quee quee quee, HELLO!

Hi!

I just adopted a 2 year old guinea pig. She's calico, with medium length hair, and her name is Queequeg (kwee-kweg) after the Moby Dick character.

I had to pick her up a bit earlier than expected, so it was a bit of a rough start between us while I had to keep rearranging her cage once I bought all the parts for it over the weekend. Now she's well-situated in a 2x4 c&c cage with fleece bedding, a fleece forest, and an overhang hiding place.

She's still quite wary of me (it's only been 5 days), but if I don't make abrupt movements/sounds she doesn't have too much problem sniffing around her home and munching on hay. I've been hand-feeding her vegetables and have discovered that she is usually willing to get as close as necessary to reach a mouthful of cilantro or bell pepper. She also enjoys spring mix lettuces and carrots, but only when I leave them and back away.

I have never seen her drink from her water bottle, and it doesn't look like any ever disappears??? It's the same type of bottle as at her old home, filled with fresh water daily, and hung low enough for her to reach, so I don't know. Maybe the veggies are giving her adequate hydration?

She doesn't like being picked up, but seems content enough on my lap. She needs to be wrapped in a towel to feel safe, but after a few minutes she stops burrowing and will purr a bit when I pet her under the towel. We haven't gotten the hang of floor time yet-- she mostly just picks a corner and seems confused why she can't be in her fleece forest instead even if I leave food for her to find-- but I'm sure that will be better once she warms up and settles in a bit more.

(I know she needs a buddy and will be looking for one once I get the hang of taking care of her.)

Anyway I have spent far too many hours flipping through threads on this forum in preparation, and I'm happy to finally be able to introduce myself and my piggy! As you can tell I'm very excited and a bit obsessed with my new friend. Oh, and you can call me Jazzy.