Videos Guinea pig running fast, worried.

Cogni · Jan 8, 2012

What a sweet pretty little piggie!! I'm glad she is nice and active.

As to the veggies: She's unfamiliar with fresh veggies and so she doesn't trust herself to eat them. (She did looked tempted once when you offered, but was too afraid.) Louie_joey is right--lettuce, bell pepper, cilantro are the first you should encourage her to eat, particularly the first two. It might take weeks for her to learn to eat them but she needs them, especially the bell pepper which will be her main source of Vitamin C. A few nice fresh pieces of bell pepper left in the cage overnight, and replaced the next night if uneaten, will in time tempt her. The lettuce should be washed and left wet, so she can get some extra water. Usually only after a piggie is familiar with and ready to eat a veggie left in the cage, can you then get them to take the veggie from your hand. Once they know a treat when they smell one, they will come and take it from your hand and pretty soon be begging you for more veggies!

She also needs a friend. Guinea pigs need one of their kind to interact with.

CavyMama · Jan 8, 2012

Cogni said:
She also needs a friend. Guinea pigs need one of their kind to interact with.

Yes, she definitely does but I would wait until you get a much larger cage. Two pigs in a cage that small, isn't a good idea.

dwyanelicious · Jan 10, 2012

@(broken link removed) I need pellets for guinea pigs under 6 months, KM pellets are fine so is this the best website to buy from - kmshayloft.com ? What kind of treats I can give her DAILY, besides veggies?

(broken link removed) Yes, I did re search about veggies, the problem is she doesn't want to eat them.

@(broken link removed) I'm that exactly the same with her, but she's refusing it, 3rd day. Wish she would just munch on it heh.

@(broken link removed) I stopped putting drops in the water. She started eating good yesterday and today she don't want to get out her "house". I made her bigger cage last night, though. It's 2x3!

@(broken link removed) @(broken link removed) Thank you louie_joey. This forum is making my life easier when it comes to taking care about her. I'm very thankful. So, I did offer lettuce,cilantro and bell peppers. I left veggies in the cage before i went to sleep and when i woke up veggies were still there! So, i re placed them with fresh ones. Guess what? during the day she didn't eat them :/ So, I re placed veggies again before i went to sleep and next morning veggies were still there. I don't know if I should keep re placing veggies(romanian lettuce, cilantro, red peppers-small pieces) every morning/before i got sleep, until she starts eating them?
I'm planning to get her a friend, but for now I want her to get comfortable with me. It's her 6th day with me and she is still scared, hiding in the house for most of the day. Since I put her in new cage(2x3) she was happy running around last night, today she was in her house all the time. She is barely eating/drinking water and she's making shorts noises that i can barely hear :/ She also started coughing a lot last night but it seems like she stopped this afternoon. Looks like she stopped popping as much as she did before.

dwyanelicious · Jan 10, 2012

@Squint96 I need pellets for guinea pigs under 6 months, KM pellets are fine so is this the best website to buy from - kmshayloft.com ? What kind of treats I can give her DAILY, besides veggies?

@guinnymom23 Yes, I did re search about veggies, the problem is she doesn't want to eat them.

@mac73 I'm that exactly the same with her, but she's refusing it, 3rd day. Wish she would just munch on it heh.

@CavyMama I stopped putting drops in the water. She started eating good yesterday and today she don't want to get out her "house". I made her bigger cage last night, though. It's 2x3!

@louie_joey @Cogni Thank you louie_joey. This forum is making my life easier when it comes to taking care about her. I'm very thankful. So, I did offer lettuce,cilantro and bell peppers. I left veggies in the cage before i went to sleep and when i woke up veggies were still there! So, i re placed them with fresh ones. Guess what? during the day she didn't eat them :/ So, I re placed veggies again before i went to sleep and next morning veggies were still there. I don't know if I should keep re placing veggies(romanian lettuce, cilantro, red peppers-small pieces) every morning/before i got sleep, until she starts eating them?
I'm planning to get her a friend, but for now I want her to get comfortable with me. It's her 6th day with me and she is still scared, hiding in the house for most of the day. Since I put her in new cage(2x3) she was happy running around last night, today she was in her house all the time. She is barely eating/drinking water and she's making shorts noises that i can barely hear :/ She also started coughing a lot last night but it seems like she stopped this afternoon. Looks like she stopped popping as much as she did before.

