new to forum & new to being a guinea momma

[Georgewsmomma]

hello all! My name is Lizette & we have recently welcomed our first guinea pig into our home! his arrival date was 4/27/2018 & since he has allowed me to hold him. He loves to cuddle in the nape of my neck and in my hair. I've been lucky enough to hear him purr & just love on me. It took a week of not messing with him at all (which killed my need to nurture my 3 month old baby boy) - Since, his arrival (and because the only pet store in my area was out of hidey holes at the time) I had to make due with a ferret bed & the platform in his cage as his area to hide. So yesterday (Friday) I went back to the pet store & bought him an igloo which I thought he would love. Well to my surprise, George W, doesn't go in it AND he hasn't eaten much. He was eating hay like it was going out of style but now he is barely munching. I have go ahead and covered the igloo with the platform the cage came with as to give him more darkness in his hidey as the igloo is see through. I've also darkened his hidey with a towel until he becomes more comfortable with the changes. Ultimately, my post is to see if this has ever happened to anyone while changing a hidey for a new pet. :sad: - He's such a sweet boy & has certainly grown use to my 6 year olds sons comings and goings. But I am worried about his diminishing appetite. FYI - he is not sneezing, there is no gunk on his eyes or nose. I think (hoping) that he just needs time to readjust as he had just really adjusted to what he was previously given. I appreciate the feed back!!! Thanks.

 

[Soecara]

Decreased appetite is a big warning sign for a guinea pig that is not feeling well.

It would be a very good idea to weigh him and keep track of his weight to see if he really is not eating much. This is something you should always do once a week as a sudden drastic drop in weight or a consistent trend of weight losses are often one of the first signs of illness in a guinea pig, but given his recent lack of appetite it would be better to weigh him daily for now. To give more accurate numbers try to weigh him at roughly the same time every time which would ideally be before you put fresh food in the cage, and record it so you can look back and compare how his weight is tracking. Kitchen scales are good for weighing guinea pigs.

Also keep a close track of his output, if his poops start to look abnormal he might be experiencing digestive issues. Things to keep an eye out for are smaller poops, very hard fresh poops, poops strung together, very soft poops, or poops with lots of air pockets in them - you may need to break a relatively fresh poop in half to check this, or worst of all no poops at all.

On a side note about the hidey, if it is the kind I am thinking of, it doesn't have very good ventilation and only has one entrance. We usually recommend cutting another hole to act as a second entrance, having only one entrance is less of an issue with only one guinea pig but having an extra entrance does still drastically increase ventilation so he isn't breathing in the smell from his own waste (guinea pigs tend to do their business the most where they eat and where they sleep so hideys are normally a hotspot for waste of both kinds and ammonia fumes can build up inside plastic hideys if they don't have good ventilation).

 

[Georgewsmomma]

Decreased appetite is a big warning sign for a guinea pig that is not feeling well.

It would be a very good idea to weigh him and keep track of his weight to see if he really is not eating much. This is something you should always do once a week as a sudden drastic drop in weight or a consistent trend of weight losses are often one of the first signs of illness in a guinea pig, but given his recent lack of appetite it would be better to weigh him daily for now. To give more accurate numbers try to weigh him at roughly the same time every time which would ideally be before you put fresh food in the cage, and record it so you can look back and compare how his weight is tracking. Kitchen scales are good for weighing guinea pigs.

Also keep a close track of his output, if his poops start to look abnormal he might be experiencing digestive issues. Things to keep an eye out for are smaller poops, very hard fresh poops, poops strung together, very soft poops, or poops with lots of air pockets in them - you may need to break a relatively fresh poop in half to check this, or worst of all no poops at all.

On a side note about the hidey, if it is the kind I am thinking of, it doesn't have very good ventilation and only has one entrance. We usually recommend cutting another hole to act as a second entrance, having only one entrance is less of an issue with only one guinea pig but having an extra entrance does still drastically increase ventilation so he isn't breathing in the smell from his own waste (guinea pigs tend to do their business the most where they eat and where they sleep so hideys are normally a hotspot for waste of both kinds and ammonia fumes can build up inside plastic hideys if they don't have good ventilation).

Thank you for letting me know about the ventilation! I will have my husband cut another hole. I did find it strange that it had a door and 4 small holes.

Update! I walked in slowly and he was eating again I think the adjustments I made helped and now to see if he will use he hidey. Thanks for your advice. I will get my kitchen scale and weigh him weekly!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bpatters]

Welcome!

Here's some recommended reading for new piggy 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!