General Rescued sparkle from terrible conditions

[MamaOfKayaNLassya]

Helloo
As i had postet here some time back my daughter and me got our old sow kaya in April. As we are living in India it took till now to locate her a cagemate, baby sparkle.
Ok I'm not sure where to start. Basically sparkle seems so frightened she won't come out of her beanie she's hidden in on Friday when ingot her home. I don't think she was handled well in the past she freezes if anyone comes near the cage - I've kept my daughter away for now. Her fur isn't shiney at all, she's got patches of longer and shorter ones, was dirty when I got her. She's a skeleton really and so scared. Kaya didn't feel like sharing her cage from start but I've just seen them comunicate first time since sparkle came home. My daughter is in kindergarten now, I guess the silence around the house helps. Right now sparkle is living in my wash basket as I didn't feel like kaya wanted to welcome her in the cage so much on Friday but also I'm concerned about the fur. She's clean now I gave her a bath even thou they say we shouldn't do it but really, the piggies in the pet shop were sad to look at, noone was clean, noone was well fed, they all came rushing to me squeaking when I approached the cage in the shop. I'm not sure if I got home a sick piggie or just an underfed one which isn't been taken care of. The shopkeeper claimed they've all been checked by the vet upon arrival. There's no vets in the area so I have to figure her out myself. Im considering diluting tea tree oil or lavender in coconut oil for her skin to ease out a little. She's eating well she looks interested to talk to kaya and now slowly I feel she starts relaxing with me in the room. I'm approaching her super slowly and only talk to her for now, pet kaya next to her so she sees i mean no harm. Sometimes if she allows I would scratch her nose gently, I'm not sure if she enjoys it thou, she freezes and just stares at me most of the time... Any recommendations on how to make her feel welcome and figure out her skin problems? It's not red or anything just there's patches of fur and less fur and she's totally malnutrited. Maybe the fur is also a nutritional problem?
Any ideas welcome

 

[MamaOfKayaNLassya]

Another problem, I'd really like to change her cages linen thou m not sure if taking her out including beanie would cause her to dash off? When I got her home first thing on Friday she's escaped in the living room when I introduced her and kaya and was gone underneath the couch. That's how she got into the beanie I offered it as a better hidey and she's gone inside n basically stayed there ever since

 

[ItsaZoo]

Don’t put the guinea pigs together yet. Keep the new one in a separate room for about 3 weeks in case there is a health problem. You don’t want that to spread to Kaya and make her sick.

Is Sparkle eating hay and pellets? Is she drinking water? If she is malnourished, she should have extra calcium from alfalfa hay, parsley herbs, dandelion greens or spinach. I would also give extra vitamin C for a while - maybe 50 mg daily.

If her coat is dirty or you suspect a fungus or bacterial issue, Davis Ketohexadine shampoo was recommended to me by my vet. Just bathe her body well and use a cloth on her face and around the ears.

To move her without scaring her, make a transport box. Use something like a shoe box. Cut an opening at each end and leave the flaps attached. Put the box in her cage and when she enters, close both flaps and keep your hands over them. Move her to the new location.

 

[MamaOfKayaNLassya]

Thanks that is super helpful. I've succeeded with the cage cleaning few times now and she looks a lot better. She trusts me slowly but she's still verry hesitant. I can put her food in now without her freaking out for example. The fur is growing out nicely after the week I had her. Kaya and she communicate through the house, i have them in seperate corners of the same room so they can smell and talk to eachothers. I think they would like to meet but as you say I don't wanna spread anything to kaya in case sparkle is sick. She's gained weight also, she's eating all the time. And for now I refill her veggies and hay whenever it's empty, just till she looks a bit better. She's drinking yes and takes some pellets but I don't think she likes them as much as the veggies. Could b the brand thou, kaya liked the last pack a lot more than this one, idk. I'll see if I can get this shampoo anywhere, as said I'm in India... People have all kinds of pets here but the actual care is not so important to the owners so I'm always laughed upon by petstore owners if I ask for example for a cage that's big enough and has a solid floor, vitamin drops, even pellets... They get all kinds of exotic dogs for example and then feed them bones and rice so as this is the normal sometimes its veeeeerry hard to find all I need. Amazon is very helpful thou I hope Amazon India has the shampoo. Thanks for now, I would come back here if any more troubles

 

[ItsaZoo]

It sounds like you’re doing well and she’s in good hands. Thanks for the update.

 

[MamaOfKayaNLassya]

Thank you for the help! An extension of kayas cage is being delivered today for sparkle to be in for another week or so, then I think I will join the cages and make it one big living space for them I'm happy sparkle is settling she just loves the local herbs here she's all over mint and coriander leaf today!