Hi all; I'm entirely new to this forum and also guinea pig ownership. I'd like to briefly tell the whole story here to give some context and hopefully get some advice with this.
Three days ago, I went to PetCo and got a young (still not sure how old) male (I think) guinea pig. I know, I know. Let me just say now I'm very confused with myself with a lot of how I did things. That morning, I'd found my hamster who I'd had for two years had passed away. My fiance said that he wanted to go and get me a new small pet (we can't have cats or dogs in this apartment... allegedly. Long story and irrelevant) and due to my mental heath issues I cannot go without some sort of animal to live with me/care for. I kinda just sink into a very depressive state and then things go downhill from there.
I love hamsters and they're absolutely adorable, but I really wanted a pet that was more social/larger/more active during the day when I could actually interact with it. So as we're roaming the pet store (I was not entirely sold on getting a new pet straight away) I ultimately decide that since a ferret just isn't a good option for us, that my other option would be a guinea pig, of which I'd considered owning a few times in the past and ultimately chose a rabbit over (years ago.) We actually got a hammy as well, but it's my fiance's (a little robo he named "godzilla" of all things.) The hammy is doing exceptionally well and is taming fast for a robo, even.
The problem comes in with the fact that ultimately, I feel like I jumped the gun a little. Okay, maybe a lot a little. I did not have a cage set up, didn't know all that much about guinea pigs (don't get me wrong, I didn't know NOTHING about them. As we were walking through the pet store and I was deciding this is what I wanted to do I was reading forums {this one} and watching videos... basically trying to do some cram school) and didn't really even know they do best with a buddy or two.
Since being home with him I again did some "cram school" about care and cages and diet... all sorts of things. I fell pretty well educated now, but am definitely still novice of course.
So Bean (the piggy) has done absolutely nothing but hide all 3 days we've had him. During the night (he's in our bedroom, only place we can have him) it sounds like he's being active at least. He may also be coming out while we're at work. But from what it seems like, he just sits in his hide in the exact same position.. all. day. I don't necessarily think his hiding is unusual as he's still adjusting I'm sure, hell, even some cats will hide for a week under a bed until they're comfortable. I'm just very concerned with the fact he doesn't seem to be moving around at all during the day, even while we're gone. I swear he doesn't move position from when I check on him before we leave for work to when we come home, until night time where he FINALLY comes out and drinks for ages and maybe eats some hay. He's gotten to a point where he will let me pet him gently with no complaints other than some "grumbling" as I've decided to call it every now and then.
He refuses to eat veggies. I haven't yet tried lettuce or bell pepper (I keep forgetting when I go to the store to grab some) but I have tried carrot, fennel, parsley and snap peas. I read not to give watery veggies if you don't know their previous diet, which being in a pet store, was probably just hay and pellets. He nibbles on all of them, just barely, and will not touch it otherwise. He barely touches his hay and seems to be strictly eating pellets, which he still in my opinion has hardly touched. His droppings are progressively getting lighter and lighter in colour as well, though I'm not certain if that's cause for concern.
I plan on adopting a cage mate for him when I 1. figure out for sure what gender he is and for 2. can build a larger cage. He's currently in a 7.5 sqft converted bin cage that my previous hamster lived in (thoroughly sanitized, ofc.) Maybe he'll come out of his shell a little bit then? At the same time, I don't want to stress him out even more.
Just a few minutes ago, we tried feeding him hay pieces by hand and he took them. He also came out of his main hidey and sat in the willow tunnel and actually ate hay from us for a while, and seemed a little less timid. Still no veggie luck, though.
Any help regarding this is thoroughly appreciated, especially his behavior regarding veggies. If he wants to be timid and only get his exercise at night for a while, I can deal. I just don't see him only eating pellets and nothing else being healthy at all. Here's pictures of him and the cage that I took a few minutes ago when he came out. You can't see it, but I promise he does have a large water bottle, lol.
Three days ago, I went to PetCo and got a young (still not sure how old) male (I think) guinea pig. I know, I know. Let me just say now I'm very confused with myself with a lot of how I did things. That morning, I'd found my hamster who I'd had for two years had passed away. My fiance said that he wanted to go and get me a new small pet (we can't have cats or dogs in this apartment... allegedly. Long story and irrelevant) and due to my mental heath issues I cannot go without some sort of animal to live with me/care for. I kinda just sink into a very depressive state and then things go downhill from there.
I love hamsters and they're absolutely adorable, but I really wanted a pet that was more social/larger/more active during the day when I could actually interact with it. So as we're roaming the pet store (I was not entirely sold on getting a new pet straight away) I ultimately decide that since a ferret just isn't a good option for us, that my other option would be a guinea pig, of which I'd considered owning a few times in the past and ultimately chose a rabbit over (years ago.) We actually got a hammy as well, but it's my fiance's (a little robo he named "godzilla" of all things.) The hammy is doing exceptionally well and is taming fast for a robo, even.
The problem comes in with the fact that ultimately, I feel like I jumped the gun a little. Okay, maybe a lot a little. I did not have a cage set up, didn't know all that much about guinea pigs (don't get me wrong, I didn't know NOTHING about them. As we were walking through the pet store and I was deciding this is what I wanted to do I was reading forums {this one} and watching videos... basically trying to do some cram school) and didn't really even know they do best with a buddy or two.
Since being home with him I again did some "cram school" about care and cages and diet... all sorts of things. I fell pretty well educated now, but am definitely still novice of course.
So Bean (the piggy) has done absolutely nothing but hide all 3 days we've had him. During the night (he's in our bedroom, only place we can have him) it sounds like he's being active at least. He may also be coming out while we're at work. But from what it seems like, he just sits in his hide in the exact same position.. all. day. I don't necessarily think his hiding is unusual as he's still adjusting I'm sure, hell, even some cats will hide for a week under a bed until they're comfortable. I'm just very concerned with the fact he doesn't seem to be moving around at all during the day, even while we're gone. I swear he doesn't move position from when I check on him before we leave for work to when we come home, until night time where he FINALLY comes out and drinks for ages and maybe eats some hay. He's gotten to a point where he will let me pet him gently with no complaints other than some "grumbling" as I've decided to call it every now and then.
He refuses to eat veggies. I haven't yet tried lettuce or bell pepper (I keep forgetting when I go to the store to grab some) but I have tried carrot, fennel, parsley and snap peas. I read not to give watery veggies if you don't know their previous diet, which being in a pet store, was probably just hay and pellets. He nibbles on all of them, just barely, and will not touch it otherwise. He barely touches his hay and seems to be strictly eating pellets, which he still in my opinion has hardly touched. His droppings are progressively getting lighter and lighter in colour as well, though I'm not certain if that's cause for concern.
I plan on adopting a cage mate for him when I 1. figure out for sure what gender he is and for 2. can build a larger cage. He's currently in a 7.5 sqft converted bin cage that my previous hamster lived in (thoroughly sanitized, ofc.) Maybe he'll come out of his shell a little bit then? At the same time, I don't want to stress him out even more.
Just a few minutes ago, we tried feeding him hay pieces by hand and he took them. He also came out of his main hidey and sat in the willow tunnel and actually ate hay from us for a while, and seemed a little less timid. Still no veggie luck, though.
Any help regarding this is thoroughly appreciated, especially his behavior regarding veggies. If he wants to be timid and only get his exercise at night for a while, I can deal. I just don't see him only eating pellets and nothing else being healthy at all. Here's pictures of him and the cage that I took a few minutes ago when he came out. You can't see it, but I promise he does have a large water bottle, lol.
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