Behavior My Boy is Grumpy?

[yasymoroti]

Hi! this is my first post and I am generally a new guinea pig owner. I have a sweet 3 year old boy who I adopted 3 months ago now from a shelter and it has been a bit difficult bonding with him but this month I made some big improvements with him allowing me to pet him and eating veggies from my hand, wheeking when I enter the room, and popcorning! Lately he hasn't been drinking his water or wheeking unless he hears me open the fridge. Today he chattered his teeth at me as I went to sit by his cage and talked to him, and later on he growled and retreated into his home as I was putting more hay in his feeder. I may just be overreacting about this, but I love my piggie and I don't want to upset him; my parents don't think its a big deal but I just worry especially with his water (though they mentioned that his lettuce is always washed so it has water on it and maybe hes drinking that?) and thought I might get some good advice on how to make amends with him in making this thread.

- Also; I've called a vet about the water and have an appointment scheduled in a week but I still was wondering if anyone would have any advice?

 

[SardonicSmile]

Guinea pigs can be grumpy for all sorts of reasons. Doesn’t mean there is something wrong.

Signs of illness will be long hidden, as they are a prey animal and cannot appear weak for fear of getting eaten.
Being lethargic, or sitting in a corner with a puffed up coat are concerning signs. What you describes sounds indeed more like just having a grumpy moment.

You should start by weighing him weekly, weightloss is usually a first sign something might be wrong.

As for drinking, make sure the bottle and the water are clean and do not add anything like vitamin c to it. Check if the spout is working. If all is well I would assume he gets enough water from his greens as he has shown he knows where the bottle is and how to use it. He is most likely choosing not to use it.

I would also look into getting him a friend. Guinea pigs are social animals and most do best with another piggie friend around. Might make him less scared and more friendly towards you too.
You do need to read up on proper introduction techniques, you cannot simply pop another pig into his cage, it needs to be done right.