Not Eating Young guinea not eating properly and related concerns

[arina]

Hello,
I recently came into possession of a young, female guinea pig- Chucha. Unfortunately she is from Petco ( the person who got her didn’t know any better).
Ive had her for 10 days and those have not been a smooth sailing.
At first she was very scared and stressed out, she was huddled in a corner of her cage and would not move at all; thus when it took me a few days to realize that she was not eating even when I left the room. By the time I realised it she lost about 50 grams of her body weight. ( bringing her to a scary 390 grams).
Once I had realised it, I immediately ordered Critical Care and started force feeding her with a syringe, a homemade mush of pellets and veggies every three hours, and weighing her each time before and after a feeding. Her weight now fluctuates around 480-500 grams.
During a feeding she almost always has a good appetite and since I started, I even sometimes find that she eats on her own in the cage.
My concerns are as following:
1. If she has an appetite why is she not eating properly on her own?
2. Can this be due to stress or is it some other health related issue?
3. If she wont start eating on her, what should I do next? And how do I go aboud waning her off forced feeding?
4. When the time for quarantine ends should I introduce Chucha to my resodent guinea pog Musya despite the eating problems?
5. Can it be something contagious?
6. And is it possible for her to “learn” how to eat properly from my resident guinea?

I know this is a lot so I would greatly appreciate any useful information you have! Thank you!

 

[bpatters]

The house eagles are after her, and she's scared. Cover one end of the cage with a cloth. Put her hidey and food under the cover, and her water and hay just outside. She'll get braver.

Introducing her to your other pig might actually help her eat if the cage is large enough for two, and if they get along well.

 

[arina]

The house eagles are after her, and she's scared. Cover one end of the cage with a cloth. Put her hidey and food under the cover, and her water and hay just outside. She'll get braver.

Introducing her to your other pig might actually help her eat if the cage is large enough for two, and if they get along well.

Thank you for your quick reply! I’ve covered her cage, hopefully that will help her!

 

[bpatters]

Don't cover the whole thing, just one end. She needs to learn to come out in the open, and she can't do that if the whole cage is covered.

 

[arina]

Hello,
I'm writing to you once more for help.
The advice to cover half the cage was very useful and Chucha started eating on her own and hanging out with my other guinea pig, Musya. All was going well and Chucha seemed very active and happy. So thank you once more.

Unfortunately the end of the week has not been equally amazing. On Friday morning she seemed lethargic and quiet, she did not show much interest in food. In the evening I noticed that she was squinting her left eye shut and that it was watery and crusty.I thought it could be hay poke. Her eye problems had me worried so today in the morning I called the vet, over the phone he said that it could be an early sign of a URI and told me to keep an eye on her as the hospital would only open on Tuesday.

I just came home and went to check on Chucha, when I picked her up I saw that one of her mammary glands was swollen. It was almost black in color and it appears as if there was a blood knot right under her skin. This has me freaking out and really worried. The swelling was not there this morning! (Since she is having health issues I check her once or twice per day).
What could this swelling and eye problem be?
All the vets I found are closed on Sunday, what should I do?