Me and My Pig(s): Introducing Daisy and Buttercup

[Coryn]

Hello, my name i Coryn and im new to the site with two new piggies!

I had my first two Guinea pigs when I was 7 years old and they lived till the ripe old age of 9!
I have Daisy (crested, tan and black stripe) who was born in March and Buttercup (Teddy, white, tan and brown) who was born in May.

I rescued them from the Rspca (England) where I work as a volunteer. They were taken away from a breeder who ended up with far to many to cope with, lots of different piggies living in a small enviroment all mating with each other. About 30 were brought in as we did'nt have the space for all 60 and they were all crawling in mites and the long haired guinea pigs were a mess . The sad thing is that most of these piggies are pregnant and we are just waiting now to see if they give birth.

The good news is that alot of them have been adopted which is great. I choose mine because they were put together so they were already friends and they were so mis-match because Daisy is so big and buttercup was a bit of a runt .

I have had them for a month now and i'm having a few problems and would really appreciate any help you can give me!

Daisy is most probably pregnant but Im not overly sure. I will take them back to the Rspca at 3 weeks and hopefully be able to take them all home and in seperate cages if there are any males obvisouly! If she is pregnant she has been for over 2 months now so im not sure. They dont allow people to adopt pregnant piggies by the way it's only because I work there.

Also because of the enviroment they have come from they are VERY VERY shy. I have left them alone to get used to there new house and tried giving them lots of cuddles (not so much for the pregnant piggie) and they go in the garden everyday in their run. They dont seem to like me at all, can I do anything to help?

They also are not drinking at all!!!! I fill there water bottle (working fine) with fresh water everyday and I even tried a bowl of water but no! They havent drunk water for over a month. The love their dry food, straw and greens and salad so are they getting enough water from that? Surely not?

Thank you for any advice you can give and look forward to discussing our furry friends together

Coryn

[willowaz]

Hi there!!

you new lil guineas sound very very cute to me!! i have 2 males, one normal one runt too!! i also got mine from an animal sanctuary like the RSPCA.

just so you know dont be too worried about the water, as if they werent drinking at all then they would be no longer with us after a month. they do get alot of fluid from fresh fruit and veg, but you'll be suprised how little they drink out of bottles and bowls. but just carry on leaving the bowl and bottle there, and just keep and eye on them to see if you see them drinking at all. you can also buy carrot juice stuff from pet shops which might encourange them to drink more if you are worried.

be patient with the not seeming to like you bit, you've only had them a short while, and with time they will grow to like you. make sure you had feed them their favourite foods that way they will associate you with good things!!

hope this helps you out!!

Gemma