New Guinea Pigs

[JustDavesWife]

We finally got two female guinea pigs yesterday and they are very lovely! They are absolutely petrified though and flat out refusing to come of hiding, just wondering if this is normal?

They are going to be living indoors so have a nice big space, we have seen them eating the hay but haven't seen either of them drink. One ventured out earlier, munched a carrot, had a wee then ran back in but her sister hasn't been out at all. We are leaving them alone but I just wanted to make sure this is the right thing to do?

Will they relax in time?

Thanks!

We have two indoor girlies too!
They take a while to come around but ours are so tame now! They're lovely!

Yours just need time and patience and lots of hand feeding

They're 3 years old now

Oh they are lovely! Glad to hear it's normal, was worrying they were completely traumatised! I have a 6 year old and she is being so good with them, constantly checking to see if they have ventured out but at the same time completely leaving them alone even though she is desperate to touch them!!

Hopefully over the next week they will venture out of hiding when we are around.

I've attached a photo of one of them.

Omigosh! So cute! You easily forget how small they can be! Good luck with your girls 😊

They will get used to being in the house in a day or two and will start pootling round their cage while you're around (if you're quiet). You'll need to handle them regularly (and bribe them with food!!!)

Here are a couple of photos of my little girls. Our old girls died just a few weeks ago, and we bought these 2 very soon after (the house was just not the same without any little squeaks when we come home or open a door or rustle a packet)

Most piggies love a bit of parsley, so you could try sitting quietly by the cage and see if you can tempt them out with a few pieces.

@MsAwesomeDragon They are very sweet, so sorry to hear about your older girls.

It's half term here now for two weeks so a good chance for us all to be around and get to know them!

@ATowelAndAPotato I'll grab some parsley tomorrow and give it a go!! Thanks.

Parsley is good, and mine are fiends for basil too. We're still figuring out what these 2 like best, as they don't seem to like the same veg as the older girls.

Grass goes down well too!! We don't have a garden with grass so I go to the local park with a pair of scissors and cut the long grass at the edges (obviously not if it's got dog poo or anything on it!). They genuinely squeak like mad if we open a door as they think they're going to get grass.

We had 2 female guinea pigs back in July as they were the same Hun...for the first day they were very nervous and hid all day under there straw...as the days went by they got better and better and are fine now...they can still be nervous and a bit difficult to catch but are great pets xx

Ooh they are lovely piggies

Guineas are basically stomachs on legs but they are prey animals and they never lose this .
They love routine it makes them feel secure .
And there are very fe piggies that you cannot bribe with parsley .

When we got two of our sows they were young adults , ex breeders and quite wild . We put them in a secure cage inside the pighouse ( their new husband was in their waiting to go sterile )
They had a rubber trug housie , we didn't see them the first couple of days but food disappeared and poo/pee appeared
They were devils to catch and the Himmy had to be towel wrapped - but they settled in time and they didn't have much socialisation.in their early lives .

You'll be tempted to tiptoe round them but they'll get used to household noise .
And you'll get a stern reminder that they have mouths when they hear the fridge open .

Have a look at some YouTube videoes on PopCorning and all the noises pigs make .
They've got quite a vocal range !

They'll come in a few days. We gave our two outdoor boys a full week without handling and now they are super tame and just a daft joy. Enjoying your piggies.

Our piggies hate being got out of their cage, as soon as we go near they run and hide which is odd as we hand reared them from just over a week old. Once they are out one of them loves it and squeaks for England but the other glares at us as if to say what on earth have you done this to me for. They are the least tame of the nine pigs that we've had unfortunately.

@70isaLimitNotaTarget just found this picture of one of the twin Guineas, it'd be rude not to post it for you wouldn't it ? he's bigger now, this was back when he was five months old, they are nearly a year now 😲

Ahh he's gorgeous acerred and so clean .
Any of the 70 hogs that had white on them sported a green or orange bib depending on what they were scoffing

With our Rex and Teddy boars we often pulled huge pieces of hay out of their fur (I'm sure they had Lord Lucan and Shergar hidden in their pelts )

@70isaLimitNotaTarget

Ahh he's gorgeous acerred and so clean . Any of the 70 hogs that had white on them sported a green or orange bib depending on what they were scoffing

With our Rex and Teddy boars we often pulled huge pieces of hay out of their fur (I'm sure they had Lord Lucan and Shergar hidden in their pelts )

It was probably a post bath photo He's normally a candidate for a hiding place for both Lucan and Shergar most of the time. He does get filthy, his long fur round his rear end is terrible unless we wash him each week as he insists on relieving himself and then sitting it in