We have 2 new little girl guinea pigs!

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Hi fellow guinea pig owners.

Our 2 girls are unnamed as yet. Dh brought them home today and they are in their hutch in the playroom. We are all a little nervous, piggies and people in equal measure. They are about 5 weeks old so still quite small.

Any advice welcome.

They have plenty of hay, bedding, a water bottle and a little bowl of food.

They hid in their bedroom at first but have been venturing out into the run a little and I saw them both nibbling at hay and eating from their bowl.

Is there anything in terms of toys/entertainment that you would recommend? Their run seems a little empty and boring.

We are getting an outdoor run so they can play outside when the weather improves.

Thanks

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Oooh at tiny baby guinea-pigs (our piglet was 6 weeks when he came to live with us, DD was amazed how light and tiny he was)

They are like little mice almost aren't they.

You can give baby pigs (but not adults unless they are pg/nursing) alfafa hay, it has higher nutrients but it's optional (our piglet hoovered it up, I had to sternly warn out adult away)

They love boxes and tunnels to play in.
With boxes, make sure there's no sticky tape or staples. You should cut two doors to make sure one pig doesn't trap the other.
Tunnels - you can get plastic ribby ones from Pets at Home or online; or the cardboard hay covered tunnels.

Paper bags (cut the handles off though)

I have a shredder specially for my boys- any GPsafe paper gets shredded (cross cut confetti sized) to play or sleep in (especially getting to warmer weather when they have less hay- I only give eating hay changed daily in summer, not to sleep in )

It's nice to vary the toys (and confuses them which keeps them active)

When you do put them out in the garden make sure your run is foxproof and secure (level surface, and we use metal tentpegs all round to secure)
And only brief grazing at first - 30 minutes then an hour, build up gradually.

Lots of food threads and potential threats (weeds you need to be aware of)

DD and I were looking at some baby pigs today about 8 weeks. She was a bit Pig Broody I reckon.

Get a few old towels for when you cuddle them, they are quick, they wee at first but that improves with age , and their claws are sharp.

Enjoy

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When we got GP1 and GP2 they were one year old (GP3 came last year when GP2 died)

DH looked in the box and said "Oh, I didn't know they'd be that big"
I think he was visualising hamsters

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Thanks 70. I thought I had plenty of research done but I feel clueless.

Loads of questions keep popping into my head.

My main ones for now are:

1. We got some muesli and hay to feed them but at what age can we give fresh veg and bits of fruit/herbs etc?
   

1. Since ours are so young is it too soon to be handling them? Dd is 8 and she wants to pet them. Should we wait til they are a bit sturdier?
   

1. How do you know what paper etc is safe? Is all newspaper safe to use?
   

Thanks for reading.

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Nice to know they are settling in - you are prepared aren't you for the pooh and pee and the noise they'll make when they hear the fridge opening or a bag rustling.

You can give them veg now, vary the types so you don't overload them. I give a variety of colours (it's just because my Furry Sons eat veg but my humanoid one doesn't )
maybe carrot, a green veg, red pepper, salad like celery or cucumber and some herbs (our love parsley but coriander sends them narky). You'll only need a bit at first, I feed veg breakfast and supper (the boars eat tons)

You can handle them now, you'll need to catch them carefully (coral them into a corner or a box and scoop them under the tummy and rump) They are skitty and will run. Then put them in a towel to cuddle.
I had a couple of (unexpected ) litters when I was a child ( two girls who were a girl/boy then we were adviced to leave the boar in ..........litter 2 ) We handled them from birth but the sow was always with us and when she got wheeky we gave them back. After a couple of weeks she was more than happy to have us piggysit so she could sleep

Newspaper - as long as it;s clean and no staples or sellotape, it's fine.
I shred any paper that isn't shiney or alot of colouring (small amount is ok)