Behavior Worried about my 3 month old sow

[Mack500]

Hey all, newbie just joined so hope I'm posting in the right area.

We have a new addition, born December 2, we've had her since she was 7 weeks old and I need help please.

She doesn't eat much, even her original owner who bred her said that she isn't food orientated. Is this normal? The cage is full of hay in different locations. She very happy to shift it around, tunnel in it, just doesn't really eat it! Tried different varieties which are down in different areas of the cage. Veggies, you name it we are trying it. Again nibbles but that's it. Water, that's ok as she is drinking.

Handling...
She is impossible to stroke and handle be it inside or outside her cage and an absolute nightmare to remove from the cage when it's time for a weekly clean up. Herding into a hidey still takes a lot of time and plenty of effort. When inside the hidey, from the moment we lift it up she goes wild! Making a sort of wheeking sound, almost like she is shouting at me. It's not a scared scream, hiss, or whine, nor does she chatter her teeth. She will try and force her way out and jump!

During lap time, any attempt to stroke her, cuddle her will be met with head tossing, shouting, and a fight as she tries to escape.

Once she is back home she will hide and sulk as if she has been manhandled before going on a crazy spell, think running around, banging on things and again making a general racket.

She is my 6th guinea pig and I've never known anything like her. Aware picking them up and them being comfortable can take a long time. But the fussy eating and psycho behavior is all new :sad:

Any help would be great

 

[SandyPig]

What is her weight doing? I'd track that, and whether she poops a normal amount.

We've had a couple of piggies who didn't like to eat in front of us. They waited til we left the room. But the veggies etc would disappear.

 

[Mack500]

I've just weighed her and she is 380g
Hard to tell about poop as we've another in the cage, only way to tell would be to split them

 

[SandyPig]

I'd weigh her weekly and make sure she is gaining. If she is, she must be eating.
She does sound a little psycho! Does she just go crazy with you, but tolerate the other pig in the cage? Or is she psycho (fighting) with the other pig too?
Do her teeth look ok to you? Can she open her mouth a normal amount?

 

[ItsaZoo]

Is she itchy or showing any hair loss? Mites can cause awful reactions when you touch them. Is there anything that she eats well? If she’s picky about everything, I’d suspect something is making it difficult or painful when she eats.

Monitoring her weight on a regular basis is important so you can see if she’s gaining at all. My young pig is a picky eater but overall she gains about 10 grams per week on average.

 

[Mack500]

I'd weigh her weekly and make sure she is gaining. If she is, she must be eating.
She does sound a little psycho! Does she just go crazy with you, but tolerate the other pig in the cage? Or is she psycho (fighting) with the other pig too?
Do her teeth look ok to you? Can she open her mouth a normal amount?

She just goes crazy with me. No sign at all of fighting (the other appears fine), teeth are ok and no problem opening her mouth - she makes plenty of noise. I did split them yesterday, I moved the normal one to her run. Plenty of poop around her cage later so she has been eating something

 

[Mack500]

Is she itchy or showing any hair loss? Mites can cause awful reactions when you touch them. Is there anything that she eats well? If she’s picky about everything, I’d suspect something is making it difficult or painful when she eats.

Monitoring her weight on a regular basis is important so you can see if she’s gaining at all. My young pig is a picky eater but overall she gains about 10 grams per week on average.

I've not seen any hair loss of over itching. Re food, she is fussy with everything! I've tried lettuce, cucumber, bit of carrot, peppers, kale and broccoli over the weekend - she hardly ate any. I did see her eat some hay before she burrowed into it. Will weigh her again at the weekend and see.

 

[SandyPig]

Plenty of poop around her cage later so she has been eating something

LOL, this is a good sign.
Will be interested to hear her weight this week.

Do the veggies disappear if you leave them and go away? We have 2 relatively new pigs these days and they really don't like us to watch them eat! First pigs we've had who will not eat anything when we are holding them.

 

[Mack500]

LOL, this is a good sign.
Will be interested to hear her weight this week.

Do the veggies disappear if you leave them and go away? We have 2 relatively new pigs these days and they really don't like us to watch them eat! First pigs we've had who will not eat anything when we are holding them.

Her weight is up at 416g and seeing I'd managed to weigh her I put her in a run next to the others so I could monitor what she is eating.

Veggies and fruit still very little interest, she will nibble but that's about it. She is eating hay, not as much as I'd expected compared to the others. On the plus side she loves her nuggets/biscuits which have protected vit C in them.

Still worried about the lack of fruit and veg, how concerning is this given that the nuggets/biscuits have vit C in them?

Thanks again all