Depressed Cavy

**OzRocks** · #1 11-19-08, 11:11 am

Hey everyone,

I adopted a cute long haired male guinea pig about a week ago and I am already head over heels for him. I noticed that he is slightly depressed. He eats fine. He drinks plenty of water. And he gladly excepts treats. But he sits around a lot. I bought him a lot of toys and a little house that he can hide in. But he chooses just to sit there and stare off into space. I think its because he is in a tiny cage. I am working on building him a HUGE cage. Do you think that will do the trick? Should I maybe adopt a buddy for him?

**Hoshishi** · #2 11-19-08, 11:27 am

I experienced the same with one of my piggies. She was drinking and eating just fine but mostly kept to the same bit of the cage and not moving around much. When I finally introduced her to the rest of my gang she was a completely different piggie: exploring, running about and happy.

Based on that experience I would get your pig a friend as well as a big cage and you should see a big difference.

**OzRocks** · #3 11-19-08, 11:48 am

I am looking for a friend for him right now. Also I am off to the store to buy my coroplast for my dream cage.

**Hoshishi** · #4 11-19-08, 03:47 pm

Great news. Hope all will go well. Make sure to read all relevant posts about introducing new pigs and quarantine. And keep us updated on the cage building and friend finding! Best of luck!

**OzRocks** · #5 11-19-08, 05:20 pm

Oh I definitely will. I found the cutest little guy on petfinder. Hopefully if all turns out well. He will be here with us by the end of the week.

**OzRocks** · #6 11-21-08, 08:17 pm

I have an update. I got in touch with the people who I adopted Oz from and they have Oz's old cage mate for adoption. They have to re home him ASAP. So of course I am taking him. even though they were together before should I still quarantine him?

**AnimalHouse36** · #7 11-21-08, 08:28 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by OzRocks

I have an update. I got in touch with the people who I adopted Oz from and they have Oz's old cage mate for adoption. They have to re home him ASAP. So of course I am taking him. even though they were together before should I still quarantine him?

Yes. Guinea pigs can contract deises quite easily and sometimes it takes 3 weeks for any illnesses to show.

Also, I think I remember this correctly but isn't it true that just because to piggies were together at one point, they can still fight...? I'm sorry if I'm wrong but I just wanted to let you know so that yo don't "skimp" on the intro's.

**OzRocks** · #8 11-21-08, 10:08 pm

I am going to take all the necessary precautions for the Piggies sake. I will quarantine the new guy and I will "re" introduce them properly. I want both piggies to be happy and healthy =)

**exhalecalming** · #9 11-25-08, 01:37 am

Wait, sorry if I wasn't able to read right or anything. Please make sure that they're both the same sex! Just to give you a tip, if you want to have a big cage for your guinea pigs, I think it's best to go for the fleece idea. More comfortable and safe for your guinea pigs.

Here's an incredibly helpful site for fleece bedding: Forums | Guinea Pigs World: The Fleece Project: The Study

With the fleece bedding there's no need to continuously use shavings and waste all that money. It's easier to manage as well.

**OzRocks** · #10 11-27-08, 10:18 am

They are definitely both males =). I am actually going to my local fabric store after payday to get some fleece.

**OzRocks** · #11 12-01-08, 11:30 pm

So I finally introduced the boys and they are so happy! They were cage mates before. But man they were very happy to see each other!

**Drawingwords** · #12 12-04-08, 10:34 pm

Thats great news! I'm glad he has his old buddy back!

**3AMAutumnal** · #13 12-06-08, 11:07 am

How wonderful! Lovely that they were so pleased to see one another again! I hope all goes well from here out.

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