Squint96 · Jan 10, 2012

She doesn't really need any other kind of treats other than fruit and veg. Most treats sold in stores are unhealthy and even dangerous for them. And yes KMS is the best, if she is under 6 mos give here alfalfa based pellets, and when she is older than 6 mos change to timothy, and the same goes for hay.

Zuidy · Jan 10, 2012

dwyanelicious said:
@sillylittle Yes, I've checked cage on the homepage on this forum. Unfortunately, I don't have room to get 2x4 cage. Only 2x3 can fit, and i'm planning to get it in a week or so. About treats; I didn't buy any treats yet,because I don't know which ones to get. The only store I can purchase stuff is pet smart. I need to do a re search on what kind of treats are healthy for her
@CavyMama @veronicaxmm Yes, I want too get a bigger cage. I'm not sure if i'm going to buy it straight from this website or get all pieces that I need(hard to find) and make it by myself
@grace&piggies I read that I shouldn't be holding her for a week. She is still scared of me
@guinnymom23 I think I saw her like jumping to the side once quick but i'm not sure if it's popcorning or just running/maybe scared
@Zuidy She is not drinking water as much as she did for the first two days,though. I got her for 4 days now. Also, she is eating pellets but they are not alfa alfa pellets :/ Only store I can buy stuff is pets smart and they don't have exactly alfa pellets. They only got pellets for adult pigs. Pygsy DOES NOT want to eat fresh veggies or fruit I'm worried about that.. I do put vitamin drops in water. For past two days I leave her small amount of veggies in cage and an hour later when i check on her, it's still there! I tried to give her veggies/seeds/ by hand(I'll post a video of it) and she just smells it and that's it. However, dried veggies from "All living things - Guinea pig daily diet, bought at pet smart) she eats them! I don't know if I should stop letting her eat dried veggies from that "daily food".. but then she won't have to eat any veggies(since she doesn't want fresh ones). I'm surprised she wants to eat from my hand but she doesn't let me touch her.
To all of you, thank you

Here is a video of me try to give her fresh veggies, and dried veggie to eat(carrot). She refuses fresh veggies, just like past 2 days. She didn't eat any fresh veggies since I got her.
Guinea pig doesn&(broken link removed)t want to eat fresh veggies - YouTube

Hopefully someone can give me suggestion what to do. If anyone has any particular questions about her, feel free to ask me!

Typically, Guinea Pigs don't drink a lot normally anyway. Your Guinea Pig might not have had any water at all shortly before you got the pig. That would explain not drinking at all. If you are giving them enough fresh, wet veggies, they will be good.

Also, DO NOT use Vitamin C drops. Not only does the potency of the Vitamin C dilute in water, it always changes the taste of the water. That explains why your Guinea Pig tried it's water at least once. Once it realized the water didn't taste normal because of the drops, most likely it stopped drinking for this reason. Please discontinue using these drops right away, and switch to foods for your piggies Vitamin C needs.

(I always fill up their bottles just in case they decide to drink, other than that, though, I run some lettuce under nice cold water and give it to them for an added burst of liquid refreshment.

)

guinnymom23 · Jan 10, 2012

dwyanelicious said:
guinnymom23 Yes, I did re search about veggies, the problem is she doesn't want to eat them.

@mac73 I'm that exactly the same with her, but she's refusing it, 3rd day. Wish she would just munch on it heh.

@CavyMama I stopped putting drops in the water. She started eating good yesterday and today she don't want to get out her "house". I made her bigger cage last night, though. It's 2x3!

have you tried parsely yet? just a little bit and all 4 of mine absolutely go crazy for it! try not changing the veggies that quickly, leave it there for the whole day in the cage, try not to feed by your hand just yet...?? she may be too nervous with you hovering around her? give her some space and time to adjust? these are just ideas to help you...another idea, is getting a buddy, maybe an older one that way she'll see another piggy eating and will follow?? hoping she brings you lots of fun and love!

bpatters · Jan 10, 2012

@dwyanelicious, you need to teach your pig to eat vegetables -- it's absolutely essential that they eat enough fresh veggies to get their daily vitamin C requirements.

