Hi all
Right, Tony has managed 24 hours of stealth. He is hiding in his bed and sticks his nose out to get food, then heads back in again.
I put him a veggie selection in this morning - a bit of carrot, a bit of celery and a couple of outer cauli leaves. He left most of the celery and some of the cauli.
When I got home, I de-poo'd, freshened his water, hay and put in new pellets (which I don't think he's really eaten). I then put him in a little bowl with some kale, parsley, a couple of slices of cucumber and a couple of pieces from the top of a red pepper. He appears to have eaten all of that without us seeing him.
That seems like a lot of veg for one small furry mammal.
Should I just be putting veg in once a day even though his cage looks barren with just pellets and water? DH thinks twice a day might be overdoing it.
Also, we haven't really held or stroked him yet; he seems so nervy. At what point do I do this? If we are relying on me coaxing him out, I suspect this could take ages.
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Small pets
Day one and needing advice
KinkyDorito · 07/05/2013 20:00
If Tony's eating that's a good sign that he's settling in.They do manage to trough an amazing amount of veg (greedy little so and so's) 
Keep a check on his droppings- they should be smooth, slightly glossy but not mucousy, slightly curved sometimes and plentiful.
My boars don't drink water.Their bowl is untouched, the bottle they have in their winter cage doesn't alter.But still I give them fresh water daily (love them spoiled pigs) water can go 'off' quickly.
The pellets need changed regularly- they will lose their Vit C quickly.Mine eat the pellets but I think it's after the veg .
I give breakfast and evening veg (a choice of 4-5, different ones night/morning)
Guineas like to do most of their eating at dusk and dawn (crepuscular) then they tottle off to pooh eat in peace.(They eat the first passing of poohs, very soft, you probably won't see these ones). My little Abbysynian boar gets a bit soft after too much grass so he wouldn't have veg at night after a long grass day. But loads of hay.
He'll need a while to settle, but the shop said he was good with people. When you do lift him, just slowly take everything out of his cage so he's got nowhere to hide in (put them back after ) and he'll get used to being caught.
We caught ours the same day we got them for a cuddle. DD was too excited to leave them in peace but ours were adults so used to being handled. But give your boy a couple of days, everything is new to him.
GPs have to eat fairly constantly (if they go without food for 7 hours it can cause gut stasis and liver failure). They rarely overeat though some are chubbier (Yes you GP1) than others.
One of the nicest things about GPs is finding out their favourite foods.
Our love parsley,corn on the cob, banana, red peppers, apple, watermelon and strawberries. With the 'boring,bulking' veg like spring greens, carrot,brocilli stalks. (Too much sugar isn't good for them).
Emjoy him and within 48 hours he'll begin to show his Piganality 
our girlpigs get through tons of hay. and love celery.
carrots, cabbage, parsley, cauliflower etc all ok (apple is scary apparently) but celery is the best food in the universe
they also drink a lot, half a 300ml bottle in 24 hrs for the pair of them, more in warmer weather unless it just evaporates more 
we've had them a year this week (aww) and they're starting to seem happy with handling and now actually come out for a chat when we take food 
they won't eat the dry food that looks like poo but will eat poo that they do in the food bowl. weirdos.
Aww, it's amazing how different they all are, they all have their own little ways.
Celery- I'm the mad bint in the market or the supermarket looking for the leafiest celery for them (DH get the Pigs Cast Offs stalks.
If mine drank that much water I think they'd need to swim, they pee rivers
Aww Gee.We wrapped our pigs in a towel when we first got them- partly to make them secure, partly to absorb when they peed (though they are very good now- they do a little "Stampy-Dance" when they want to go.
They seem to like being right up at our necks (lucky they don't bite)
Kinky just take your time. He'll get used to you all. I think we left ours for 2 days before we picked them up and then it was just for a short time and with lots of parsley bribes. Using a towel is a good idea - soft for them and absorbent for you . They all seem to have their own favourite veg. Both my boys love kale, cucumber and celery, but only Smoothpig will eat tomato and red/yellow pepper (I think Scruffy is scared of any veg that isn't green). Scruffy is a heavy drinker, but Smooth doesn't drink at all. I give fresh hay in the morning and veg in the evening, but they get the odd bit throughout the day as well.
Thanks for all of the tips!
Day Two and Tony is still a recluse. He has had a bowl of kale and carrot this morning, then a bowl of pepper, kale, parsley, cucumber and a little bit of apple this afternoon. I just went out into the garden which, due to my rather poor gardening skills, has very tall grass, and chopped him a handful of dandelion leaves and grass. He is sticking his nose out to pinch things then running away.
I tried to empty his cage down and take him out, but it was a bit of a struggle. I had a hold for a minute and popped him back as he seemed very nervy. I felt rotten after.
He has started to venture out a bit now when we aren't anywhere near and get food. He was down he with DH last night and was sat eating his pellets.
He does a mega amount of poo for a small animal. I've been emptying each day. There must have been half his body weight today!!
I've also let the cats in to have a sniff of the cage a couple of times. I know this is probably unsettling to Tony, but everything is at the minute. He is eating like a trooper and I'm assuming he's drinking too given the wee in the bottom, so he can't be too disturbed by us all.
I'm trying to be as gentle as possible as I would like a guinea/cat-topia where everyone is happy. I can dream!!
GP1 has taken a shine to banana- I was a bit dubious but he picked up a chunk of it and was NomNomNom in the corner.
GP2 likes CuttedUpGrapes and CuttedUpStrawberries.
Neither of them are that fussed by carrot. I put them in for colour
I reckon if they have a variety then they'll get their Vitamin C.
I am always 
when what they eat colours their pee/pooh (easily amused me)
Kinky it always baffles me how much these animals pooh. They can sit with us for their evening cuddle just lifting their rumps and slipping out pooh (luckily GP pooh is non stinky)
Yep, don't really want the runs!
The cat-time was odd. Tony came out and ate his dandelions and paid them no heed. I think they were freaked out though. Tony seems far more nervous of us, but I guess when he's lived in a PAH glass tank for a bit with the faces of humans pressed up against him, he would be. I'm still limiting contact with them though.
I'm going to attempt the big clean out this evening, and putting him into an indoor 'run' with DH to keep an eye out. This will be his biggest adventure so far.
Thank you all again for your help .
Kinky I have never known an animal poop as much as a GP (and I'm a farmers daughter!). I've also never known anything to eat as much as they do.
70 does GP2 not realise that he has his own set of teeth that could cut up strawberries and grapes? What happens if you don't cut them up for him? at the idea of you putting in carrot for decoration. They are fussy little things. Smoothpig will eat pretty much anything, but Scruffypig only eats green vegetables and we've noticed he seems to have a liking for dead leaves that blow into his run outside.
Fernie I could let GP2 do his own cuttedupfruit but the main reason (not because he's my little boy ) is if I put one whole strawberry in or two whole grapes and his Evil OverLord rather more pushy brother takes the whole thing, GP2 won't ask for it back.
Then if I give them too many, his little guts will suffer.
YY to dead leaves- GP1 scoffs anything he finds in the run outside- leaves, petals,hoovered up. While sitting on nice fresh grass.
dotty for indoors, try a large shallow paddling pool. They are in the shops now. You can wipe them easy enough. And if you CBA deflating them, they store well.
Alot of those GP pens don't have a roof or a mesh cover. Fine for inside (if you don't have cats) but no outdoor protection against foxes/cats.
I'm going to scout out a paddling pool for the GPs.
GP1 won't walk on laminate (strange).
Not long till June Have you seen any GPs that you like the look of?
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