New Scared Owner

SSLee · Aug 31, 2017

I'm a new scared guinea pig owner since Monday. I had intended to adopt from the local animal shelter or a rescue organization. However the animal shelter only had one pig and the rescue organizations are not easy to get to, as I do not have a car. On Monday, I bought two female pigs through Craig’s List and the owner, Jenni, delivered them to me. Jenni said she works two jobs and does not have time for them anymore. The cage, Living World Deluxe Habitat (size XL) was included with the pigs. Some type of shaved bedding and pellets and zucchinis were scattered within the bedding. The cage looked like it had not been thoroughly cleaned for a long time. The top of the cage was especially dirty with fur and dried crud stuck on. Jenni later emailed me and said the pigs had been spending a lot of a time with a rabbit. Perhaps a rabbit cage was on top of the pig cage.

According to Jenni, the pigs are one year old, 7 inches long, and weight ½ pound. I think the sizes are incorrect as I was able to trap one pig, Birdie, and she definitely weighted more than 8 ounces. They both look longer than 7 inches. The other pig, Lily, looks obese. Jenni had emailed me that she fed them pellets with dried fruit and seeds (which I know is a no-no) and they love carrots, spinach, and red peppers.

I followed the new owner recommendations of the rescue organization and am using Care Fresh bedding (will be switching to C&C cage hopefully), Timothy and Meadow hay, Oxbow Essentials pellets (which the pigs are mainly ignoring) and a variety of veggies.

For the first two days, the pigs constantly hid and when I managed to trapped Birdie into a basket and put her into a playpen for play time, she sat like a statue. The other pig, Lily, is the more dominant of the two and she has mainly been hiding from me. Last night, they were running in their cage but still hid when I approached. Neither would come up to me to get their fresh veggies. They dart between the hidey places I bought them, which startles me. When I jerk back in surprise, it probably scares the pigs too. The last pet I had was a dwarf hamster many years ago, so I'm skittish also.

I did not realize two pigs can poop so much. I’ve been picking up poop every day and have improved my chop stick skills because I use that to pick up the poop which takes a long time. I read that a ladle is better, so will try that.

I have a number of questions but the most pressing are:
How can I tell what is considered normal size for a guinea pig?
How can I get them to eat the pellets? They must find the plain pellets boring after eating the ones with dried fruit and seeds.
If I am not able to catch the pigs, how can I clean their cage? I plan to do a heavy cleaning of the cage this weekend.
What is the typical period of time for the pigs to get use to their new owner? Jenni was cradling Birdie when we met so I know Birdie can be held. But I'm too scared to try and pick them up. Hoping trapping them won't traumatize them.

Thank you for your help and support during this ramping up time for the pigs and myself.

bpatters · Aug 31, 2017

Thanks for taking them in. Sounds like they really needed rescuing!

You can catch them, either by shooing them into a corner of the cage, or better, turning a small box on the side and trapping them in that. You need to do so ASAP so you can turn them both over and compare their private parts ane make sure they're really two sows. We've had many a pregnant "male" on here, and if the obese one is pregnant, they need to be separated immediately. Sows can get pregnant again within minutes of giving birth, and if she delivers, or even miscarries, with a male in the cage, she'll be pregnant again. It takes seconds for a male to impregnate a female. To check and see whether she is, see https://www.guineapigcages.com/foru...inea-pig-is-pregnant-And-how-far-along-is-she.

Guinea pigs come in all sizes, so there's no way to know what's considered normal. You need a kitchen scale that weighs up to about five pounds in both ounces and grams -- they're widely available for $15 or less. You need to weigh on a regular basis, every other day for a while until you know what's going on with them. If they're steadily gaining weight and aren't pregnant, they're less than a year old. Weight gain usually begins to slow down at about 8-10 months of age, and levels off at about 12-14 months. See "Determining the Correct Weight for Your Guinea Pig" at https://www.guinealynx.info/weigh.html.

They'll eat the pellets eventually, or not. They're the least important part of their diets, although they are a good way to get the needed vitamins and minerals in them. Just put a few in there, especially when they're hungry, and see if they don't eventually start eating them.

It takes a while for them to get used to new people. But they'll soon come to associate you with food. Hold them daily and feed them yummy snacks (anything edible, really, they're not picky!), and offer them food in the cage.

Here's some reading material for new pig owners:

https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/113176-Information-for-new-guinea-pig-owners
https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/107827-What-NOT-to-do-for-your-guinea-pigs!

ZiggyPig · Sep 7, 2017

Goodness, it sounds like these two really needed you! Congratulations on your new piggies and thank you for rescuing a pair that desperately needed it.
I adopted two 1 yr old piggies that were at a local pet store to be rehomed and, while they had been reportedly very friendly, and one is, the other is very skittish and neither like being picked up.
Here's something I learned working with horses (it's important with most animals, but prey animals particularly), they can sense your anxiety and the more anxious/skittish you are, the more they are going to continue to be so. Calm yourself before you go to their cage, prepare for the fact that they are going to run and possibly get a little scared, and just relax, breathe slowly and comfortably, and keep doing what you are doing. The piggies will eventually learn that you = relaxed energy and that will help.
Don't bother yourself with chopsticks, that sounds horrible! I think when I was strictly using carefresh I had a kitty litter scoop and would just get the worst places each day.
Also, on here somewhere are directions for making your own C&C cage much cheaper than buying one off of the website if that is better for you.
Good luck and welcome!

wigglemish · Sep 7, 2017

Thank you SO much for taking them in. Sounds as if they could not have needed you more.

Regarding the poop, a little dustpan and brush is much much easier than chopsticks. Or don a pair of rubber gloves and get in there with your hands. (I admit, I am not squeamish about piggie droppings at all, I just get in there bare fingered and pick them out. They're convenient little dry beans and there's nothing a good hand wash after won't fix! XD). And yup, they poop a LOT. But try to be happy about it, a happy pig is a poopy pig!

It's hard to know how old they are when you have no history, it's true, which can then make working out whether they are at their best weight more tricky. A trick I've used in the past actually is to look at the quality of their toe nails. I've found they can tell you a lot about piggies age, have a look at this link, it might give you a clue if they are young ones:

https://www.guinealynx.info/feet.html

Also, if you can feel spine nodules, or a lot of ribs/hips, that tells you a lot too. Piggies should be soft, plumpy little things. Do get yourself some kitchen scales, as already advised. Keep notes of their weights. Our graph is tacked to the front of our fridge.

In terms of building a relationship, time and patience is all it takes. Guinea pigs are prey animals, it is in their nature to either flee or freeze. But they will warm to you, if you put the work in. One of the things I do at first when introducing myself is sit with my hand in their cage, very still and very quiet, usually with something tasty in it. I stay that way for as long as I comfortably can, and let them come check me out. I do this every day and gradually they will come sniff me, nibble me and usually end up walking all over me. Once they are confident with this, then I make lap time regular.

Try not to worry. You've done these babies an enormous kindness taking them in, and you obviously have their best interests at heart. I am sure you will bond in no time and adore one another.

ZiggyPig · Sep 7, 2017

@wigglemish is on point - and cool, since I don't really know the age of my piggies, I didn't know about the toe nails.

One other thing I do is have their floor time area set up around the bottom of their cage and when I am busy doing the big clean, I give them their veggies down there and eventually they ignore me and start running around, across my feet, etc. The skittish one will still hide if I move down near them, but she will hand-feed veggies now.

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