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Behavior Personality or is something wrong?

lex_tw

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Sorry if this is really long but I had a couple questions about my little guys behavior today..

So my guinea pig has been home for two weeks now and he's been adjusting quite well. The shelter said he was skittish and he would always run inside his pigloo whenever I would come in the room, move around, get close to his cage. More recently he was doing a lot better I could do whatever in my room and he'd watch but wouldn't hide, he would hide when I first came in the room but then look and come out when he saw it was me. When I go to clean up his cage he runs into his house or next to the hay rack. He did well adjusting to floor time and no longer runs away when I go to bring him out of his cage. And even more recently he's started to talk to me at night and early morning.

Last night I did a full bedding change and put him back in as normal and instead of running into his home as usual, while I was adjusting his hay rack, he was running laps and popcorning everywhere. Later my dad moved some boxes out of my room and while he did I had the cat in my lap sitting near his cage. The cat has seen him before but she's not allowed in while we aren't here watching her. Before when she's come in he of corse hides and turns his back to her. Last night he turned around, stuck his head out of his house, and was sniffing at her.

This morning I woke up, looked over, and he wasn't in his home and I didn't hear him eating or drinking like I normally do if he's out and about. I sat up in my bed and looked and he was just sitting in the corner.

Its now 2pm my time, and although he's gone in his house and bed, to the hay rack and water bottles, he's still spent a lot of his time today in that one corner. I'm pretty positive I've seen him lying down but he just sits there.. Normally he does this in his pigloo. But not ever out of there that I've seen.
He also hasn't been running into his house as normal when I open his cage and put food in, change water, spot clean, etc.

So I'm wondering is he sick or is something wrong? Or is this just his personality finally coming out now that he's comfortable in his new home?

Nothing major in his cage has changed.. He's had the same bed and house. I've rotated some of the toys in and out as they get dirty and need washing or have to be replaced. His hay and food and treats and vitamins are the same. His vegetables are the same but only because he is very very picky and won't eat anything else but his usual (a carrot, peppers, lettuce, occasionally some parsley or radicchio) I had to take out his soiled bed and I took out his hammock because I didn't think he was using it. His main toys he likes are still the same.
The only thing is, the hay rack I have from the Cages store is the one with heart shaped cut outs, after a couple days I noticed he had been able to climb inside the hay rack - not from the cut outs, up - but from climbing onto/into the top where you put the hay in. I was afraid he would get hurt so I unclipped it from the side and laid it down temporarily, since it was just getting too soiled too quickly I clipped it back up and attached a towel across the top. He was in hay bedding at the shelter and I use fleece. I try to put hay in paper bags that he can go inside so if he wants he can still lay in the hay but is he upset by this change?

So thank you and sorry again if this was super long I just want to be sure there isn't anything wrong with him!
 

Pinny Gig

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For 2 weeks your piggie has adjusted very quickly! So that's a pleasant surprise since it can take months for some pigs to come around--even then they are prey animals and will typically run/hide if instinct takes over.

When you say he's sitting in the corner can you be more specific? Is he facing the wall? Is he very hunched, has bristled fur, looks lethargic? You said he's been eating so that's good, but has he been very lethargic/slow about responding to dinner time? Is he still pooping?

Also how old is he? Sometimes older pigs will still run around and popcorn but they do slow down and have their "off" days. And is he all alone? He could be lonely especially if he had companions at the shelter.
 

lex_tw

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For 2 weeks your piggie has adjusted very quickly! So that's a pleasant surprise since it can take months for some pigs to come around--even then they are prey animals and will typically run/hide if instinct takes over.

When you say he's sitting in the corner can you be more specific? Is he facing the wall? Is he very hunched, has bristled fur, looks lethargic? You said he's been eating so that's good, but has he been very lethargic/slow about responding to dinner time? Is he still pooping?

Also how old is he? Sometimes older pigs will still run around and popcorn but they do slow down and have their "off" days. And is he all alone? He could be lonely especially if he had companions at the shelter.

he sits with his bum in the corner almost staring at the rest of his cage. He is two years old. I know he was brought in with other pigs but when we met him he was the only one. He's alone right now. We applied for two others but they can't come home till March. I noticed last night, normally when he gets his vegs he eats them like a true pig till they're gone, last night he ate a good bit and stopped then ate a couple more and stopped and he was more casually chewing almost like a cow opposed to his normal stuff them in his face like a hamster. Everything else looks fine, his eyes, ears, coat, feet all look normal. Everything else is normal. Still eating the same amount of hay, Timothy biscuits, etc. I think he might be drinking more water but I can't really tell. Especially since his first couple days he did not drink a sip.
Sometimes I forget he's two, is this just since he's getting older? I think the shelter said he came in with another adult pig and some babies. Family perhaps? Will getting the two guinea pigs in March help? They'll be just under a year..
 

ThatGirlMarie

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My girls do a lot of sitting in one spot/lazing around the cage too but since their old cage was so boring it was JUST a petstore cage (18x36) and nothing else other than a water bottle, I think they're still getting used to being in open space. It's only been almost 2 weeks for us too, so I think they may need more time to adjust. I wish they were more active, they usually just find a cabinet lip to hide under when I block off the kitchen for floor time.

Maybe it'll take more time to fully adjust?
 

Pinny Gig

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Keep an eye on him then. If he's eating/drinking/pooping normally then he might just be settling in. At 2 he's far from old, but they do mellow out more and more with age.

Rearranging the hideys/toys in his cage might make things more exciting.
 

lex_tw

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My girls do a lot of sitting in one spot/lazing around the cage too but since their old cage was so boring it was JUST a petstore cage (18x36) and nothing else other than a water bottle, I think they're still getting used to being in open space. It's only been almost 2 weeks for us too, so I think they may need more time to adjust. I wish they were more active, they usually just find a cabinet lip to hide under when I block off the kitchen for floor time.

Maybe it'll take more time to fully adjust?

thanks! Yea his cage at the shelter was a pet store cage too and not even a large one at that. He bedding was also hay and all he had was a water bottle, a odd shaped hut, and a food bowl. I don't know about you but I have this thing where I don't care for animals sitting in their food that's also to help with their waste. Ick. He had absolutely no room to run or walk anywhere in it. The sad part is they said he came with that cage. So I'm guessing he's just adjusting to being on fleece and having about 6 feet to just run back and forth in.
 

lex_tw

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Keep an eye on him then. If he's eating/drinking/pooping normally then he might just be settling in. At 2 he's far from old, but they do mellow out more and more with age.

Rearranging the hideys/toys in his cage might make things more exciting.

Thank you! He actually seems to be eating and drinking more than when he came home. What is their life expectancy? I don't remember who but someone maybe the shelter? Told me majority only lived to 5? That seemed a little off to me.. Like "most cats only live to 9-10" but I've had several live to 13-15.
 

Pinny Gig

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It's "5-7" but honestly most live past 5. It's really closer to 6-9. Though 9 is pretty old!!
 

Kiyisha

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AHHH THAT IS AWESOME!!! It took me SIX months to get my Nibbles brave enough to sleep and sit outside his pigloo, him and wheekers do it all the time now, but my little skittish Bibbles still prefers to hide while he sleeps.

As more than a few have said already, this is great news, not bad behavior, it just means he feels safe enough to sleep outside his pigloo already, and that is fantastic news!!!
 
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