Guinea pig advice for a new owner!

[Adayinthelife]

I got my two beautiful baby guinea pigs on Friday evening. They have an indoor cage to share, toys, a house to hide in, a tube, food pellets, hay, fresh veg and water. So I think I have everything covered there.
They also have a pen we have been putting them in, and we've put cereal boxes with the ends cut off in there (as well as their house, tube etc) for them to hide in, which they seem to live.

I've never had guinea pigs before though, only ever cats and dogs, so I just want to know we are doing everything right! It's so hard to gage what they like and don't like by their squeaks as we're not used to them, so any advice would be really, really appreciate. So...what do I need to know as a new guinea pig owner? :)

Your gps are lovely! Don't worry about the wee getting on them - it won't hurt them. If they smell bad you can always wash them (when they are adults). Have a look at the Gorgeous Guineas bathing stuff, its really nice and doesnt upset their skin.
I have just given up on fleeces after a year of use. I'm using the packing paper that the removal men left behind - awesome stuff, unbleached paper, no ink so no black feet, will buy more when this runs out. Then a layer of straw and then hay dumped on top. They are very pleased and are rooting away like mad. They also finally have a lawn at the new house and get out for a graze and a run around. I dont think I'll ever get them living outside properly though as they have been house piggies for too long.
Whatever you start doing with your pigs you'll probably change loads anyway, I'm constantly fussing and rethinking stuff :)

I use newspaper in their cage with hay in their igloos (to eat and snuggle in). I can just roll up the newspaper and throw it all out when it's awful. I have friends and family giving me their papers.

Have given up on nice hay as they have no interest. I get Tescos own hay which they love .

I use towels in their indoor run but a lot of the time I just put towels down and don't bother with the run as it's a wooden floor and they won't walk on it so they don't venture off the towels.

I have another question/need some advise please! Sorry to be annoying.

So we think there is a competition going on for top guinea pig. They climb on top of each other etc, and we read online this is all normal. One of the guineas is not letting the other in the big house we bought them, so we'll need to buy another one.

That guinea seems to be spending a lot of time in her house :( The fluffy, long haired one is totally mental. She is racing around the pen all the time, popcorning, squeaking away...the squeaks are getting louder and louder, squeaking when we come back into the room etc. It's so cute. I think she's lonely though :(

The other one is in her house a lot :( We have just taken her out and now the two of them are tearing around the pen together - it's fantastic, but it just doesn't seem to happen enough iyswim? She'll only do it two/three times a day. The rest of the time, she's eating, or in her house. The other guinea runs around like crazy, and at times she circles the house squeaking away, like she is trying to entice the other one out.

I guess my question is - does this mean the introvert one is unhappy? And that the crazy one is lonely cos there's no one to play with? :(

There will always be one dominant pig Aday that's how they operate.When we had GP1/GP2 (brothers) GP1 was always the bolshy forward one, When GP2 died we got GP3 (as a piglet) and as he got mature and GP1 got old, it was GP3 who took over.

My little piggie (GP5) is the most reticent of our trio. The other pigs are there but I know she likes to tuck herself safely in her housie. She'll have a mad half hour running round in the run, for her own amusement.

Important to make sure with any houses that one can't block the other in, you need 2 doors.

Guineas are prey animals, it isn't natural for them to be out in the open. They think that any minute they'll be lunch (which is part of their appeal in a way, they are gentle vunerable little things),

We're lucky with our trio that no-one gangs up on the other. Sometimes the sows sit together but GP3 knows he's Alpha Boar only boar now the girls think they're in charge though