CC Cookie Dough
Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2015
- Posts
- 109
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2015
- Messages
- 109
Hello,
I need some advice and some reassurance!
Situation & Context:
I got a new baby guinea pig on Friday night (she was in her cage by 6:00pm) and I am worried about her behavior. She is 8 weeks old. I currently have a 2 year old guinea pig (I have information about Cookie Dough on my profile) and I got a new guinea pig as a friend because her previous cagemate (Hazel) passed away in December.
Cage Setup:
The new guinea pig is currently in a quarantine cage and is in a different room than Cookie Dough. The quarantine cage is larger than her previous cage (but not as large as the C&C cage she will be transferred to after the quarantine and introduction periods). When we first put her in the cage we mixed some of her old bedding with the kind of bedding that we prefer to use (to help her new cage feel more familiar). She was given a pigloo to hide in and some fresh hay was put inside the pigloo (I use 2nd cutting perfect blend timothy hay from small pet select. The place where I got her from also used timothy hay). She also has hay in a hayloft that is attached to the cage, but I put some in the pigloo in case she didn't know how to use a hayloft and/or was too scared to explore the cage. She has a food dish with young pig oxbow pellets in it (which is the same food that her previous home used). She has a water bottle (and her previous home had a water bottle, so I'm guessing she knows how to drink from bottles), and I also gave her a dish with water in it in case she didn't know how to use the water bottle. We put a towel over the top of her cage to give her more privacy and to make the environment feel a little safer/darker. We try to be in the room as infrequently as possible and only check on her every 4 hours or so, so that she doesn't get scared. I leave the lights off in the room to make her feel safer, and a little light comes in through the windows in the day.
Problem:
The new guinea pig (I keep referring to her this way because we haven't chosen a name yet) is very scared. She hardly ever moves. Whenever we are in the room, she does not move at all. When I check on her every 4 hours or so she is in a new spot in the cage, but is still frozen in that new spot. During the day she does not seem to eat (pellets or hay) or drink at all. I have been checking the levels of hay, pellets, and water throughout the day to assess whether or not she has eaten or drank anything.
On Saturday afternoon (around 3:30pm, which is 9.5 hours after she was put in her cage) I was very worried because she had not eaten or drank anything. I took her out of her cage to try to give her some water. I tried to put the water bottle nozzle in her mouth to teach her how to use it. I also tried to hand feed her some pellets and hay. She resisted all of these things and was very very scared. She kept trying to hide and wriggle away. I put her back in her cage and left her alone.
On Saturday night I was gone from the house and did not return until about 10:00am on Sunday. When I got back to the house I saw that she was in a different spot in the cage, had eaten all of her pellets, and there were poops and pee spots all over the cage (which means that she did some exploring, and that her digestive system and urinary system are at least working). Her pigloo has steps and allows pigs to stand on the top of the pigloo, and I noticed that she had pooped on top of the pigloo (which means that she had explored that area and was somewhat active). It seemed like she had eaten some of her hay, but it was hard to tell. There was pee, 2 pieces of poop, and a few pieces of bedding in her water dish, so I don't know if she used it or not. The water bottle level was slightly lower, so it seems like she drank a little that night, but not a lot (I have attached a picture of the water bottle level to show how much she drank. Unfortunately, the picture is sideways and I don't know how to reformat it in this post).
I was very happy to see this progress. I cleaned her cage and gave her fresh bedding, I refilled her water bottle, water dish, and food dish, and gave her fresh hay.
However, it is now 5:15pm (more than 7 hours later) and she is still scared (she stays in one spot whenever I check on her) and it doesn't seem like she has eaten or drank anything in that time.
Advice:
What should I do? Is all of this behavior normal?
How long should I expect her to act like this? Is there anything I can do to make her feel more comfortable or to help her eat and drink more?
Also, how much time should pass before I get worried about her eating and drinking behavior? If she eats and drinks at night, that's great, but it would be bad if she never got out of that habit.
I have considered giving her a cucumber or wet lettuce to help her get hydration from food. Is this a good idea?
When should I start trying to handle her (she is not at all used to being held)?
