Introductions My new guineas and a few questions.

[delekatala]

Hello, this is my first post. I have been researching for a while to prepare for getting a pair of guinea pigs. My cousin gave me her male, and my sister and I picked up a trio of 2 month old males from craiglist (she took two and I took one). Which led to me seeing a third male on craiglist that just looked like he was in such sad condition, I figured why not get a third right? And then since I evidently am such a guinea pig lover someone just gave me two females. Yup 0 to 5 in less than a month. I did a photoshoot yesterday of them all and thought it was time for introductions, and a couple questions that have popped up.

One.... Snowflake, 2 years old, and Theodore, 2 months old, were introduced a week ago. Snowflake was the one from my cousin (evidently she only used him to get hers pregnant, and then just didn't want him, poor thing.) And Theodore was from the Craigslist baby trio. The introduction went great, and other than some slight teeth chattering every once in a while they get along so well. But when we take one of them out for lap time, they both squeak and wheek across the room, and seem stressed. Should I not be taking them out one at a time, should they be kept together for laptime too?

two..... The sad Craigslist one I got yesterday, OMG he was even worse when I got him in person. his nails were curled all the way under. and he was on a 1 inch thick layer of saturated shavings and the smell was awful. I am glad I was weak and took him in. I wasn't sure if I should have the first night, but we gave him a bath and trimmed his nails straight off. I just couldn't keep him in such sad condition. after his bath he snuggled with me for a while and munched on some hay. What I wondered was if I should have waited on the bath and nails, for future reference. also he is quarantined, but in his tiny cage he came with, I really don't want to build a third C&C if I can avoid it, is it ok to keep him in there for his quarantine. And lastly he doesn't seem to eat any veggie but carrots, I think that's all they gave him pellets and carrots. what can I do about that.

This got very long, so I will introduce them in a separate picture post.

 

[mamajet]

I don't have a lot to say, but I'll warn you that introducing the new boy may upset the balance between Snowflake and Theodore. I had that experience with introducing a new girl to my herd. Perfectly happy and peaceful until the new girl came in. Then rumble-strutting, chattering, etc became new ways of life. I'd never seen those behaviors before.

For the veggies, keep trying, and you can try shredding over his pellets, too. Once he's in with the other piggies, they may show him how to eat properly.

 

[Zuidy]

You can keep him in a tiny cage for Quarantine, but you will need to build a C&C eventually.

 

[bfeather67]

After many failed introduction attempts with other female guinea pigs, I finally got smart...I put a towel down in the bathtub and put them both in the tub so they could get acquainted on neutral ground. I left them in there for a few hours to see how they would do. There was a little bit of the teeth chattering and a few snaps, but nothing so threatening that they had to be separated. While they were getting to know each other, I did a thorough cleaning of the cage and toys. I also added a few new toys and a new hidey house so the older guinea pig would not be as territorial because it would be new to her too. They transitioned into the clean cage with little/no problems.

As for the veggies, mine won't eat hardly any veggies either. She'll eat carrots and that's about it. I've tried giving her kale, bell peppers, broccoli, you name it...she won't eat it. The new girl is crazy about green beans, but those aren't the best choice of veggies. I give them veggies anyway, in small amounts, in the hopes that one day they will grow to like them. But they are stubborn, just like kids. Sometimes, I feel ridiculous, standing over the cage saying, "Okay girls, you have to eat your vegetables!"

 

[delekatala]

Thank you for the welcomes and replies. I have two C&C cages setup now, so I am hoping if introductions go well I can just put him in with the boys, but if not I am prepared to build a second floor on one of the cages.

In the meantime he had a great night. All day he has been my buddy since his cage is so tiny, he went upstairs and visited my sister with me. and sat on a chair next to me while I sewed. I am amazed at how docile he is, he eats up any attention he can get, my nieces and nephews were petting him and we was making the cutest noises and climbing on everyone's laps. Why isn't he shying away like the others on their first days? Guess we are lucky. We did find that he will eat kale, mustard greens and celery. But only a couple nibbles on a cucumber, and wouldn't eat a tomato or pepper at all.

The two females on the other hand are still hiding pretty much, though seemed a bit more brave this evening about coming out for food. And my original two boys are all settled in now and very active, their personalities are really coming through.

 

[bpatters]

@delekatala, go easy on the mustard and kale. Kale is way too high in vitamins A & K and calcium to be given on a regular basis.

See https://www.guineapigcages.com/threads/22156/ for what pigs can eat and when.

 

[delekatala]

@delekatala , go easy on the mustard and kale. Kale is way too high in vitamins A & K and calcium to be given on a regular basis.

See https://www.guineapigcages.com/threads/22156/ for what pigs can eat and when.

What an awesome chart!! I am printing it out. Thanks for the heads up, I feel like there is so much to learn. I have been reading and reading.

I finally uploaded photos as well, I just uploaded them to my photo gallery in my profile. If anyone knows anything about the different types of guineas I would love to know what mine are. I have read a bit about types and colors and stuff, but I can't seem to tell the difference well, except for the Abyssinian of course, LOL.