Behavior Guinea Pigs Not Drinking+ Not Going On Platform With The Hay

[imaanzg]

We just got our first 2 guinea pigs yesterday, and while I have researched for 2 months, i'm still fairly new with them. We have a water bottle attached to the cage and a bowl of water in the cage, yet they haven;t drank out of them. We got them from a pet store (bad, I know, but there weren't any shelters by us with guinea pigs :sad and they had a water bottle in the cage they were in, and all of them seemed to be drinking out of it when we first saw them. Yet, when we got them home, they didn't even take a sip. I know I should let them explore everything on their own, but they haven't drank any water since we got them home, and I'm really worried. Also, our hay rack is too high for the guinea pigs to reach, and it's already on the lowest spot possible, so we added a platform under it where they could climb on and eat their hay. But they haven't climbed on top yet. I sometimes put them there to have them explore and hopefully eat some of the hay, but they just jump back down. I just put some hay on the floor of the cage so they can eat it from there.Our guinea pigs are really young, only about a month and a half old. Should I just put the hay on the floor for them to eat, and then put it back on the rack when they're older? Or should I just give them some time to let them explore on their own and they'll climb up the platform soon?

 

[Kim37040]

If they are not comfortable with the platform, I would continue to put the hay on the floor of their cage.
You could put it in the small paper bag (lunch bag sized) and cut holes around the sides for the hay to poke out.
My pigs like it that way and it keeps it down low for them without getting all soiled.

Are they eating veggies? Sometimes my pigs dont drink a lot when they are getting lots of veggies.

Make sure they are eating.

 

[ginipigsinspace]

Can you post a pic of the hay rack? I'm having trouble visualizing what you are describing, although a pile of hay in addition to the rack couldn't hurt since they need to be eating hay. I do know, in regards to water, that if GPs are getting water through their veg, they often won't drink much water otherwise. Perhaps they weren't getting any fresh veg at the petstore, but now that they are getting it at your house (they are getting fresh veg, right?) they don't need as much? I also know my boys barely drank any water the first week or two I had them, and now their consumption really varies depending on the temperature, their activity level, and what veg I gave them that day.

 

[pinky]

What kind of a cage are they in? They don't need a hayrack. Just pile the hay in the cage.

 

[claudinehere]

I agree that it would be better to put the hay on the cage floor, because maybe they weren't used to eating hay from the hayrack in the pet store. It would allow them to play in the hay too. I am not sure about the water though, maybe it's because of the veggies you give them so they don't drink as much? If you're still worried that maybe they're becoming dehydrated, you can give them veggies that can help them stay hydrated for now (my piggies love cucumber).

 

[SomethingFunny]

It might just be taking them a little while to find the water bottle, one of my pigs is like that, every time he's in a new cage it takes him almost a week to figure out where the water is. In the meantime if you rinse their veggies right before feeding that will get them a little extra water. Also, if you haven't already I would tap the ball in the water bottle once or twice, just to make sure it's working.