Guinea pig not drinking much?

[clippityclop]

Hi, newbie here. Our gorgeous Abbsynian girl has been with us for three days and has hardly anything to drink. We have provided her with hay bedding and a different sort to eat, pellets, greens, carrots and other veg, her favourite seems to be red pepper. She has water in a bottle which is changed daily, level hardly down at all so we've also put water out in a wide based bowl. She seems to have settled well, lots of poo and some wee, just worried she may not be getting enough fluids, nor sure what to expect?

[FernieB]

Pigs vary in drinking habits. I have one who drinks a bit and one who never seems to drink anything. She's probably getting all the fluid she needs from her veg. As long as she's weeing she's fine

[sanfairyanne]

so long as you have seen her drink (ie she can reach the water bottle fine) then she is prob just not a big drinker.

[clippityclop]

Thank you for your replies. We haven't actually seen her drink, but the water bottle is within her reach. She has a double decker indoor pen, and takes bits of food into the house part to eat in private while she's in there. We also give her veg to nibble when she's with us in our living room in her pen. I bought liquid vitamin supplement to put in her water so the fact that she's not getting this and isn't really interested in pellets makes me concerned about her nutrition too. Any advice welcome!

[sanfairyanne]

awww you sound sweet gpig owners she wont need a vitamin supplement imo but giving pellets is good. if she is new to you tho she might just not be used to the pellets. when i changed brand, all mine refused to eat them for the first few days - naughty pigs!

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

None of my hogs are drinkers even in the hottest of weather.

We tried bowls and bottles, they are in reach and they know where they are.

We give varities of veg, they pee and pooh for Britain

I don't give vitamin supplements unless I have an ill pig (I bought some Probiotic+Vit C powder when GP3 was ill, it went onto their fresh veg)

Vit C doesn't last long in solution.
It can change the taste of the water and they might not like it.
It can react with the metal in the drinking tube.

If you change pellets you need to do a gradual change- introducing a small amount of the new one to their familiar one, increase the amount over a few days.

Make sure the bottle is clean, it can get algae (green) in sunlight.

And keep a check on their wee production, the colour (depends what they pee on, we have newspaper ) and if they change from nil to loads or the other way.
Check the bottle hasn't leaked or you might think they're scoffing it but they're not.

I'm sure ours laugh themselves bandy "Oh here's The She Devil. Nice clean bottle. I'll just pretenend to drink it to worry her......."

[clippityclop]

Hi, Thank you! We are first timers and just want to do the right thing! No leaks, she is on wood chips, and has the same pellets as she was fed at the pet shop. I think she's mainly eating the hay in the covered end of the top floor of her cage, has had carrot today too. She is currently sitting in her little nest thing chewing on some red pepper listening to dds piano practice. I have checked the covered area which was completely cleaned out yesterday. She's established a poo corner which was quite wet, so cleaned it out and put kitchen roll under the wood chips there so I can monitor the wee better. I've put fresh pellets out, in light of what you say she's probably just settling in yet Thank you for replying, it's akin to having a new baby in the house.
My next concern is about company...she responds in the cutest way to the attentions of our daft cat, chatting away and rubbing noses with him. We are told that she was originally with another piggy who found a home before she did. Do Abbasynias need to be with their own breed? Would our double Decker be big enough for two? There are plans for a lovely hutch/run set up in the summer and it would be lovely for her to have a playmate.

[clippityclop]

Must add that the daft cat is strictly supervised!

[dietcokeandwine]

Congratulations on your new pig, OP . Abyssinians are beautiful.

I would definitely try and get her a playmate. She doesn't have to be with another Abby - any breed of guinea pig will do - but she will most definitely benefit from another guinea to be friends with. They do best in pairs or as part of a small group.

You have two options - either get her another female as a companion or a neutered male. The combination of neutered male plus one or more females can work really well as it is the nearest you will get to how they live in the wild. (I have two neutered boar/sow pairings and both pairs live very happily together). Two sows will also work well together as long as their personalities are compatible. I would try getting in touch with a local guinea pig rescue and see if they have any suitable pigs to try and bond her with.

Just on the drinking front, my four are totally different! Both girls drink enthusiastically and I generally see them having a good go at the water bottle at least two or three times a day (my pigs live indoors and I'm a SAHM so I see them a lot). One of my boars takes the occasional drink. The other has, to my knowledge, never once been seen at the water bottle in over three years of having him, and the only interest he has ever shown in water was when I tried a ceramic water bowl in their indoor run and a piece of parsley fell into it - he dipped his head in to pull out the parsley and ignored the bowl from that point on! Some pigs just don't drink much but generally if they are weeing plenty then you can assume they are getting enough hydration from their vegetables.

[sanfairyanne]

oh yes she definitely needs a friend - more fun choosing another one

[WyrdByrd]

Happy new piggy!

We have an Abby and (we think) a Peruvian - both girls. Neither of them seem to drink very much, so I just make sure I give them some 'wet' fruit or veg every other day - cucumber and the occasional tomato, and melon if it's not eye-wateringly expensive.

Our Abby is a real character - you are going to have lots of fun !