccoli is best fed twice a week in small portions as it's gassy, green beans are high in oxalates and are best fed every 2-3 days (1-2 per pig), and fruits shouldn't be offered more than once or twice a week due to sugars.

If the carrots you've been feeding are pretty moist, he may be getting what water he needs from that and thus why he isn't drinking. I'd also check the water bottle to make sure that water is coming out ok and make sure it's low enough for him to reach it.

[NewPigOnTheBloc]

Thanks so much for the advice, i've confiscated his carrots (much to his displeasure) and ran to grab some lettuce, we have some of whats called Rocket Lettuce, i hope thats ok? He doesn't seem to like it, he nibbled and then left it uneaten, seemed like he tasted it and decided he didn't like it. Should i leave some with him and hope he changes his mind?

The mixture I got from the pet store is called "Rabbit and Guinea Pig mix" from something caled Kezsam Pet Products. It has alot of pellets in it, what appears to be some hay, alot of green shoots of some description and definately some seeds/grain. The store owner assured me it was great stuff and claimed to feed all the piggies she sells there on the same mixture supplimented with fresh veggies/fruit every now and then.

As for the water, still no luck, he just doesn't seem to want to use the bottle, even though i know he used one at the store. i'd give him a small dish of water but im a little concerned that he will forget how to use the bottle and it may be even harder to get him back onto using it.

[blackarrow]

Good luck with Monty. My piggies rarely appear to drink much unless it's very hot outside, and I rarely see them do it even then (I sometimes hear the bottle).

If you've basically followed everything you've read, and you've purchased a pet store guinea pig and put him in a pet store cage all by himself and are feeding him a pellet mix - I suggest you do a lot more reading, starting with the sticky threads at the top of each forum.

You haven't mentioned whether or not you've given him any hay?

[NewPigOnTheBloc]

He has ample hay, I mentioned padding for his little feet

The only things I havnt done that almost everything i have read recommended, was to 1. Adopt instead of buying him from a store and 2. Get him a friend.

There are a couple of reasons for that: Adoption is alot harder in Australia, I dont even know anyone that has them as pets here. I did actually look before I went to the store but the only pigs I could find (And there weren't many) were adult and a long long way from where I live.

The reasons I didn't get him a friend are that Monty is my first piggy and I was/am really nervous about his well being and my ability to look after him, I didn't want to risk having two. Also I have read that while 2 is ideal, 1 can work just as well as long as you spend alot of time with it which i plan to. If I have the space, money, time and Monty does well, I definately plan to build a much larger enclosure and get Monty a friend. I would love to have 2 of these cute little guys almost as much as Monty would love the company. His current cage is by no means small, even though it's a "Pet store bought cage" I got one of the largest and i've gont to great lengths to make it as comfortable and homely for him as i possibly can, it doesn't even have wire except as the door. And lastly, he was the only one for sale at the pet store at the time

Thanks for your insights on Piggy drinking habbits, it's put me somewhat at ease knowing that others have noticed that their piggies dont exactly gulp down water in large quantities. Perhaps i'm just a worried new parent

[Ly&Pigs]

The mixture I got from the pet store is called "Rabbit and Guinea Pig mix" from something caled Kezsam Pet Products. It has alot of pellets in it, what appears to be some hay, alot of green shoots of some description and definately some seeds/grain. The store owner assured me it was great stuff and claimed to feed all the piggies she sells there on the same mixture supplimented with fresh veggies/fruit every now and then.

I wouldn't put a lot of faith in what the petstore lady said. They need high quality plain pellets, the minimum of a cup of veggies daily (once you get him to start eating them), fruit occasionally and unlimited grass hay to eat.

If you are using hay as bedding, not a good idea as hay doesn't absorb, gets messy too fast and pigs won't eat hay they've pee'd in or poo'd on. You will find yourself having to clean the cage daily rather than using a different bedding and not having to change it as frequently.

What is the size and brand of the cage you got?

[NewPigOnTheBloc]

Yeah since posting initially i have done a lot more exploring of your site and will go hunting for a proper pellet for him tomorrow.

I can't find a brand on the cage but it's about 3 feet wide by approximately 5-6 long. I've lined the whole cage with several layers of newspaper, over which i have liberally scattered hay, 1-2 inches worth. And then in his little hidey hole i've added some shredded plain paper for warmth and snugness! i hope thats enough, any suggestions welcomed.

I'm very interested in making him one of those little Cozies i saw, but am unsure which materials are safe for him.