General New guinea pig not pooping

[Kharkhar]

We got a new guinea pig tonight, and he's currently in quarantine in another room. He's understandably SUPER nervous and just freezes in fright or hovers at the furthest end of his pigloo. The thing is, he's been here for 6 hours now, and while I know we should leave him alone for a day or two while he gets used to his new surroundings, my husband is a bit concerned that he hasn't pooped a single time. Considering how often our Bailey poops we're thinking 6 hours without a poop is a long time for a little piggie, is this a normal stress response or something more serious? Should we just leave him be? Our last guinea pig died from an infection in the gut that overwhelmed him so we really are watching this one super carefully.

 

[mamajet]

I think I've read here that eating their poop can be a nervous habit. So you might try watching very, very closely to see if that is the problem. And do a bit more research to verify my answer. I'm still quite new to this.

 

[Delaine]

Whenever my girls get stressed they stop pooping. When I took them to the vet we had to drive 1 hour and then see the vet and drive home another hour. One of them never pooped once and she was the one we needed a sample from. The other girl only did one poop so we tested hers. I find if I give them a small piece of apple it will sometimes get things going. Try covering the cage and keeping it darker and quiet.

 

[kananaka]

Could he be impacted? Where did you get him from? Is he eating and drinking?

 

[Kharkhar]

He's a pet store pig... I said that I'd never get another, but Bailey's been rather lonely and we haven't found a guinea pig to adopt in the past week that was suitable (they're always in pairs and we already have one so needed just the single). So being from a pet store I was a bit more nervous, the pet store guy told me that he comes from a family run breeder and he gave me his pedigree information (mother, father, age etc) but warned me that he hadn't been handled very often so would be very nervous. He's only 2 months old though so I'm hoping he'd quickly come around. He doesn't seem to really be eating and drinking yet, he's basically just frozen in the cage not moving much, he just seems very scared. I made sure his food and water was near his pigloo and put a big pile of hay next to it so hopefully by morning he'll be feeling less nervous, he'll have the next 8 hours of quiet time to unwind.

 

[Delaine]

How is the new piggy doing. Any poop yet? You can add more hidey houses so he can go from house to house for now until he gets more comfortable with his new home.

 

[Petlovr]

Awww, poor piggie. He's terrified. He's probably never been alone, either. Good for you for quarantining him, tho. I would just give him time. He can't hold it forever. I don't think he's impacted, that usually happens because of poor muscle tone and age, so he doesn't fit the profile. I'd wait to see what happens in the morning. Keep us posted.

 

[Kharkhar]

Well it's been 24 hours and he's pooped some, not nearly as much as my happy guinea pig does but I don't think he's eating much either. I am not too worried, he's still in his "frozen in one place not moving much" phase. I honestly wish I could have adopted all the guinea pigs there, the guy actually admitted that they never get taken out of their cages so they don't get any human interaction, and they're small little aquariums... I mean, I totally get the "don't support the pet stores" thing, but those poor guinea pigs! Ugh. There's no winner here.

 

[BlueButterfly]

Well, it's good he's doing better. He'll probably ease up once he's more used to his new home. As long as he's eating and drinking a little, he'll be fine.