new guineas - dont think they have eaten or drunk anything please help

[redderthanred]

got them last night, they are clearly terrified.
Had their food and carrot in a bowl for them.
that didnt get touched.
put lettuce in this morning and then a bit of lettuce in the sleeping area.
not touched.
just put some tomatoe, carrot and parsley in and moved the bowl into the sleeping area in the vain hope they might eat.

they havent touched the water.

Got them last night about this time, are they ok? what can i do? im a bit worried about them

Hi welcome to the wonderful world of gp ownership. They are wonderful pets. Mine were terrified when I first got them and this sounds normal to me. Please take the lettuce out as it is not good for them and I think it can make them very ill.

I would give them as much time alone as possible to settle in and just remove the old uneaten food and replace with fresh twice a day.

Others will know more

They do take a few days to adjust! Most new ones we have had took 2/3 days to eat/drink. How did they have their water where you got the from? Most use water bowls, but we prefer bottles (water bowls tend to get wee'd & poo'd in, and tipped over). So it takes them a while to find the water.

Don't give them too much food once they start eating, as they will over eat!

Lettuce is supposed to cause loose bowel movements, but we have never had any problems in all the GPs we have had. We do moderate though. Most of the GPs we have had LOVE the stuff!

Celery is a huge favourite with these new ones too!

My piggies didn't drink. They did eat but one of them is very greedy so spent about 5 minutes cowering then went straight to the food. She bullies her sister as well so bullied her sister into eating.

We did just leave them for a while until they settled in a bit.

I really wouldn't worry about them unless it carries on for several days. They will take a little while to adjust. If there's hay in with them, they'll probably be nibbling on that.

Some piggies don't drink much at all, so don't worry about that either (mine have clearly decided now it's warm they are going to drink like little fish, but they didn't drink much over the colder months).

It depends what type of lettuce you've given them. Iceberg is bad for them but other types are fine (my piggies love leaves of all description (well, except rocket!).

I second the comment about a drinking bottle rather than a bowl. Mine had a bowl for a day or so after they broke their bottle, and used it rather more like a bath than to drink from!

Your best bet with your little ones is just to step back from their hutch and give them some space until they venture out to say hello.

Come back at the weekend if they're still not eating and we'll try some new plans!

Ive given them a bowl of water now too, as well as the bottle. just in case they didnt use it.

AND ive taken out some of the hay. there is still enough and i will put a new amount in overnight, but at least they can see there is food now ( have moved the food bowl into the sleeping area, along with the water bowl for the momment)

I also thought it was only iceberg lettuce they couldnt have? i gave them some mixed leaves... They also have guinea pig food. tomatoes, cucumber, parsely and carrot in there. Am hoping when i get home from work something will have been eaten.

THEY HAVE EATEN
THEY HAVE DRUNK

all very very exciting stuff.

The taking the hay out approach worked i reckon. they could actually see the food rather than just hiding up. ( i did leave a little in for them though)

AND one of them ate some carrot out of DD's hand. AND i picked them both up, gave them a quick stroke and put them back. AND they have been in the other bit of the hutch, not just stayed in the sleeping area.

Phew!

That's fab news, and excellent progress! Bless them.

Glad to hear that they're doing well! They're fab animals, so cute once they get going.