Below is a picture of what my new guinea pig looks like. You can see how she sits in one spot of the cage.
I need some advice and some reassurance!
Situation & Context:
I got a new baby guinea pig on Friday night (she was in her cage by 6:00pm) and I am worried about her behavior. She is 8 weeks old. I currently have a 2 year old guinea pig (I have information about Cookie Dough on my profile) and I got a new guinea pig as a friend because her previous cagemate (Hazel) passed away in December.
Cage Setup:
The new guinea pig is currently in a quarantine cage and is in a different room than Cookie Dough. The quarantine cage is larger than her previous cage (but not as large as the C&C cage she will be transferred to after the quarantine and introduction periods). When we first put her in the cage we mixed some of her old bedding with the kind of bedding that we prefer to use (to help her new cage feel more familiar). She was given a pigloo to hide in and some fresh hay was put inside the pigloo (I use 2nd cutting perfect blend timothy hay from small pet select. The place where I got her from also used timothy hay). She also has hay in a hayloft that is attached to the cage, but I put some in the pigloo in case she didn't know how to use a hayloft and/or was too scared to explore the cage. She has a food dish with young pig oxbow pellets in it (which is the same food that her previous home used). She has a water bottle (and her previous home had a water bottle, so I'm guessing she knows how to drink from bottles), and I also gave her a dish with water in it in case she didn't know how to use the water bottle. We put a towel over the top of her cage to give her more privacy and to make the environment feel a little safer/darker. We try to be in the room as infrequently as possible and only check on her every 4 hours or so, so that she doesn't get scared. I leave the lights off in the room to make her feel safer, and a little light comes in through the windows in the day.
Problem:
The new guinea pig (I keep referring to her this way because we haven't chosen a name yet) is very scared. She hardly ever moves. Whenever we are in the room, she does not move at all. When I check on her every 4 hours or so she is in a new spot in the cage, but is still frozen in that new spot. During the day she does not seem to eat (pellets or hay) or drink at all. I have been checking the levels of hay, pellets, and water throughout the day to assess whether or not she has eaten or drank anything.
On Saturday afternoon (around 3:30pm, which is 9.5 hours after she was put in her cage) I was very worried because she had not eaten or drank anything. I took her out of her cage to try to give her some water. I tried to put the water bottle nozzle in her mouth to teach her how to use it. I also tried to hand feed her some pellets and hay. She resisted all of these things and was very very scared. She kept trying to hide and wriggle away. I put her back in her cage and left her alone.
On Saturday night I was gone from the house and did not return until about 10:00am on Sunday. When I got back to the house I saw that she was in a different spot in the cage, had eaten all of her pellets, and there were poops and pee spots all over the cage (which means that she did some exploring, and that her digestive system and urinary system are at least working). Her pigloo has steps and allows pigs to stand on the top of the pigloo, and I noticed that she had pooped on top of the pigloo (which means that she had explored that area and was somewhat active). It seemed like she had eaten some of her hay, but it was hard to tell. There was pee, 2 pieces of poop, and a few pieces of bedding in her water dish, so I don't know if she used it or not. The water bottle level was slightly lower, so it seems like she drank a little that night, but not a lot (I have attached a picture of the water bottle level to show how much she drank. Unfortunately, the picture is sideways and I don't know how to reformat it in this post).
I was very happy to see this progress. I cleaned her cage and gave her fresh bedding, I refilled her water bottle, water dish, and food dish, and gave her fresh hay.
However, it is now 5:15pm (more than 7 hours later) and she is still scared (she stays in one spot whenever I check on her) and it doesn't seem like she has eaten or drank anything in that time.
Advice:
What should I do? Is all of this behavior normal?
How long should I expect her to act like this? Is there anything I can do to make her feel more comfortable or to help her eat and drink more?
Also, how much time should pass before I get worried about her eating and drinking behavior? If she eats and drinks at night, that's great, but it would be bad if she never got out of that habit.
I have considered giving her a cucumber or wet lettuce to help her get hydration from food. Is this a good idea?
When should I start trying to handle her (she is not at all used to being held)?
Below is a picture of what my new guinea pig looks like. You can see how she sits in one spot of the cage.