Start by picking one veg that she doesn't eat. Chop it very finely and put it on her pellets. Do this a couple of times a day for a week or so. She'll get enough by accident to get accustomed to the taste, and then you can feed it in larger chunks. Then start on another new veg. Once they get accustomed to eating veggies, you may not have to go through this with every new one.

You can catch her if you want. Cut holes in the end of a shoe box, and shoo her in there. Put your hands over the holes and lift the whole box out of the cage. Put her on your lap and feed her yummy treats -- cilantro and dill are huge hits with mine. Just remember, food is the way to a guinea pig's heart.

Any pet store should carry Oxbow pellets -- what you want is Cavy Performance for the first six months. Or you might be able to order alfalfa pellets from (broken link removed). Even with shipping, they won't be any more expensive than a good pellet from a local store.

sillylittle · Jan 10, 2012

I saw this thread today, pretty similar to yours (https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/medical-veterinary/67990-new-piggie-not-eating.html) and in post #2, @SpazNMeos momma says that she would process the veggies until it was a mush and syringe feed in order to get her piggies to eat at first. I know you said you haven't really been handling your piggy in order to keep as much stress away from her as possible, so maybe you shouldn't completely food process them and then syringe feed, because that's VERY hands-on, but you should cut them up as finely as possible (as @bpatters said) and if she has been eating her pellets, she'll probably ingest some of your cleverly hidden lettuce or parsley or whatever veggie you decide to sneak in

dwyanelicious · Jan 13, 2012

@(broken link removed) I stopped using vitamin drops! She's drinking less water and eating less pellets since first 2-3 days I got her. I'll try putting lettuce under the water once she starts eating veggies...

@(broken link removed) Yes, I tried parsley In 7 days since i got her I offered carrots,cilantro,parsley, red peppers, romanian lettuce, celery, orange. Nothing worked.

@(broken link removed) In 7 days she didn't have any veggies. I'm doing exactly as you told me[putting veggie she doesn't eat on top of pellets(I choose romanian lettuce)]. I believe i'm doing it for three days now, and unfortunately she is not eating yet. I'm kinda getting 'bored' because I didn't even hold her, but she did let me touch her! I'll try shoebox thing after she gets more comfortable. Maybe I should try other veggies except ; carrots,cilantro,parsley, red peppers, romanian lettuce, celery.. Will try dill and some more but got to do re search. I ordered pellets from KM hayloft!

@(broken link removed) she didn't ingest any of lettuce yet hehe. She just look for pellets even though whole top part is covered in lettuce

sillylittle · Jan 13, 2012

Patience, young grasshopper. Many members have said it took at least a week for the accidental ingestion to change from "blech, what's this crap on my food" to "oh, this is yummy, let's eat that again", and you've only been trying it for 3 days now. And as for the impatience with her allowing you to cuddle, it can take in excess of months for piggies to feel comfortable with being held and carried and whatnot. She, like all GPs, is a prey animal. It is genetically ingrained into her that anything bigger than her probably wants to scoop her up and eat her. It will take a WHILE to overcome that fear and for her to learn that the human coming to scoop her up for cuddles is not some really big hawk coming to scoop her up for a tasty snack. Once she begins to love her veggies, hand feed them to her, and slowly, slowly SLOWLY reach out to slowly, slowly SLOWLY pet her, freezing when you notice her tense up, stop eating, and freeze. She will learn that the human hand reaching out to her is a good thing, something that gives scratches and is warm and cuddly, but she will probably only realize this when given time with repetitive gentle exposure, and that time is really dependent on her and you. There is no "one size fits all" when it comes to GPs, as you will come to learn. Hopefully I helped, and (if you don't believe me and everyone else just yet) you will come to see her open up to you and bond with you; if not within the next month or even year, it will happen eventually.

stacy97006 · Jan 13, 2012

Welcome!! You have me sitting here literally laughing out loud. She is one happy little piggy

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Videos Guinea pig running fast, worried.

Cogni

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Squint96

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Zuidy

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guinnymom23

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bpatters

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sillylittle

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